Warning! Spoilers ahead for Iron Man #4 from Christopher Cantwell and Cafu
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Iron Man, Tony Stark admits that he needs some help if he's going to rescue his friend James Rhodes, aka War Machine. Rhodey has been kidnapped by Korvac, one of the Master Intellects of the Universe, who's looking to make himself more powerful and godlike than he already is. However, Iron Man is unable to call on his fellow Avengers for backup, which means he'll need to build a different sort of team for the upcoming battle.
In prior issues of Christopher's Cantwell's run on Iron Man, Tony Stark has been struggling with a personal crisis of identity, all while having inadvertently funded the means for Korvac's new rise to greater power. Patsy Walker, also known as Hellcat, has been helping Stark stay grounded and avoid the pitfalls created by Tony's own pride and ego. Now in Iron Man #4, Rhodes' life is revealed to be in danger, and Stark initially plans to face Korvac alone to save his friend. However, Hellcat helps him realize that this is a stupid plan, as Korvac killed the entirety of the Avengers once in Marvel Comics' past. While he can't risk Rhodey's life by asking anyone high-profile like the Avengers or X-Men for backup, Hellcat gets another idea.
Patsy creates a list for Tony near the end of the issue, featuring a selection of Marvel heroes readers might not typically see with their own series and covers. These are the heroes that are on the fringe, and more importantly, small-time enough to fall under Korvac's radar if they were to help Stark save Rhodey. However, Tony does have his doubts about these currently undisclosed heroes.
It's a good thing that Patsy gave Tony the list when she did, as her injury at the hands of Korvac in the last issue has created a connection to Korvac himself. Now, Hellcat has been corrupted by the powerful villain and turns on Tony. With few options, Tony finds the metahuman Halcyon and asks him to find these other heroes for him, all in the hopes that he can at least have some sort of a shot against the powerful foe, even if Tony's believes many of them may be washed up.
Hopefully Iron Man and Halcyon will be able to build this new team from those who reside in the outskirts of the Marvel Universe. While they do seem to be Tony's only option, it's apparent that he has his doubts about them. While it's unknown at the moment who in particular these heroes might be, hopefully they'll be able to unite alongside Iron Man and somehow defeat Korvac. One thing's for sure, it's not going to be an easy fight for Tony Stark or his potential new allies.
