Chapter Summaries

Murphy trained Peter Parker while preparing Spider-Man’s suit, then watched Tony Stark disappear, return, and announce the closure of Stark Industries’ weapons division. He attended Obadiah Stane’s dinner party, where he encountered Phil Coulson.

• Murphy made Peter Parker a company intern and began training him in parkour while developing Spider-Man’s suit with Laura, Curt Connors, and Richard Parker.
• After Tony Stark disappeared during a convoy attack, Murphy sent Jason Bourne to Old Bridge Town in New Mexico to wait for a strange man and obtain his blood sample.
• Tony Stark returned three months later, and Stark Industries’ stock recovered before his announcement that the company would shut down its weapons division sent it plunging.
• Natasha Romanoff delivered Obadiah Stane’s dinner invitation, and Murphy told Laura to keep Peter Parker training while he attended.
• Obadiah Stane welcomed Murphy to the dinner party, where Murphy spotted Phil Coulson and asked whether his intelligence agency made donations.

Murphy attended Tony Stark’s banquet, then visited Jarvis to request the Iron Man Armor designs, but Jarvis refused because of his loyalty to Stark. Murphy turned to his own work and prepared to test a serum on Dr. Curt Connors.

• Tony Stark arrived at the banquet, while Murphy spoke with Phil Coulson and left before the party ended.
• Murphy planned for Jason Bourne to monitor Jane Foster’s research team and intended to collect Thor’s blood when Thor arrived.
• Murphy asked Jarvis for Tony Stark’s Iron Man Armor designs, but Jarvis refused, explaining that Stark had changed his programming and that he had become a true Artificial Intelligence.
• Murphy returned to the Ghost Group branch and prepared to inject Dr. Curt Connors with serum made from second-generation breeding lizard blood.

Dr. Curt Connors received the lizard serum, regrew his arm, and began testing his enhanced abilities. Murphy planned to use the serum to thaw Norman Osborn safely, while Harry Osborn volunteered to join the team.

• Murphy injected Dr. Curt Connors with the serum, and Connors's arm regrew as his body strengthened.
• Connors woke up hungry and amazed by his new arm, while Murphy tested his blood and confirmed that the altered genes were stable.
• Murphy told Connors to test his lizard traits during a week of observation, and Connors later began extensive training.
• Harry Osborn asked when his father could receive the serum, and Murphy said he would wait until Connors completed his tests and mastered his strength.
• Harry told Murphy he was ready to receive the injection and excited to join his team.

Murphy warned Harry Osborn about controlling his power as he refined his team, while Obadiah Stane brought Murphy his Iron Monger design and offered him Stark Industries. Murphy supplied a New Element reactor and promised to improve the armor so Obadiah could fight Tony Stark.

• Murphy told Harry Osborn that he was a superhuman and ordered him to keep his mindset under control and obey the team’s commands.
• Obadiah Stane wiped out the Ten Rings Gang, recovered the Mark I, and had Stark Industries technicians attempt to build an improved armor.
• Obadiah Stane visited Murphy with the Iron Monger blueprints and offered him the armor and Stark Industries after Tony Stark’s elimination.
• Murphy criticized Iron Monger’s weaknesses and showed Obadiah Stane a compact New Element reactor instead of letting him steal Tony Stark’s energy source.
• Murphy promised to improve Iron Monger and sent Obadiah Stane away expecting to fight Tony Stark.

Murphy upgraded Iron Monger and had Ghost Group deliver it to Obadiah Stane, while S.H.I.E.L.D. moved to arrest him after Pepper Potts obtained evidence of his crimes. Obadiah escaped in the armor, and Tony Stark arrived to confront him.

• Murphy redesigned Iron Monger with lighter armor and upgraded weapons, then ordered it painted red and gold and sent to Obadiah Stane.
• Pepper Potts obtained evidence of Obadiah Stane’s crimes, and Nick Fury sent Phil Coulson to arrest him.
• Harry Osborn delivered Iron Monger to Obadiah Stane, who climbed into the armor and began its tutorial.
• Phil Coulson and Pepper Potts entered Stark Industries, where Obadiah burst out in Iron Monger and blocked Pepper’s path.
• Tony Stark flew in wearing his armor and confronted Obadiah.

Tony Stark fought Obadiah Stane in the Iron Monger armor, discovering that James Murphy had given it superior power, weapons, and an automatic evasion system. Tony escaped Iron Monger’s missile attack with decoy flares, but the battle remained unresolved.

• Obadiah Stane revealed Iron Monger’s new-element reactor and charged Tony Stark, whose Energy Blasts failed to stop it.
• Tony Stark circled Iron Monger to test its agility while Obadiah Stane fired energy rounds and taunted him.
• Tony Stark struck Iron Monger with an armor-piercing bullet, but its auxiliary system performed an automatic evasive maneuver.
• Tony Stark flew upward to freeze Iron Monger, but Obadiah Stane’s armor shook off the ice and pursued him.
• Obadiah Stane launched miniature missiles at Tony Stark, who deployed decoy flares that triggered a chain of explosions.

Tony Stark struggled against Obadiah Stane until Murphy ordered Harry Osborn to end the fight by ejecting Stane from Iron Monger. After Stane died in a traffic accident and Murphy took the armor for analysis, Tony resolved to improve his suit and find a nontoxic New Element to counter his palladium poisoning.

• Obadiah Stane overwhelmed Tony Stark on the highway, causing a collision that killed civilians.
• Nick Fury asked Murphy to support Tony, and Murphy sent Harry Osborn to the battlefield after explaining that Obadiah had only been a test subject.
• Harry revealed that Murphy had made no deal with Obadiah and activated a remote that ejected him from Iron Monger in an emergency seat.
• Obadiah drifted down by parachute and was struck by a truck, while Iron Monger flew back to Ghost Group headquarters for analysis.
• Tony told Pepper Potts that he would upgrade his armor and seek a nontoxic New Element to address his palladium poisoning.

Murphy continued developing his armor and monitoring Jane Foster’s research team while Nick Fury invited him to join the Avengers Initiative. Murphy rejected the idea of releasing his technology and remained wary of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans against him.

• Murphy asked Jason Bourne about Jane Foster’s team, and Jason reported that they were still researching and the unknown individual had not appeared.
• Jennifer told Murphy that Ghost Group’s Ghanaian heavy-industry project had begun production and that Natasha Romanoff had resigned; Murphy agreed to handle Ghana’s weapons request.
• Natasha Romanoff joined Stark Industries as Pepper Potts’s assistant after Nick Fury reassigned her there.
• Nick Fury and Phil Coulson presented Murphy with the Avengers Initiative, which proposed preparing for an alien invasion.
• Murphy questioned the plan and refused to reveal his alien technology, while S.H.I.E.L.D. secretly continued developing Helicarriers and a simplified combat system to counter him.

James Murphy agreed to join the Avengers Initiative with his team, but insisted that the Avengers remain independent from S.H.I.E.L.D. and be divided into three separate teams. Nick Fury accepted the terms and left to speak with Captain America and Tony Stark.

• Murphy questioned Nick Fury about the Avengers’ potential members, and Fury listed Hulk, Peter Parker, and the first-generation Ant-Man among his candidates.
• Murphy agreed to join the Avengers with his team, provided that S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council could not dictate his actions.
• Murphy proposed that he, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark each form separate teams, and Fury agreed that the arrangement could prevent future conflicts.
• Murphy demanded a separate Avengers base, with S.H.I.E.L.D. serving as a liaison and support organization, and Fury accepted.
• Nick Fury left with Phil Coulson to speak with Captain America and Tony Stark, explaining that the World Security Council would approve the initiative because of Murphy.

Murphy retrieved five frozen Winter Soldiers from an abandoned Hydra base in Siberia and imprisoned them in Africa to serve as sparring partners for his team. He continued helping Hank Pym study the Quantum Realm while preparing for the second-generation Ant-Man to join the group.

• Murphy reflected on how the Avengers’ divisions and past mistakes had enabled Thanos, and considered whether to destroy the recording of Bucky killing Howard Stark.
• Murphy ordered five cages built and flew to the Siberian Hydra base, where he transferred the five frozen Winter Soldiers into cryogenic pods and searched for the recording.
• Murphy brought the Winter Soldiers to Africa, thawed them in their cages, and told Hank Pym they would train Murphy’s team.
• Murphy entered the Quantum Realm to collect more data for Hank, whose robot detected a strange clue that excited him.

Murphy traveled to Washington D.C. to serve as a weapons expert at a hearing targeting Tony Stark’s Iron Man Armor, where Senator Stern used misleading questions and a selectively quoted military assessment to pressure them both. The hearing remained underway as Murphy anticipated further traps tied to his own weapons and actions.

• Hank Pym studied the robot’s findings while Murphy accepted an invitation to testify at Tony Stark’s hearing and left for Washington D.C.
• Nick Fury approached Steve Rogers after first testing Murphy’s attitude toward joining the Avengers.
• Tony Stark and Murphy arrived in Washington D.C. for the high-profile hearing, where Senator Stern framed Stark’s armor as a threat to American security.
• Murphy told the hearing he would speak truthfully, while Stern emphasized his weapons expertise and asked Stark to affirm Murphy’s qualifications.
• Senator Stern had colonel James Rhodes read a selectively chosen portion of his assessment, increasing Tony Stark’s unease as Murphy recognized the tactic and anticipated further traps.

At Tony Stark’s hearing, Senator Stern used footage of failed Iron Man replicas and questions about weapons to pressure Stark into surrendering his armor. Murphy exposed the hearing as a trap and challenged the government to explain how it could afford or use his own advanced technology, ending with reporters eager to learn about Universal Currency.

• Senator Stern showed satellite footage of failed Iron Man experiments, but Murphy had Christina zoom in and reveal the accidents to the audience.
• Stern asked whether Iron Man Armor was a weapon and demanded that Tony Stark hand it over, while Stark refused and mocked the senator.
• Murphy questioned whether the government could legally seize private property and asked whether his Ravager Fighter also threatened national security.
• Murphy explained that the armor’s energy system and costly Titanium-Vanadium Alloy could not be reproduced effectively if the government took it.
• Murphy accused the hearing of being a trap aimed at both him and Stark, then offered to hand over his fighter for a price in Universal Currency, prompting reporters to ask about it.

Murphy disrupted the hearing that sought to seize Tony Stark’s armor, and the two men made peace afterward. As Tony’s poisoning worsened, Ivan Vanko attacked him in Morocco, leading Nick Fury to give Tony Howard Stark’s legacy and Tony to create a New Element resembling Murphy’s.

• Murphy challenged Senator Stern’s hearing and forced Stern to adjourn it before the committee could seize Stark’s armor.
• Alexander Pierce blamed Stern for the hearing’s failure and told Sitwell to advise Stern to keep a low profile.
• Murphy and Tony Stark shook hands, settled their past conflict, and hinted that they might work together.
• Tony Stark’s palladium poisoning worsened, but he refused to ask Murphy for help and prepared for his possible death.
• Ivan Vanko attacked Tony in Morocco, and Tony gave the Mark II armor to James Rhodes.
• Nick Fury gave Tony Howard Stark’s legacy, and Tony created a New Element similar to Murphy’s.

Justin Hammer recruited Ivan Vanko to build human-operated armor for an attack on Tony Stark and James Murphy, while Murphy investigated Hank Pym’s missing wife in the Quantum Realm. Hammer prepared a four-type armor force for an assault at the Stark Expo as Murphy planned to return to America and observe the next Ant-Man.

• Justin Hammer persuaded Ivan Vanko to build an army of human-operated suits and target Tony Stark and James Murphy, arguing that Murphy could take over remote-controlled armor.
• Murphy returned to Ghana, where his industrial district and arms trade with Wakanda continued to grow.
• Murphy searched the Quantum Realm for Hank Pym’s wife but found no sign of her, then agreed with Hank to return to America and wait for the second-generation Ant-Man.
• Hank Pym told Murphy that Pym Technologies faced trouble and that his former student would serve as a test for the new Ant-Man.
• Ivan Vanko designed four coordinated armor troop types for Hammer, who planned to attack Tony Stark at the Stark Expo and hoped James Murphy would be there.

Justin Hammer negotiated with Senator Stern to showcase Ivan Vanko’s military armors at the Stark Expo and arrange for Tony Stark and James Murphy to attend. Stern secured military pressure on Stark Industries, and Tony agreed to appear despite his suspicions.

• Ivan Vanko designed armed armor suits for the Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marine Corps, while Hammer’s mercenaries trained in prototypes fitted with hidden backdoors.
• Justin Hammer told Ivan Vanko he would meet Senator Stern to secure access to the Stark Expo and arrange for James Murphy to attend.
• Justin Hammer showed Senator Stern a video of the armor suits and negotiated support for unveiling them at the expo in exchange for aligning Hammer Industries with Stern.
• Senator Stern agreed to bring in the military, contact Stark Industries, and try to invite James Murphy.
• Pepper Potts told Tony Stark that the military wanted Iron Man at the expo, and Tony agreed to attend.

James Murphy attended the Stark Expo after learning Justin Hammer had returned and might be working with Ivan Vanko. Hammer unveiled the Steel Legion, whose armors contained living pilots, leaving Murphy to anticipate a confrontation.

• Alexander Pierce persuaded Senator Stern to provoke James Murphy into attending the Stark Expo with a personal invitation.
• James Murphy learned Ivan Vanko had escaped from a Moroccan prison and suspected he was involved in Hammer's comeback.
• James Murphy went to the Stark Expo, where Justin Hammer announced the revival of Hammer Industries and introduced Tony Stark.
• Justin Hammer presented the Steel Legion's four armor branches and a larger General armor, while James Murphy detected living people inside every suit.

Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko attacked Tony Stark and James Murphy at the expo with piloted armor, while Hammer also sent Steel Warriors to raid Ghost Group headquarters. Murphy fought the armors as Natasha Romanoff intercepted Hammer, leaving the battle ongoing and Hammer unconscious.

• Justin Hammer revealed that Ivan Vanko had helped him build the armor, and thirty-two suits turned on Tony Stark and James Murphy at the expo.
• Murphy flew to the stage and stalled Hammer while the crowd escaped, then learned Hammer had sent eighteen Steel Warriors to Ghost Group headquarters.
• Laura's building defenses destroyed all eighteen Steel Warriors before they could harm Jack or Jennifer, though Hammer did not know this.
• Hammer escaped through a trapdoor as Ivan Vanko ordered the armors to attack; Tony Stark took flight while Murphy charged the enemy suits and began destroying them.
• Natasha Romanoff followed Hammer through the venue's rear passage and knocked him unconscious.

Murphy fought the Iron Legion at Stark Expo while Tony Stark pursued Ivan Vanko through a steel globe. After Murphy survived a mercenary missile barrage, Steve Rogers and Hawkeye arrived to help defeat the remaining armors, and Steve said he had joined the Avengers.

• Murphy destroyed several Iron Legion soldiers as they escaped the venue, then fought the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force armors surrounding him.
• Ivan Vanko chased Tony Stark through a giant steel globe while taunting him and testing their armors’ maneuverability.
• Murphy charged the mercenaries at close range, destroying several armors before the Navy Armor launched missiles that engulfed the battlefield.
• Murphy survived the explosions and reappeared through the dust, but the mercenaries tried to flee as Captain America’s shield struck the Air Force Armor.
• Hawkeye piloted a Quinjet that joined Murphy and Steve Rogers in destroying the remaining armors and mercenaries.
• Steve told Murphy that Nick Fury had asked him to join the Avengers and questioned why they had split into separate teams.

Tony Stark defeated Ivan Vanko in the expo courtyard, then met with James Murphy and Steve Rogers to discuss the Avengers. Murphy proposed dividing the team into three independent squads, and Steve argued that they should stay united.

• Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko fought with their armored weapons in the expo courtyard while James Murphy and Steve Rogers watched.
• Tony Stark used a one-use laser weapon to kill Ivan Vanko.
• Tony Stark met James Murphy and learned that the man beside him was Captain America, Steve Rogers.
• Tony Stark asked Murphy about Nick Fury, the Avengers, and Murphy's New Element, but Murphy avoided answering the question about its source.
• Murphy proposed that he, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers each lead a separate team that would cooperate when necessary without one team having authority over another.
• Steve Rogers urged them to unite, but Murphy said they were no longer soldiers and that the circumstances had changed.

Murphy, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers agreed to lead three Avengers teams and cooperate through majority voting, with Stark tasked with building a base and Murphy offering one on the Moon. After leaving them, Murphy learned that Mjolnir had appeared in New Mexico and rushed to investigate.

• Murphy argued with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers that their differing beliefs made a single unified team impractical, and proposed dividing the Avengers into three teams.
• Tony Stark and Steve Rogers agreed to Murphy's majority-vote rule for coordinating the teams, and Murphy said his team would gain two more members while future recruits would be chosen by Stark and Rogers.
• Murphy told Stark and Rogers about other powerful groups, including sorcerers, and said he would introduce them when the Avengers were established.
• Tony Stark offered an abandoned plot of land for an Avengers base, while Murphy revealed that he would contribute a base on the far side of the Moon.
• Murphy left after assigning Stark to handle construction, then learned from Laura that a strange object had appeared in New Mexico and hurried toward the site of Mjolnir's arrival.
• Jason Bourne followed Jane Foster and her companions, saw a strange beam descend to Earth, and sent out a signal.