While Iron Man is perhaps the greatest hero in the MCU (and one of the greatest in Marvel Comics), there is a version of him that’s actually a villain, complete with an entire ‘evil Avengers’ team. In fact, not too long ago, many fans were convinced that this corrupt version of Iron Man was going to appear in the MCU. Given the level of outcry, it’s only a matter of time before the MCU brings this Iron Man into the fold for real, and when it does, it must include his ‘evil Avengers’.
The evil Iron Man in question is known as Superior Iron Man, which is what became of Tony Stark during Marvel Comics’ AXIS event. In Avengers & X-Men: AXIS (by Rick Remender, Adam Kubert, Leinil Francis Yu, Terry Dodson, and Jim Cheung), the Red Skull harnesses the power of Onslaught, and the Avengers and X-Men team up to take him down. When it became increasingly clear the heroes were going to lose, Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch used their combined magical power to cast an ‘inversion spell’, flipping the morality of every villain in the world – along with every hero.
This spell totally upsets the power structure of Earth-616, proving that the heroes without morality are infinitely more dangerous than any of Marvel’s established villains could ever hope to be, including and especially Iron Man. No longer limited by moral restraint, Tony Stark applies his genius to creating the Endo-Sym Armor derived from a symbiote, he develops the EXTREMIS 3.0 app to control the masses (including people in political power), and he even finds a way to shield himself when the morality spell is reversed while fighting back the digital memories of his former heroic self.
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Superior Iron Man is a truly terrifying force, to be sure, and no one on Earth was safe while he was in power. He could control practically everyone on the planet through the EXTREMIS app, and his Endo-Sym suit made him practically invincible, making it nearly impossible to physically take Superior Iron Man down. However, Superior Iron Man wouldn’t reach the peak of his threat-level until after he formed his ‘evil Avengers’, consisting of Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Kluh (aka Hulk), Thor, Medusa, and Luke Cage.
Why Superior Iron Man Formed an Evil Avengers Team
Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #7 by Rick Remender and Adam Kubert
Superior Iron Man proved himself capable of effectively taking over the world all by himself. So, why did he bother to form a team of evil Avengers? Well, that has to do with the ongoing power struggle that occurred at the dawn of this new twisted world, as there was another group that threatened Iron Man’s power: the X-Men. Like everyone else, the morality of the X-Men was flipped, turning the former heroes villainous and a number of established villains all the more righteous.
The X-Men were led by Apocalypse, and they weren’t going to rest until the world was theirs, and Superior Iron Man couldn’t let that happen. So, he gathered the other aforementioned corrupt heroes to crush the X-Men – and that’s exactly what they did. The sight of these Avengers utterly demolishing the X-Men was a truly terrifying one, indeed, as it proved that even some of the strongest heroes and villains were nothing compared to their power, meaning the world was doomed so long as they remained morally compromised.
Superior Iron Man NEEDS to Bring His Evil Avengers to the MCU
Fans Believed Superior Iron Man would Appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Marvel has made it clear how dangerous Superior Iron Man and his team of evil Avengers are, and now it’s time to see that in the MCU. Given the MCU’s focus on alternate universes and variants of heroes/villains, it would be simple to make the world of AXIS a separate reality in the multiverse where Superior Iron Man and his evil Avengers rule with impunity. That could create an exciting opportunity to have a multiversal battle between the MCU’s original Avengers and these evil Avengers – and the proverbial door is wide open for the MCU to do just that.
Before the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans believed Superior Iron Man would be one of the members of the Illuminati, and that the Illuminati as a whole would be a villainous multiversal organization. While many were disappointed by neither of those predictions coming true upon the film’s release, it’s actually a good thing Superior Iron Man wasn’t featured in what would have amounted to a minor cameo. Instead, the MCU can make Superior Iron Man a main villain along with his terrifyingly powerful team of evil Avengers.
Tom Cruise Should Be Cast for the Role of Superior Iron Man in the MCU
Tom Cruise is a Popular Fan-Cast for Superior Iron Man for Good Reason
Back when fans thought Superior Iron Man would appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the most popular fan-cast for the role was Tom Cruise. While the desire to see Tom Cruise play the role of an evil Tony Stark really requires no explanation, there’s actually an interesting real-world reason why the casting is perfect.
In the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, it’s revealed that Tom Cruise entertained the idea of playing Tony Stark back in the ‘90s, when 20th Century Fox had the film rights to Iron Man. However, his asking fee was simply too much for the studio to pay given the level of risk it would be taking on a character like Iron Man, as Iron Man hadn’t yet reached the A-List stasis that he has today.
“Ten years earlier, when the Iron Man rights were at 20th Century Fox, Tom Cruise, then thirty-four, had flirted with the idea of playing Stark… According to Fiege, however, Cruise’s asking fee at the time was more than even a profitable studio like Fox was willing to risk on an untested superhero property.”
When the time came for Marvel Studios (an independent film studio at the time) to move forward with its Iron Man film, Robert Downey Jr. was cast, and the rest is history. Now that the MCU is a multi-billion-dollar franchise, however, Tom Cruise’s asking fee is a non-issue. Therefore, if/when Superior Iron Man is introduced in the MCU, Tom Cruise should absolutely take the role, as it would be the ultimate payoff decades in the making as well as the best possible option in ensuring that Superior Iron Man is done justice in live-action.
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Introducing Superior Iron Man in the MCU with Tom Cruise playing the role would be a fantastic move by Disney and Marvel Studios. Not only would an iconic version of the classic Marvel hero be brought to the screen, but the inclusion of Superior Iron Man (as a variant of the original) would create an epic challenge for the original Avengers to overcome, especially if this evil Iron Man brought his evil Avengers along with him.
Iron Man
Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark, AKA Iron Man, is a Marvel Comics superhero who has enjoyed several years of the spotlight and has become a mainstay in several Marvel media franchises. After suffering a critical injury, Tony creates a specialized armored suit powered by an arc reactor, which keeps him alive. Egotistical but good-hearted, Tony utilizes his super intellect and inventions to fight to protect humanity from various threats, eventually becoming a founding member of the Avengers. In 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was kicked off with the film Iron Man, which starred Robert Downey Jr. as the superhero.
