Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn)

I hope you have all seen the new Iron Man 3 trailer, it’s really awesome. In the case you didn’t, go watch it. Now. In the case you did, you may have noticed many new faces (or not exactly “faces”) showing up. One of these is the upgraded version of War Machine‘s armor, the Iron Patriot: US Army used the wave of patriotism following Captain America‘s appearance in the battle against the Chitauri to make its own super-armored agent a little bit more American-looking. So, if it’s Jim Rhodes under the armor, did I make a mistake in the name of this article? Not exactly. The fact is, not only in the comics the Iron Patriot Armor is not worn by Rhodes, but it’s not one of the good guys at all…

I think you know Norman Osborn, the archenemy of Spider-Man: he is better known with the name of his maniac alter ego, the Green Goblin. In case you don’t know him, just ask me and I’ll write an article about him and his greenish criminal identity. Anyway, in the Marvel Universe something big happened after the Civil War of the superheroes (a conflict that had Captain America and Iron Man fighting one against the other because of their support and/or condemnation of the Superhero Registration Act): the shapeshifter alien race Skrulls decided to invade Earth, activating some sleeping agents who infiltrated among superheroes for years. During tha major battle that followed, Norman Osborn, who was leading the team of psychopathic criminals at the Government’s service Thunderbolts, killed the Skrull queen Veranke in front of the media from all over the world. Osborn was acclaimed as a hero, and he was offered by the President himself to replace Tony Stark as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was immediately replaced by H.A.M.M.E.R., a much more paramilitary force he used for his secret agenda. He also formed a secret alliance, called the Cabal, with some of the most powerful men and women in the world: Dr. Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, The Hood and Loki. To confirm his public image of a hero, Osborn also founded his personal version of the Avengers, enlisting some of the most vicious criminals in the world (people like Bullseye and Venom, just to be clear), leading them on the field as the Iron Patriot.

The Iron Patriot armor is a flashy and tasteless attempt (unfortunately successful) from Osborn to stand out as the All-American Hero everyone thinks he is after Secret Invasion. The concept is quite clear: an Iron Man armor painted with the colors of the American flag, so that Osborn becomes some sort of amalgam of the two most iconic Avengers. But Osborn is not Stark, and his technology is not at the same level of the one of his direct rival: this armor is less powerful, despite showing quite a huge array of hidden weapons, and also his Uni Beam, because of his star-shaped projector meant to conquer people’s heart, is much less concentrated than the original one, pointing out how aesthetics should never come before practicality.

Despite posing as a hero, Norman Osborn is and remains a deranged criminal and, despite his “normal” persona really wants to protect the world (even if in a violent and extreme way…), the Green Goblin identity, still lurking in the darkest corners of Osborn’s mind, controls his actions and makes him do very, very unpleasant things. The power obtained by Osborn as the President’s right-hand man and as the keeper of the State’s most dangerous secrets has only made him more and more powerful and lethal than ever, and the fact that he’s also the people’s darling only worsens everything. Let’s hope than Rhodes will make a better use of the armor in the upcoming movie!