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Iron Man may be a superhero, but he’s also a genius inventor – someone smart enough to finally make the world safe from the dangerous gamma radiation that created the Hulk. Of course, in the Marvel Universe, nothing ever runs smooth, and Tony’s intended Anti-Gamma Armor actually ended up giving him a firsthand experience of what it’s like to become the Green Goliath.
In The Incredible Hulk #70-74, by Bruce Jones and Mike Deodato Jr., Tony is hired by the US government to develop a suit which can be used in the event of a dirty bomb attack, allowing rescuers to immediately deploy to irradiated locations. Tony goes one better, inventing an Iron Man suit which will actually clean the affected area by absorbing and neutralizing any radiation. However, Tony knows deep down that the most devastating attack would come from a hijacked gamma bomb, leading him to recruit Bruce Banner to create a suit which will absorb and eradicate the eldritch energy, even when caught in the direct blast of a bomb.
Iron Man’s Anti-Gamma Suit Knocked Out the Hulk
The resultant suit is incredibly impressive, possessing incredible strength and durability, however testing goes drastically wrong. While the suit successfully absorbs the gamma radiation from a test bomb, a recent wound Tony received allows some of the energy to get into his system. Like every other gamma mutate, this energy unleashes the repressed side of Tony’s personality, and he becomes unbelievably reckless, wanting to detonate a second bomb above ground where he can test his work to the extreme. When Bruce responds by trying to take him down, fans get a gamma-powered brawl in which Iron Man is able to knock out Hulk with a single punch from his new suit. Thankfully, Bruce is able to tamper with the second bomb so that when it explodes, it doses Iron Man with a compound that allows the suit to fully purge the gamma from his system.
Tony Stark’s Hulk-Self Is a Reckless Monster
A part-magic, part-scientific energy, gamma is fascinating because of how it taps into the psychology of those infected by it, unleashing the part of themselves they keep hidden from the world or else manifesting their greatest desire. She-Hulk’s exposure allowed her to become the towering, confident person she’d always wished, while Samuel Sterns finally got his desire for staggering intelligence as the Leader. In contrast, Bruce Banner became the monster his abusive father convinced him he was deep down, while the Abomination became the horror he’d always secretly been. While Tony’s biology isn’t fully bonded to gamma thanks to Bruce’s quick thinking, his initial reaction suggests that his own repressed side is wildly reckless – wanting to test his theories no matter who gets hurt, and to receive endless acclaim for his genius.
What Iron Man Looks Like as a Full Hulk
While Tony’s adventure with gamma doesn’t turn him into a green-skinned behemoth, fans hungry for this spectacle can look elsewhere. The 2015 Contest of Champions series introduces the Iron Hulk – a hybrid of Iron Man’s armor and Hulk’s gamma strength – while the ‘Hulked Out Heroes’ episode of Avengers Assemble saw Tony go green. However, Tony’s psychological reaction to gamma in Jones and Deodato’s story is more fascinating than physical changes elsewhere.
Iron Man’s Anti-Gamma Suit Gave Him Experience as a Hulk
It’s perhaps because Tony has experienced his own ‘Hulk’ episode – going wild with unstoppable gamma power – that he and Bruce remain so close. This adventure also made it clear why Bruce is a heroic as well as tragic figure, as he makes it his business to track down and stop potential gamma disasters, even when it means crossing one of his few allies. Ultimately, this incident of Iron Man vs Hulk brought the two heroes closer, as well as showing what a dangerous and chaotic force gamma radiation is in the Marvel Universe.
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