Contains Spoilers for Avengers (2023) #21 and X-Men (2024) #8!Iron Man he has had many teammates during his long tenure in the Avengers, but Marvel Comics has finally brought back a friendship that has been missing for decades, his camaraderie with X-Men's Beast. As the Avengers and Cyclops' X-Men seek to reaffirm their alliance, Tony Stark and Hank McCoy are given the perfect pretext to catch up.
In Avengers (2023) #21 – written by Jed MacKay, with art by Valerio Schiti – Iron Man and Beast remind readers of their friendship, reintroducing a dynamic that has been missing for some time. Both characters' arcs over the past few years have taken them to dark places, and this rekindled “bromance” could be exactly what both characters need.
With the Avengers and X-Men catching up after a baseball game, Tony takes the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Hank in a conversation that reaffirms why their time together in the Avengers is a fan favorite.
Friends and former Iron Man and Beast teammates reconnect – but some things aren't the same
Avengers (2023) #21 – Written by Jed MacKay; Art by Valerio Schiti; Color by Federico Blee; Corey Petit lyrics
The complicating factor is that this is not the Beast that many readers, nor Tony, are familiar with. In the Krakoan Era of the X-Men, the Beast has finally fallen fully into supervillainy. This eventually led to him being replaced by a copy of himself who didn't remember anything other than the classic '80s Avengers days, and this is the Beast who joined the new X-Men team. The highlights from Avengers #21 is the Beast's conversation with Iron Man about this exact factin which Beast questions why Tony didn't stop his original self from going too far.
Tony admits that after a certain point he no longer knew Hank, or what that Beast was doing. However, Tony is no stranger to moral failings and jokes that Hank is the lucky one who doesn't have to remember the bad things he theoretically did. That doesn't exactly help Hank's mood, but it's true. He cannot be blamed for things he himself did not do, although a guilt complex has always been part of Beast's character. This adds a new wrinkle to the duo's classic dynamic, which Marvel will hopefully invest more page time into exploring.
Iron Man's pep talk comes at exactly the right time for the Beast
X-Men #8 – Written by Jed MacKay; Art by Ryan Stegman; Ink by JP Mayer; Color by Marte Gracia; Clayton Cowles lyrics
Avengers author Jed MacKay – who now also writes the main X-Men series, in which Beast is currently appearing – has been consistent in how he makes Iron Man a surprising source of wisdom for struggling characters like Carol Danvers and now Beast, and shows how much MacKay loves Tony. This suggests that, Instead of a passing acknowledgment of their recent past, Tony and Hank's conversation in Avengers #21 planted a seed for something biggerwhich could flourish in both titles in due time.
As the X-Men hero faces past sins he didn't commit but is still under threat of being held accountable, he has renewed his friendship with Iron Man.
After all, this conversation may be more important to Beast than Tony realizes. In X-Men (2024) #8, The Beast will be handed over to the government of Terra Verde, the nation against which he committed war crimes. This incident could easily reactivate this version of the Beast's guilt once again. Fortunately, as the X-Men hero faces past sins he didn't commit, but is still under threat of being held accountable, he has renewed his friendship with Iron Manwho might be there to remind him that he's not the monster the old Beast turned into.
Avengers (2023) #21 and X-Men (2024) #8 are now available from Marvel Comics.