Just announced as part of Marvel’s Next Big Thing live blog, it looks like the second arc of the recently relaunched “Iron Man” title is going to address all those burning questions you have — specifically, why is Tony part of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and what about what he did to the Phoenix?
According to writer Kieron Gillen, the first arc (running the first five issues) is about why he leaves for space, and that the things he did in “AvX” in relation to the Phoenix (both in the middle where he blew it up into five parts and at the end where he helped manufacture its destruction via Hope and Scarlet Witch) will catch up with him for the second arc. “Tony is having a crisis of his beliefs,” Kieron explains of the events. “Fans know it’s because of AvX. Newcomers may be lost. We catch up here.”
The arc will be largely introspective, as Kieron describes Tony using the space adventure to come to grips with facets of his own personality. “I’m of the position that if Tony hadn’t disrupted the Phoenix Force during AvX, it would have killed everybody on Earth. I’m not sure he would agree with me,” Kieron explains. “He made leaps of faith in Fear Itself and AvX and wasn’t comfortable with either. He’s been avoiding thinking about it. He’s not depressed, but he’s hungry to discover things he hasn’t thought about previously. He’s driven. Tony has found a new wing of the library and wants to read all the books.”
However, as Kieron describes, “Tony is living his James T. Kirk fantasies. That’s how I put it, that’s how he puts it. He thinks he’s in a space opera, then it all turns badly.” That’s probably not so good. I mean, you guys saw what he did to Loki, right?
This will also be the introduction of the new space armor we’d seen on the cover of “Guardians of the Galaxy” #1, which continues Kieron’s promise to introduce a new suit of armor per issue. Kieron also clarifies that you do not need to read both this and “Guardians” to understand what’s going on. “You know how the Hawkeye book is about Hawkeye when he’s not in the Avengers? Iron Man is about Iron Man when he’s not with the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a question of what space means in the Marvel Universe. Brian Bendis and I are on the same page.”
It is also confirmed that Greg Land will be on for the entirety of the arc.
Look for this storyline next year.
