Recaps

John and Mark broke into Tony Stark’s suite expecting to kill him and Luca, but found Yinsen and six models armed with assault rifles. Mark was shot dead, while John used his super speed to dodge the gunfire as the shooters emptied their magazines.

• John and Mark heard Tony joking with women in the suite and prepared to attack him and Luca.
• John silently destroyed the lock with his vibrating hand, then kicked open the door as Mark rushed inside.
• John and Mark discovered Yinsen and six models aiming tactical rifles at them, while Tony ordered them to fire.
• The models opened fire, killing Mark at close range.
• John activated his super speed and dodged the bullets as the models sprayed the living room and emptied their magazines.

John and his team’s assassination attempt on Tony Stark failed after Tony revealed he had bought the hotel and Luca Stark stopped John from reaching him. Luca left John defeated and bewildered, while Tony remained safe.

• John and his team emptied their rifles, but John knocked Yinsen and the six beauties down as soon as the gunfire stopped.
• John grabbed Tony and demanded to know how he had learned of the assassination, and Tony said he had bought the entire hotel five hours earlier.
• John released Tony, drew a dagger, and prepared to kill him despite Tony’s warning to look behind him.
• Luca emerged from the bedroom and silently appeared behind John, frightening him with the energy glowing in his eyes.
• John tried to flee at super speed, but Luca intercepted him at the door and sent him crashing to the floor.
• Luca told John that he was no ordinary person and mocked John’s speed as too slow to pose a threat.

Luca crippled John with eye beams after foiling the assassins’ attack on Tony, and Tony began interrogating him. John demanded to know how Luca had uncovered their plan, then learned Luca had overheard the organization plotting from hundreds of meters away.

• John tried to escape, but Luca shot through both his thighs and left him unable to stand.
• Tony ordered Yinsen and the models to tie John to a chair while he and Luca traded jokes.
• Tony began questioning John about his identity, organization, and orders, but John first asked how they had discovered the assassination plan.
• Luca explained that he had overheard the organization’s members plotting near Stark Industries during the press conference.
• John was stunned that Luca could hear a quiet conversation from hundreds of meters away.

Luca and Tony revealed that they had anticipated John’s Hydra plot and trapped his team at the hotel. Luca’s brutal interrogation made John agree to talk, though he protested that Luca had not given him a chance to speak.

• Luca explained that his super hearing had let him overhear John’s conversation before the hotel, and Tony confirmed that Happy had planted a missile in the hallway in advance.
• John realized the hotel encounter had been a trap and prepared to die rather than betray Hydra.
• Tony signaled Luca to interrogate John, and Luca repeatedly slapped him while demanding answers.
• John finally begged Luca to stop so he could speak, and Luca apologized for getting carried away.

Luca forced John to abandon his defiance and praise the Stark brothers, while Tony and Luca argued over who deserved the credit. John secretly considered escaping and taking revenge, but Luca recognized his intentions and slapped him again.

• Luca taunted John about his earlier resolve, and John agreed to reveal everything he knew about HYDRA’s assassination plot.
• John praised Luca, Tony, and Stark Industries, prompting the women to laugh and Tony to claim the compliments for himself.
• Luca and Tony argued over their contributions and who had saved Tony from John.
• John silently planned to escape and return with an army, but Luca noticed his expression and struck him again.
• John denied plotting revenge and exaggerated his admiration for the Stark brothers, while Luca said he preferred John when he was defiant.

Luca and Tony interrogated John, who revealed that Obadiah Stane was suspected of hiring Hydra to kill them, though the brothers had already suspected him. John then described his life as a genetically modified Hydra operative and shared his codename, while Luca continued questioning him about the organization.

• Luca threatened John until he agreed to share everything he knew about the assassination.
• John said he did not know the employer for certain, but rumors and overheard conversations pointed to Obadiah Stane, who wanted control of Stark Industries with Hydra’s help.
• Tony and Luca explained that they had already suspected Obadiah because Stark Industries weapons had reached the terrorists who kidnapped Tony.
• John revealed that Hydra had raised him in an underground base, subjected him to brutal training and genetic experiments, and assigned him the codename Lightning Warrior.
• Tony mocked the codename, and Luca told him to let John continue before resuming the interrogation about Hydra.

John revealed Hydra’s secrecy, world-domination goal, and possible survival of Red Skull Schmidt, then questioned why S.H.I.E.L.D. had not protected the Stark Family. As Luca and Tony considered the threat from both organizations, Tony implanted a tiny device near John’s heart, leaving John terrified and Luca asking what it was.

• John explained that Hydra kept members compartmentalized and sought to rule the world, shouting its slogan before Luca hit him and told him to continue.
• John said Captain America had defeated only Red Skull Schmidt’s European branch, while Hydra’s core had infiltrated the world, and he suspected Schmidt had survived.
• John wondered why S.H.I.E.L.D. had not detected the Stark Family assassination plot or protected them, prompting Luca and Tony to consider the organizations’ threat.
• Tony complained about Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s names, then retrieved a miniature device from a briefcase and implanted it near John’s heart.
• John screamed and struggled, while Luca inspected the device and asked Tony whether it was poison or a tracker.

Luca forced John to blame the failed assassination on S.H.I.E.L.D. and conceal Luca’s superpowers, while Tony threatened him with a bomb attached to his heart. As John was released to deliver the cover story, Happy waited outside and suspected Obadiah had ordered the attack.

• Tony explained that he had attached a miniature bomb to John’s heart and could trigger it remotely.
• Luca offered John a chance to live if he claimed S.H.I.E.L.D. had foiled the assassination and kept Luca’s powers secret.
• John agreed to blame S.H.I.E.L.D. and describe Tony as an ordinary rich man.
• Luca called Yinsen over to untie John so he could return and report.
• Happy waited in the Rolls-Royce and concluded that Obadiah had likely organized the attack.

Happy mistook the battered, limping John for an assassin who had killed Luca and Tony, then confronted him on the street. After John assured him the Starks were safe, John continued toward Hydra Base, determined to escape the Starks and seek revenge if he survived.

• Happy saw John leave the hotel alone and feared Luca and Tony had been killed.
• Happy followed John and held him at gunpoint, demanding to know what had happened to the Starks.
• John explained that Luca and Tony were safe and still in their hotel room.
• Happy recognized John's battered face and asked what had happened to him.
• John refused to explain and limped away, vowing to escape and get revenge on the Starks.

After the hotel incident, Tony and Luca arranged transportation and compensation for Yinsen and the women before heading home. Yinsen was left wondering at their childish bickering, while Happy assured him that they were always like that.

• Happy heard Tony call him and hurried to bring the car to the hotel entrance.
• Tony told Happy to take the women home and have them sign nondisclosure agreements.
• Tony arranged for Yinsen to stay with Happy, and Luca gave Happy a black card to buy Yinsen a furnished downtown apartment.
• Tony and Luca argued over who would drive, and Luca took the wheel by pointing out that he had a professional racing license.
• Tony challenged Luca to a Formula One race in Morocco, but Luca teased him about his age and Pepper as they drove off.
• Yinsen asked if Tony and Luca always bickered like children, and Happy said they did before leading him and the women to a van.

Luca and Tony decided to go to Beverly Hills to confront Obadiah after realizing he had tried to kill them both. Meanwhile, Coulson briefed Nick Fury on the failed assassination and S.H.I.E.L.D. considered Luca’s growing power and refusal to join.

• Luca asked Tony when they would go, and Tony hesitated as he struggled with Obadiah’s betrayal.
• Tony realized Obadiah had targeted Luca too and chose to act, so Luca drove them toward Beverly Hills.
• Coulson told Nick Fury that three superpowered assassins had attacked the Stark brothers, two had died, and John had been released badly injured.
• Nick Fury questioned what Luca had become, and Coulson warned that Luca could be a powerful ally or a danger because he had refused S.H.I.E.L.D.’s offer.

Nick Fury explained that he wanted Tony and Luca to grow into leaders capable of taking over S.H.I.E.L.D., then sent the Defenders Squad to attack a Hydra branch. Meanwhile, Tony and Luca confronted Obadiah in his villa after surviving his assassination attempt, and Obadiah denied responsibility.

• Coulson questioned why S.H.I.E.L.D. had not protected Tony and Luca, and Fury said they had to face danger themselves to grow.
• Fury told Coulson that he hoped Tony and Luca could someday take over S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Fury gave Coulson a top-secret file and ordered him to send the Defenders Squad to destroy a Hydra branch.
• Obadiah woke in his Beverly Hills villa and assumed Tony was dead and he would take control of Stark Industries.
• Tony and Luca revealed themselves in Obadiah's bedroom and told him they had survived the assassination attempt.
• Tony said he had dismissed the villa's staff and planned to sell the property because Obadiah had bought it with company funds, while Obadiah denied trying to kill them.

Luca and Tony confronted Obadiah, and Tony killed him after Obadiah confessed to betraying the Stark family. Luca arranged a cover story with Pepper, and he and Tony returned home, leaving Tony flustered by Pepper calling them family.

• Luca pinned Obadiah down and asked Tony whether he would kill him.
• Obadiah confessed that resentment over being overlooked drove him to betray Tony and Luca, then reached for a hidden gun.
• Tony shot Obadiah dead, and Luca comforted him before they left the villa.
• Luca told Pepper to announce that Obadiah had died of a heart attack and arrange for the scene to be cleaned up.
• Pepper welcomed Tony and Luca home and called them family, making Tony embarrassed as Luca teased him on the drive back to Malibu.

After Obadiah Stane’s sudden death sent Stark Industries stock plunging, Tony and Luca stayed out of public view while Pepper Potts faced reporters at the Malibu villa. She defended the brothers and said they were recovering from their ordeal in Afghanistan, leaving the press without new information.

• News outlets reported that Obadiah Stane had died of a heart attack, while Tony and Luca Stark remained missing from public view.
• Stark Industries stock fell sharply as commentators and the Daily Bugle fueled speculation about a company power struggle.
• Pepper Potts handled questions from reporters at the Malibu villa and denied that the Stark brothers had caused Obadiah’s death.
• Pepper said Tony and Luca were resting on medical advice after their captivity in Afghanistan and that she was authorized to manage the company’s affairs.
• Happy escorted the reporters out after they failed to get further news from Pepper.

After reporters left, Pepper went to Tony and Luca’s lab and discovered they were hiding a serious argument behind claims of groundbreaking research. Tony and Luca revealed a holographic scan of Luca, whose displayed data left Tony astonished.

• Pepper rested after dealing with reporters, then answered Luca’s call requesting burgers for himself and Tony.
• Pepper heard Luca warn Tony that something was unstable and could kill him, but Tony insisted he would solve the problem himself.
• Tony and Luca hid their argument from Pepper, who had come downstairs to see what they were working on.
• Tony asked JARVIS to project the results of Luca’s body scan, and a holographic model appeared in the lab.
• Tony called Luca a monster wearing human skin after seeing the scan data, which listed Luca’s height as 191 centimeters and his weight as unknown.

JARVIS's tests revealed that Luca had superhuman strength, speed, flight potential, and energy projection, while his body continued absorbing energy and growing stronger. Tony told Pepper that he and Luca had modified themselves, and the chapter ended with JARVIS explaining that sunlight could further strengthen Luca.

• JARVIS reported that Luca's weight and muscle density exceeded the instruments' measuring limits, while his strength and running speed surpassed human standards.
• Tony and Luca traded jokes and insults about Luca's abilities, and Tony resolved to build armor capable of protecting his family.
• Pepper demanded an explanation for Luca's impossible test results, and Tony told her that he and Luca had modified themselves rather than being altered by the terrorists.
• JARVIS reported that Luca could project energy from his eyes, palms, or other parts of his body at temperatures exceeding 5,000 degrees Celsius.
• JARVIS revealed that Luca's body absorbed outside energy and continued evolving, including through exposure to sunlight.

Tony and Luca argued over biological evolution and technology as Pepper learned about their kidnapping and Tony’s injuries. Tony revealed the Mark II armor and declared that the age of Stark had arrived.

• JARVIS warned that Luca could suffer an energy overload and explode, and explained that an energy field protected him from friction and impacts.
• Luca urged Tony to study his serum and evolve, while Tony vowed to build an Anti-Luca Armor and secretly resolved to investigate the serum to protect Luca.
• Pepper demanded to know what had happened in Afghanistan, and Luca explained that Obadiah had paid terrorists to kill them and that he had made a serum that transformed him.
• Tony showed Pepper the Arc Reactor embedded in his chest and explained that it kept shrapnel from reaching his heart, then reassured her that Yinsen had treated him.
• Tony revealed the Mark II armor to Pepper and Luca and declared that the age of Stark had arrived.

Pepper learned that Tony and Luca planned to become superheroes and use their public image to help revive Stark Industries. The chapter ended with Tony explaining that his Arc Reactor could power a clean-energy business.

• Pepper realized Stark Industries could adapt the armor technology for civilian robots and welcomed the idea as a way to revive the company's stock.
• Luca mocked Tony's silver armor, and JARVIS backed Luca's preference for black, prompting Tony to threaten to reduce JARVIS's computing power.
• Tony told Pepper that he and Luca planned to become superheroes, calling himself Iron Man, while Luca rejected Tony's suggested nicknames.
• Luca explained that their superhero identities were part of a business strategy alongside plans to focus Stark Industries on clean energy and intelligent robots.
• Tony told Pepper that his Arc Reactor used cold fusion and could be developed into a clean-energy source powerful enough to supply Los Angeles for a year.

Pepper learned that Tony and Luca planned to use superhero fame to promote Stark Industries, then left them to their work. Luca unveiled his sleek black armor, and he and Tony agreed to compete that night by seeing whose superhero identity won more fans in downtown Los Angeles.

• Tony and Luca explained to Pepper that they planned to use public attention as superheroes to boost Stark Industries and avoid taking on genuinely dangerous work.
• Pepper laughed at their scheme, teased them about their lack of heroic ideals, and left the lab to return to work.
• Luca opened the second hatch and revealed his black, cape-wearing armor, impressing Tony despite Tony’s attempts to criticize its design.
• Tony challenged Luca to a contest during their first public appearance in Los Angeles, with the winner decided by whose name and influence attracted more fans.
• Luca accepted the challenge, and Tony began preparing paint for his armor as the brothers argued over what made a superhero appealing.

Luca and Tony used the tracking system in the assassin John’s micro-bomb to locate the underground base where he had gone, then decided to detonate it while he reported to Hydra’s leaders. The chapter ended with Tony starting a five-minute countdown, hoping the blast would make Hydra blame S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Luca asked Tony whether John had followed their orders to provoke conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.
• Tony had JARVIS track John’s micro-bomb, and JARVIS found its last signal near an abandoned mine outside Los Angeles.
• Luca and Tony concluded that John had reached an underground base and recorded the coordinates for a future visit.
• Luca proposed detonating John’s bomb while he reported to Hydra, so Hydra would suspect S.H.I.E.L.D. and retaliate.
• Tony set the bomb’s five-minute countdown.

John returned to a Hydra base and falsely blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for the failed assassination of the Stark brothers, but a bomb planted by the Starks killed him. The Hydra leader mistook the explosion for a S.H.I.E.L.D. attack and ordered retaliation against Nick Fury while planning to use Director Pierce to cut S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funding.

• John told the Hydra leader that S.H.I.E.L.D. had ambushed his team and killed Jack and Mark during the mission against the Stark brothers.
• The Hydra leader believed John's story, praised him for bringing back intelligence, and promised him medical treatment and an important position.
• As John prepared to leave, the bomb inside him detonated, killing him and blasting the Hydra leader with blood and debris.
• The leader blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for the explosion and ordered a subordinate to investigate the attack on a supply transfer station and find Nick Fury so he could be killed.
• The leader decided to report the incident to Pierce and ask him to use the World Security Council to block S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operational funding.

Luca and Tony failed to recreate the fusion that had made Luca superhuman, concluding his mutation could not be replicated with current science. Tony rejected taking either serum, but Luca argued that Tony and Pepper needed protection beyond armor.

• Tony questioned whether Luca had accurately remembered the formulas behind his transformation.
• Luca and JARVIS ran repeated simulations to fuse the serums, but each attempt failed.
• Luca concluded that his original transformation had been an unrepeatable miracle, and Tony accepted that the serum could not be recreated.
• Tony refused to take either serum, insisting that his technology and intelligence were enough.
• Luca warned Tony that armor could fail and argued that Pepper needed enhancement to survive the dangers ahead.

Tony agreed to consider making an enhancement serum after Luca argued that it could help protect their family. The brothers admired their new armors, and Luca proposed staging a disaster with their giant villain suit so they could defeat it publicly and become celebrated heroes.

• Luca reminded Tony that Pepper and Happy could be endangered if they became superheroes, and Tony reluctantly agreed to revisit making an enhancement serum after their other work was done.
• Tony showed off his red-and-gold armor and bragged about its security systems, while Luca defended his own abilities and mocked Tony's reliance on technology.
• Tony admired the massive black-and-gray villain armor Luca had built, then teased him about its size and poor maneuverability.
• Luca explained that JARVIS could remotely send the armor to Los Angeles to terrorize citizens so he and Tony could appear as heroes and defeat it.
• Tony was stunned by Luca's shameless plan and wondered whether they could really manufacture a disaster to create their superhero personas.

Tony and Luca activated their suits and began a race into the night sky, but Tony took off early and crashed through the villa ceiling. Luca tracked Tony with his super senses and launched after him at supersonic speed.

• Tony admitted defeat in his argument with Luca, then announced that he was ready to debut Iron Man.
• JARVIS fitted Tony with his armor while mechanical arms equipped Luca with his black suit and cape.
• Tony activated his armor and declared, "I am Iron Man," as Luca enveloped himself in a force field.
• Tony launched before finishing the countdown, smashed through the villa ceiling, and damaged Luca's blue sports car with falling debris.
• Tony flew ahead and bragged to JARVIS that Luca could not catch him, while Luca located him with his hearing and vision.
• Luca blasted into the sky with a sonic boom and pursued Tony.

Tony tested his new armor in the night sky, but Luca effortlessly outpaced him and challenged him to race toward the eighty-five-thousand-foot altitude record. The two began climbing together, with Luca surrounded by his newly discovered Emperor Force Field.

• Tony flew his Mark Armor over Malibu Beach and received JARVIS's warning about a fast-moving energy mass approaching from behind.
• Luca streaked past Tony, and Tony ordered JARVIS to push the armor beyond its capacity in an attempt to catch him.
• Tony failed to close the distance, and JARVIS confirmed that Luca's flight came from an energy field within his body, not hidden boosters.
• Luca waited for Tony, teased him about the armor's speed, and challenged him to see whether it could reach the SR-71's eighty-five-thousand-foot altitude record.
• Luca surrounded himself with his Emperor Force Field, and he and Tony launched upward in parallel streaks of light.