Building (and Tinkering with) a Legacy: Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1

The following is my review of Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

When a new character takes on the legacy of an older one, the greatest challenge is making that transition seem fitting and meaningful. It helps when the older character has a sizable network of friends, family, and side-kicks in the wings, ready to carry on that legacy in a way that feels like a true extension of the story. This is how Batman's legacy can continue whenever Bruce Wayne is MIA, whether it's through Dick Grayson, Terry McGuinness, or the occasional robot.

Unfortunately for the legacy of Iron Man, Tony Stark isn't as keen on side-kicks and family. Throughout his history, he tends to monopolize all things Iron Man. At times, he gives the impression that he only tolerates War Machine because he doesn't use a title or color scheme that undermines his brand. He's akin to a musician who doesn't mind people doing goofy parodies of his music. That may be an effective way to control a legacy, but it does create issues once Tony is unavailable. With no Robin or even a Bucky Barnes waiting in the wings, Iron Man's legacy is especially vulnerable.

That makes the task Brian Michael Bendis undertook in creating Riri Williams all the more daunting. He doesn't have the time or capacity to create the kind of built-in legacy that Batman has. He has to put Riri in this role of filling in for Tony Stark with next to no build-up or dramatic underpinnings. Riri just happens to be in the right place at the right time when Tony Stark goes down in Civil War II. It's the kind of happenstance that can only come at Marvel where Cosmic Cubes, deals with Mephisto, and the Scarlet Witch going crazy constantly skew the odds.

With Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1, Bendis has a chance to forge a greater personal connection between Tony Stark and Riri Williams. In a sense, that sort of connection is overdue because even in his AI form, Tony acts more as a guide than a mentor to Riri. The lack of any deeper undertones still creates the impression that Riri's role is forced and contrived. Creating a more personal connection can help mitigate that impression.

Bendis makes that effort and even tries a different approach, compared to previous iterations of Marvel Generations. Whereas the other stories have taken characters to the past, he takes Riri to the future. That's somewhat more practical, given the inherent themes of futurism in Iron Man. However, pragmatics only go so far. When it comes to actual substance, the story falters and only ends up highlighting the reasons certain fans complain about Riri in the first place.

By taking the story to the future instead of the past, she ends up in a very different world, compared to the one she comes from. This is inherently an issue for her character because so much of her story is tied to her situation in the present. Her family, being from Chicago, and stumbling through the growing pains of being a hero are part of what makes Riri's story compelling. None of that is present in Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1. That leaves Riri isolated and only highlights some of her less flattering traits.

From the moment she arrives in the future, Riri basically acts as her own narrator. It tries to come off as cute and awkward, as is often the nature of teenagers, but it just comes off as annoying and self-centered. She doesn't say or ponder anything that isn't depicted by Marco Rudy's skilled art. When she encounters familiar-looking heroes from the future, including a next-generation Avengers team and a 126-year-old Tony Stark, who also happens to be the Sorcerer Supreme, the moment falls flat. For overly-emotional teenagers, that just goes against the laws of physics.

That's not to say Riri is cold in the story. She does make it a point to hug Tony when she gets the chance. However, that's pretty much the extent of the connection they forge. It's also the extent of the drama in the story. There's no epic battle. There's no shared struggle. One is teased, but goes absolutely nowhere. There's no point where Riri really works with Tony, thereby gaining a better understanding of what it means to be Ironheart. She basically just sits back, watches, and gets a crash course in how great the future is.

While that sort of techno-utopian ideology is a key component to Iron Man, Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1 doesn't present it in a very compelling way. It's mostly done through Tony Stark talking, Riri Williams reacting, and everyone else just shrugging their shoulders. It's as compelling as it sounds. There aren't any moments of real struggle with Riri. She's basically just a guest passing through and not much else. Her passing out when she first arrives is the most she does to move the story forward.

That's not to say there's no overall impact for Riri. Seeing the future and all the beauty that Rudy's art can depict leaves an important impression. It shows that the future she, Tony, and all things Iron Man are trying to build is worth building. That's a meaningful impression, but one that doesn't need to be belabored in an Iron Man comic, which is built on the very premise that a better future can be built. Riri's story already involves plenty of future-building so the impression comes off as redundant.

Bendis has many opportunities to craft a more meaningful connection between Riri and Tony in Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart #1. Few, if any, of those opportunities pan out. Riri still comes off as an annoying teenager who basically stumbles to success at every turn as Ironheart and Tony comes off as overly coy with his ego. The story succeeds at capturing the futurism themes inherent of most Iron Man stories, but that's all it succeeds with. For someone as capable as Riri Williams and Tony Stark, that's just too low a bar.


Final Score: 4 out of 10

Inferior Superiority: Superior Iron Man #8

The following is my review of Superior Iron Man #8, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

We all have our inner demons and we all love to blame our problems on those demons. They’re right up there with alcohol and bad parenting as our top excuses for screwing up. Whereas some will blame, others will confront. Few that confront succeed and those that do have the right to say they’re superior on some levels. In many respects, Tony Stark has earned that right.

Superior Iron Man has been a case study in confronting inner demons. However, this superior version of Tony Stark doesn’t fight them. He embraces them. In his inverted state of mind, he turned those demons into a strength and he did it in a way that some of his closest friends found disturbing. This descent into a twisted brand of strength and ambition is what has made the concept of Superior Iron Man so compelling. At the same time, it has had its share of glaring flaws.

At this point in the superior Tony Stark’s story, he confronts something more daunting than his inner demons. He confronts a back-up version of himself that isn’t inverted and hasn’t become jaded by a world where bad Transformers movies make a billion dollars and Kardashians are treated as legitimate talents. This older more idealistic Tony Stark is a shadow of the man he once was. He’s supposed to be a more heroic Tony Stark. However, the conflict that emerges in Superior Iron Man #8 reveals a different dynamic that undermines the overall concept.

This concept has been built around the moral ambiguity that the inverted Tony Stark has exercised since he unleashed Extremis 3.0 on San Francisco. What he did was reckless, but not inherently evil. Like Walter White in his pre-Heisenberg days, he tried to achieve something he believed to be moral using less-than-moral tactics. The main difference in Tony’s case is that these tactics worked and without any pizzas getting stuck on any roofs.

These results put him at odds with allies like Pepper Potts, but he was able to walk that fine line that Walter White tried to walk in that he didn’t come off as overly villainous. That’s has helped give the narrative of Superior Iron Man a sense of balance, which makes for a struggle that feels more novel than just some angry employee whining about her boss. But in responding to Pepper’s tactics, the inverted Tony Stark decides to stop walking that line. In fact, he comes dangerously close to spitting on it altogether.

The tone and theme of the story is no longer about this new Tony Stark trying to further his vision. It’s now about him shoving Pepper out of the way and doing it in a way that even Donald Trump wouldn’t approve of. He resorts to using hostages and human shields, forcing Pepper and a back-up version of his non-inverted self to adjust their tactics. It’s no longer a battle of ideas or methods. It’s a battle of people who are okay with human shields and people who aren’t.

Such a shift disrupts that fragile balance that the Superior Iron Man was able to maintain in the face of so much criticism. It used to be that a part of us might be willing to go along with his vision. Who wouldn’t want to live in a city that gave them something that made them smarter, sexier, and stronger that didn’t involve quack advice from Dr. Oz? Some might be willing to live in that world where Tony Stark is a de-facto mob boss, giving them what they want so long as they pay the price.

Now even ardent communists probably wouldn’t pay the price Tony is asking. If Extremis 3.0 comes with a human shield clause in the user agreement, that’s a deal-breaker. And Tony’s willingness to exercise this part of the agreement that nobody probably read goes beyond inversion. It goes beyond reckless. It might as well be a move stolen directly out of Dr. Doom’s playbook.

That’s not to say that the theme of Superior Iron Man as a whole is shattered by this change, but it does cause a significant crack. The inverted Tony Stark still has a vision that he wants to pursue. That vision still has merits. He’s now just caught up in confronting those who stand in his way, even if they are cherished friends. But his methods for doing so lack the cunning and charm that’s supposed to come with superiority. When he resorts to bigger fancier sets of armor, he’s basically reverting to mediocrity.

Beyond Tony’s more inferior approach, there are other parts of the story that are less disruptive. Pepper’s new connection to Teen Abomination provides a solid sub-plot that doesn’t feel completely disconnected from the narrative. His presence helps make this conflict more personal for Pepper, which in turn helps her come off as more than just a whiny employee. She’s a lot easier to root for, even if she’s done a poor job of challenging Tony’s vision. She no longer comes off as some cantankerous old woman who whines about how complicated smart phones have gotten. She’s trying to stop someone from doing legitimate harm to innocent people.

It’s not a poor narrative in and of itself, but Superior Iron Man #8 does sacrifice some of the complexity and novelty that made it such an intriguing concept. If this were a game of dodge ball, everyone would be ganging up on Tony right about now. He didn’t just lose his credibility as a savvy yet morally ambiguous visionary. He threw it away, spit on it, and stepped on it. Now he may still have a plan that’s worth following that doesn’t involve human shields. But like Peter Parker trying to be a marriage counselor, Tony now has little credibility left to work with.

Final Score 5 out of 10

Aura of Superiority: Superior Iron Man #1

The following is my review of Superior Iron Man #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

What does it mean to be a superior hero? It’s a question that didn’t evoke any controversial answers until recently. It used to be a pretty simple process. Gauging the superiority of a hero was dependent on the response to the question, “How much like Superman is the hero in question?” Then, the Superior Spider-Man came along and the whole concept of superiority became a lot more complicated. Now, in order to be superior, it’s also necessary to be an egotistical jerk to some extent. The Superior Spider-Man raised this brand of superiority to an art form. Now Iron Man is poised to make it its own sub-genre.

The concept of superiority is rapidly changing in an era where nobody expects superheroes to be boy scouts anymore. In fact, it has gotten to the point where the Boy Scout heroes are considered the freaks in that could never be believably portrayed by Robert Downy Jr. For some reason, superiority takes a certain degree of flaws and personality disorders. I don’t know if this constitutes a new meaning for the word or denotes the need for a new word entirely, but the context was certainly there for Superior Spider-Man. Now, thanks to the events of Avengers and X-men: AXIS, it’s there in Superior Iron Man #1.

The whole premise for this new “superior” version of Iron Man is built around two concepts. The first is the tried and true method of working smart and not hard. From the earliest days of human civilization, people realized how much they hated picking food one-by-one and trying to strangle a deer with their bare hands. Naturally, creating better tools allowed them to work more efficiently to get what they want. The second part of that concept involves appealing to the sensibilities behind every successful Victoria’s Secret ad ever made. A superior hero doesn’t just save lives. A superior hero finds a way to make them better, sexier, and healthier.

It’s a concept that, on the surface, shouldn’t be so revolutionary. What good is saving the lives of the innocent if those lives don’t considerably improve? That’s like giving CPR to a deer that’s in the process of bleeding to death. Well Tony Stark noticed that no other hero has dared to try that and since he happens to be the resident billionaire/tech genius, he decides to take a stab at it. And he does it in the most shallow, self-indulgent way possible.

First, he unleashes a new version of Extremis. He doesn’t ask permission or stop to think that this might backfire on him in some horrible way. Then, he grants everybody a free app that allows them to use Extremis to make themselves beautiful, healthy, and sexy. Now everybody has the ability to look like every heavily Photoshopped model to ever appear on Cosmos. It certainly doesn’t exude the merits of a hero. It exudes the merits of every makeup commercial to ever air and Kanye West album ever made. It certainly doesn’t come off as the actions of a hero. Yet somehow, Tony Stark is able to carry it out in a way that feels both superior and awesome.

This bold new experiment isn’t just an exercise in realizing the false promises of every beauty product ever advertised. It represents an entirely new approach to being Iron Man. Tony Stark was already as respected and admired as any billionaire/superhero/Avenger could be. For most peoples’ ego, that’s more than enough. But Tony Stark needed more. By giving the people of San Francisco access to this incredible technology, he endeared himself to these people the same way anyone giving out free doughnuts would endear themselves to Homer Simpson. It creates an environment where he’s more than just a hero. He’s something that is superior in every sense of the word.

This new approach to being Iron Man still leaves room for typical Iron Man duties. When a wholly unoriginal gamma-powered villain named Teen Abomination comes along, Iron Man still deals with it like he usually would. He just does it with more style now. He doesn’t need to get his hands dirty. He can send a remote-controlled Iron Man suit into the field to do his work for him while he sips cocktails and hooks up with beautiful women. He’s like a Navy Seal and Hugh Hefner all rolled into one.

Tony Stark has every reason to call himself superior. But with superiority comes critics, as anyone who ever tried to make a well-reasoned argument on a message board knows. Pepper Potts tries to be the voice of reason for this new superior Tony Stark. The problem is that none of the arguments she makes carry much weight. She derides him for not sharing the app with more people and not considering the consequences. It may leave some to wonder if she would’ve made the same argument to whoever invented breast implants. Her perspective lacks depth whereas Tony Stark’s perspective lacks accountability.

That’s not to say her arguments are completely without merit. Some of the consequences Pepper warns of do manifest, albeit in a somewhat predictable way. But it’s Tony Stark himself who essentially vindicates Pepper’s concerns when he reveals a huge catch to this gift he’s given San Francisco. That catch, like the fine print of a user agreement on an iPhone, is that this wonderful gift is not free. Tony Stark is still a businessman and he’s basically treating Extremis like Candy Crush. He’s given the people a free trial. Now he’s going to see how badly people want to keep playing his game.

In the end, what makes Iron Man so superior in Superior Iron Man #1 has nothing to do with how he conducts himself as a hero. He’s still doing heroic deeds in protecting people from gamma-powered threats. He’s also being a good businessman, giving people a product he knows they want and charging for it in ways that would make Ayan Rand blush. It’s a superiority that’s built on a mix of cunning and ambition. He’s not just content with saving the day. He wants to make the days that come more enjoyable for the people he saves. He’s just not going to do it for free anymore. Like anyone who ever bought a cheap cell phone, Tony Stark understands that superiority in any form comes at a price.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

Scanned Thoughts: Superior Iron Man #1

We have a very schizophrenic attitude when it comes to dealing with narcissistic douche-bags. They exhibit all the qualities we’re taught to avoid as kids. They’re selfish, they’re greedy, they’re egotistical, and they see other people as glorified meat bags. Yet for some reason, we make these people are representatives in Congress and give them their own reality show. Sure, it sometimes helps if they look sexy or have fucktons of money, but the fact we still pay attention gives them plenty of incentive to keep doing what they’re doing. In a ways, we’re partially to blame for their continued douche-baggery. But from a strictly evolutionary standpoint, this kind of narcissism does have its place. In order for someone to feed their egos and be loved to the point where they can masturbate to thoughts of how awesome they are, they kind of have to do stuff for other people. Game of Thrones has shown time and again that just being a dick is a pretty quick way to get eaten by a dragon or disemboweled at a wedding.

Tony Stark must be a Game of Thrones fan because he realized this during the events of Avengers and X-men: AXIS. Having already taken a big steaming dump on his credibility, he’s struck out on his own to try a different approach to being Iron Man. It may or may not be a result of the “inversion” spell that was cast in the battle against the Red Skull, but it has inspired Iron Man to channel his inner Steve Jobs. Now he’s prepared to turn San Francisco into his own personal Apple Store dedicated to showing how awesome he is, complete with fucked up user agreements. Superior Iron Man #1 is the grand opening of this store. He’s already given the people of San Francisco a reason to kiss his ass with imported lipstick. Now he’s going to make them eager to suck his dick on demand.

He’s already several steps ahead of the game if that’s his goal. He’s already released the Extemis 3.0 app, as revealed in the pages of Avengers and X-men: AXIS. He delivered his message to San Francisco and they’ve now elevated him to a level second only to Madison Bumgarner. Everybody can now make themselves as sexy as Jennifer Lawrence and as healthy as an Olympic athlete (minus the steroids and doping) with a simple smartphone app. I admit if someone gave me a product like that for free, I’d gladly lick dog shit off their shoes. And anybody who claims otherwise is dirty, rotten liar. So I’d say Iron Man has done more than enough to enjoy a victory lap and savor all the love and adulation from the people of San Francisco. And he didn’t even have to use a giant gun to succeed this time. That alone is a step towards superiority.

That victory lap is all well and good, but superiority alone doesn’t make Iron Man or San Francisco immune to the occasional shit storm. A week after Iron Man takes his victory lap, some D-list villain calling himself Teen Abomination decides to drop in and fuck up all the good times. And yes, his name really is Teen Abomination. I guess gamma radiation doesn’t increase creativity as much as it does strength. She-Hulk is there to get the fight going. Iron Man shows up just in time to make fun of his name and to see She-Hulk get decked. For whatever reason, villains these days are very sensitive about their shitty names. Go figure. But Teen Abomination really isn’t presented as some daunting threat. He’s just some generic, run-of-the-mill threat that’s supposed to make Iron Man take a break from jerking off his ego. It’s more an inconvenience than a struggle.

The battle unfolds fairly predictably. Teen Abomination snarls and whines as one might expect of completely bland villain. Then, he manages to get in a lucky blow that knocks Iron Man’s head off. And no, that’s not a colorful drunken metaphor. And yes, I say as casually as I would order Chinese Food. That’s because knocking Iron Man’s head off in this battle is about as consequential as messing up Donald Trump’s hair. It turns out Tony Stark isn’t even in this particular Iron Man armor. He’s operating it remotely because why should he be there to get roughed up by a badly named villain? He’s Tony fucking Stark. He works smart, not hard. That’s not just heroic. That’s downright American.

And it’s because Tony Stark isn’t there (or maybe in spite of it) that he finishes off Teen Abomination in as rough a way he can. It’s not exactly epic and it’s probably the fasted any gamma-powered villain has gone down in the history of Marvel, but it’s not intended to be a big part of the story. It’s just a way of showing how much more efficient Iron Man has gotten at being Iron Man. When he can beat up a gamma powered threat without even being there, then that’s a clear sign of superiority.

There’s also another sign of superiority and that’s being able to remotely operate an Iron Man suit from a pool surrounded by sexy men and women while sipping cocktails. And once again, Tony Stark finds a way to stay ahead of the curve because that’s exactly what he was doing while taking down Teen Abomination. It’s probably something he could’ve done before becoming “superior.” Hell, it’s probably something he did every now and then just for shits and giggles. But now, with all these beautiful people who owe him for their beauty, he has even more reasons to enjoy himself. He even boasts how he took Teen Abomination down between an orgy in a spa and a cocktail. What kind of hero multi-tasks like that? The awesome kind, that’s who.

Tony Stark has every reason to keep partying while being Iron Man in between drinks. But like any awesome party, there’s always going to be someone to come along and be a total buzzkill. Pepper Potts decides to take on that role because I guess being played by Gweneth Paltrow rubbed off on her. Playing the part of Tony Stark’s brain that isn’t easily distracted by breasts, booze, and butts she often has to be Iron Man’s gatekeeper. And while I’m sure she’s had to clean up plenty of orgies and puke stains over the years, she’s never had to confront something like this.

Pepper only briefly touches on the fact that Tony is drinking again before busting his balls about his new venture in San Francisco. It’s not like he doesn’t give her a reason to be concerned. He even reveals that he’s created a new Iron Man suit out of a fucking symbiote and Odin knows no good has ever come from mixing it up with a symbiote. I’m sure Spider-Man would shit himself if he heard about this. But Pepper is more concerned about the fact that Extremis 3.0 has turned San Francisco into a giant orgy of drunkenness, irresponsibility, and excess. That’s kind of what happens when everybody is suddenly beautiful, healthy, and flushed with a sense of superiority. I’m not entirely sure how that’s any different than most uber-liberal cities, but there is some merit to Pepper’s outrage.

And by some, I mean barely any. She whines about how not everybody has access to Extremis 3.0, but I get the sense she would yell at him just as much if she gave it to everybody. Isn’t it prudent to restrict access to a new product to a select group of people? She says there are other possible consequences and she’s probably right. But she’s pointing out all the wrong consequences. Seriously, how does Tony Stark expect a city to function where everyone is beautiful and sexy? How would they ever stop humping and drinking long enough to get any shit done? This would’ve been a much more reasonable argument to make, but she chose not to and that just amplifies her role as a total buzzkill.

That doesn’t mean that some of those consequences haven’t played out. In a city where the vast majority of the people are beautiful, healthy, and superior that means those who aren’t just become easier targets. This is nicely demonstrated in the hippie parts of San Francisco where five yuppie-type asshole decide to gang up on a homeless woman. Because as it turns out, when any group of people are given superiority, they like to exercise it by being total assholes. Not saying it’s right or anything. I’m just saying it’s human nature. These people see ugly ass girls like this the same way most of us see pimples. They want to get rid of it and they don’t care how messy it is. I guess it’s just easier to pop pimples.

This naturally attracts the attention of Daredevil, who recently set up shop in San Francisco. He doesn’t take kindly to angry mobs of beautiful people ganging up on homeless girls. I guess that’s easier for him when he doesn’t look like he slept in a dumpster. He’s eager to do his usual routine, throwing his sticks around and making assholes uncomfortable. And no, that wasn’t a gay joke. I’m trying to resist those jokes now that this story is taking place in San Francisco.

However, the fight here ends before anyone can throw too many punches. Before Daredevil can give these people a lecture on why being beautiful doesn’t give them an excuse to be assholes (unless their name is Tom Cruise), they start having a bad reaction. It’s not clear what it is at first, but they start writhing like I did during my last colonoscopy. Daredevil can’t be that intimidating. Hell, he can’t even be the oddest dressed guy in San Francisco. Anyone who has ever been to the Castro District knows that.

Their sudden discomfort has an easy explanation that takes Tony Stark beyond being a superior asshole and into a realm once reserved for Steve Jobs. Everybody who was enjoying the fruits of Extremis 3.0 is suddenly losing its effects. They’re becoming their ugly, inept former selves again. And it’s not because the app is malfunctioning. In fact, the app is working just as it’s supposed to work in that it reveals Tony Stark’s bold offer wasn’t exactly free out of the goodness of his heart. Like Candy Crush, people have to pay to keep using it and he has the audacity to charge $99.99 a day for that privilege. It’s wholly unreasonable, but Tony Stark reminds everyone that he’s a businessman. Giving shit away for free would just defeat the purpose.

It is a huge dick move. He gave everybody a taste of perfection. They all got to experience just how awesome it is. It would be like us ordinary folk getting to live like Bill Gates for a day. When it’s over and we go back to our shitty apartments, it doesn’t feel very good. This is a hundred steps beyond that. At the same time, it’s not downright evil. He gave everybody something they all wanted on some levels. It’s basic human nature to want to be beautiful and healthy. Now he’s just charging for it. How is that any different than make-up companies charging obscene amounts of money for their products? The only difference here is that Iron Man’s product works way fucking better.

At this point, Pepper has seen enough. Again, it’s probably easy when she still looks sexy as hell in a business suit. But she sees what’s happening with Tony Stark and she doesn’t like it. She thinks he’s either being mind-controlled or he’s let his alcoholism kick his ass again. Either way, she wants to stop him. So to do that she enlists the help of someone who has somehow taken over one of Iron Man’s older models. Given how Tony Stark just beat up a gamma-powered villain while sipping cocktails from a pool, I have a hard time believing that this will make much of a difference. But it’ll at least give Tony Stark an obstacle so he can’t spend all day jerking off his ego and getting drunk.

Before this series, I don’t think anybody would argue that Tony Stark was an asshole to some degree. He’s just a lot better than most superheroes at channeling his inner douche-baggery into being a competent hero. We common folk love to shit all over the super-rich and the super beautiful, ignoring most of the time that these super-rich assholes are a big reason why we have many of the comforts we enjoy. But what Tony Stark did here is raise the bar for super-rich, superhero douche-baggery to an unprecedented level. Most importantly, he was made himself look awesome doing it.

What Iron Man is doing here is not a total dick move. Iron Man is only a dick in the same sense that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are dicks for charging so much money for shit we really want that makes us really happy. This is capitalism in the purest Ayan Rand tradition, but Tony Stark takes it to a level that would probably soak her panties. He’s not just saving people from assholes like Teen Abomination. He’s giving the people he’s saving something they want. And now it’s something they can’t live without. And as shitty a price he’s charging, I’d say it’s still not nearly as bad as the price Apple charges to upgrade their iPhones. It’s a bold new world and Tony Stark is the ultimate pimp in a city he’s turned into whores, both literally and figuratively. Dick move or not, it’s still way more than any Avenger has dared to do and that makes Iron Man awesome again. Superior Iron Man #1 gets a 9 out of 10. Now someone just has to keep Tony Stark away from giant guns so that he doesn’t fuck everything up like he did with the Phoenix Force. Nuff said!