Orson Scott Card talks Ultimate Iron Man II

Geez, it's only been the longest time since the sequel series to Ultimate Iron Man was going to be printed! Orson Scott Card's first six-issue mini-series was awesome...except that it ended with a "To be continued". That was a good year plus plus before, so us fans have been waiting around, wondering what's in store for Ultimate Tony Stark.

But wait no longer we shall, as Ultimate Iron Man II is coming soon!

ORSON SCOTT CARD TALKS ‘ULTIMATE IRON MAN II’
The writer says Tony Stark is ‘all blown up’ in the 4-issue follow-up announced in Baltimore

By Matt Powell

Posted September 10, 2007

As director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and with a star-studded film in the works, Tony Stark’s having the ultimate time of his life.

And at Marvel’s panel at last weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con, the company debuted an ultimate surprise with the reveal of Ultimate Iron Man II, the sequel to 2005’s Ultimate Iron Man, from original series writer Orson Scott Card and superstar artist Pasqual Ferry (Ultimate Fantastic Four). The 4-issue miniseries begins in December.

The first Ultimate Iron Man chronicled the early life of the Ultimate Universe’s Tony Stark. The hard-hitting history of young Tony’s life—including the unique affliction causing Tony relentless pain, but also granting him his incredible genius, and his father’s framing for murder—forged the series into a hit. Without wasting time, Card plans to pick up Volume 2 right where he left off.

“The second series starts literally moments after the end of the first one,” explains Card. “So the stage he’s in is: all blown up and nowhere to go...”

Explosions may be the least of Tony’s troubles as Card reveals what’s ahead for the Ultimate Iron Avenger.

“[Tony] gets involved with terrorists and at the same time makes monkeys out of government people who try to control ‘the robots,’ as they think Iron Man and War Machine to be,” explains the writer. “Obadiah Stane continues to work his sneaky way through the story.”

Although the series revolves around Tony Stark, for Card, one of Stark’s trusted allies nearly steals the show.

“I’ve had great fun with War Machine, and he continues in this second series,” enthuses Card. “There are some other [familiar supporting characters] as well, though I use them differently from their roles in the ‘regular’ Iron Man comics, of course.”

“The fun is to balance three things,” explains Card. “The suit does cool stuff in an adventure setting; Tony is really, really smart, so he doesn’t always respond with brute force; and Tony is wrestling with the demons in his life.”

While this series takes place in the early days of Tony Stark’s life before The Ultimates , Card promises that this book can be enjoyed on its own.

“I’m trying not to contradict anything in The Ultimates,” assures Card. “That series is not taking into account what I’ve done with Ultimate Iron Man. I’m trying not to do anything that would really annoy readers of The Ultimates. As per my original charter from Marvel, I’m pretty much free to make Ultimate Iron Man stand alone.”