Is Avengers: Damage Control setting up the MCU’s next Iron Man?
By Paul Zuniga
The Avengers: Damage Control VR experience may be outside the MCU canon but the project’s affiliation with Marvel Studios has us thinking otherwise. Could a search for the next Iron Man happen sooner than expected?
Just to get this out of the way now, Avengers: Damage Control is a VR experience created by ILMxLAB and Marvel Studios that’s technically not a part of the cinematic universe. However, the VR’s continued association with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’ actors makes us suspect that there could be some connection after all.
The reason a major tie-in may be in the works is Shuri (Letitia Wright). She’s at the forefront of Avengers: Damage Control as a narrator of sorts and the inventor of this new prototype armor which combines Wakandan tech and Stark Industries’ technologies. Fans probably expect Shuri to don the armor that clearly pays tribute to Iron Man, but that’s not the case in Avengers: Damage Control.
Instead, Shuri is seeking out qualified recruits to test out the prototypes in her stead. She keeps the pitch rather vague but it’s easy to see that Shuri’s also searching for a worthy successor to Iron Man’s mantle, otherwise, why model the faceplate after ole’ shellhead?
Another reason her invitation sounds like a pitch to recruit the next armored Avenger is the team standing alongside them: Doctor Strange, Wasp, and Ant-Man. More heroes are expected to join but it’s these characters’ involvement that suggests the MCU’s Avengers are at the forefront of this battle. If Captain America, Thor, and Black Widow were featured instead, we could say otherwise. But since that’s not the case, Avengers: Damage Control likely follows the MCU timeline after Avengers: Endgame.
Whatever the case is, recruiting a new hero to become Iron Man 2.0 sounds like a precursor to the MCU’s coming hunt. None of the Phase 4 films announced so far have anything to do with Tony Stark but someone will have to take up the mantle he left behind eventually. The question is: Who is worthy?
As far as possible candidates go, Harley Keener and Morgan Stark have been namedropped as of late. They’re leading the race but Shuri and James Rhodes are in contention too. Rhodey might seem like a pick out of left-field but there’s actually a precedent for him becoming Iron Man in the comics. He’d also appreciate the nano-tech armor as it’d likely heal his broken spine.
Who do you want to see become the MCU’s next Iron Man? Let us know in the comments below.
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Damage Control VR Experience will be available at The Void storefronts starting Oct. 18, 2019.