Joshua Williamson steps into Iron Man, and the ticking bomb inside Tony Stark

Iron Man was born in a cave to survive death — and Joshua Williamson is building his run around what happens when death comes calling yet again.

When Iron Man #1 launches this week, it marks more than just a new creative team — it signals a rare, headline-making crossover moment. Williamson, long synonymous with DC Comics having spent more than a decade shaping its biggest heroes and events, is officially taking the reins of Marvel’s Golden Avenger. Partnered with artist Carmen Carnero, Williamson’s Iron Man is positioned as a bold, character-driven story that looks both backward to Stark’s origin while still looking forward to his most dangerous potential future.

This feature draws from AIPT’s recent conversation with Williamson; the full, unedited interview will air on the AIPT Comics Podcast this Sunday, February 1 for listeners who want the complete deep dive.

Across the full interview, Williamson is candid about how unusual this moment is in comics at large.

“DC is my home,” Williamson told me late last week. “I’ve been there for a really long time now…I’ve been there for over 10 years,” adding that his roots go back even further: “My first job at DC was in 2009.”

And he isn’t framing this as a pivot away from what he’s built over at the “competition,” either.

“I still have my consulting contract,” Williamson said, noting he’s still involved in big-picture planning. “I can still work on the big events. I still do a lot of work… consulting for All In and Absolute — for basically everything.”

The point wasn’t to walk away, but rather to avoid a different kind of loss.

Added Williamson, “I don’t want to live my life with regret.”

Thanks Mickey?

But opportunity has a way of arriving when you least expect it.

A family trip to Disneyland proved unexpectedly pivotal. Williamson remembers waking up early and making a beeline for Avengers Campus — “like 7:30 in the morning” — and the moment he stepped inside, it hit him hard.

“I was like, ‘Oh, shit,'” adding that between “the music [and] the presence of my kids,” as well as the shiny superhero atmosphere, he felt the clock start ticking. “I was just like…it just hit me. I was like, ‘I got to figure something out.’”

Williamson had already been quietly preparing for that “something.” He’d been keeping a Marvel-only notebook for years (he actually showed it during the interview, FYI) where he’d jot down ideas for characters and stories. And there was one concept that he kept circling back to again and again.

“One idea that I would have was for Iron Man,” Williamson said. “Like I really had this Iron Man idea…I had this very big Iron Man idea.”

So when Marvel reached out—“I got this email from [editors] Wil Moss and Danny Khazem…and they were like, ‘Would you want to do Iron Man?’”— Williamson couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s one of my favorite Marvel characters,” Williamson said. “And I actually do have an idea for it.” And he didn’t need weeks to get ready.

“I did a Zoom within the very next day,” Williamson said. “I just verbally pitched it because I knew it so well.” Marvel’s response was immediate: “They were like, ‘Oh, we can do that. We love that.’”

And suddenly, a concept he’d been carrying for years was real.

“It’s crazy to think that the idea I had back… almost 10 years ago is the idea you’re doing,” Williamson said. “It just worked.”

Why Iron Man — And Why Now?

For Williamson, the appeal of Iron Man has very little to do with the armor.

“Tony often makes bad choices,” Williamson said. “I think that’s what makes him dangerous.”

It’s not just that Stark is brilliant, but rather it’s what that brilliance enables.

“Knowledge is power,” Williamson said, “Because he can create things that are dangerous.”

And those dangers aren’t abstract; they’re deeply personal.

“Ultimately, it’s not about the things he’s made,” Williamson said. “It’s him. He is the creator of these dangerous things.”

In Williamson’s view, Stark is held in check by this deep fear, one of becoming the most terrifying version of himself. And if you remove that fear, the consequences could be truly catastrophic.

“I think Tony holds himself back because he’s afraid,” Williamson said. “So if Tony ever lost that fear of being his old self, he would be incredibly dangerous. I worry that Tony could potentially be a ticking bomb.”

That’s where Advanced Idea Mechanics enters the picture. AIM isn’t interested in building better armor; they’re thinking about bigger, more disturbing end goals.

“They’re like, ‘No, no, no—we don’t want armor,'” Williamson said. “They’re like, ‘We want another Tony.’”

And that implication is utterly chilling.

“Tony’s weapon isn’t being used,” Williamson said. “He’s actively not using those resources. He’s not using that part of his brain anymore.” So, then, what happens if someone else does?

“I don’t mean this in anything bad about him,” Williamson said, “but imagine if somebody was like Tony and then executed those ideas.”

That’s why his tagline for the book cuts so deep: Tony Stark isn’t just Iron Man — he’s the most dangerous weapon in the Marvel Universe.

Back to The Cave

To truly explore that idea, Williamson deliberately returns to Iron Man’s origin. Not out of nostalgia, mind you, but out of sheer necessity.

“The idea started with, if Tony was locked up again and thought he was going to die again, what would he build,” Williamson said.

But as he developed the story, the focus shifted. Williams added, “I started realizing, like, no, no, no — the armor’s not what was built in the cave. Tony was built.”

Before the cave, Williamson says,Stark was “self-centered, selfish.” After the experience, he was fundamentally changed, and he “came out the other side of the bunker a completely different person.”

That realization unlocked the heart of the series: “So the trick is—you’ve got to put other people through the same thing he went through and see what happens,” Williamson said.

From there, Williamson frames it as an experiment with terrifying implications.

“Can you take people who are as smart as Tony, put them in these awful situations, and see what they build,” Williamson said. “They might not build armor. They might build something else.”

That idea (recreating the crucible rather than the suit) anchors the book emotionally. It also taps into what Williamson sees as Iron Man’s greatest strength: “It’s ultimately about the person behind the mask,” Williamson said. “Not the mask.”

And for Iron Man, that distinction is everything.

A World Come Alive

While the book delivers spectacle, Williamson is clear about where its emotional weight really comes from. For him, artist Carmen Carnero’s greatest strength isn’t creating rich action, but rather fostering pure emotionality.

“I like watching her draw Iron Man,” Williamson said. “But what I really like is her drawing Tony.”

According to Williamson, Carnero gravitates toward depicting interesting and important human moments.

“She doesn’t always want to draw just action sequences,” Williamson said. “She wants to draw more human moments.” And that sensibility was crucial in making Iron Man come alive as this story demanded.

“I knew she had the action stuff down,” Williamson said. “What I wanted to see was…does she nail Tony? Tony and his relationships with people. Because, ultimately, that’s what the book is about.”

Carnero’s Tony carries swagger, confidence, and charm, but he’s also quite vulnerable to boot. As Williamson explained it, “She draws a very fun Tony. She really gets him.”

A Marvel Book For The Marvel Universe

Though Iron Man #1 is designed to be accessible to anyone, Williamson was adamant that it couldn’t exist in a vacuum.

“I didn’t want the book to feel like it was on a raft in the ocean by itself,” Williamson said. “It has to be in the Marvel Universe.”

That means acknowledging ongoing threads (particularly those involving Madame Masque and AIM) while still telling a story that new readers can jump into.

“It’s tricky,” Williamson said. “I want to make sure it’s accessible — you don’t need to read anything else before — but I didn’t want to ignore what came before. It all happened. We’re just here now.”

The approach also allows for long-term storytelling. Teases with Norman Osborn point toward a slow-burn first year, with editorial coordination ensuring that Iron Man’s story always feels connected without ever becoming overwhelming.

No Regrets, Just Momentum

For Williamson, taking on Iron Man isn’t about competition, secrecy, or brand rivalry. It’s about the work.

“My focus on Iron Man right now,” Williamson said, “Can I make a good Iron Man comic? That is all I care about.”

That clarity carries through the book itself; it’s fast-paced, character-driven, and rooted in the fear of what Stark might become if he ever stops holding himself back.

With Iron Man #1 arriving January 28 and the full, uncut conversation airing on the AIPT Comics Podcast on Sunday, February 1, Williamson’s Marvel debut feels less like a departure and more like an inevitability. Ultimately, it’s a creator finally confronting the hero who embodies the danger of genius unchecked.