In superhero comics, the hero is only as good as his roster of villains. No matter how cool a hero is or how flashy their costume or powers, they have to have memorable villains to generate memorable stories and adventures. Week after week we see new and familiar villains pop up in the pages of comics but not all are on the same scale.

Villains have to be a persistent lot as they are usually defeated time and time again. If a villain is defeated too often, they run the risk of being forgotten or thought of as a joke. Some villains have fallen into that bad category but have the potential to be something more.

In the mid 80s, Iron Man 2020 made his first appearance. He might not have started out as a pure villain and has gone back and forth. With his background and the technology at his disposal, he should have become a more notorious villain.

Iron Man 2020 was the alter ego of Arno Stark, a future descendant of Tony Stark (his first cousin), the current and original Iron Man. Because of the sliding timeline in comics, Arno was meant to be from approximately 40 years in the future. Today, 2020 isn't too far off.

Arno Stark was the son of Morgan Stark, Tony's shady cousin. When Arno inherited Stark Industries, he came into possession of the Iron Man armor. Instead of being a hero, he decided the use the armor for his own means. He became a mercenary and used his armor to fight and cripple his industrial competitors.

We've seen many stories, such as Armor Wars, where Iron Man has had to fight villains using stolen tech. With Arno Stark, it's a little different. Having inherited Stark Industries, he would likely have access to the suit's schematics and designs. Depending on how smart he was or who he could hire to work with him, Arno could get a complete understanding of what his suit is capable of.

Having access to an experimental time machine also gives him a huge edge. Seeing how Iron Man can take on threats, an Iron Man from the future should be even more prepared to deal with any situation. Part of being Iron Man does fall on ingenuity and experience but having future tech could make up for any weak areas in his training. Tony Stark is constantly upgrading his armor. It makes sense that thirty or forty years in the future would result in a huge advancement in the suit. If Arno Stark wanted to be a successful villain, he should have more than enough at his disposal to be a threat in his era or in the past.

Eventually it appeared that Arno had a change of heart. There is some conflicting depictions over this as despite being a possible Avenger in AVENGERS FOREVER, he was also seen imprisoned by the Time Variance Authority where other "dangerous time-travel offenders" were kept.

Iron Man 2020 makes a better villain. We've already seen how heroic an individual can be in the Iron Man armor and the idea of a future descendant of Tony Stark being the opposite is intriguing. With the advanced technology and access to time travel, Iron Man 2020 could accomplish a great deal in the name of villainy. Far too often we've seen decent villains try to turn over a new leaf and end up being watered down versions of who they were meant to be. Because time travel was involved, now is the time for Iron Man 2020 to make his return and to give Tony Stark a hard time.

As great of a hero Iron Man is, it's always great to see him face a worthy opponent.

i remember reading about him in the machine man mini series late 80s early 90s

A great villian, I even have his Marvel Universe toy

Barry Windsor Smith colours and inks over Herb Trimpe pencils? Mmmm, now that's ome good eye candy. I loooved that 1984 Machine Man series and i agree, Iron 2020 definitely deserves his time in the spotlight. Come to think of it, he seemed to be in his late twenties, early thirties in the series so could probably be introduced properly into Tonys' universe now without the aid of time travel machines!

I always liked Iron Man 2020, no matter how silly his whole concept was :P

Hey, aren't we catching up to his own time period?!

Not sure I would call Iron Man 2020 a "bad guy" more of an anti-hero

Always wished Iron Man 2020 was used more.

@EganTheVile1 said:

Not sure I would call Iron Man 2020 a "bad guy" more of an anti-hero

I agree. It will be fun to see how it all develops.

I thought he was great in the Machine Man 4 issue mini-series, but I thought he never should have been used again. The other stories haven't been horrible, but Machine Man beat him pretty soundly, if I remember right. This is one character I prefer not be developed that much.

@EganTheVile1: Seemed like a 'bad guy' in Avengers West Coast. He had the potential for it.

@G-Man: The Living Comet looks like Alpha from the Power Rangers.

@G-Man: But that was the Legion of the Unliving. They've had folk like Captain Marvel, Wonder Man, Bucky and countless other good guys among their ranks. Alignment or allegiances don't matter much in the Legion.

Didn't his armor appear in the Spider-Man Ends of The Earth story?

If he's from 2020 doesn't that mean he's about twenty in current time, couldn't Iron man go and stop him turning evil, or maybe he could give him a job at his company to help him not turn evil but Arno betrays him by getting one of his suits and using it against him, it would be an interesting take on the character. Or not I just like to see it.

8 more years.

@AmazingFantasy15 said:

If he's from 2020 doesn't that mean he's about twenty in current time, couldn't Iron man go and stop him turning evil, or maybe he could give him a job at his company to help him not turn evil but Arno betrays him by getting one of his suits and using it against him, it would be an interesting take on the character. Or not I just like to see it.

Different timeline. The whole 2020 stuff is from an alternate reality that rarely crossed over with the regular Marvel Universe (though some Marvel UK writers liked to use it...see Death's Head II). Arno doesn't exist in the MU as far as we know.

Shame

I have vague memories of reading this guys wiki page... Could have been an interesting character

*sigh*... time travel in comics is NEVER a good idea for a story. Even establishing that there is such a thing as time travel completely negates any storyline at all! Doctor Doom has a time machine... yet for some reason, he does not rule the world. Hmmm....

Oh yeah... in 2020, large gears are in. very futuristic....

Looks pretty cool. A relative of Tony Stark's besmirching the Iron Man legacy. He has some potential as a future villain IMO

so close

So he's Steam punk ? :P

Never heard of him, but he sounds pretty cool!

I went through this article like a ninja blade through margarine....

Huh this character's timeline is like in 8 years from now. I wonder if Marvel will do something with this character in 8 years. Maybe retcon him or something.

There should be an ultimate battle. last man standing. Iron man v.s. Iron man 2020.

That's the armor Doc Ock had Chameleon steal in Amazing Spider-Man #683...what a weird coincidence.

My favorite altermate universe/timeline Iron Man.

I liked to see Iron Man 2020 back in Invincible Iron Man.

I like when he teamed up with Freelance Peacekeeping Agent Death's Head, yes?

Great article.

The original Iron Man (Tony Stark) kick is A$$

he should come back

Always like him, and it's a shame Marvel doesn't give him a better chance of catching on

@cbishop said:

I thought he was great in the Machine Man 4 issue mini-series, but I thought he never should have been used again. The other stories haven't been horrible, but Machine Man beat him pretty soundly, if I remember right. This is one character I prefer not be developed that much.

That was exactly what I was thinking as I read this. I fortunately missed the other stories. I must be one of the few dozen people that were fans of Kirby's original run of Machine Man. Windsor did a great job with that mini-series.

@Luthorcrow said:

That was exactly what I was thinking as I read this. I fortunately missed the other stories. I must be one of the few dozen people that were fans of Kirby's original run of Machine Man. Windsor did a great job with that mini-series.

That mini-series was awesome. I loved everything about it, except that there wasn't more of it. Iron Man 2020 was designed to be a footnote to that story. The real story is where Machine Man, Sanctuary and the rest went from there. And what was the history with Machine Man and Jacosta? And most important: what happens when Sunset Bain tries again? Because she would. And Machine Man promised her if she did, he'd be back.

Those were the stories I always wanted to read from that, but I think maybe that's the magic of that mini-series - that nothing else came of it, so you're left to wander through your imagination for the rest. Just like expanding on fairy tales, or some other works with no sequels.

just 8 more years!

An awesome villain in my opinion. I read little of him but remember his douchebagginess completely! Great pick!

@cbishop said:

That mini-series was awesome. I loved everything about it, except that there wasn't more of it. Iron Man 2020 was designed to be a footnote to that story. The real story is where Machine Man, Sanctuary and the rest went from there. And what was the history with Machine Man and Jacosta? And most important: what happens when Sunset Bain tries again? Because she would. And Machine Man promised her if she did, he'd be back.

Those were the stories I always wanted to read from that, but I think maybe that's the magic of that mini-series - that nothing else came of it, so you're left to wander through your imagination for the rest. Just like expanding on fairy tales, or some other works with no sequels.

Machine Man mini series was great! I read it a couple of times as a kid. I remember when it turned out that Iron Man (of 2020) was the bad guy! Woooooooahhhhh! Machine Man was a B super hero who was outclassed by Iron Man of today, let alone a Future Iron Man! How would MM have any chance?? Great stuff! I didn't realize it was kirby who wrote that. Thanks for head's up.

People. show no compassion, for the one who has turned the original Blizzard to dust.

@mettlekm said:

Machine Man mini series was great! I read it a couple of times as a kid. I remember when it turned out that Iron Man (of 2020) was the bad guy! Woooooooahhhhh! Machine Man was a B super hero who was outclassed by Iron Man of today, let alone a Future Iron Man! How would MM have any chance?? Great stuff! I didn't realize it was kirby who wrote that. Thanks for head's up.

The heads up was from someone else in the thread, but Kirby was involved with the 1978 series (19 issues). Someone else wrote the 1984 mini-series. ;)

Remember his fight with Death's Head, and AIM put out the hit on him that DH was trying to collect, so no, he is not a villain, he uses darker tactics, but like I said, he is more along the lines of an Eddie Brock/Frank Castle, he uses questionable tactics to fight evil, and his whole reality is ruled by AIM, so he has no real choice in using those methods.

Dr. Doom 2099 looks cooler.

Absolute bastard.