What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? - Wikipedia

In Afghanistan, Tony Stark's military convoy is ambushed by the Ten Rings, but he is saved by Erik "Killmonger" Stevens.[a] Returning to Stark Industries, Stark hires Killmonger and pledges to build better weapons. Killmonger exposes Obadiah Stane's involvement in the ambush, having infiltrated the Ten Rings,[b] and subsequently replaces Stane. Stark offers his expertise to build drone robots designed by Killmonger and succeeds at building one with Killmonger's vibranium ring as a power source.

Needing more vibranium to create a drone army, they arrange for James "Rhodey" Rhodes to buy stolen vibranium from Ulysses Klaue. Klaue leaks word of the transaction to Wakanda, luring in T'Challa / Black Panther, who attacks the meeting to reclaim the vibranium. Killmonger kills T'Challa and Rhodes, making it look like they killed each other. Stark confronts Killmonger and attempts to avenge Rhodes by ordering the drone to kill Killmonger. Still, Killmonger defeats the drone and kills Stark with a Dora Milaje spear, staging it as a Wakandan attack. Shortly after, Killmonger creates an army of drones with the stolen vibranium.

The United States and Wakanda enter a conflict over the deaths of T'Challa, Rhodes, and Stark. The American military, led by General Thaddeus Ross, assumes control of Stark Industries and uses the drone army to invade Wakanda. Meanwhile, Killmonger kills Klaue to prove his allegiance to Wakanda and reunites with Wakanda's rulers and his estranged uncle T'Chaka and aunt Ramonda. Killmonger cuts off Ross' command of the drones, then secretly reactivates their combat capabilities so that he can lead the Wakandan army in defeating them.

After the battle, T'Chaka bestows the Black Panther mantle to Killmonger. In the astral plane, Killmonger meets with T'Challa, who warns him that he will be defeated one day. As the American military plans to eradicate Wakanda, T'Challa's sister Shuri meets with Stark's assistant Pepper Potts, proposing that they expose the truth of Killmonger's deceit.