Iron Man has “died” many times in Marvel Comics, but he always returns. Death isn’t permanent for comic book characters, and Iron Man is one of Marvel’s oldest and most important heroes – he was there at the very beginning and is an original Avenger. His returns from death have been explained in different ways: sometimes Tony Stark pretends to die, other times his mind is transferred to an AI and then put back into a cloned body, and occasionally he truly dies and is brought back to life.
Iron Man has ‘died’ in Marvel comics seven times, with storylines ranging from elaborate fakes to full-on body swaps. Here’s a look at those moments.
7) Iron Man Fakes Death After Being Shot
The first time Iron Man seemingly died in Marvel Comics happened right after the ‘Armor Wars’ story arc. During that storyline, Tony Stark pretended to die, but quickly returned as Iron Man, explaining he’d trained someone else to take over the role. However, shortly after, a past romantic partner of Stark’s, Kathy Dare, shot him in Iron Man #242, leaving him paralyzed.
After losing the ability to walk, Tony Stark continued being Iron Man by using his armor for movement. But he grew weary of this and, two years later, publicly faked his death, arranging to have his body frozen. This led to James Rhodes becoming the new War Machine, while Kathy Dare, overwhelmed with guilt, tragically took her own life.
6) Terraxia Ripped off Iron Man’s Head in The Infinity Gauntlet
In the Infinity Gauntlet story, Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe in an attempt to win the favor of Death. This resulted in the deaths of many, including several Avengers. However, Iron Man didn’t die directly because of Thanos’s snap. He was killed in a fight before the snap by one of Thanos’s followers.
Terraxia was a powerful being created by Thanos using the Infinity Stones, intended to impress Death. She notably killed Iron Man by beheading him, making Thanos proud. However, in the comics, Tony Stark was later brought back to life after the effects of the Infinity Gauntlet were reversed.
5) Iron Man Dies at the End of The Crossing
The Crossing storyline is widely considered one of the worst in Avengers history. It’s controversial because it revealed Iron Man had secretly been a villain, working as a double agent for Kang the Conqueror. The story began with Iron Man unexpectedly killing some of his friends and then betraying the entire Avengers team, paving the way for Kang’s attack.
The Avengers went back in time hoping a younger version of Tony Stark could help them fight his future self. This plan succeeded, with the young Stark convincing Iron Man to turn against Kang and ultimately sacrificing himself to save his teammates. However, when this younger Iron Man remained in the present timeline, fans strongly disliked him. Even after Marvel changed the story to show Iron Man hadn’t willingly betrayed anyone, his popularity didn’t improve. Marvel’s decision to portray his entire life as a fabrication when they killed him off cemented the negative reaction.
4) Onslaught Kills Iron Man
The Onslaught event happened because Marvel wanted to refresh its entire comic book series. Onslaught itself was created from the combined psychic energy of Professor X and Magneto. When Professor X blocked Magneto’s mind, their shared anger and past trauma formed a new, powerful being. Onslaught was so strong that even all of Earth’s heroes working together couldn’t defeat it.
Onslaught defeated the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, seemingly killing heroes like Iron Man. Following this, both comic series were revamped with fresh stories and new artists, including Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee. However, it wasn’t a permanent death – Iron Man and his teammates were actually moved to a separate Earth created by Franklin Richards as a safe haven from Onslaught.
3) Iron Man Died During World’s Most Wanted
Following the events of the Civil War storyline, Iron Man took charge of SHIELD and was determined to hold accountable—or at least control—the heroes who had sided with Captain America. But after the Secret Invasion ended and Norman Osborn rose to power, Iron Man understood that the government wasn’t loyal to anyone, and he himself became a wanted fugitive.
The situation culminated in Iron Man becoming a fugitive. He possessed the secret identities of all the heroes, having erased them from SHIELD’s records to protect them from Norman Osborn. But attempting to wipe the information from his mind proved dangerous. He fell into a coma and was eventually declared brain-dead. Fortunately, Stark had previously created a backup of his consciousness, which he was able to transfer into a new body.
2) Captain Marvel Killed Iron Man in Civil War II
As a huge Marvel fan, I was really disappointed by the storyline in Civil War II where they killed Iron Man – again! It felt weird because after the first Civil War event, Captain America was the one who died. This time, the roles were reversed. What made it even more frustrating was how Iron Man died – he was fighting Captain Marvel, trying to protect Miles Morales, not after some kind of surrender like Cap. It just didn’t feel right.
Okay, so at first, it really looked like Tony Stark had flatlined – another coma scare. But this time, it turned out to be fatal, and we lost Iron Man… again. Marvel didn’t leave the role empty for long, though. They brought in Riri Williams as Ironheart, and cleverly paired her with an AI version of Tony’s personality to mentor her. But hold on – the story wasn’t over! Eventually, that AI was transferred into a brand new, cloned body, bringing Iron Man back into the picture. It was a wild ride, and a pretty inventive way to keep the legacy going.
1) Iron Man Died in Iron Man 2020
Following Iron Man’s return in a cloned body, a new comic series called Iron Man 2020 began. This series reintroduced Arno Stark, a character first appearing in 1984 from an alternate universe. He arrived in the main Marvel universe and was revealed to be Tony Stark’s half-brother. Believing the world was threatened by a dangerous artificial intelligence, Arno attempted to save humanity – but his solution involved taking control of the entire planet.
Tony Stark found a way to stop his brother by trapping him inside a virtual reality, much like the world in The Matrix. He convinced Arno that he was a hero who had saved the world and could now live forever in this digital realm, escaping reality. To make this happen, Tony had to sacrifice his physical body, effectively dying again, but his consciousness continued to exist within the AI. He then rebuilt himself a new artificial body and returned. Realizing the possibilities, Tony also created a new body for James Rhodes, bringing him back to life. It seems no matter how many times Iron Man ‘dies’ in the Marvel universe, he can always return in a cloned body as long as his mind survives.
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2025-10-29 01:12