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As Iron Man explores a strange, dangerous planet he has been stranded on, a low-level Daredevil supervillain becomes a truly sinister threat.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Iron Man #11, on sale now from Marvel.
Of all the familiar faces Tony Stark may have expected to come across when he found himself suddenly stranded on a remote planet while in pursuit of the cosmic supervillain Korvac, the longtime Daredevil villain Stilt-Man was most likely not at the top of the list. That said, Wilbur Day, along with the forgotten superhero Avro-X, were waiting for Iron Man as they defended a small village of similarly exiled figures on this backwater world from constant attacks by the robotic titans Ultimo. And while Stilt-Man was always something of a minor player back on Earth, Tony witnessed firsthand just how much the seemingly one-note supervillain should never be underestimated.
When Iron Man first encountered Stilt-Man on this strange world, Wilbur didn’t treat him with hostility but instead welcomed him to the village that the exiled had assembled. Having Seemingly ditched his wicked ways, Wilbur now worked diligently to defend the village from the Ultimos, finally given a purpose greater than himself. After working together to drive back an Ultimo attack, Tony appeared to see the wisdom in Wilbur’s newfound mission, agreeing to help Stilt-Man create a flourishing society together. However, Iron Man #11 — by Christopher Cantwell, Angel Unzueta, Frank D’Armata and VC’s Joe Caramagna — it is revealed that not only is Stilt-Man being dishonest but that he orchestrated this world all along.
After regaining his senses by breaking through a bout of morphine abuse, Tony investigates a wrecked Ultimo outside of the village that he was explicitly forbidden from interacting with, ostensibly under the fear that it would present a danger to the community. Upon examining the wiring, Iron Man quickly realizes that Stilt-Man has secretly been remote-controlling the Ultimos himself, programming them to attack the village so he could prevent it from growing too large and threatening his influence over the denizens. Revealing that whoever lived on the planet before the village were the ones that created the Ultimos, Stilt-Man found them a wasted part of the ecosystem and sought to take control of them for his own ends.
Perhaps more damningly, Stilt-Man revealed he was the one responsible for bringing both Iron Man and Arvo-X to the planet, hoping that they would see what he was trying to accomplish and help him build a peaceful, idyllic community untainted by modern civilization. As soon as Stilt-Man’s subjects learn what he has been up to all along, they revolt and prepare to exact their own form of justice upon him for the deception and sending Ultimos to attack them. While Stilt-Man’s ultimate fate is still unknown, Tony speculates that the village’s sensibilities will leave Wilbur alive but certainly punished for his actions.
After being regarded as a joke for years, Stilt-Man was reaching the end of his rope, going through a crisis in regards to his concept of self-worth. Finding himself on a faraway world not only gave Wilbur Day a chance at a fresh start but the chance to build an entire society in his image…but he couldn’t quite pull it off alone. And in bringing Iron Man to his new home, Stilt-Man should have better anticipated that the Marvel Universe’s resident tech expert would be able to see through his grand deception involving the Ultimos. Stilt-Man may have significantly increased what he’s capable of, but the villain’s sick joke went too far, and now he has to answer to his own people.
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