Recaps

Luca and the others arrived in New York for the Stark Expo, where Gwen Stacy reunited with Luca and stirred Wanda’s jealousy. Meanwhile, Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko prepared an Iron Army attack on the expo and vowed to kill the Stark Family.

• On the flight to New York, Luca teased Wanda while Pepper warned him to behave, and Tony and Dr. Banner discussed adding an energy-absorption system to the Mark VI armor.
• After landing, the group settled into a Manhattan apartment while preparing for the Stark Expo.
• Gwen Stacy climbed through the apartment window, embraced and kissed Luca, and Wanda reacted with jealousy as Chaos Magic bubbled the water in her glass.
• Pepper pulled Tony away from the scene, while Pietro and Steve watched Luca’s romantic predicament unfold.
• At Hammer Industries, Justin Hammer showed Ivan Vanko the Iron Army and promised to unveil it at the expo, while Ivan declared that the Stark Family had to die.

Luca introduced Gwen Stacy to Wanda, Pietro, and Steve, while Wanda struggled with jealousy and Gwen met her childhood idol. Steve’s blunt correction of the heroic stories in Gwen’s textbooks shattered her idealized image of Captain America, and Pietro failed to convince Wanda to give up on Luca.

• Luca introduced Wanda Maximoff to Gwen Stacy as his personal assistant and introduced Gwen as his girlfriend; the two women exchanged polite greetings despite Wanda’s jealousy.
• Luca introduced Pietro to Gwen, and Pietro reluctantly greeted her despite his anger at Luca.
• Luca introduced Steve Rogers, and Gwen excitedly recited heroic stories about him from her textbooks.
• Steve denied the textbook stories, cursed the politicians who invented them, and told Gwen he had been frozen in the sea since 1941.
• Luca teased Steve about his foul mouth, while Wanda grew more upset seeing Luca with Gwen.
• Pietro warned Wanda that Luca was a playboy, but Wanda glared at him until he backed down.

Vince secretly began absorbing energy from Hammer Industries’ copied reactors so he could confront Luca during Ivan Vanko’s attack and report Luca’s strength to his race. As the group prepared for the Stark Expo, Luca gathered the Justice League and Peter Parker for an announcement and led them toward the expo grounds.

• Vince entered Hammer Industries’ secret laboratory and decided to absorb reactor energy because he feared Luca’s growing power.
• Vince enveloped several reactors in black fluid and endured the pain as he drained their energy.
• Wong, Steve, and the others prepared for the Stark Expo, where Luca planned to announce Stark Industries’ superhero department and a superhero base.
• Peter arrived in a rented suit and excitedly greeted Steve, who insulted him and shattered his image of Captain America.
• Luca reassured Peter, then led the group out to board Stark Industries’ motorcade for the expo grounds in Flushing.

Luca and Tony unveiled Stark Industries’ new projects and superhero division at the Stark Expo, introducing the Justice League to a global audience. Steve Rogers turned his introduction into an impromptu comedy routine after discovering Luca had written his speech.

• Luca arrived at the Stark Expo with Gwen Stacy and Wanda, while Steve Rogers cursed at the reporters’ flashbulbs and Happy held him back.
• Tony and Luca descended onto the stage in their armor and announced Stark Industries’ robotics and human treatment projects.
• Luca announced the creation of Stark Industries’ superhero division and revealed plans for a superhero base off the coast of New York.
• The Justice League members introduced themselves and demonstrated their abilities to the audience.
• Steve abandoned Luca’s speech to complain on the microphone, then asked who had written it; Luca admitted he had, and Steve told him, “Fuck you.”

Justin Hammer unveiled Hammer Industries’ armed drones, but Ivan Vanko hacked them and turned the stage demonstration into an attack. Luca and the others defeated the drones and Ivan, then Luca stopped Vince’s ambush and revealed he had been expecting him.

• Justin Hammer took the stage to show off Hammer Industries’ military drones and mock Tony.
• Ivan Vanko hacked the drones, which opened fire on Luca and Tony and sent the audience fleeing.
• Luca shielded himself while Steve, Peter Parker, Tony, Gwen Stacy, Wanda, Pietro, and Master Wong fought the drones.
• Ivan Vanko arrived in upgraded armor, but Tony struck him down and dominated the fight.
• As Luca moved to finish Ivan, Vince attacked him with a black energy spike, which Luca stopped with his force field.
• Luca spotted Vince hiding in the shadows and told him he had been waiting for him.

Aruru revealed his monstrous form and overwhelmed the Justice League with a corrosive energy wave, while Luca absorbed his power and fought back. After Aruru struck Luca with a toxin spike and buried him in rubble, Wanda’s grief and rage awakened her Scarlet Witch powers.

• Aruru shed his disguise, transformed into a winged black monster, and unleashed an energy wave that incapacitated Hulk, Tony, and Steve while Peter, Gwen, Wanda, and Luca avoided it.
• Luca resisted Aruru’s attack and absorbed energy during their beam clash, forcing Aruru to retreat from the exchange.
• Luca struggled to damage Aruru’s resilient body, so he asked Wanda to channel Chaos Magic into him.
• Aruru turned invisible and stabbed Luca with a toxin spike, then bombarded him until rubble buried him; Gwen found Luca gravely wounded while Wanda watched in despair.
• Wanda confronted Aruru after he threatened her, and her grief and rage awakened her Scarlet Witch powers.

Wanda awakened her Chaos Magic and overpowered Aruru, while Luca revealed that he had faked his near-death to trigger Wanda’s awakening. The chapter ended with the team learning Luca had deliberately taken Aruru’s attack as part of his plan.

• Wanda erased Aruru’s energy beam, tore off his wings, and trapped him with Chaos Magic when he tried to flee.
• Tony, Pietro, and Steve watched Wanda’s power in shock as Aruru was pinned to the ground.
• Gwen Stacy wept over Luca until he opened his eyes, teased her, and rose from the ruins without serious injuries.
• Luca explained that he had taken Aruru’s attack to build resistance and stimulate Wanda’s true potential.
• Wong explained that Wanda’s Chaos Magic needed an external stimulus to awaken, and the team cursed Luca for staging his near-death.

Luca killed Aruru at the expo and caught Wanda as she collapsed, while Gwen Stacy demanded the promised late-night snack. Watching footage of the battle, Wilson Fisk ordered his gang to keep a low profile and avoid drawing the Justice League's attention.

• Luca used his assimilated toxin and lasers to kill Aruru, who sent a message to his home planet before dying.
• Luca caught a piece of living black matter that had fallen from Aruru and sealed it in his armor.
• Wanda collapsed from exhaustion, and Luca caught her; Gwen Stacy linked arms with him and reminded him of his promise to buy her a late-night snack.
• Reporters crowded around Luca and the Justice League at the ruined expo grounds for interviews.
• Wilson Fisk watched footage of the battle and ordered his subordinates to keep Hell's Kitchen's criminal businesses low-key and avoid confronting Stark Industries.

After a late-night meal with Gwen Stacy, Wanda, and the others, Luca examined the black matter captured from Aruru and used his blood to tame it. He named it Shadow Symbiote and planned to study it before wearing it as armor.

• Luca hosted Gwen Stacy, Wanda, Steve, Tony, Pietro, and Master Wong for an extravagant late-night meal.
• Gwen Stacy questioned Luca about his claim that he and Wanda had to exchange magical energy, and Luca described it as academic research.
• Luca brought the black fragment intercepted from Aruru to the temporary lab and asked JARVIS to scan it.
• JARVIS identified the fragment as an adaptable parasite that could bond with a host and provide biological armor.
• Luca exposed the black matter to his blood, subdued it, and named it Shadow Symbiote.

Luca and Tony began hunting Bucky Barnes while Jessica was ordered by Pierce to stay undercover and avoid provoking Luca. Meanwhile, Fury learned that a Siberian Hydra base might hold records about Howard Stark’s death and planned to use them against the Stark brothers.

• Luca and Tony discussed improving the armor, then ordered JARVIS to search the world for Bucky Barnes, whose metal left arm identified him.
• Jessica reported Justin Hammer’s defeat and Luca’s power to Pierce, who ordered her to stop hostile actions and remain inside Stark Industries’ circle.
• Jessica ended the call in humiliation as she looked at the revealing outfits Pepper had arranged for her.
• Coulson told Fury that agents had found recent Hydra activity at an abandoned Siberian base and records connected to Howard Stark’s 1991 death.
• Fury ordered agents to retrieve the Siberian records, intending to use the truth about Howard’s death as leverage over the Stark brothers.

Two months later, Luca Stark launched the Stark Miracle, a gene-repair medicine that could cure many chronic illnesses and make patients five years younger. The Osborn Group saw Stark Industries as a threat and decided to accelerate its own human enhancement drug research.

• Luca ordered Jessica to wear a revealing outfit and sent her to buy ten hamburgers for Master Wong.
• Wong used a magic portal to fetch doughnuts and argued with Steve, who mocked him for using sacred magic to get takeout.
• Luca presented the Stark Miracle at a Stark Industries launch event and announced that its first treatment courses would be auctioned from a starting price of five hundred million dollars.
• Osborn Group representatives warned Norman Osborn that the Stark Miracle threatened their market share and urged him to speed up development of their human enhancement drug.

Matt Murdock stopped a mugging in Hell’s Kitchen and warned Foggy Nelson that Kingpin’s recent silence suggested a threat. Meanwhile, Tony and Luca developed an anti-magic armor and met Natalie Rushman, whose application to be Tony’s assistant seemed to conceal her identity as a trained agent.

• Matt defeated three thugs who were robbing a girl and sent her home safely.
• Matt told Foggy that the Stark brothers’ unchecked power worried him and that Kingpin’s quiet behavior suggested he was planning something.
• Tony showed Luca his new anti-magic armor, designed to absorb energy attacks, and said JARVIS was searching for Bucky.
• JARVIS told Tony and Luca that Pepper had brought an unannounced applicant for Tony’s personal assistant position.
• Natalie Rushman introduced herself, and Luca recognized her as a highly trained agent and challenged her to reveal what she could do.

Luca and Tony tested Natasha with impossible job interview demands before Luca revealed he knew she worked for Nick Fury and hired her anyway. Natasha and Jessica recognized each other as agents, while Luca planned to use their presence to manipulate their respective organizations; the chapter ended with Luca and Tony heading to check on Ice Boy.

• Luca prompted Tony to test Natasha, who refused to dismantle a gun or hack the Pentagon, and Pepper intervened to defend her qualifications.
• Luca hired Natasha at the lowest market rate and hinted that he knew she worked for Nick Fury, while Natasha concealed her alarm.
• Luca summoned Jessica to show Natasha around, and the two women recognized each other as dangerous operatives while pretending to be friendly.
• Luca told Tony he would use the agents as tools and feed their organizations false information, and Tony wondered who had sent Natasha.
• Tony joked about Natasha's attractiveness and his own toughness before Luca and Tony went to see how many remote controls Ice Boy had broken.

Jessica Jones confronted and defeated Natasha Romanoff in a rooftop fight, then warned her to quit investigating the Stark brothers. Natasha reported the encounter to Nick Fury, who ordered her to remain undercover while he investigated Jessica.

• Natasha arrived on the Stark Tower rooftop, where Jessica accused her of being a trained agent.
• Jessica and Natasha fought, and Jessica overpowered her with superior strength and speed.
• Jessica warned Natasha to abandon her assignment and left the rooftop.
• Natasha called Nick Fury and reported that Jessica was a superhuman who had defeated her.
• Fury ordered Natasha to stay undercover near Tony Stark, avoid provoking Jessica, and leave Jessica's investigation to him.

Norman Osborn gave in to the Green Goblin personality, armed himself, and flew out to terrorize New York. Peter Parker's date with Mary Jane ended in an argument when he sent her away from the attack, and he changed into Spider-Man to confront Green Goblin.

• Norman Osborn's Green Goblin personality overcame his resistance, and he put on his armor, took his glider, and flew into the city.
• Peter Parker walked with Mary Jane when Green Goblin began bombing cars and shops nearby.
• Peter told Mary Jane to go home, upsetting her enough that she ran off and said she would never date him again.
• Peter slipped into an alley, changed into his homemade Spider-Man suit, and prepared to face Green Goblin.

Peter fought the Green Goblin, but a Pumpkin Bomb blasted him into a dumpster and tore his suit, leaving his SpongeBob underwear exposed. As the Green Goblin prepared to finish him off, Pietro arrived and activated his super speed to intervene.

• Peter swung after the Green Goblin, dodged gunfire, and tried to pull the Goblin Glider down with webs.
• The Green Goblin threw a Pumpkin Bomb that blasted Peter into a dumpster and ripped his suit, exposing his SpongeBob SquarePants underwear.
• The Green Goblin mocked Peter and prepared another Pumpkin Bomb while Peter searched for a way to fight back without damaging the surroundings.
• Pietro arrived while out for a walk, recognized Peter, and decided to help him.
• Pietro activated his super speed as the Pumpkin Bomb flew toward Peter.

Pietro saved Peter from the Green Goblin by redirecting his Pumpkin Bomb into the glider’s exhaust, then attacked the Green Goblin after identifying him as an enemy of the Justice League. The Green Goblin was left battered on the ground as Pietro mocked his slowness.

• Pietro caught the Pumpkin Bomb and planted it in the Green Goblin’s glider exhaust before returning to his place with his hot dog.
• The bomb exploded inside the glider, and the Green Goblin crashed onto a car while Peter survived with his underwear exposed.
• Pietro appeared beside Peter, teased him about his outfit, and confirmed that he had saved him.
• Pietro confronted the Green Goblin for attacking a Justice League member and struck him with a swift kick.
• The Green Goblin threw darts at Pietro, but Pietro dodged them and kicked him to the ground again.

Pietro and Peter drove Green Goblin off, then Peter sought Pietro’s advice about Mary Jane, but his attempt to apologize failed. Unsure what to do, Peter called Luca Stark for help and was invited to Stark Tower.

• Green Goblin blinded Pietro and Peter with a flash-smoke grenade and escaped on his emergency glider.
• Pietro thanked Peter for helping and advised him to be more forceful and bring Mary Jane flowers.
• Peter went to Mary Jane’s home with daisies, but she angrily rejected his apology and told him to leave.
• Peter considered forcing his way through Mary Jane’s door, then remembered Luca Stark’s offer to help and called his private number.
• JARVIS granted Peter the highest level of access to Stark Tower, and Peter headed to Manhattan.

Peter visited Stark Tower for advice after Mary Jane rejected his attempt to apologize, and Luca and Tony taught him their ideas about reassuring women and playing hard to get. Peter left eager to try their advice.

• Peter arrived at Stark Tower and saw Jessica and Natasha sorting old reimbursement documents while they traded suspicious remarks.
• Luca and Tony watched the two women work and joked about Luca assigning them the tedious task.
• Peter told Luca and Tony how he had encountered the Green Goblin, sent Mary Jane home alone, and failed to apologize to her.
• Luca advised Peter to reassure Mary Jane during danger, while Tony suggested he stop pestering her and create mystery by leaving flowers.
• Peter wrote down their advice and left to try it.

Tony and Luca gave Peter a custom Spider-Man suit and a second suit for Gwen, then sent Peter off to apologize to her. Nick Fury and Agent Coulson arrived with a supposed secret about Howard Stark, and Tony and Luca invited them upstairs.

• Tony brought out two briefcases and showed Peter a new red-and-blue suit designed to protect him and upgrade his webbing.
• Luca explained that he had designed a pink, white, and black suit for Gwen with protective features.
• Peter thanked the Stark brothers, promised to use the suit to fight crime, and prepared to leave.
• JARVIS announced that Nick Fury and Agent Coulson had arrived, with Fury claiming to have top-secret information about Howard Stark.
• Tony and Luca agreed to hear Fury out, while Peter took the suit and swung out through the window to visit Gwen.

Nick Fury brought the Stark brothers a recovered file about Howard and Maria Stark’s deaths, hoping to use it as leverage over the Justice League. Luca and Tony already knew the killer’s description, mocked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s slow investigation, and left Fury without a bargaining advantage.

• Fury entered Stark Tower with Coulson and planned to use the recovered Siberian file to pressure Luca and Tony into handing the Justice League over to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Luca and Tony ignored Fury as they argued over where to eat lunch.
• Fury slammed the file on the table and told the brothers that Howard and Maria had been assassinated.
• Tony used the file as a coaster, and Luca said they already knew the killer had long hair and a metal left arm.
• Tony and Luca ridiculed Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. for taking years to uncover information they already had.

Fury revealed that Howard Stark founded S.H.I.E.L.D. and was its first director, but Luca and Tony turned the revelation into a claim that S.H.I.E.L.D. belonged to the Stark family. Luca also planted the suspicion that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Fury rattled as he departed.

• Fury told Tony and Luca that Howard Stark founded S.H.I.E.L.D. and served as its first director, explaining why he might have been targeted for assassination.
• Luca privately concluded that Hydra had sent Bucky to kill Howard, then pretended to be shocked by Fury’s revelation.
• Luca accused Fury of usurping the Stark brothers’ inheritance, and Tony demanded S.H.I.E.L.D.’s financial records and an audit.
• Luca used his Bio-Force Field to intimidate Fury and Coulson, warning that Hydra might have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Luca and Tony ordered Fury and Coulson out, and Fury left shaken by Luca’s warning.
• Tony praised Luca’s performance, and Luca said they would let S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra fight while they dealt with their own enemies.

Fury took Luca’s warning about Hydra seriously and ordered a secret audit of S.H.I.E.L.D. before returning to headquarters. Meanwhile, Spider-Man used his new Stark Industries suit to defeat the Green Goblin, then spotted Mary Jane in the crowd and resolved to follow Luca’s dating advice.

• Fury told Coulson that Hydra might have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and ordered a secret review of its finances and senior agents.
• Fury ordered Coulson to keep the audit secret from Pierce and the World Security Council.
• The Green Goblin attacked a jewelry store near Times Square, and Spider-Man arrived in his new Stark Industries suit.
• Spider-Man used upgraded shock webs and the suit’s enhanced strength to defeat and capture the Green Goblin.
• Spider-Man saw Mary Jane watching him and decided to use Luca’s advice to impress her.

Norman Osborn escaped police custody after realizing Luca Stark might be able to cure his condition, while Luca planned to use Norman’s desperation to take over the Osborn Group. Peter comforted a shaken Mary Jane and grew closer to her.

• Luca and Tony watched Peter defeat Green Goblin, and Norman regained control of himself while trapped in webbing.
• Norman learned that Luca Stark had made Peter’s suit and decided to seek Luca’s help curing his disease.
• Peter fled as police arrived, and Norman used a hidden self-destruct device to escape before officers could unmask him.
• Luca told Tony that Green Goblin was Norman Osborn and predicted Norman would soon come to Stark Industries for help.
• Peter found Mary Jane crying outside her apartment and embraced her, reassuring her that he would protect her.

Wanda joined Luca for another energy transfer, which Luca used to evolve the Aruru fragment into a living suit of armor. After showing Wanda the suit, Luca carried her to bed, and she passed out before dawn while he remained energetic.

• Wanda entered Luca's room wearing the nightdress Pepper had arranged and began channeling Chaos Magic with him.
• Luca redirected most of Wanda's Chaos Magic into the Aruru fragment stored in a safe.
• The fragment absorbed the magic, grew, broke out of its container, and covered Luca in a black biological armor with powerful magic resistance.
• Luca reassured Wanda that the armor was his new suit, then retracted it beneath his skin.
• Luca carried Wanda to bed, and she passed out after their night together; Luca stayed awake and remarked that she needed more stamina.