Iron Man (2026) “A New Nightmare” Review: Hitting the Classics Brings New Focus

Iron Man has been experiencing a bit of an identity crisis for the last few years, not to say the last decade. Following the character’s reinvention at the hands of Warren Ellis and Adi Granov for 2004–2006’s “Extremis,” the subsequent runs by the Knaufs (2006–2008) and Matt Fraction (2008–2012) managed to carry a sense of narrative and thematic cohesion. When Fraction wrapped up his run, he was succeeded by Kieron Gillen, who left the book rather abruptly at the chance to write Star Wars: Darth Vader, marking the beginning of an unfortunate string of runs that were either cut short by the shifting winds of behind-the-scenes matters or failed to resonate with readers. Sometimes both. There have been seven writers after Matt Fraction’s four-year run, and only one of them—Brian Michael Bendis—managed to hit the 30-issue benchmark… And it was a run where Tony Stark was comatose for 11 of those issues.

The overall quality of these runs has also been rather so-so, with Gerry Duggan’s 2022–2024 run being the only one I can recommend with excitement and dare to call a modern classic. Although “classic” is not quite the word for it. Despite the run’s excellent qualities, it sees Tony in an unconventional status quo, hitting rock bottom and playing possum while secretly assisting mutantkind against their latest enemies, somewhat living in the shadow of Duggan’s then-concurrent X-Men run. And unconventional status quos have also been a staple of these last few years. Having his morality magically inverted. Being knocked into a coma and being replaced by a newcomer legacy character. Losing his claim to humanity and being replaced by his once-secret adopted brother. Divesting from his company and moving to a brownstone in an attempt to downgrade and find himself. Becoming an underground ally for the X-Men. Losing his armor and having to make do with a low-tech suit.

So come 2025, Iron Man needed a change. But when all you get is change, what do you really need? Joshua Williamson seems to know the answer to that.

A writer of DC fame, Williamson returned to Marvel to helm Iron Man. His first work for the House of Ideas since 2016. As he shared in the letters page for #1, Williamson got the itch to write for Marvel again while visiting the Avengers Campus with his family. But what he wanted to write was Iron Man in specific. A fan of the Armored Avenger since the ‘80s, Williamson has said that the idea behind his run had been brewing for the last ten years. This idea is: what if somebody like Tony went through the same near-death experience that led him to build Iron Man and spurred him to become a better person… but didn’t?

As this thesis gradually progresses in the pages of the book, Williamson’s run shines in the way that he wraps this backbone concept in the warm blanket of the familiar. Not wasting any time, the first issue of the book begins with a scene featuring Madame Masque, the main villain of the run’s opening 5-issue story arc. Tony’s psychotic former paramour, Whitney Frost, was the Talia al Ghul to Tony’s Batman before Talia al Ghul even existed. She’s one of the most important women in Iron Man’s life, but one who hadn’t been featured much in modern Iron Man books, with her last major appearance having been in 2015, in the opening arc of Bendis’s run. Unlike Bendis, who had Madame Masque pivot to stealing magical objects only to clash with Tony and be defeated, Williamson made sure to root her presence in the book in her dynamic and obsession with Iron Man. She’s the villain of the opening story arc because she wants to “create” the new Tony Stark, using her new position as head of A.I.M. to kidnap scientists and force them against the wall to see what they would do if they were in Tony’s metaphorical cave.

This plot hook is fairly straightforward, but it opens the door to an extremely personal and involved conflict for Tony. The first three issues juxtapose Tony’s search for Madame Masque with the villainess’s own activities before they come into conflict ahead of the climax. Williamson ensures that the plot moves at a good pace, checking up on all the different characters so as not to lose track of them. The final act of the story even features a few twists and turns which take certain characters to unexpected places, preventing the plot from feeling predictable. It’s a character-driven story that understands what makes for a great comic book: Engaging dialogue, clever ideas, and fast-paced action.

Masque is one of the many classic Iron Man characters returning. On the bad guys’ corner, Blizzard and Dreadknight appear in minor roles with promises of something more. An industrial saboteur who is my personal favorite Iron Man baddie is the villain of the standalone issue #6. At the moment of this writing, Williamson has just brought back Whiplash, a rogue wholly absent from Iron Man stories since his debut miniseries, 2010’s Iron Man vs. Whiplash, who is set to have a big role in the book’s second story arc. On the good guys’ corner, Pepper Potts returns after being somewhat written out of the book in Tom Taylor’s 2014 Superior Iron Man and only having minor appearances in later runs, and War Machine is back after his presence in Gerry Duggan’s West Coast Avengers put him off limits to Williamson’s Iron Man predecessor, Spencer Ackerman.

But Williamson is not just pandering to long-time Iron Man fans. His run’s overarching big bad is one introduced in his first story arc. So is Tony’s new love interest, the chef Luna Lucia. Williamson is also tipping his hat to the aforementioned Spencer Ackerman, who brought Melinda May of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fame into the fold as Stark’s head of security in his short-lived 10-issue run. Despite the fact that nobody would think twice if Melinda had dropped off the face of the book when Williamson took the reins, he’s kept her around. Williamson is also mixing the new and old, introducing a brand-new and unrevealed bearer of the Citizen V mantle who is keeping an eye on Tony Stark, pulling the strings of a group of Tony’s allies, prompting them to form a cabal to make sure Tony doesn’t step out of line after receiving anonymous warnings from him. This cabal features the usual suspects like Jim Rhodes, Carol Danvers, and Steve Rogers, as well as the wild card of a reformed Norman Osborn and the deep cut that is Henry Hellrung, the superhero known as Anthem and Tony’s AA sponsor, created by Fraction for a book he helmed called The Order, which preceded his Iron Man run.

It’s clear that Williamson was itching to write for Marvel, and it’s a joy to see the way he integrates the elements of the wider Marvel Universe into his book. From something as overt as Spider-Man guest-starring in issue #6 or Fixer of Thunderbolts fame appearing as Madame Masque’s second-in-command to the smaller things, like the villains Mysterio, Arcade and Mojo being mentioned as having had their technology used by Masque and Fixer for their plan. These name-drops alone make the book feel truly rooted in the Marvel Universe. In another example, Norman Osborn makes an allusion to his current dealings in Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity in issue #6, something small that really brings a sense of continuity.

And what about the main man himself, Tony Stark? Williamson presents us with a version of the character that combines classic elements with a dash of influence from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While I prefer my Tony Starks not to pay notice to Robert Downey Jr., it’s undeniable that a good spoonful of RDJ-ness spices things up and helps new readers ease into the world of Iron Man comics. He’s charming and somewhat conceited, but in a cheeky kinda way. Most importantly, he’s caring and self-reflective, yet remains a man of action who will jump in the second somebody is in danger. I have particularly enjoyed the way Tony will drop any pretense of fun the second the situation warrants his serious side. He’s wonderfully righteous and will let you know if you pissed him off. Additionally, a big portion of this run revolves around his feelings of guilt, a classic Tony Stark trope, and how he holds himself responsible for certain events. In a somewhat meta way, maybe unwittingly so, Williamson also shows Tony as a person who feels a bit marooned. In a conversation with Luna Lucia, he admits he hasn’t really built anything new recently, instead iterating on what he already has. This, in part, fuels a status-quo change at the end of the first story arc, which feels like a natural progression for the character. He takes a mentor role, not as Iron Man, but as Tony Stark. I can’t wait to see where that takes him.

I can’t talk about Tony Stark in this book without talking about Carmen Carnero. It feels like a crime that I didn’t find a good segue to sing her praises until now. Contributing to the book’s classic vibe, Carnero delights us with a Tony Stark who harkens back to the character’s 80s era. He’s tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and a luscious mane of hair. And while this is not the first time Tony has gone without a goatee in modern times, he’s now sporting a Zappa beard. With great success, Carmen aced the assignment to make Tony Stark hot, so much so that he’s shirtless for a good portion of issue #1, welding against OSHA regulations to make sure the reader knows he has chest hair and a happy trail.

This is not Carnero’s only strength. Every character looks unique and expressive, with dynamic body language and weight in their actions. This helps sell the quieter moments, like Pepper and Tony’s reunion or his first date with Luna at a beachside food park, and it gets turned up to eleven for the action sequences, where Iron Man feels dynamic and powerful. It’s a shame she suffered an injury and also had to deal with home renovations while working on this book. It’s the reason Jen Bazaldua had to do some fill-in work on issues #4 and #5, while issues #6 and #7 were handled entirely by Juann Cabal and Von Randal, respectively. Luckily, the two latter issues were self-contained enough that Cabal and Randal felt like any standard guest artist, and Bazaldua’s work was integrated fairly seamlessly, so much so that her contribution in issue #5 is limited to a post-credits epilogue that doesn’t clash with the rest of the issue.

Save for issue #7, all of the artwork is complemented by the colors of Nolan Woodard, somebody I’ve always appreciated since his work in Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s Loki: Agent of Asgard. His palettes elevate the artwork and the mood, helping each scene stand out. For instance, the purple-and-orange hues of the Tony Stark Award ceremony concert are very nicely contrasted by the blue and cool tones backstage, where some of issue #1’s quieter moments reside. When Tony visits Madripoor, it’s full of purple-and-green neon, and when A.I.M.’s base of operation is engulfed in fire, it shifts from dull yellow to a vibrant red.

If there’s one complaint I have about this book, it’s Tony’s armor. The Mark 75 was designed by Carnero for this book. When it comes to Iron Man’s suits, it’s pretty generic. It takes the layman’s mental image of Iron Man, featuring a distribution of gold that I’m not particularly happy with. The armor’s abs are gold, but not its obliques. The armor’s knees and outer thighs are gold, but not the rest of the upper legs. It makes the gold portions feel like patches that don’t really harmonize with the rest of the colorway. Granted, I think it’s on purpose that this run’s armor is so… generic. Duggan’s run ended with the predominantly black and super-sleek Mysterium Armor, and the Improvised Armor was crude and steampunk, with a lot of exposed leather. I can’t say I blame editorial for trying to go with something less risky. I hope to see the armor’s features explored in future issues. I am a fan of nanotech armors, so it’s a bit peeving to see Tony always fall back to the flying-plates suit-ups that regular audiences are familiar with since 2013’s Iron Man 3, especially with Avengers: Infinity War or Marvel Rivals cementing the nanotech standard. But since this book is about Tony learning new tricks, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Speaking of classic elements, as if this review didn’t already revolve around them, one of the best things to come back in this run is the letters pages! Ackerman’s run managed to sneak in a little fan correspondence, but Williamson and editor Danny Khazem bring back “Printed Circuits” in full throttle, using it not only to engage with the audience, but also to share their own thoughts, reading recommendations, and teases of artwork for upcoming issues. I’m going to forever cherish the fact that I got my own letter published in issue #5.

As much as it pained me to see Spencer Ackerman’s run cut so short, maybe Williamson is the kind of book that Iron Man needed. Something that doesn’t try to move fast and break things. It’s a book that harkens back to what makes the character special. With no need to make him lose his fortune or his company, Tony Stark is still allowed to grow and evolve alongside his world, just in between the comic book spectacle, and accompanied by the classic characters he was sorely missing.