Iron-Man Reveals The Dark Secret Behind Marvel's Most Despicable X-Men Villain

Contains spoilers for "The Invincible Iron Man" #9 (by Gerry Duggan, Juan Frigeri, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Joe Caramagna).

Iron Man's life has been shaken upside down by the villain Feilong, who has made it his top mission to destroy the armored hero — along with the entire mutant race. However, Tony Stark has just gained a key advantage, having learned the truth about the man who stole the Stark fortune. Tony and Emma Frost have not only discovered a significant connection Howard Stark had to Marvel's mutants — a connection Feilong tried to keep from Tony — but also learned that the villain's hatred of mutants is rooted in his own dark history.

Feilong is one of Iron Man's greatest threats ever. The mutant-hating industrialist used his vast fortune to acquire Stark Unlimited when Tony lost his wealth while taking extremely deadly and illegal weapons off the black market. In the process, Feilong has turned Stark's technology against the mutant paradise of Krakoa and its inhabitants, creating Stark Sentinels designed to take out anyone who stands in his way. Iron Man's attempts to stop Feilong have largely failed, with Stark's best friend, James Rhodes, being framed for murder while Feilong used his Stark Sentinels to help the mutant-hating organization Orchis obliterate the mutant nation of Krakoa. Now, Tony is teaming up with Emma Frost as they try to stop the out-of-control foe, making a major discovery about Feilong's past that ties him directly to Marvel's mutants.

In "Invincible Iron Man" #10, Iron Man and Emma Frost's new alliance with the Kingpin leads to Rhodey gaining protection in prison as Sandman and Living Laser are tasked with keeping him safe from dangerous inmates. Fisk offers his help in exchange for Tony and Emma locating his mutant wife, Typhoid Mary, who was one of the many Krakoa residents to disappear following Feilong and Orchis' attack. After Feilong catches Stark and Frost (the latter in disguise) together, they tell him they plan to marry in order to cover their tracks. Later, Stark steals tech from Zeke Stane in Nevada, allowing him to upgrade his armor. Feilong can't help but show up at their fake nuptials, allowing Emma to unleash a trap and take over the villain's mind with her psychic powers.

The pair enters Feilong's mind, where Tony Stark digs through his foe's photographic memory. He discovers a message Feilong destroyed from his father, Howard, where he learns about a lost discovery he made during his career. In the video message, Howard shares that he discovered a metal that doesn't exist on the periodic table. When Feilong wakes up inside the dreamscape, Frost uses her powers to go deeper inside his mind. Looking back at his childhood, she and Tony learn Feilong's parents were actually mutants. However, Feilong was born without any powers, so he grew to resent them, telling the world that they had abandoned him. Even though they actually loved him for who he was, Feilong developed an unnaturally strong hatred of mutants.

Feilong being revealed as the son of mutant parents makes everything about his rise as a villain come into focus, including his desire to destroy mutants, as they represent what he never became.

Feilong's parents supported and loved him for who he was, despite him not being born with the X-gene. However, Feilong could never overcome his lack of disappointment in not having the mutant genes, leading him to augment himself via cosmic radiation, gaining powers (energy blasts and increased survivability in dangerous areas) that allowed him to try to take over Mars. However, despite his scientific discoveries and innovations, his attempts at colonizing Mars and making it a livable planet ended when mutants beat him to his goal by transforming the world into Arrako.

His hatred for his parents, losing the space race to colonize Mars, and watching mutants succeed in creating their own nation on Krakoa antagonized Feilong and transformed him into a megalomaniac. His entire existence has become about proving that mutants aren't superior, viewing them not only as a threat but as manifestations of his life's biggest missed opportunity. So, instead of embracing his mutant heritage and becoming an ally with them, he's made it his life's work to eliminate them through any means necessary. The revelation about his parentage adds a new layer of depth to Feilong's pursuit of power. Orchis is the biggest anti-mutant organization in the universe, and the group likely used his trauma about not being a mutant to join forces with him, promising he could have a major role in participating in the downfall and decimation of the mutant race.

Feilong's parentage is definitely the biggest revelation of "The Invincible Iron Man" #10. However, Tony Stark learning about his dad's discovery is another major surprise, one that connects the founding Avenger directly to the X-Men.

When Emma Frost sees Howard's message about discovering a new element, she remarks that it sounds "a lot like Mysterium." The mutant metal was last seen in "S.W.O.R.D" (by Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti), where the material exists inside the White Hot Room, a realm outside of space and time where the Phoenix and its host go when they die and wait to be reborn. The X-team in "S.W.O.R.D." condensed elemntal particles called kirbons into a solid form to create Mysterium, which is highly electrically conductive while also having a suppressive effect on magic and magic users.

"Invincible Iron Man" #10 ends with Tony asking more about Mysterium, with Emma telling him its origins and how mutants used it for power on Arakko. Stark asks Frost how much metal there is and is told, "As much as you need." Stark appears to be readying himself for a war against Feilong and his old tech by using the element his father "discovered. "Iron Man making a Mysterium armor is likely inevitable, and once he's armed with that and information regarding Feilong's mutant upbringing, Iron Man is better equipped to take the villain down than ever.

The truth about Feilong and Iron Man's discovery can be seen in "Invincible Iron Man" #10, which is available in comic book shops and online retailers now.