In the timeline of What if: Newer Fantastic Four, in which the Fantastic Four were killed by De'Lila (a rogue Skrull) and the Hulk, Spider-Man, the Ghost Rider and Wolverine had joined together to avenge them and soldier on in their stead as the New Fantastic Four, Thanos of Titan, as in the mainline universe, came into possession of the six Infinity Gems and became ruler of all reality, before erasing half of all living beings from existence. Among those who vanished was Ghost Rider, and, being present at the battle during which he was erased, Iron Man in turn stepped up to fill his place.
Taking on Thanos, the Newer Fantastic Four soon realized they were outmatched to the Nth degree - but Tony Stark, with help from the Hulk, managed to salvage the empty armor of Ziran, a Celestial, and soon realized it could be controlled by thoughts. With its original wearer gone, it now responded to him, and instantly, Tony took control of the immense armor. Using the late Mr. Fantastic's technology, he connected the armor to the Negative Zone, allowing him to call on all the power of that reality. Despite now being in control of quite possibly the most powerful armor any Iron Man has ever worn in any reality, he was swiftly defeated by the omnipotent Thanos, although Wolverine was able to trick Thanos into a position where he could remove the Gauntlet, Spider-Man subsequently using the Gauntlet to undo the damage Thanos had caused.
Read more about this topic: Alternative Versions Of Iron Man
Famous quotes containing the words newer and/or fantastic:
“Modern man, if he dared to be articulate about his concept of heaven, would describe a vision which would look like the biggest department store in the world, showing new things and gadgets, and himself having plenty of money with which to buy them. He would wander around open-mouthed in this heaven of gadgets and commodities, provided only that there were ever more and newer things to buy, and perhaps that his neighbors were just a little less privileged than he.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)
“[Madness] is the jail we could all end up in. And we know it. And watch our step. For a lifetime. We behave. A fantastic and entire system of social control, by the threat of example as effective over the general population as detention centers in dictatorships, the image of the madhouse floats through every mind for the course of its lifetime.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)