Tony fakes his death after several attempts on his life, which seemed connected to a larger plan involving the abduction of four industrialists by the Mandarin. Tony returns in a more powerful suit of armor and has to team up with a double crossed Mandarin to stop Fin Fang Foom from taking over the world.

Tony discovers the Crimson Dynamo's armor possessed secret Stark technology. Thinking others could be using his technology to hurt people, Tony goes after every known armored warrior, whether hero or villain.

Iron Man's quest to disable all armored warriors continues, even going against War Machine. Justin Hammer, who leaked Stark's armor secrets, creates a massive armored warrior named Firepower to stop Iron Man and destroy Stark Enterprises. The only way Iron Man can take Firepower down is with new exo-armor.