WARNING: Spoilers follow for Iron Man #7 by Christopher Cantwell, CAFU, Frank D’Armata & VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Iron Man and Hellcat have been through a lot together, especially as they have teamed up recently against the all-powerful Korvac. However, outside of this battle, the two go back many years together.
Iron Man was present when Patsy Walker became Hellcat in Avengers #144 by Steve Englehart and George Perez. He was also there when Hellcat began to develop a close relationship with Moondragon.
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As Iron Man heads off to fight Korvac in space with his band of misfit soldiers, he reminded Hellcat of a power she once possessed that has all but disappeared over the years. This is psionic powers that have often hurt her more than it helped her in many cases. While Hellcat’s psionic powers were never fully developed, they have come back into play in the Iron Man series, as Korvac has used them to connect with Hellcat, often to her pain and suffering. Now, Iron Man wants Hellcat to pull these powers out of storage and use them to put them in the position to beat Korvac.
It was Moondragon who enhanced these psionic powers through Titanian technology. These powers were more than Hellcat expected, as she couldn’t predict or understand how and when to use them, and often she accidentally used them against her own friends. An example was in Defenders #64 when Blob was trying to kill her by choking her to death, and her mental powers activated and knocked out everyone around her, including her own teammate Hercules. It also left her with a migraine, and she realized these powers were traumatic for her in the long run. There are subconscious barriers placed in her mind, and as she told Iron Man when he asked her, she had her psionic “driver’s license” revoked. However, the powers are still there, although nowhere near the level they once were.
Iron Man mentioned that Hellcat was a “mind warrior once upon a time.” Since Korvac already reached out and made contact, Hellcat was able to reach back, and she was able to make it work to help Iron Man. When she reached out and contacted Korvac, she explained that when he reached into her mind, it “stirred up the ol’ mind pot.” Korvac was angry that she invaded his mind, and he was even angrier when he realized she was able to bring Iron Man along for the ride. This was unusual for Hellcat, having both the power to control her psionic powers and the added ability to bring someone with her into another’s mindscape.
Sadly, things did not work out so well. It seems like Iron Man is pushing Hellcat harder and harder, and while she has clearly fallen for him, he seems more intent on using her to get what he wants. She almost died after a battle with Korvac that left her with severely injured, yet Tony kept pushing her into the battle with Korvac, leading to the villain getting into her mind and almost breaking her in a subsequent battle. Now, he has Hellcat use the powers that have almost destroyed her in the past to get into Korvac’s mind, and it ended with Iron Man disappearing and Korvac forcefully kicking Hellcat out of her mind, leaving her unconscious. However, with Moondragon appearing on the preview for the next issue, Hellcat might finally be getting the help she needs.
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