While Captain America and Iron Man are pretty constantly at odds, the best “enemy” of Tony Stark’s Avengers is actually She-Hulk, not Captain America.
The rivalry between Iron Man and She-Hulk is one that continually evolves throughout Marvel Comics, making them more authentic avengers ‘enemies’ than Iron Man and Captain America. While Iron Man and Captain American are often at odds over serious issues that result in an all-out brawl, the two usually reconcile fairly quickly afterwards, as the continuation of their storylines depends on it. There’s no such pressure with Iron Man and She-Hulk, and the two have been at each other’s throats for years with no narrative reason for them to bury the hatchet.
Iron Man and She-Hulk have had their differences on a number of issues in Marvel Comics, with the fallout of their conflicts resulting in both a physical altercation or a vicious battle of wits. A good example of the latter is shown in She-Hulk #1 by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido. In the issue, Tony Stark’s company gets their hands on technology stolen from a dead supervillain whose family is suffering as they hoped to sell the blueprints of the technology to keep themselves afloat. Using his expert level legal skills, as well as his personal manipulation, She-Hulk convinces Iron Man to effectively purchase the technology directly from the family and the lawsuit is dropped and Tony Stark loses a large sum of money.
She-Hulk establishes her physical dominance in She-Hulk #18 by Dan Slott and Rick Burchett. In the issue, She-Hulk goes after Iron Man after learning that he, along with the other members of the Illuminati, sent the Hulk into space, taking the Hulk’s exile off-world into his own hands. The two Marvel heroes share blows in a brutal battle of revenge and outrage as She-Hulk uses every ounce of strength she has to make Iron Man pay for what he did to his cousin. However, while She-Hulk used her wits to win the trial battle by She-Hulk #1, Iron Man used his to outwit She-Hulk in this battle. She-Hulk proved to be stronger than Iron Man, so he injected her with a substance specially designed to incapacitate gamma-mutated humans.
The continued back and forth between She-Hulk and Iron Man proves that they’re consistently not on good terms, and there’s no reason for Marvel to change that, unlike Iron Man’s occasional clashes with Captain America. But when Iron Man and Captain America are at odds, their conflict usually only lasts one storyline before they become friends again. Iron Man and Captain America can’t remain permanent enemies because they’re both too popular among heroes not to work together and try to sell a avengers comic without Iron Man or Captain America working together in the future would definitely be a nightmare.
Iron Man and She-Hulk don’t really need to like each other, so their conflict rages on, and this longevity lends credence to the true nature of their mutual disdain. Because there is no narrative reason for them to reconcile and because they have been constantly at odds with each other since their brief romantic relationship, Iron Manit’s the best avengers ‘enemy’ is She-Hulk, not Captain America.
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