Marvel Preview: Iron Man Married An X-Man & It May Last Longer Than We Thought

Iron Man appears to be having second thoughts about getting his marriage to the X-Men's Emma Frost annulled. Could the stunt relationship have transformed into something real?

Tony Stark and the White Queen agreed to work together to stop Feilong — a villain who quickly proved to be one of Iron Man's greatest threats after buying and turning the hero's advanced tech against him to create powerful Stark Sentinels — and Orchis, the anti-mutant organization determined to destroy the X-Men and their paradise home of Krakoa. Under the secret identity of Hazel Kendall, Frost married Stark in order to implement a plan to take the villains down. Orchis succeeded in ending the X-Men's Krakoan Age, but Iron Man (wearing one of his most powerful armors ever) and Emma helped take the villainous group out by burying Feilong alive in the desert to ensure the megalomaniac could never try anything so sinister ever again.

With his enemies now defeated, Iron Man is tying up several loose ends in his life. In the preview below, the Avenger heads to court with She-Hulk to set his longtime friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes free after Feilong framed him for murder. Meanwhile, Stark still has a decision to make about what's next with his marriage to Emma. What started off as an unlikely alliance between two strong personalities formed to take out a collective threat might have become something real.

In Looper's exclusive preview of Marvel Comics' "The Invincible Iron Man" #20 (by Gerry Duggan, Andrea Di Vito, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Joe Caramagna), Tony Stark provides updates on what's happening in his life as of late. From the fall of Krakoa and his efforts to get his fortune back after Orchis and Feilong were exposed as evil actors to the Hellfire Club in New York falling amidst the chaos, he has a lot on his plate. But none of that is as big as the most important thing at the moment: making sure his closest friend in the world, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, is freed from prison.

While court is in session, the judge apologizes to Rhodey after dismissing his murder charges with extreme prejudice. As Tony and Rhodey celebrate their victory with She-Hulk, she reminds Tony that his annulment to Emma Frost is almost complete. Surprisingly, the Avenger tells his super-lawyer to hold off on filing the papers to end his marriage. For some reason, he doesn't appear to be quite ready to end his relationship with the X-Men's White Queen — could he have developed real feelings for his unlikely ally? Stranger things have happened, after all.

Meanwhile, Rhodey remains curious about what really happened to Feilong. He doesn't know that his best friend buried their adversary alive and left him there, imprisoned and alone, and when he finds out, it probably won't go well for Tony. Check out the full preview of the issue below.

Marvel Comics/Andrea Di Vito

Marvel Comics/Andrea Di Vito

Marvel Comics/Andrea Di Vito

Marvel Comics/Andrea Di Vito

The future of Iron Man and Emma Frost's marriage is currently up in the air, as Marvel hasn't revealed what's coming next for their relationship. What we do know is that "The Invincible Iron Man" series ends with the upcoming Issue #20, and the White Queen is poised to play an important role in Marvel's new "From the Ashes" storytelling initiative for the X-Men.

Frost will lead Kate Pryde and a new team of young mutants in Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero's "Exceptional X-Men," though nothing has been revealed about the state of her personal life in previews for the series. While she and Tony could remain married, Marvel may opt to end the relationship to give Frost a fresh start in her new surroundings, as her romance with Stark might be too tied to a storyline the X-books are moving past.

If Stark and Frost do split, it will likely be more emotional and heartbreaking than readers could have imagined when the pair first got together, as they've formed a surprisingly solid connection with one another over the past several months.

Check out the main cover art for "The Invincible Iron Man" #20 by Kael Ngu, followed by Marvel's official solicitation text for the issue.

Marvel Comics/Kael Ngu

THE WAR IS OVER. The war with Orchis is over. What does the future hold for Tony and Emma Frost?

Readers can find out what's next for Iron Man and Emma Frost when the much-anticipated issue arrives in comic book stores and online retailers on July 17, 2024.