What Happened To Everyone Who Wore Iron Man's Armour?

9. The Iron Legion

Iron Man Legion
Marvel Comics

In the MCU, the Iron Legion was the codename given to the AI protocol that enabled Tony to control all of his constructed Iron Man armours. It had a different function in the comics though, and was even pioneered by Rhodey while he was operating as War Machine.

When Ultimo leaves Tony Stark in a coma, it falls to Rhodey to formulate a response. Utilising older Iron Man armours, he assembles a team comprised of Happy Hogan, Edward March (who previously donned the armour years earlier), Bethany Cabe, Mike O'Brien and Carl Walker. You can probably be forgiven for not recognising pretty much any of the names just mentioned, as they've had anything but illustrious careers when it comes to mainstream Marvel continuity.

Hogan, although differing dramatically from his onscreen counterpart played by Jon Favreau, still works for Stark in the comics. He even marries Pepper Potts, although the romance doesn't work out and the pair end up divorcing several years later. Hogan was later killed in a confrontation with Spymaster. March hasn't appeared since joining the Legion, while Bethany has featured sporadically as a member of Stark's staff in the years since.

As for O'Brien and Walker, the former went on to work for the Avengers, while the latter actually played a key role in several Iron Man storylines, even coming up against Stark after he was blackmailed by Sonny Burch.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.