A crazy alternate version of Tony Stark was stranded on Earth-616 without his armor, so he made one with Captain America’s ex-girlfriend.
When fans think of Tony Stark creating his Iron Man armor, they often imagine it in a workshop, working with metal and various elements. But his weirdest and most unsettling armor was actually made from a person – Captain AmericaEx-girlfriend, to be exact.
In the 2006 comic Marvel Team #22, written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Andy Kuhn, readers are introduced to an alternate universe in which the Scarlet Witch never had her mental breakdown and the Avengers never disbanded. In this reality, the Avengers end up fighting and dying in the Titannus War with only Tony Stark surviving. Grief-stricken, this Tony Stark takes over Latveria in hopes of controlling the world to save it, while the Fantastic Four seek to stop him. This Tony kills the Human Torch but not before his face is burned and horribly scarred. In order to stop him, Reed Richards banishes Tony Stark to Earth-616.
Upon arriving in the main Marvel timeline, this Tony Stark is captured and held on a SHIELD Helicarrier. He escapes captivity and reunites with Captain America’s ex-girlfriend, Diamondback, who is also being held. It’s not really Diamondback, though. He is a living model decoy who betrayed Cap on the orders of the Red Skull. But she’s also programmed to believe that she’s actually the real Diamondback. She’s still a victim in every sense of the word, but that doesn’t stop this Tony Stark from reprogramming his body to form a new version of Iron Man’s armor around him. Fully understanding his place as a villain in this reality, this Tony Stark calls himself Iron Maniac instead.
Even though this Diamondback is a life model decoy and not an actual person, it’s still pretty gross to think that this crazy Tony Stark would wear it around his body. Fortunately, he erases his memory before doing so. She is essentially rebooted to her factory setting when Tony makes her take the form of the new armor. Otherwise, the circumstance would be even more sadistic. This evil version of Diamondback would be wrapped around Tony’s body, fully aware that she has been manipulated into living armor.
Luckily, Iron Maniac is ultimately defeated. His body is immobilized, but since his armor is actually a fluid being, it allows him to transform to be used as a weapon. Unfortunately for Tony, this leaves him vulnerable to attack. Once the battle is over, Captain America notes that this Tony’s skull was fractured, but he will live otherwise. So technically, the sadistic version of Iron Man known as Iron Maniac is still alive and well in the current Marvel Universe, and perhaps he’s due for a return.
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