WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Iron Man #1 by Christopher Cantwell, CAFU, Frank D'Armata and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Tony Stark is a tech genius. After all, for years, he has worked to perfect his Iron Man armor, creating better and more advanced versions of his suit with everything from nanotech to artificial intelligence. When it comes to technology, Stark really is the best of the best. It's no wonder he ranks as one of the smartest people in the world.
However, there is one area of technology where the Armored Avenger really doesn't excel at -- and it comes as a total surprise: social media.
That's right, the uber-cool and popular Tony Stark finally opens a Twitter account in Christopher Cantwell and CAFU's Iron Man #1, but the billionaire/genius/philanthropist is in for a harsh dose of reality because it goes about as well as you might expect.
It makes sense that someone so in sync with technology, and someone with an ego as big as Tony Stark, would eventually have their own Twitter account. In Iron Man #1, we learn that the Armored Avenger indeed has his very own account, @Iron_Man.
Throughout the issue, Tony sends out multiple tweets. One details his victory against Terrax (which incidentally took out a satellite in Earth's orbit), while another delivers an inspirational quote. Later, the following tweet also informs his followers that Tony is hosting a party for his friends in New York, while his last one delivers an apology after he accidentally destroys one of the 21 Gutenberg Bibles during a battle with Unicorn.
However, with every single one of his tweets, Tony comes to face the realities of social media, which is a landscape filled with trolls and haters. When he informs his followers that Terrax has been defeated, most answer with complaints about the satellite's destruction, and how it has temporarily cut off their access to either cable or the Internet. Similarly, his quote is met with dismissal, while his party update triggers his followers to complain about his wealth.
The vitriol continues well into his final tweet, with people leaving messages that are inappropriate, unpleasant, and downright hateful.
Throughout most of Iron Man #1, it becomes clear that Tony is becoming alienated from the world. After everything that's happened recently in Empyre and Iron Man 2020, he tries to make up for it all by starting fresh, but his solitude is palpable. The online hate from vocal Twitter trolls doesn't help matters -- they only add to his feeling of being alone. After the issue's final tweet, Tony does the smart thing and simply deletes his account.
Thanks to his brief time interacting with the public on social media, he found nothing but hate -- and that can't be easy for someone with an ego as massive as his. Iron Man is generally seen as a popular character in the world at large, just like every other Avenger in the Marvel Universe. With this, Tony learned that perhaps he isn't as beloved as he thinks he is. But he doesn't need their approval to do what's right.