In Ta-Nehisi Coates and Bob Quinn’s Captain America #22, Marvel introduces an all-new Iron Patriot, and a familiar face is under the armor.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Captain America #22 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bob Quinn Matt Milla, and VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
In Captain America, Steve Rogers and his team are locked in a confrontation with the Power Elite, an organization made up of dangerous villains such as Alexa Lukin and the mutant Selene. The Power Elite has influence on the political stage, and they were even able to frame Captain America for the murder of General Ross. While Steve spent some time in prison for the crime, he was eventually freed by the Daughters of Liberty, a female team of superheroes which includes Misty Knight, Mockingbird, Toni Ho and Steve’s longtime girlfriend, Sharon Carter, among others.
Now, Steve and his two partners, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, have gone undercover in a small town controlled by the Power Elite to try and take the organization down. Their target is Selene, who has stolen a piece of Selene’s soul. They are fighting to get it back, but the confrontation takes a turn for the worse.
Luckily, a new Iron Patriot shows up to lend Captain America a helping hand in Captain America #22.
In Captain America #22, Steve, Sam and Bucky are locked in a battle against Selene and her mind-controlled men in the small, Power Elite-ruled town of Adamsville, Ohio. The three superheroes take on a whole swarm of enemies on top of Selene, a powerful mutant who uses her abilities to gain the upper hand. Systematically, she knocks out both the Winter Soldier and the Falcon, until Captain America is her only opponent left. Steve gives everything he has in the fight against the mutant, but she proves too powerful.
She slices him and even bites him before knocking him out. Before she can consume Captain America’s soul, a portal opens right above Selene, and a trio of reinforcements arrives in the form of the witch Agatha Harkness, Wakanda’s own Shuri and Sharon Carter, who is now wearing the Iron Patriot armor.
How did Sharon end up with the armor? As Steve, Bucky and Sam fought Selene and the Power Elite, Sharon could do nothing but watch as they took on a dangerous enemy to reclaim her own soul. After all the time spent stuck on the sidelines, Sharon simply decides to take matters into her own hands, to fight for herself and what’s rightfully hers. Instead of waiting and planning and letting others fight for her, she opts to get directly involved in the battle.
Without any sort of superpowers, Sharon is simply no match for the likes of Selene. Thankfully, she had a friend who can lend her the Iron Patriot armor: Dr. Toni Ho.
The Iron Patriot armor was first worn by Norman Osborn. After the events of Secret Invasion, which saw him emerge as a hero in the public’s eye, Norman re-branded S.H.I.E.L.D. and appointed himself as its new leader. Wearing a red, white and blue Iron Man armor, Norman took on the identity of the Iron Patriot as a symbol of strength and belief for the American people.
Eventually, however, real heroes would come to wear that armor in the name of good: James “Rhodey” Rhodes suited up as the Iron Patriot before Toni Ho followed in his footsteps.
Since Toni is a member of the Daughters of Liberty alongside Sharon Carter, the suit was ready and on hand for Sharon to use. Oh, and the best part? When she shows up wearing her new suit ready to fight Selene, she borrows Captain America’s famous Marvel Cinematic Universe line: “I can do this all day.”
Now, Sharon has joined the fight as the latest character to wear the Iron Patriot. If she is able to defeat Selene and get her soul back, then perhaps she will see the value in becoming a superhero herself. For the time being, we don’t know if Sharon will keep being Iron Patriot, but if she does, Captain America and the Iron Patriot could become Marvel’s next superhero duo.
