Iron Man is one of the most famous Marvel heroes of all time. First appearing in Tales of Suspense 39 back in 1963 and co-created by Stan Lee himself, Iron Man is a character with some of the best stories in all of Marvel Comics history. Being one of the first movies to kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the classic 2008 Iron Man, the character gained new and wider popularity with fans worldwide.
Tony Stark is a flawed hero who may not always get things right but will make sure to fix things when they go wrong. A genius with an ego that matches his intellect, the newly announced Iron Man game from EA and Motive is sure to be a smash hit when it releases. Not only are there several Marvel video games it can learn from, there are hundreds of stories to pull from when creating the story of the game. However, some of these arcs perhaps would work better than others in video game format.
7 Civil War
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Yes, Civil War has already been used in the movies for the third Captain America movie, however, the version in the comics was bigger and better in just about every way. At the time of making the movie, Marvel did not have access to much of their roster, and Nick Fury himself didn't even make the cut. This was an issue as Civil War pitted the entire lineup of heroes against each other, running across multiple issues and featuring many more heroes.
Having Civil War as the storyline for the Iron Man game could bring something new to the superhero video game genre. Rather than fighting against robots or gangsters, this time around, the heroes would be fighting brother and sister as each side of the battle tries to come out on top victorious.
6 Armor Wars
Coming soon to streaming service Disney Plus, Armor Wars could potentially be one of the best Marvel projects on the horizon. Giving Don Cheadle a chance to have the limelight to himself will showcase how great the actor is as Tony Stark's best friend James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine.
The version of the story fans got to read in the comics was a fantastic look at what would happen if Tony Stark's designs fell into the wrong hands. Having Iron Man hunt down villains and even SHIELD to retrieve his technology would be excellent to play through. This could even lead to the Avengers stripping his membership and nightmares where Tony had to fight the Iron Man armor as he struggled with his demons.
5 Iron Monger Saga
This one here is the basis for the 2008 movie Iron Man. The Iron Monger saga from the comics was a more extensive look at Tony Stark struggling with his demons as well as the looming threat of Obadiah Stane.
Transferring this into a coherent video game story could lead to a very fun game. Having Tony build himself back up from rock bottom as he takes on Obadiah's forces could be a great backdrop. Add to this piecing together a new advanced suit to take on the final boss, and Marvel could have a really fun journey for gamers to experience as the story unfolds.
4 Ultimate Iron Man
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The Ultimate Marvel universe is sadly no longer a thing, having been combined with the regular Marvel universe. The only stand-out hero crossing over and remaining is Miles Morales, who featured in his own game in 2020, so it looks like Ultimate Iron Man is gone for good.
That said, bringing Ultimate Iron Man back for a game could be a fantastic way of letting the stories be loved by many more than those that read the original books. Ultimate Spider-Man received a video game adaptation, so why not Ultimate Iron Man? With a different origin story to the MCU version and the regular Marvel Universe Iron Man, the Ultimate version could be a great idea to adapt into video game form.
3 Extremis
Extremis by Warren Ellis was an incredible arc in the Iron Man comic that involved a virus capable of re-writing DNA that also killed whoever became infected by it. Of course, portions of the Extremis saga were already adapted into Iron Man 3. Fallout of this was also seen in the Agents of SHIELD TV series and was well received by Marvel fans for the most part.
Giving players the threat of a virus that could kill Tony if the cure isn’t administered would bring a whole different vibe to the Iron Man game. Having everything feel like it was essential to collect so the player doesn’t die could be a thrilling edge-of-seat experience.
2 Long Way Down
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Long Way Down was part of the Invincible Iron Man run that had Tony's new suit being controlled by Hammer and the U.S. military — not an ideal situation. Alongside Hammer Industries, the team at Motive could also drop the Mandarin into the arena as the main villain.
Bringing this into a video game story would be a unique gimmick to use and test the player's ability on coping without the armor. Flying along one minute, just to have the suit deactivated and have to survive, would be an interesting dynamic, and it might force players to have to adapt to different game styles to succeed.
1 Guardians of the Galaxy
Iron Man joined up with the most lovable space cowboys on this side of the Milky Way for the Marvel Now run of Guardians of the Galaxy. Tony Stark became a surprisingly good fit for the team and this version of Iron Man would suit a game set in space.
Instead of having the Guardians as a crutch for the whole story, Motive’s Iron Man title could have the team on standby to help out when needed or even be featured in a rescue mission where Tony has to rescue them one by one. This one could be likely, as executive producer Olivier Proulx, who previously worked on Marvel's well-received 2021 Guardians of the Galaxy game, is also the lead for this new Iron Man title.