Marvel Just Confirmed Adamantium Is No Longer Its Strongest Metal

Contains spoilers for "The Invincible Iron Man" #15 (by Gerry Duggan, Creees Lee, Walden Wong, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Joe Caramagna).

A new metal has put an end to any debate over which is the strongest in the Marvel Universe. In "The Invincible Iron Man" #15, Iron Man debuts a new armor made from the mutant metal Mysterium, and when it's pitted against a foe with Adamantium claws, the razor-sharp weapons crumple against their opponent in a shocking fashion.

Adamantium and Vibranium are often considered the strongest metals in comics. Adamantium, which first appeared in "The Avengers" #66 (by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, Syd Shores, and Artie Simek), is a man-made alloy used to create some of the most indestructible weapons sported by Marvel's heroes and villains, including Wolverine's skeleton, one of Captain America's shields, and Ultron's metal body. Readers have seen Adamantium weaponry rip apart even the most seemingly unbreakable foes.

Vibranium debuted in "Fantastic Four" #66 (by Stan Lee, John Romita, Jack Kirby, and Stan Rosen) and can only be found in the Black Panther's homeland of Wakanda. The uber-strong metal can absorb and release kinetic energy and has been used to forge items like Captain America's shield and Black Panther's armor. Not only is Vibranium useful as a metal, but the resource is also extremely valuable. While Adamantium is often considered the stronger metal, it's generally left up to comic writers to make the determination themselves when the two clash.

Now, we have Mysterium, which is what Iron Man's newest suit is constructed of. The metal comes from the White Hot Room, the home of the Phoenix, where mutants took refuge following the fall of Krakoa.

In "The Invincible Iron Man" #15, Iron Man and Emma Frost find themselves taking on a reconstructed corpse of Wolverine that the villain Feilong turned into his own weapon. After it bloodies Tony Stark by slashing him with its Adamantium claws and figures out how to de-power Frost's diamond form in order to hurt her, Iron Man puts on his Mark 72 armor. Constructed out of the mutant material Mysterium, the armor immediately shows why the metal is so impressive. As the faux Wolverine attacks and tries to impale Iron Man, his Adamantium claws collapse on impact. Frost watches, impressed with her husband's newest creation, calling it astonishing as Iron Man uses the Mysterium suit to crush his opponent's head like a tin can.

The way the claws bend upon impact shows the true strength of Mysterium. Even Vibranium wouldn't be such a strong defense against Adamantium claws, as they would likely bounce off the metal without damaging either material. The Mysterium armor, however, treats the robust metal like it's cardboard. At this point, Mysterium remains largely an unknown resource outside of a select group of mutants and heroes. Still, after its impressive showing against the Adamantium-equipped threat, it should soon gain the attention of villains and heroes alike.

Readers can see Iron Man's Mysterium armor in action in "Invincible Iron Man" #15, which is in comic book stores and available via online retailers now.