‘Iron Man Vol. 4: Source Control’ brings Tony Stark down to our level

This is Tony Stark closer to earnest humanity than we’ve seen him in years.

February 15, 2023

When telling stories about exceptionally gifted people—people with intellects well beyond the realm of real-world achievement—it’s easy to let those gifts get out of hand. Whether they be stories about the Doctor or Doctor Doom, an exceptional character can sometimes become their own deus ex machina, capable of stumbling into bad luck and then, with little to no difficulty, reversing that flow of luck with their own inherent brilliance.

This is a problem that Tony Stark has often had, particularly after his pivotal role as the key inciting incident and conflict resolution in the MCU. During major earth-shaking events, fans might expect Tony to take a time out, hit the lab, and, say, invent a Celestial. The final Hail Mary of many massive events is concocted by putting Tony in inventor mode, sometimes with Bruce Banner or Reed Richards.

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In this mode, Tony’s utility outpaces his character; he is, ultimately, untroubled by personal and cataclysmic concerns after throwing some tunes and tinkering for awhile.

This is not the sort of characterization a reader will find in Source Control; as with his Doctor Doom series, writer Christopher Cantwell looks to examine the Mad Genius archetype in decline, stubbornly insisting Tony Stark’s humanity even as he becomes a literal god.

Certainly, there have been moments in which Tony’s brilliance has solved very complicated problems with very little concern—that remains part and parcel of the character—but often those problems are wrapped up in his basic humanity. For instance, after having his neck broken, Tony uses the suit to stabilize himself from such a potentially disabling or perhaps fatal injury. In doing so, he finds himself addicted to the painkillers the suit is pumping into him to keep him conscious. His solutions are problematic to his basic physiology.

In this final volume, we find Tony coming down to earth—both literally and figuratively. Having given up godhood and placing himself into rehab for his opioid addiction, he’s remarkably closer to earnest humanity than we’ve seen him in years. Heart on the line after proposing to Patsy Walker (she doesn’t give an answer) and emotionally blindsided by a colleague’s death, we see the character undergoing the sorts of tribulations anyone might have. None of which can be solved by a big brain or an iron suit.

While that suit and brain are utilized, Source Control is a relatively subdued book. Firmly grounded, Tony strikes out at the arms trade not by going in repulsor rays blasting but with the capital with which he was born. His plan is to use up all of his fortune to buy the weapons, to pull them from the market. In doing so, Tony looks to redeem that very capital; it is, after all, his dad’s blood money.

Ultimately, Cantwell’s Tony undergoes a radical emotional transformation. Understanding that his genius might not have the deus ex-like totality he has always assumed, he allows concerns to be taken from his hands. He lets go of his ego—and Mandarin’s rings—so that he is, once again, someone a reader can identify with.