The following contains spoilers for Invincible Iron Man #6, now on sale from Marvel Comics.
An oft-forgotten weapon among Magneto's arsenal is his telepath-blocking helmet. Back in the day, though, the U.S. military was well aware of it, and in fact wanted to harness its tech. Invincible Iron Man #6, by Gerry Duggan, Andrea Di Vito, Bryan Valenza and VC's Joe Caramagna, reveals the government's past intentions. And Iron Man himself played a part in the scheme.
The flashback story takes place during Iron Man's tenure in the West Coast Avengers. The U.S. Army wants to miniaturize and replicate Magneto's technology to negate the powers of mutant telepaths. But someone has recently tried to steal the tech. And a top-ranking U.S. General only trusts Tony Stark to securely get it into the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. for safe keeping.
With the tech in hand, Iron Man meets with Nick Fury -- or so he thinks. Fury is actually a telepathically disguised Emma Frost, as Tony discovers when he activates the tech. Mind-controlling a cadre of super-villains including Doctor Octopus and Stilt-Man, Emma seizes the government's prototype. And afterwards, psychically makes Tony forget her part in the theft.
Could a New Iron Man Enemy be Using Magneto's Tech?
A concussion suffered by Tony during the battle, though, enables him to now recall these events in the present day. And Tony's likely none too happy about that recollection, in the wake of more recently asking for Emma's help against a newfound foe.
That foe is Feilong, who recently took control of Stark Unlimited. Feilong, anti-mutant industrialist and enemy to the X-Men, has begun using Stark technology to further his fight against mutantkind. Tony had contacted Emma looking to learn about his newfound enemy.
Tony isn’t standing for Feilong building Stark-powered Sentinels with his own tech, though. At Tony’s request, War Machine has covertly stolen a cache of weapons. Tony’s intent? Destroy Feilong’s sinister weaponry, and possibly his former company in the process.
Tony put himself on Feilong’s radar at Krakoa’s most recent Hellfire Gala. That confrontation took place in Duggan’s X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1. The one-shot was published last year.
The technology in Magneto's helmet dates back to his early ideological falling out with his one-time friend Charles Xavier. Magneto developed and employed the tech to prevent intrusion from Charles' mind-reading abilities.
Invincible Iron Man #6 is on sale now from Marvel.
Source: Marvel