In “Avengers: Infinity War,” Tony Stark’s life is about to change drastically, as he’s become engaged to Pepper Potts. Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) even tells Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) about a dream he had that convinces him Pepper is going to have a baby.
Tony tells Pepper that the dream was so vivid, he thinks there must be some reality to it. Tony even has a name from the dream: Morgan, named after Pepper’s uncle. It’s a cute moment, but one interrupted when Thanos shows up.
Though most of “Infinity War” is concerned with the battle to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from gathering the Infinity Stones and wiping out half of all life in the universe, the tease that Tony and Pepper might have a kid seems significant to the potential future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Paltrow has seemingly confirmed that Pepper and Tony would, in fact, have a child, maybe by “Avengers 4.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken quite a few liberties as it adapts Marvel comics stories, and Tony Stark having a child would be a big liberty. In fact, there’s only been one instance of Tony having children in the comics, and it happens in an alternative future.
In “The Invincible Iron Man” #500, a sequence set 41 years in the future imagines a world dominated by Iron Man villain the Mandarin, who is defeated by an aged Tony, with the help of his son, Howard Anthony Stark, and granddaughter, Ginny Stark. (Ev en though Tony and Howard die in the process.)
There is, however, a Morgan Stark in the comics. But he’s not Pepper’s uncle or Tony’s son — he’s Tony’s cousin. Morgan’s father, Edward, gave away his stake in the Stark family business to Tony’s father, Howard, and Morgan grows up so envious of Tony that he eventually becomes something of a villain.
Morgan is involved in several schemes over the years. In one instance he’s forced to try to destroy Tony and Stark Industries to pay off a gambling debt to baddie Count Nefaria. In another, he teams with Stark rival Moroboshi International, but after War Machine and Tony stop him, he’s seemingly assassinated via car crash caused by Moroboshi agents.
Morgan later returns as a cyborg (the car crash didn’t kill him but it messed him up bad), who has the ability to control things through the Internet. Morgan tries to use this power to take control of Iron Man’s various armored suits, but is once again stopped when Tony orders the suits to self-destruct. Morgan is apparently killed in the explosion.
But — you know where we’re going with this — Morgan pops yet again, generally less evil, thanks to some alternate universe shenanigans during the “Onslaught” crossover even. He and Tony get along and Tony even helps him with a business project, but Morgan screws up when he tries to use Ultimo, a dormant robot from outer space, as a power source. Ultimo comes back to life and goes about destroying everything, only to be stopped by Iron Man. Shortly after, Morgan is — you guessed it — seemingly killed yet again.
It’s tough say what inspiration the comics’ “Morgan Stark” could provide for Tony and Pepper beyond the name. But with Paltrow’s apparent confirmation that Pepper might be pregnant or even a parent in “Avengers 4,” that could provide a pretty good reason for Tony to settle down and retire as a super hero — Obviously after dealing with the aftermath of “Infinity War.”
The only thing we can say for sure is that if the movies do include a Morgan Stark, he’s probably not going to be killed over and over. What might be more of a possibility, though, is an angry Uncle Morgan on the Potts side of the family. Maybe one with Internet powers. Maybe annoyed with young Morgan, his namesake, poised to inherit Stark Industries as well as the Iron Man mantle.
Then again, it’s hard to say what the future holds for any of the Avengers until we see how things with Thanos shake out in “Avengers 4” in May 2019.
We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks digging through the details to try to figure out what’s coming not just in “Avengers 4” but also “Captain Marvel” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” We have come up with a pretty solid guess about what is involved in the one future Doctor Strange saw in which the Avengers defeat Thanos. Click here for our deeper look into how “Captain Marvel” might impact that distressing plot twist at the end of “Infinity War.” Click here for our look at what “Ant-Man and the Wasp” might have to do with all this. Click here for our discussion of the whole Vision situation and whether he’s really dead. Here’s a rundown of how “Infinity War” could actually be a giant, elaborate test. If that’s not weird enough for you, here are some other wild fan theories. And, finally, here’s our run-down on how the comic book version of these events played out.