Being one of the founding members of The Avengers and one of the smartest people alive in the Marvel Universe, Iron Man is a force to reckon with. With his countless suits of armor which are specialized to work in various circumstances and his genius level intelligence, Iron Man has proved his mettle numerous times. Iron Man aka Tony Stark has survived some exceptional battles in the past, surprising even his ardent fans. From standing up against the Mad-Titan Thanos to still being able to salvage his image from the terrible Iron Man 2 (Thanks to RDJ), Iron Man has come out victorious in most battles. But surprisingly, even the armor-clad genius had had his fair share of getting his ass kicked by a number of supervillains. Here, we present you the 10 villains who have defeated Iron Man in the past.
Godzilla
While Godzilla doesn’t even belong to the Marvel Universe, back in 1977, Godzilla appeared as the antagonist in Marvel Comics. Instead of being the protector of nature, Godzilla was depicted as a juggernaut that was hellbent on destroying cities.
In the comics, Godzilla arrived in New York City to satisfy his appetite for destruction. As the headquarters of The Avengers, it was up to them to stop the monster from laying waste to the city. But despite their best efforts, The Avengers were unable to stop the rampaging Godzilla. Even Tony’s ultra-futuristic beams were futile against the radiation powered beast. After utterly humiliating the earth’s mightiest heroes, Godzilla was persuaded by Rob Takiguchi, a young Japanese boy living in the United States, to go back to the sea, whence he came from.
Green Goblin
Though Green Goblin features mostly against Spiderman, there have been times when he faced Iron Man. In the Marvel Universe, Tony Stark is not the sole billionaire. From Black Panther to Norman Osborn, there are a few more billionaires who use their resources either for the protection of the innocent, or to be a massive pain in the back. You know where Norman Osborn lies.
During the events of Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn cunningly placed himself in the league of heroes who protected the earth from a deadly Skrull invasion. After playing the role of a major hero, Osborn went on to replace Stark to be the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. As the invasion happened when Stark was the head, Osborn decided to rename the organization as H.A.M.M.E.R. and used all his resources to hunt down Tony Stark.
In a desperate attempt to keep the confidential data away from Osborn’s clutches, Tony decided to wipe his own memory.
Venom
Like Green Goblin, Venom mostly belongs to Spiderman’s famous rogue gallery. Though Venom is an anti-hero, his actions put him at odds with the heroes.
In Iron Man #302, Venom tried to play the role of a proletariat, who had to overthrow the bourgeoisie aka Tony Stark. According to Eddie Brock, Tony Stark’s corporate nature was the sole cause behind the misery of the working class. In order to teach Tony a lesson, Venom arrived at his residence, only to find Tony stuck in a wheelchair owing to his previous injuries. While Tony had a few tricks up his sleeve, but it couldn’t do any considerable damage to the alien symbiote, which ripped apart his armor and sent him down a crashing elevator shaft.
Black Widow
Black Widow originally was a Russian spy who was sent to gain information by infiltrating The Avengers. In her time being a spy for the Russians, none of the Avengers suspected her of leaking vital information to a group named the Liberators.
Black Widow successfully managed to find the Hulk’s secret identity and revealed it to the public. Also, she managed to convince the public that Thor and Captain America nurtured anti-American values, which led to public distrust of the entire superhero community.
But in her masterstroke, she seduced Tony Stark to the point where he proposed her to marry him. Having accepted the proposal, she was provided with a black suit of armor by the enamored Tony Stark. But upon getting instructions from the Liberators to invade the U.S., she didn’t flinch while wiping out JARVIS and torturing Tony at gunpoint to exhort his billion-dollar empire from him.
MODOK
MODOK, an acronym for Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing wastes no time in sharing pleasantries. With his oversized head and floating chair, MODOK may be mistaken for a goofy and a friendly robot, but with his genius level intellect, he has proved over and over again that he is a force to be reckoned with.
In Iron Man #74, MODOK is forced to deal with Iron Man’s suit which was taken over by the Thinker. Upon learning that the suit was being used to tail him by the Thinker, MODOK uses his genius intellect to track Thinker’s location, while also dragging Tony for a ride.
Doctor Octopus
What’s up with Spiderman’s antagonists and the not-so-beloved billionaire playboy? It seems like they have a special liking for Iron Man.
Doctor Octopus is a genius scientist but is also a vengeful man filled with rage and jealousy. When the mad scientist gets to know that Tony Stark managed to build futuristic armors loaded with insane firepower, his ego took a massive hit. To teach Stark a lesson, Octopus escapes from a prison by remotely using his mechanical tentacles. Upon hearing this news, Iron Man reaches to stop the break out only to be thrashed by him. Doc’s superior adamantium tentacles rip apart Iron Man’s armor to shreds. A defenseless Tony Stark literally crawls out, trying to survive.
Years later, Doctor Octopus again defeated Iron Man. Only this time, he decided to humiliate Tony by forcing him to grovel at his feet and call him ‘master’. Damn!
Ghost
Ghost is the perfect enemy for someone like Iron Man. In a tragic event which led to the murder of his wife, Ghost spiraled into depression. His seething rage led him to develop a state-of-the-art suit made of GhostChips, which he previously made for the company he used to work for. It was also the same company which killed his wife because she was going to reveal that her superiors forced her to be a call girl.
In ‘The Big Bang Theory’ arc, Ghost was hired by A.I.M. to dismantle companies like Roxxon and Stark Industries. But at the same time, Tony Stark had infiltrated A.I.M. only to be found by Ghost. Ghost made sure to give Tony an ass kicking of a lifetime, and even managed to escape without any damage.
Magneto
Erik Lehnsherr, or more commonly known as Magneto is one of the strongest mutants in the Marvel Universe. Having a total control over magnetism, Magneto is a force of nature.
Though Iron Man has certain suits which are immune to Magneto’s abilities, most of the times, he fails to estimate Magneto’s real power. Just to put it in perspective, in X2, Magneto was able to rip the iron straight out of someone’s bloodstream. If that didn’t impress you, Magneto once deflected a bullet in outer space, while still on Earth.
In his first fight with Iron Man, Magneto mercilessly beats him, leaving no space for any witty maneuver. Then again, Magneto has defeated both Iron Man and War Machine simultaneously, proving his superiority in style.
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk is a beloved hero who uses his rage to gets stronger and scarier. But most of the times, the Hulk is more of a threat than being truly incredible.
In World War Hulk, Hulk returns to Earth to have his vengeance against the Illuminati, the group responsible for his exile to Sakaar and the death of his wife Caiera. Upon his arrival, he creates arenas for gladiator matches, often pitting the mightiest heroes against each other. In one instance, he fought Iron Man, who was clad in the famous HulkBuster armor. But the rage within Hulk had reached such heights that Hulk destroyed the armor to smithereens while also destroying the Stark Tower in the process.
Doctor Doom
Victor Von Doom is arguably one of the best comic book villains in existence. With his super genius level intellect, mastery in the mystic arts and his expertise on a vast number of subjects, Doctor Doom is not the one to be messed with. Doctor Doom also has his own armor, which is a bit superior to that of Tony Stark’s.
In his face-off with Iron Man, Doom easily crushed the hero with his superior abilities. Doom manages to easily break into Iron Man’s highly protected base and playfully manages to block all his attacks with a simple wave of his hand.
But the shocking part of the face-off is that Doom had actually come to recruit Stark to track down the Skrull invaders, during the events of Secret Wars. Well, Victor Von Doom might be a genius scientist; he still has a long way to go in learning to ask nicely!
