10 Iron Man Fates Worse Than Death

3. Breaking Your Best Friend - War Machine

Marvel Original Sin Iron Man Hulk
Marvel Comics

While, on a personal level, actual death is a fate far worse than a faux demise, it's extremely scummy on a grander scale when the dust settles to reveal that you faked your own death and caused your nearest and dearest to mourn you.

For Tony Stark, that was exactly what he did during the War Machine arc of 1992.

The 'fate' element here meant that ol' Shellhead could avoid the public spotlight in order to heal up from the numerous injuries, nerve damage, alcoholism and mental traumas he'd battled over the years. Iron Man #169 saw Tony first hand over the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit to long-time pal James Rhodes. Skipping ahead 15 issues, the Armored Avenger faked his own death in order for Rhodey to both run Stark Enterprises and to first take on the heroic mantle of War Machine.

In reality, Tony had placed himself in suspended animation and manipulated his friends into thinking he'd perished. So angry at the later reveal of all this, Rhodes severed his ties with Stark and ventured out on his own under the aforementioned War Machine guise.

Sure, Tony has often been an arrogant asshat who rarely thinks of others - particularly at this point in the character's history - but even Stark must've felt like quite the dirtbag upon realising the impact his faked death had on his loved ones.

Not cool, Tony. So, so not cool, man.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.