Tony Stark Becomes Spider-Man In Marvel's 2-Part Iron Man Series

Iron Man essentially becomes Peter Parker in an exciting superhero series that is streaming on Disney+, and Marvel fans that have not yet watched it are missing out on a solid show. Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular hero, be it in the comics, animation, live-action, or elsewhere. That said, thanks to the popularity of the MCU’s slate of movies, Iron Man has become a global fan-favorite.

Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of the Marvel character has made Tony Stark famous with non-comic book readers, and given how the actor is returning to the MCU next month in Avengers: Doomsday, attention has turned back to Iron Man. There is a chance Downey could return as Tony Stark in the Marvel movie, given how the multiverse plays a key role in the film.

There are also many theories linking Doctor Doom’s MCU origin story to Iron Man to help explain why Downey was Marvel’s choice to play the iconic villain. With so many fans excited about the prospect of seeing Tony Stark again, there is a project already streaming on Disney+ that could help in the wait, and it is a unique kind of Iron Man release.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures was first released on April 24, 2009, using the hero’s popularity boost from Downey’s first Iron Man movie a year before, but not set in the MCU. Instead, the animated series chose to follow Tony Stark in a completely different phase of his life, and in doing so, it became a unique release for the character, making Iron Man much closer to Spider-Man than he is known for.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures Gives Tony Stark The Spider-Man Treatment

The main way Iron Man: Armored Adventures makes its title hero similar to Spider-Man is quite simple, as the project is a superhero show set in high school. That was not only the basis for Tom Holland’s first steps as the wall-crawler in the MCU, but also for pretty much every other Spider-Man movie or TV show out there, as Peter Parker balancing a regular life as a teenager in high school with his role as a superhero is what has created so many great stories. Just like Spider-Man had to discover who he was on both sides of his life, so does Iron Man.

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Iron Man: Armored Adventures follows a younger Tony Stark who is enrolled at Tomorrow Academy, a science-heavy high school that holds some of the Marvel universe’s brightest young minds. Much like Peter in the many Spider-Man adaptations, this Iron Man coming-of-age story does not leave Tony alone, as the Marvel hero has his own versions of characters like Harry Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, and such to ground him as Tony is pushed in many directions at once. Those include his best friend, Rhodey, who ends up becoming War Machine, just like in the MCU, and Pepper Potts, who becomes Rescue.

Armored Adventures Is A Surprisingly Great Iron Man Adaptation

There is no denying that the MCU’s version of Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., has become the most popular iteration of the character worldwide. That said, Marvel fans should not disregard Iron Man: Armored Adventures, which is not only an exciting superhero series in its own regard and a breath of fresh air compared to modern Tony Stark adventures, but is also surprisingly more comics-accurate than Downey’s journey in the MCU as Iron Man has proved itself most of the time.

For instance, Iron Man’s secret identity is kept intact in the animated series, whereas the MCU threw it away in Downey’s first movie. A.I.M. operatives wear the comics’ beekeeper suits and the organization, as well as the villain MODOK, are way more comics-accurate as a whole than their MCU counterparts. Extremis is present and way more natural to the story than the generic use of it to create fire-powered individuals in Iron Man 3. The Mandarin also has cosmic roots like the comics, rather than the terrorist and fake actor approaches of the MCU’s Iron Man franchise. As such, don’t sleep on Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures