Iron Man’s New Armor Upgrade:
Iron Man is undoubtedly one of the most prominent characters in Marvel, both cinematic and comics. Tony recently got a massive upgrade. Tony’s armor is currently compensating for terrible injuries he sustained against Avengers villain Korvac, one bad punch could kill him. Tony can now punch with a force of 40,000 newtons, but if his target doesn’t give when he hits it, the blow will literally explode his heart. Unfortunately, Korvac is currently inhabiting an advanced android body and out to steal godlike power, making it entirely possible that even Tony’s new strength won’t be enough, and he could die just from punching the villain.
No amount of clever planning has proven useful in the fight against Korvac, the Avengers-level threat who has only been growing stronger and stronger. With few options left and time running out, Tony has decided to fall back on the tried and true tactic of brute force, and he is pushing himself and his armor well beyond the breaking point in Iron Man #7. After Korvac broke his neck, Tony finally realized just how in over his head he really is, especially since Korvac has god-level cosmic powers and a cadre of Stark’s old foes under his control.
Korvac is one of the most powerful villains the Avengers have ever faced, but thankfully he’s not yet back to full strength. After being resurrected in a bilayer graphene body by the Enclave, Korvac is on a mission to invade the space station Taa II and steal the powers of Galactus. When Iron Man tried to stop him in Iron Man #5, he failed, sustaining incredible damage that included a broken neck. Tony needs emergency surgery, and only his armor is keeping him held together in the meantime. Still, Korvac must be stopped, so Tony and his ragtag team are in hot pursuit, and Iron Man intends to tear the villain to pieces when they catch him.
Korvac isn’t the only one who is working with a team, but Tony’s crew of retired, traumatized, and slapstick heroes don’t have much of a fighting chance against the opposition. However, Tony knows that all it will take is one breach in his hull for Korvac to be ripped to shreds, and he amps up his armor by increasing the force o this punch from 20,000 newtons to 40,000 newtons and upping the speed of his first strike to 500 miles per hour. Unfortunately, these upgrades endanger Iron Man as much as they improve his fighting capability. While begrudgingly making updates to Tony’s armor, James Rhodes discusses with him the dangers posed by cranking things up as high as they are.
The one thing working in Tony’s favor is that Korvac’s design isn’t perfect. As long as his android form remains stable, he’s stronger than Iron Man, but if Tony can cause the slightest crack, Korvac will become vulnerable, as he explains in a preview of Iron Man #7 from Marvel Comics. But while his new 500mph punch may be enough to do the job, longtime ally James Rhodes, aka War Machine, has reason to believe that Tony is making a rash decision for the wrong reasons.
Doubling the force of Iron Man’s punch sounds like a great idea on paper, but in practice, it means that his body is going to be feeling that force as well. While finding the right weak spot of Korvac could be the key to the energy being’s defeat, the force of hitting Korvac in the wrong spot could easily make Stark’s heart explode. The Iron Man armor can only do so much to protect Tony from the physical toll that his heroics take on him, which has been on full display throughout the entirety of this series.
Tony Stark is an addict with a tenuous grasp on sobriety at that. However, Tony doesn’t just suffer from physical addictions, though. He has also long been known for obsessively tinkering and updating his various armors, pushing them past any previously established limits at every opportunity. This very instinct that has gotten him in so much trouble in the past has also kept him going when he was at his lowest points, including now.
That he is acutely aware of these things speaks volumes to how Tony Stark has grown as a person and a hero over the years. That he is still relying on them after so much time spent behind a metal mask points to just how little regard he has for his own life compared to those he has sworn to protect.
