Summary

• Tony and Emma's marriage, once deemed controversial, has been a surprisingly strong storyline for both characters.
• Marvel's Invincible Iron Man #20 teases the uncertain future of Tony and Emma once Orchis is defeated.
• The marriage between Iron Man and Emma Frost is likely to end due to Marvel's commitment to maintaining the status quo of its characters.

The X-Men’s Krakoan era is ending with a bang as the Fall of X concludes, and Marvel is hinting that one of its strangest developments, the marriage between Emma Frost and Iron Man, might also be coming to an end. Tony and Emma’s relationship was contentious when it was announced, but it’s been a shockingly strong beat for both characters as they face down the mutual villains who’ve tried to destroy them.

The solicitation for the Invincible Iron Man (2022) #20 by Gerry Duggan and Andrea Di Vito is explicitly teasing the uncertainty of Tony and Emma's relationship once the villainous anti-mutant coalition Orchis is defeated.

Tony and Emma’s marriage starts out as a union of convenience. As the X-Men are forced underground by Orchis, Tony protects Emma by fabricating an identity for her as "Hazel Kendal," his secretary. Marrying Emma as Hazel is, at first, the result of an improvision when Orchis member Feilong intrudes upon Tony and "Hazel" in a compromising situation. Now, the question remains: if Orchis is gone after the Fall of X, why keep the marriage around?

Both Iron Man and Emma Frost Benefit From Their Marriage

The marriage has been useful for Iron Man, not just for Emma. The anti-mutant industrialist Feilong steals Tony’s fortune and company from out under him, a new incarnation of the Hellfire Club with which to wage war against Orchis, even without the resources that their individual fortunes would usually afford them. It doesn’t hurt that the two also have genuine chemistry in Invincible Iron Man, with the book constantly teasing them in suggestive circumstances before revealing innocent explanations for each one.

The idea of Tony and Emma marrying was actually teased for years before it happened. The first hint came in History of the Marvel Universe #6 by Mark Waid, Mike O'Sullivan and Javier Rodriguez in 2019, which foreshadowed then- events from Marvel’s near future, including the wedding. This was met with skepticism at the time, since Tony was in another relationship at the time, and he and Emma hadn’t interacted positively in a long while. The official announcement of the wedding didn’t dissuade fears, with Marvel pushing red herring covers suggesting that the two would have an extravagant, sincere, wedding, which never happened in the end.

Iron Man and Emma Frost Can't Last Because Marvel Doesn't Change

With the end of the Krakoan era acting as a changing of the guard for X-Men writers, it seems highly likely that Gerry Duggan, who’s writing both X-Men (2021) and Invincible Iron Man (2022) will have Emma and Tony separate if Duggan’s also stepping away from the X-Men. One of the main reasons this marriage likely won’t stick around is simply because Iron Man isn’t an X-Man character most of the time. By having Emma Frost as an Iron Man character, it means that Iron Man’s series will also be an X-Men book to a degree, which can’t last.

The real reason for this is the importance of the status quo to Marvel Comics. Tony Stark’s "default" status quo is that he’s a wealthy industrialist whose major superhero connection beyond solo titles is to the Avengers. Emma Frost’s status quo is that she’s an X-Men character who’s a part of larger teams, including the Exceptional X-Men.

Exceptional X-Men is written by Eve L. Ewing and illustrated by Carmen Carnero.

However, even if Iron Man and Emma Frost’s relationship is the latest victim of the status quo, they still got one shining moment as a surprise X-Men power couple that managed to surprise even those fans who doubted them together.

Invincible Iron Man #20 will be available July 17 from Marvel Comics.