Marvel's the MCU's Ironheart series in June 2025.

Meanwhile, War Machine will star in his first solo movie almost twenty years after he was introduced, though Armor Wars' release date hasn't been confirmed yet, as of early 2025. Regardless of whether Don Cheadle's Rhodey Rhodes meets Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom before or after Armor Wars, Armor Wars will inevitably challenge Tony Stark's Iron Man legacy, as the original Marvel Comics storyline deals with a full-blown war over Iron Man's technology. In the process, several Iron Man villains could return, and others could make their MCU debut.

Doctor Strange's Test Pilot Reference Made An Iron Man 2 Detail Confusing

Iron Man 2's Experimental Armor Test Pilot Isn't The Same Character Referenced In Doctor Strange

In Iron Man 2, Tony Stark exposes Justin Hammer's faulty technology with footage of failed experiments, including one video of a test pilot seemingly having his back broken by one of Hammer's experimental armors. Justin Hammer quickly clarifies that the test pilot survived, though the footage suggests otherwise. Years later, while Stephen Strange chooses his next patient right before his car accident, Strange's colleague Billy mentions a "35-year-old Air Force Colonel. Crushed his lower spine in some kind of experimental test armor..." While this person seems to be the same test pilot from Iron Man 2, the timeline doesn't quite align.

Tony Stark in his Iron Man gear leading Vision Quest's White Vision and Ultron
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Iron Man’s MCU Legacy Faces Its Biggest Challenge In 1 MCU Release (& It’s Nothing To Do With Dr Doom)

Iron Man's MCU legacy might be in jeopardy in one Disney+ show released before Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom debuts in Avengers: Doomsday.

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Doctor Strange's car crash happened in 2014 at the earliest, and the test pilot's injury from Iron Man 2 must have taken place in 2010 at the latest. While the test pilot could be seeking follow-up treatment from Strange after prior surgeries by 2014, it makes more sense for the test pilots to be two separate characters, as Strange is looking for eye-catching, headline-worthy emergency patients at the time. Another theory suggests that the pilot Billy mentions in Doctor Strange is Rhodey, who gets injured when Vision shoots him down in Captain America: Civil War, but this option is less likely, as Strange is already a retired surgeon at that point.

Iron Man 2's Experimental Armor Test Pilot Could Return As A Villain In Armor Wars

Iron Man 2's Injured Test Pilot Is A Great Candidate For An Armor Wars Villain

Iron Man with armored villains in Marvel Comics' Armor Wars

Armor Wars will inevitably make some changes to its storyline given Tony Stark's absence. However, its title requires multiple participants in the war for Stark's technology. One of the armored villains in the MCU's Armor Wars adaptation could be the injured experimental armor test pilot from Iron Man 2, who could be blame Justin Hammer and Tony Stark for his life-changing injuries. Using Stark technology or an Iron Man copycat armor, Iron Man 2's test pilot could return in Armor Wars with the intent to kill Justin Hammer and get rid of James Rhodes in order to keep the technology that enhances his body.

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