Iron Man's Celestial Armor Is About to Make Him a God-Tier Hypocrite
While Tony Stark is grappling with the powers of a god in his own series, he's going to turn right around with Celestial armor to fight the Hulk.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Iron Man #17
While Iron Man is struggling to come to grips with his new godlike power in his own series, his armor forged from a Celestial will make him a pretty big hypocrite. Currently, Tony Stark has become the Iron God, having been imbued with the power cosmic after battling one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful villains. However, the typical rule of thumb for superhero narratives when too much power is gained by a hero is that it must be given up lest said hero becomes corrupted. While Tony is already headed towards a resolution in the latest issue of Iron Man where he'll be giving up his god status, his upcoming battle with the Hulk flies in the face of him giving up his god-tier abilities.
Previously in Marvel Comics' Iron Man, Tony Stark and a rather unique collection of heroes came together to fight Korvac, a villain who once killed all of the Avengers with his impressive powers. Seeking to ascend and become a true god, Korvac sought the powers of Galactus, the same power cosmic wielded by the Silver Surfer. However, Korvac has recently been defeated with Stark receiving the power cosmic in the aftermath, becoming the Iron God. Enthused and motivated to make a lasting difference in the world, the Iron God decided to test his new power out by giving everyone in New York his level of intellect (which has ultimately proven disastrous).
Now, the recent Iron Man #17 from Christopher Cantwell, Ibraim Roberson, Angel Unzueta sees Tony's former friends attempting to take him down, including War Machine and Hellcat. They've even recruited Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer to help bring the Iron God down seeing as how they both share a healthy fear of what Stark is capable of. However, the end of this issue has already begun to lay the groundwork for Iron Man to reject his new and corruptive power, even though he's about to pilot a giant suit of armor made from a Celestial in Marvel's Hulk, essentially giving him god-like power once more despite this current arc.
While Iron Man #17 ends with Stark in tears over what he's done to his friends and allies (hinting that he'll soon give up the power cosmic), it's already been teased that Tony will be suiting up in new Celestial Hulkbuster armor to fight Bruce Banner's Hulk in the upcoming Banner of War event. As such, readers will soon be seeing Tony Stark giving up one form of god-tier power simply to take on a new form of god-tier power soon after. As such, the unintentional hypocrisy across Marvel titles certainly cuts the desired effect of Tony Stark overcoming his inner struggles and temptations with the power cosmic seen in Iron Man.
While both armors look incredible and undoubtedly take Iron Man to the next level, the law of superhero stories dictates that neither can be used for the long-term without Stark becoming a villain. It's already happened in the current pages of Iron Man where Tony's let the power get to his head. While the hypocrisy of Stark ditching the Iron God armor only to don Celestial armor in May's Hulk #7 is at this point unavoidable, here's hoping Iron Man won't be similarly corrupted by his Celestial Hulkbuster suit.