# Iron Lad (Ultimate Universe character)

Iron Lad (Anthony "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is the revamped version of the Ultimate Marvel character of the superhero Iron Man, who first appeared in the second issue of Ultimate Invasion, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by the co-creator of the 2002 series The Ultimates, Bryan Hitch.
In the Ultimate Universe, Tony Stark is the teenage son of Howard Stark who is this reality's version of Iron Man. After receiving a message from his father, he takes on the mantle of Iron Lad in his honour, and carries on the fight against the Maker, with the aid of the Ultimate Universe iteration of Reed Richards known as Doom.

## Fictional character biography

Tony Stark was the son of technocrat Howard Stark, also known as Iron Man; one of the two heads of the mega-corporation Stane/Stark Industries, which controlled the geopolitical region known as the North American Union, one of the seven sovereign bodies whose combined power governed the entire world. However, due to his reserved nature, Howard defaulted to his business partner and lifelong friend Obadiah Stane when it came to the company's public relations.
Following a visit from Howard to Latveria to attend a convergence of incorporated nation-states, Tony would learn the dark workings of the global societal climate from his father. After Obadiah's death during an assassination attempt on the world's imperator, the Maker, Howard was made privy to the knowledge that the relationships held between the seven bodies were a ruse, as their leaders had actually formed a secret cabal under the leadership of the Maker. They orchestrated global conflicts and alliances to unite the people of each region, guided by the belief that achieving genuine lasting peace was impossible. The Starks were appalled by this discovery and Howard was ashamed of his passive compliance. Tony encouraged him to fight against the Maker's cabal. Shortly afterward, Howard was enlisted by the Maker to return to Latveria to repair the Immortus Engine, a time machine secretly used by the imperator to reshape history according to his vision. An invader from another universe, the Maker had used his foreknowledge of the world's status quo to alter history, disrupting the emergence of the world's super heroes in the process.
Alongside a new ally, a prisoner of the Maker named Reed Richards who goes by Doom, Howard decided to betray the imperator. Howard and Reed facilitated an assault from the Maker's time-traveling enemy Kang the Conqueror and defeated them both using a duplicate Immortus Engine, causing the Maker's base of operations, the City, to seal itself from the world with the Maker, Kang and Howard still inside. Reed escaped beforehand with the original damaged Immortus Engine for Tony to repair it, as well as a letter from Howard. With Howard presumed dead, Tony built a battlesuit of his own and adopted the alias of Iron Lad to follow his father's footsteps as he considered "Iron Man" to be his father's alias. Together with Reed, Iron Lad set out to rectify the Maker's impact in the world. To begin their mission, the duo traveled to the Arctic Circle to retrieve the frozen World War II super-soldier Captain America before the Maker could do so himself. To avoid the potentially fatal consequences of premature thawing, Tony kept him on ice within Stark Tower.
The pair then infiltrated the mythological realm of Asgard using a prototype ship capable of navigating both real and imaginary space. Their objective was to enlist the captive Norse god of thunder Thor Odinson, to their cause. There was resistance from the warden Lady Sif and some guards, but they were unable to match Thor's newly-reacquired Mjolnir. The trio then teleported back to Midgard, with Lady Sif as a stowaway. Back at Stark Tower, Iron Lad and Doom briefed Thor and Sif about the current world situation and their mission to correct it. Thor pledged his full support, and Sif tagged along for the ride, as Tony and company teleported through Mjolnir to the Latverian capital to locate and retrieve one of the Maker's stored repositories. Upon arrival, the group discovered several repositories and decided to collect them all. However, before Thor could teleport each repository, he was interrupted by a surprise attack from Henri Duggary. Duggary then proceeded to attack the rest of the group. Tony confronted Duggary and vowed to put an end to his and his associates' control of the world, before blasting him away with a repulsor blast. Returning to Stark Tower, Tony immediately sent the badly injured Thor for automated medical treatment. However, when Maker's Council hijacked a Stane/Stark orbital station and pointed it directly at them, their situation became critical. Reed told Tony there was only one option so the young Stark used the Immortus Engine to transport everyone to an unknown location six months into the future. In the present day, the world's secret rulers used the aftermath of their destruction of Stark Tower and the resulting collateral casualties to brand Tony a terrorist believed deceased by the global population.
Six months into the future, Tony Stark has set up a headquarters in the Stark/Stane satellite called the Triskelion and notes that they have 18 months until The City opens. He plans to start a resistance by recreating Earth's superheroes. During this time, Iron Man sees Captain America awakening from his ice and checks up on Thor's recovery. Having sent some "origin boxes" back in time", Spider-Man, Captain America, and Doom find that some were taken by their targets while others have either been intercepted or declined. With the Ultimates group, they go to confront pest exterminators Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne and ended up activating their "origin boxes". Henri Duggary attacks with his allies. During the Ultimates' fight with Henry Duggary's forces, Hank and Janet become Giant-Man and Wasp as they defeated Henri's forces while Henri gets away.
One of Tony Stark's "origin boxes" is received by Peter Parker which he used to become Spider-Man.
While raiding a Damage Control facility, Iron Lad, Captain America, and Doom free Human Torch who helps fight the H.A.N.D. Agents.
Iron Lad and the Ultimates later raid the White House where they save America Chavez from Midas.
Iron Man later visits Spider-Man and Harry Osborn to check up on them. While noting that the Picotech suit that Spider-Man wears is derived from Stark/Stane technology, he advises them to be ready for when he needs them.
Iron Lad, Thor, and Sif later visit an island in the South Pacific filled with gamma-irradiated lifeforms where they meet a She-Hulk named Lejori Zakaria and her fellow gamma-irradiated villagers.
Iron Man later informs Captain America that someone has taken up the Hawkeye mantle and is attacking the different Roxxon facilities causing Captain America to confront this Hawkeye.
When Iron Man was leading the Ultimates in raiding a Damage Control facility, they are suddenly transported to K'un-L'un where they encounter Hulk. The Ultimates end up fighting Hulk and his Immortal Weapons. Hulk defeated Iron Lad with his Gigaton Vicegrip Move. After Doom had extracted the Ultimates back to the Triskelion, She-Hulk claims that Tony is dead.
Tony was placed in a special life-support machine as Doom oversees his recuperation.
A flashback revealed that one of Tony's "origin box" success stories involved empowering a prisoner named Luke Cage. After leading a prison riot, Luke Cage is visited by Iron Lad who welcomes him to the Ultimates. Luke Cage states that he can't escape right now as he plans to escape when every prisoner is free. Back in the present, Tony's recuperation machine is visited by She-Hulk who is heading back to her island and advises him not to give up the fight. After She-Hulk had left, Tony Stark woke up.
Now that Tony Stark has awoken, his body is currently being surgically healed as Captain America advises him to rest. At the time when the Ultimates raid Castletown to obtain the dead body of Namor, Tony Stark later sent an "origin box" to Red Skulls member John Walker who becomes a super-soldier thanks to the super-soldier serum inside only for John Walker to be defeated by Human Torch. Tony then contacts the Red Skulls' leader Grand Skull stating that he has scrubbed all the Red Skulls content from the Internet forcing Grand Skull to retreat.

## Power and abilities

Tony Stark doesn't posses any superhuman abilities, but he has a gifted intellect that allow him to craft technology and create any strategy according to the environment of every situation.

### Equipment

When wearing his Iron Lad armor, he possesses enhanced strength and durability, he can shoot Repulsor beams in the palms of his hands, fly through propulsor and travel trough time with the help of a device called "Immortus Engine".

## Autistic roots

With the caveat that he thinks only Marvel can truly confirm it, Ultimates writer Deniz Camp has suggested strongly that Tony is autistic, stating that he has drawn experience in writing him from his wife, who is on the autism spectrum herself.

## Reception

The character received widespread acclaim from both critics and readers for the reinterpretation of Iron Man, despite not being the first time the Golden Avenger was portrayed as a teenage superhero.