Somebody is making a comeback from the land of the dead in the pages of Iron Man. Arno Stark, the actual son of Howard and Maria Stark (meaning Tony Stark is the adopted brother), has become the new Iron Man and is taking a stand against the current A.I. uprising. To make matters worse for the new shellhead, Tony’s clone is leading the revolt. It’s a messy situation that started when the cloned Tony realized that despite containing the consciousness of the real Tony, he was still just a copy. Then the robots of the world started demanding equal rights and this new Tony decided to take their side and that it was time to stand up to their human counterparts.
This has set the stage for Marvel’s mega multi-title Iron Man 2020 event. The series is spanning across several tie-in books like 2020 Ironheart, Machine Man 2020, and even Rescue 2020. With an event this big, there are always going to be huge changes to the typical status quo. Iron Man 2020 is no exception.
While the series has already teased that there will be a major “horrible thing” coming very soon, it has also promised the return of several heroes who’ll presumably join Arno in his war against the A.I. revolution. Pepper Potts in her Rescue armor and, as mentioned earlier, Ironheart have major roles to play in this saga. Plus, the creators are now teasing the return of a major Iron Man character believed to be dead. Here’s the official description listed in Marvel’s April 2020 solicits.
- IRON MAN 2020 #4 (OF 6) DAN SLOTT & CHRISTOS GAGE (W) • PETE WOODS (A) 5th Color Fluorescent Ink Cover by PETE WOODS CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY SIMONE BIANCHI (4 OF 6) HEADS VARIANT COVER BY SUPERLOG VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM Variant Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU Yeah. That horrible thing actually happened last issue. We know. It was NOT cool. So we are totally making it up to you RIGHT NOW. That character you really liked from a while ago? The one who you thought was absolutely, certifiably dead? Surprise! She’s back! But how is that even possible? And what does that mean for the future of all things Iron–Man? Read the book, fleshbag.
Clearly, writers Dan Slott and Christos Gage are anticipating readers to be taken aback by something big they have planned but the thought of the creative team bringing a character back from the dead is an intriguing one. The world of Iron Man is no stranger to death, from Tony’s parents to Tony himself (a few times), there are some obvious candidates for resurrection. However, the mention in the official description of the character being brought back to life is a “she” does help narrow it down. So if you were secretly hoping that the armor that became sentient and fell in love with Tony was coming back, well, you’ll probably have to keep waiting.
Regardless of who is set to come back, one thing is for sure; The Robot Revolution is poised to have major consequences throughout the entire Marvel Universe, with heroes and villains joining both sides of the fight. Arno may be the new Iron Man but it has yet to be seen if he has what it takes to handle this new challenge. Readers will reap the benefits though as more and more of Iron Man’s old allies join the fight. Iron Man 2020 #4 will be available in print and digital on April 8th, 2020.
More: Marvel’s New Iron Man 2020 Arno Stark Finally Arrives