With Iron Man set to receive the triple-A video game treatment, many fans eagerly await not only the arrival of a hero but the arrival of villains. After all, a hero is only as good as his villains, and Iron Man may not have an impressive rogues gallery like Spider-Man, but a video game is a perfect opportunity to flesh out the evil that can be offered to Tony Stark.
If EA Motive’s Iron Man game takes any inspiration from Marvel’s Spider-Man by Insomniac Games, it should be the importance of villains in a hero’s journey. Hopefully, there’s a lot to explore in the villainy presented in the Iron Man game.
9 Ghost
First appearing in issue #219 of Iron Man in 1987, Ghost has been a long-standing Iron Man villain. The character may have an unknown identity, but what is known, is that he was a promising data engineer and the mind behind GhostTech. Ghost was exploited for his mind, and had his technology used to make the company executives wealthy, but not himself.
This betrayal was one of the many reasons that this character infused his body with GhostTech, and destroyed his past life to become a full-time corporate saboteur. His battle against Iron Man could be from within the Iron Man suit, or Stark Industries itself.
8 Titanium Man
One of the original Iron Man villains was introduced in 1965 in Tales of Suspense issue #69. Boris Bullski was a popular ranking official for the Communist Party in Russia, with brief ties to Black Widow. In an obsessive attempt to prove the superiority of the USSR over the US, Bullski made scientists create a suit of armor made from titanium.
This suit of armor was extremely bulky and heavy, due to the materials used, but it did not stop Titanium Man from trying to defeat Iron Man on several occasions. His attempts could be a fun side villain for the video game ahead.
7 Madame Masque
After having her face permanently disfigured in an accident, Whitney used a golden mask to cover her scarred face. This is how she received the title of Madame Masque, and with the affiliation of Mordecai Midas. Despite her allegiance to villainy, Masque couldn’t help but fall for Iron Man’s charms and joined him for many romantic adventures, and action-packed ones.
She is one of many women to have a rocky relationship with Tony Stark and is also one of many women to fight the man both in and out of his iron suit. It wasn’t long before Madame Masque returned to the ways of a criminal mastermind, and seeing a developed relationship for the game would show that this is no mere origin story.
6 Ezekiel Stane
As the son of one of Iron Man’s deadliest foes, Ezekiel Stane had an awful childhood, which had him hellbent on hatred for Iron Man. This was imprinted due to his own father’s hatred of Tony Stark, who would often berate his son to become a better scientist and use him as a vessel for hate due to how much he despised Tony Stark.
“Zeke” Stane has a talented mind and an evil ambition. The character has been building weapons for supervillains since he was nine years old, and with third-degree burns from his repulsors, exists in a displacement suit to bolster a superiority over Tony Stark.
5 M.O.D.O.K.
Although many villains battle Iron Man in the powerful suit he made, some villains seek the use of a brilliant mind. With M.O.D.O.K., intelligence is rivaled, and Iron Man may be in for a tough battle of brains and brawn. Not only does M.O.D.O.K. harbor a great mind, but as the leader of A.I.M., there is plenty of fodder to battle.
A.I.M. has plenty of technological advancements, and they could challenge both Tony Stark and Iron Man. It would be great to play against the forces of A.I.M. in a solo-centric project, just like the Avengers did in Crystal Dynamix’s game.
4 Justin Hammer
Villains to Iron Man often have ties to Tony Stark himself. Justin Hammer is one of many competitors to Stark International, and Hammer Industries is one of the leading and long-term ones in the running for the top spot. The main projects for Hammer are weapons, dangerous in the hands of whomever they come in contact with.
Perhaps for the Iron Man game, Justin Hammer and Hammer Industries will seek to sabotage Stark International, and cause disruptions to his public image and the Iron Man suit. Hammer is a rich man and could hire many armored personnel to battle Iron Man.
3 Whiplash
Another leading competitor to Iron Man is Anton Vanko, a man who has held a reasonable grudge towards Iron Man since his youth. This is due to an Iron Man suit being stolen, and in an attempt to frame Tony Stark for the crime, the person behind the suit killed many townsfolk, including Vanko’s father.
It’s a classic case of revenge, as well as mistaken identity, and Vanko’s desire to kill Iron Man will surely be fueled throughout the game for a lot of fun battles. Reoccuring boss battles can be great fun, and Whiplash could provide interesting ones at that.
2 Iron Monger
Obadiah Stane was known as a ruthless manipulator and a man who knew how to exploit the weaknesses of others. His latest and most obsessive target would be Tony Stark, and Obadiah put many chess pieces in play to sabotage Tony Stark, in an attempt to acquire Stark Enterprises as his industry.
Stane succeeded in mentally breaking Tony Stark, and made him a recluse who relapsed into alcoholism. It wasn’t long before Stane commissioned the Iron Monger MK I, a suit of armor that could rival Iron Man, and battle Tony Stark continually. Seeing such a rivalry in a game could put to test the emotional range of whoever plays Iron Man, and give the character more depth.
1 The Mandarin
Fans of the MCU may have been disappointed that Iron Man never got to battle or even meet his long-time comic nemesis of The Mandarin. This character never appeared to Iron Man as he should have from the comics, but the video game could fix that, and bring the nemesis relationship to the hands of gamers.
Iron Man has stopped the Mandarin many times and thwarted attempts at world domination. Battling against a man with Ten Rings of alien origin, with a unique power for each ring, could be a spectacle of a boss fight, as well as the empowerment of his soldiers providing a challenging fight since the Mandarin is Iron Man’s greatest adversary.
The Iron Man game is currently in development.