He’s been a billionaire playboy for nearly 60 years, but it looks like Tony Stark might be about to tie the knot. Marvel has confirmed that Iron Man will pop the question to a fellow superhero in May’s Iron Man #20. Writer Chris Cantwell’s run on the Armored Avenger’s comic has seen Stark paired with a new love interest, Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat. The couple has managed to keep their romance going through cosmic crusades and galactic threats. Now Tony is ready to take it to the next level.
The first details on Iron Man #20 confirm the surprising twist, with its two covers depicting the star-crossed lovers in action. The main cover, which comes from comic book legend Alex Ross, sees Tony and Patsy in an airborne embrace. Meanwhile, the variant cover from Betsy Cola portrays the moment Iron Man asks Hellcat to marry him, as realized with ’60s-style artwork.
Check out the covers via the tweet below:
Cantwell told Marvel.com why he thinks Patsy and Tony are such a great match:
“Since Issue #1, bringing Patsy Walker/Hellcat into this story just felt right. She was the perfect kind of grounded presence in Tony Stark’s hyper-octane world that I believed could help bring more balance to his life. Patsy Walker’s best super-power in my mind has always been her ability to be human and sincere. And like Tony, she has had her share of demons in the past (some literal in her case).”
Not that their impending nuptials are guaranteed, however, as Cantwell teased that Patsy will be thrown for a loop by Tony’s desire to get hitched.
“Both Patsy and Tony have gone through fundamental transformations in this story,” he explained. “And as the dust settles, and Tony sees Patsy as this phenomenal force in his life, he does the only thing he can think to do in order to keep her near him and connected: he proposes they be together for the rest of their lives. Of course, marriage is freighted for Patsy in ways it is for few other Marvel characters. Just one her previous relationships took her to the very depths of hell. It’s not an easy decision for her in the least.”
While moviegoers have seen Robert Downey Jr.’s Stark get married to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts in the MCU, the couple only ever dated in the comics, so Tony proposing to Patsy is a major development for the character. Patsy, on the other hand, is no stranger to love as she originally starred in a romance comic from the 1940s through the ’60s before being reimagined as a superhero in the ’70s. She was (very) loosely adapted for the screen in TV’s Jessica Jones, as played by Rachael Taylor.
But will Patsy Walker say yes to Tony Stark’s proposal? We’ll find out when Iron Man #20, from Chris Cantwell and artist Angel Unzueta, releases on May 30. The comic will then be followed by Iron Man/Hellcat Annual #1 in June.
