Home
D&D
Music
Banner Archive

Marvel Comics Timeline
Godzilla Timeline


RSS

   

« What more to say? | Main | It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas »

Iron Man vs. the X-Men

Now that we've established Wolverine's power level, we can move on to showing that Iron Man could single-handedly defeat a team of 6 X-Men. By showing this, it should be evident that an Avengers vs. X-Men showdown is a no-brainer.

Let's clear up a few things: Iron Man's armor has been non-magnetic for some time. It was clearly established in an issue of West Coast Avengers when they fought Magneto, but it really had to have been true for some time before that. Iron Man fights so many technologically based foes that someone like MODOK* would have tried shooting a magnetic ray at him years ago. On the other hand, Wolverine and Colossus are very vulnerable to magnetism, and there's nothing they can do about it. Iron Man could easily toss them off the battlefield without even getting close. Iron Man also been immune to mind-control since the issue of the Thunderbolts where Zemo took control of the world. This eliminates obvious choices like bringing in Polaris or Professor X to get rid of IM in one shot. He also absorbs most forms of energy and uses it to super-charge his armor. It is possible to overload his armor this way, but it's not easy, especially in an open battlefield situation where he can just let loose. Cyclops' force beams would still do damage since they are physical, but Havok's solar blasts and Bishop's guns could be absorbed.

I think a fair scenario would be in these sorts of comparisons is: the two sides appear on the battlefield with no time to plan. They see each other, and they must attack. The teams should be typical members, not tailored specifically to defeat their opponent(s). But in this case where the X-Men are so overwhelmed, we can try to balance the situation by not sticking them with members rendered useless based on Iron Man's immunities or by sticking them with characters that are always useless, like Gambit or Jubilee.

So i'm thinking a good team to try and take out Iron Man would be: Storm, Rogue, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Iceman.

The X-Men's best bet is to get Iron Man on the ground where Shadowcat can phase through him and disrupt his armor. She can float, but she can't fly fast enough to catch IM. Their best strategy would be for Rogue to absorb Shadowcat's power and fly after him, but Rogue hates using her powers that way and they rarely do things like that except as a last resort. If Cyclops were team leader instead of Storm he may order that move, but I took Storm instead of him based on powers. Cyclops is very vulnerable and Iron Man could take him out very easily, probably before he'd formulated a strategy.

So we have to assume that Iron Man comes in first with a big blast or rocket, and Jean Grey manages to get a force shield up in time. Rogue and Storm fly up and attack. Iceman is running interference and slowing IM down with ice. The goal is to damage and distract Iron Man enough that Nightcrawler can teleport onto him and bring him down for Shadowcat to finish him off. Iron Man can absorb Storm's lightning and power his armor with it, but Storm won't know that at first and that's how she'll begin the attack. She might also figure out that she should cloud up the sky to prevent Iron Man from powering his armor with solar energy, forcing him to run on battery. In the meantime Rogue is the biggest danger. She has Ms. Marvel's powers, putting her in Iron Man's league, power-wise. She tends to lead with her chin, though, and that gives Iron Man a slight edge. If Jean Grey were holding him with telekenisis he'd be in big trouble, but she is still recovering from the initial blast. Storm is just switching from lightning to wind and doesn't want to interfere with Rogue's assault. Rogue charges in and punches Iron man, probably pretty badly, at the same time getting knocked away with a repulsor blast, sending her to the ground, stunned, for a few seconds.

In the meantime Iron Man can either focus on Storm or Jean Grey. It'd be smarter to take out Storm since she is the leader and getting rid of her would mean the X-Men wouldn't be attacking with any great strategy, but Tony is probably annoyed with getting tossed about by Jean's TK by now. He can't get through her forcefields with energy beams or rockets, but he can hit her with sonics or lasers and once he directs his attention to her she is down.

Rogue has recovered and is ready to fight by now, but is a little more cautious, probably looking for a big tree or a rock to attack with. In the meantime Iron Man can release a heatseeker at Storm, freeing himself up long enough to get his armor repaired from Rogue's punch (with nanites, or at least re-routing energy circuits, depending on which armor he is wearing). Iceman rushes to help Storm.

Now Rogue gets her rematch. She begins her attack with her weapon, which Iron Man destroys, leaving him open to her follow up attack. Iron Man takes a few heavy punches, but gets the better of Rogue with a number of powerful blasts. She's hurting bad when Storm and Iceman show up to succor her.

It wasn't worth doing before, but now that Iceman is right in front of him, he gets melted with a microwave beam. Storm, alone and without lightning, is easy prey. Nightcrawler has been waiting for Iron Man to be damaged enough so that it is safe to teleport in and grab him, but things aren't going as planned. While Iron Man is chasing Storm this is going to be his best chance. Most likely he'll go for the back, avoiding the obvious repulsor rays on the chest and appendages, but Iron Man charges his whole body with electricity, frying the elf before he can attack or teleport again. IM then finishes off Storm with no distractions.

Iron Man and Rogue are both damaged but Rogue has lost all her support. The sky is clearing up, no more ice, no TK. She'll probably stay on the ground and throw rocks. If Kitty can get to her in time they can try their desperation strategy, but most likely Iron Man blast Rogue before it gets to that. Iron Man probably can't defeat Kitty as long as she is phased (although he'd definitely give sonics a try and it would probably work), but she can't hurt him either. He's got a villain in his gallery called the Ghost who has similar powers to hers, so he has experience targeting a phased opponent, tagging her when she eventually solidifies.

If Rogue and Shadowcat do merge, Kitty is now passed out, and Rogue is distracted by the mind-meld. She's already beat up while Iron Man has been repairing, and she's flying woozy and distracted. Iron Man wins.

As far as I can see it, that's best case scenario for the X-Men. Replace any of those X-Men with anyone else (except maybe Iceman) and it's an easier fight. Rogue is the most dangerous opponent but she's got mental problems and isn't a very disciplined fighter. Her invulnerability isn't up to repeated energy blasts.

It's not an easy fight for Tony, but he wins in the end. And even if i've taken a few liberties in his favor, this is still the warm up. Throw in any other Avenger, let alone 4 more, and it's over in a hurry.

Rejected X-Men:
Original Team
Cyclops - too vulnerable, and easy enough to let IM's autopilot and radar dodge his shots in the air
Beast - Can't get off the ground to attack physically.
Angel - useless
Archangel - less useless. maybe i should have replaced Iceman with him, but he would interfere with Rogue's attacks

Early Additions
Havok - Iron Man is immune to his attacks.
Polaris - Iron Man is immune to her direct attacks. Throwing metal objects isn't very effective either.

All New, All Different Team
Wolverine - Vulnerable to magnetic rays
Colossus - Vulnerable to magnetic rays
Thunderbird - useless, dead
Banshee - Iron Man is immune to his attacks
Sunfire - Iron Man is immune to his attacks

Fall of the Mutants Team
Psylocke - Iron Man is immune to her psychic attacks. Can't get off the ground to attack physically.
Longshot - A contender to replace Iceman due to the +1s his teammates would get, but essentially useless
Dazzler - Iron Man is immune to her attacks

90s and beyond
Gambit - Useless
Jubilee - Useless
Bishop - Iron Man is immune to his attacks
White Queen - Iron Man is immune to her psychic attacks. Can't get off the ground to attack physically.

Who did i forget?

*Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing

By fnord12 | December 19, 2005, 2:25 PM | Comics


Comments

why do you hate the x-men?

Reference from SuperMegaMonkey

...i think from this seminal SuperMegaMonkey post (and the follow-up) we all know my feeling on how an Avengers/X-Men fight would go down.    Read More: SuperMegaSpeed Reviews

Reference from SuperMegaMonkey

Well, clearly Gage agrees with me on how an Iron Man vs. X-Men fight would go down.    Read More: SuperMegaSpeed Reviews