Warning! Spoilers ahead for Iron Man Annual #1
Marvel Comics’ new Iron Man Annual #1 has released, being the first chapter of Infinite Destinies which will reveal the new Infinity Stone-Bearers in the Marvel Universe. As such, Tony Stark is facing down the new foe Quantum, the Stone-Bearer of the Space Stone who’s working for the technology-based villain known as the Assessor. Furthermore, due to Quantum being a formidable teleporter, Iron Man gets the chance to debut his impressive method for countering teleportation attacks, and it appears to be a real game-changer.
At the start of the issue from Jed MacKay and Ibraim Roberson, Iron Man is in the midst of a team-up with Miles Morales’ Spider-Man, and Miles later confesses that he was recently tortured, tested, and experimented on by the tech-based villain known as the Assessor. Seeing as how Iron Man’s purview is all things tech-related with a focus on applied technology, the Assessor fits perfectly into Iron Man’s villain category, and Tony is determined to take him down after what he did to Miles.
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However, Iron Man first meets Quantum, the Assessor’s teleporting enforcer who’s powered by the Space Stone itself. Initially, Tony Stark is caught off guard due to the Quantum’s impressive abilities, and he even punches the Armored Avenger with a teleported fist inside his iconic helmet. Naturally, Tony gets pretty ticked off, but Quantum teleports Iron Man into the Assessor’s secret facility, who puts Stark through a gauntlet of tests and trials just like he did with Miles. However, despite the fact that Iron Man could blast out at any time, he knows that every test he endures brings him closer to the villain. Sure enough, Iron Man gets a second-round with Quantum, but this time he’s ready.
Using quantum entanglement to neutralize a teleporter’s element of surprise is a huge new advantage. While only temporary, 180 seconds is definitely enough time for a hero as capable and resourceful as Iron Man to get the upper hand, as evidenced in this particular issue. One would hope that this new tactic for teleporters won’t be a one-off either, as it’s a pretty incredible countermeasure for a fairly formidable power set in the Marvel Universe.
In any case, it’s cool to see Iron Man endure the Assessor’s entire gauntlet while totally catching him and his Space Stone-powered enforcer by surprise with this new move afterward. Additionally, the cherry on top for Tony Stark has to be using quantum entanglement against a foe who literally goes by the name “Quantum”. Regardless, as far as it relates to the rest of Infinite Destinies, it’s revealed at the issue’s end that the Space Stone embedded itself in Quantum’s body by force. Quantum is only working with the Assessor due to the promise made that he would eventually remove the Space Stone from his body, which is seemingly causing him considerable pain. However, it seems as though fans will have to wait and see what happens next in Marvel’s other annual issues beyond just Iron Man, as they’ll contain the next chapters of the event throughout the summer.
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