Как пишется тони старк на английском

«Iron Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe)» redirects here. For the 2008 film, see Iron Man (2008 film).

Tony Stark
Marvel Cinematic Universe character
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
First appearance	Iron Man (2008)
Last appearance	Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Based on	Iron Man by Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby
Adapted by	Mark Fergus Hawk Ostby Art Marcum Matt Holloway
Portrayed by	Robert Downey Jr. Davin Ransom (young)[1]
Voiced by	Mick Wingert (What If…?)[2]
In-universe information
Full name	Anthony Edward Stark[3]
Alias	Iron Man
Occupation	Benefactor and leader of the Avengers Consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. CEO of Stark Industries Weapons manufacturer
Affiliation	Avengers Damage Control S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark Industries
Weapon	Iron Man armor Arc reactor Hulkbuster armor E.D.I.T.H. glasses
Family	Howard Stark (father) Maria Stark (mother)
Spouse	Pepper Potts
Children	Morgan Stark (daughter)
Origin	Manhattan, New York, United States
Nationality	American

Anthony Edward Stark, more commonly known as Tony Stark, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly known by his alias, Iron Man. Stark is initially depicted as an industrialist, genius inventor, and playboy who is CEO of Stark Industries. Initially the chief weapons manufacturer for the U.S. military, he has a change of heart and redirects his technical knowledge into the creation of mechanized suits of armor which he uses to defend against those that would threaten peace around the world. He becomes a founding member and leader of the Avengers. Following his failed Ultron Program, the internal conflict within the Avengers due to the Sokovia Accords, and Thanos successfully erasing half of all life in the Blip, Stark retires, marries Pepper Potts, and they have a daughter named Morgan. However, Stark rejoins the Avengers on a final mission to undo Thanos’ actions. He creates time travel, and the Avengers successfully restore trillions of lives across the universe. However, Stark inevitably sacrifices his life to defeat Thanos and his army. Stark chooses Peter Parker as a successor.

Stark is one of the central figures of the MCU, having appeared in eleven films as of 2022. The character and Downey’s performance have been credited with helping to cement the MCU as a multi-billion-dollar franchise, with Stark’s evolution often being considered the defining arc of the series.^[4]

Alternate versions of Stark from within the MCU multiverse appear in the animated series What If…? (2021), voiced by Mick Wingert, reprising his role from previous non-MCU animated media.

Concept and creation

Tony Stark first premiered as a comic book character, in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963), a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby.^[5] Lee wanted to create the «quintessential capitalist», a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel’s readership.^[6] Lee based this playboy’s looks and personality on Howard Hughes,^[7] as «one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase.»^[8] The character’s original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40, April 1963), and redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (Dec. 1963) by Steve Ditko.^[9] Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. In the mid-2000s, with a number of movies having been made from other Marvel properties licensed to other studios, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which included Iron Man. Feige, a self-professed «fanboy», envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s.^[10]

Jon Favreau, who was selected to direct the first Iron Man film, felt Downey’s past made him an appropriate choice for the part,^[11] and that the actor could make Stark a «likable asshole,» but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience.^[12] Ultimately however, Downey ended up being the choice the studio made for the first character in their ever-expansive cinematic universe. Favreau was also attracted to Downey from his performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), with Downey frequently conversing with that film’s director, Shane Black, about the script and dialogue in Iron Man.^[13]

Fictional character biography

Early life

Anthony Edward «Tony» Stark was born on May 29, 1970, in Manhattan, New York to Howard Stark, a famous genius inventor and businessman, and Maria Stark, a socialite and philanthropist. Growing up under the eye of family butler Edwin Jarvis, his life was characterized by a cold and affectionless relationship with his father. Seeing that his son could achieve great things, Howard tried to inspire him with constant talks about his own role in the creation of Captain America. This instead embittered Stark, who felt that his father was taking more pride in his creations than in his family. A brilliant and unique child prodigy, Stark attended MIT for two years starting at age 14, and graduated summa cum laude at 17.^[14]

On December 16, 1991, when Stark was 21, his parents went away to the Bahamas, but planned to stop at the Pentagon to deliver Super Soldier Serum Howard had redeveloped. Instead, both are killed in a car accident—later revealed to be an assassination carried out by the Winter Soldier, who was mind-controlled by Hydra to steal the serum.^[a] As a result, Stark inherited his father’s company, becoming CEO of Stark Industries. Over the years, he became well known as a weapons designer and inventor, and lived a playboy lifestyle. At a New Year’s Eve party for the new millennium, he attended a conference in Bern where he met scientists Maya Hansen, inventor of the Extremis experimental regenerative treatment, and Aldrich Killian, rejecting an offer to work for Killian’s Advanced Idea Mechanics.^[b]

Becoming Iron Man

In 2010, Stark travels to war-torn Afghanistan with his friend and military liaison Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to demonstrate Stark’s new «Jericho» missile. After the demonstration, the convoy is ambushed and Stark is critically wounded and imprisoned by a terrorist group, the Ten Rings. Fellow captive Ho Yinsen, a doctor, implants an electromagnet into Stark’s chest to keep shrapnel shards from reaching his heart and killing him.

Stark and Yinsen secretly build a small, powerful electric generator called an arc reactor to power Stark’s electromagnet and a suit of powered armor. When the Ten Rings attack the workshop, Yinsen sacrifices himself to divert them while the suit is completed. The armored Stark battles his way out of the cave to find the dying Yinsen, then burns the Ten Rings’ weapons in anger and flies away, crashing in the desert. Rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home to announce that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. In his home workshop, Stark builds a sleeker, more powerful version of his improvised armor suit as well as a more powerful arc reactor.

Stark learns that Obadiah Stane has been engaged in arms trafficking to criminals worldwide, and is staging a coup to replace him as Stark Industries’ CEO. Stark, in his new armor, flies to Afghanistan and saves the villagers. Stane ambushes Stark at his home and takes the arc reactor from his chest, revealing that Stane was responsible for Stark’s captivity. Stark manages to get to his original reactor to replace it and defeats Stane. The next day, at a press conference, Stark publicly admits to being «Iron Man.»

Battling Vanko

Six months later in 2011, Stark’s fame has grown and he uses his Iron Man suit for peaceful means, resisting government pressure to sell his designs. He reinstitutes the Stark Expo to continue his father’s legacy, but discovers that the palladium core in the arc reactor that keeps Stark alive and powers the armor is slowly poisoning him. Growing increasingly reckless and despondent about his impending death, he appoints Pepper Potts CEO of Stark Industries.

Stark competes in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix and is attacked mid-race by Ivan Vanko, who wields electrified whips powered by a miniature arc reactor. Stark dons his Mark V armor and defeats Vanko, but the suit is severely damaged. At his birthday party, Stark gets drunk while wearing the Mark IV suit. Rhodes dons Stark’s Mark II prototype armor and tries to restrain him. The fight ends in a stalemate, so Rhodes confiscates the Mark II for the U.S. Air Force.

Stark discovers a hidden message from his father, a diagram of the structure of a new element, which Stark synthesizes. At the Expo, Stark’s rival Justin Hammer unveils Vanko’s armored drones, led by Rhodes in a heavily weaponized version of the Mark II armor. Stark arrives in the Mark VI armor to warn Rhodes, but Vanko remotely takes control of both the drones and Rhodes’ armor and attacks Iron Man. Stark and Rhodes together defeat Vanko and his drones. After narrowly saving Pepper Potts from a self-destructing drone, they start a relationship.

The Battle of New York

In 2012, when the Asgardian Loki arrives and begins menacing Earth, seizing the Tesseract from a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, Fury activates the Avengers Initiative and Agent Phil Coulson visits Stark to have him review the research of Erik Selvig on the Tesseract. In Stuttgart, Steve Rogers and Loki fight briefly until Tony Stark appears in his Iron Man armor, resulting in Loki’s surrender. While Loki is being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. After a confrontation with Stark and Rogers, Thor agrees to take Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier.

The Avengers become divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons. Agents possessed by Loki attack the Helicarrier, disabling one of its engines in flight, which Stark and Rogers must work to restart. Loki escapes, and Stark and Rogers realize that for Loki, simply defeating them will not be enough; he needs to overpower them publicly to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Loki uses the Tesseract to open a wormhole in New York City above the Avengers Tower to allow the Chitauri fleet in space to invade. Fury’s superiors from the World Security Council attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Midtown Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile, and in an apparent sacrifice of his own life, takes it through the wormhole toward the Chitauri fleet. The missile detonates, destroying the Chitauri mothership and disabling their forces on Earth. Stark’s suit runs out of power, and he falls back through the wormhole but the Hulk saves him from crashing into the ground. Stark and the other Avengers capture Loki and Thor takes custody of him.

Pursuing the Mandarin

Stark develops PTSD from his experiences during the alien invasion, resulting in panic attacks. Restless, he builds several dozen Iron Man suits, creating friction with girlfriend Pepper Potts. Seven months after the invasion, Happy Hogan is badly injured in one of a string of bombings by a terrorist known only as the Mandarin, Stark issues a televised threat to him, who destroys Stark’s Malibu home with helicopter gunships. Stark escapes in an Iron Man suit and crashes in rural Tennessee. His experimental armor lacks sufficient power to return to California, and the world believes him dead.

Stark traces the Mandarin to Miami and infiltrates his headquarters, where he discovers the Mandarin was just an actor named Trevor Slattery. Aldrich Killian reveals himself to be the real Mandarin and captures Stark. He escapes and reunites with Rhodes, discovering that Killian intends to attack U.S. President Ellis aboard Air Force One. Stark saves the surviving passengers and crew but cannot stop Killian from abducting Ellis and destroying Air Force One. Killian intends to kill Ellis on an oil platform on live television. On the platform, Stark goes to save Potts – who had been kidnapped and subjected to Extremis — as Rhodes saves the president. Stark summons his Iron Man suits, controlled remotely by J.A.R.V.I.S., to provide air support. Potts, having survived the Extremis procedure, kills Killian. Stark orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to remotely destroy all of the Iron Man suits as a sign of his devotion to Potts, and undergoes surgery to remove the shrapnel embedded near his heart. He pitches his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea, musing that he will always be Iron Man.

Creating Ultron

In 2015, Stark and the Avengers raid a Hydra facility commanded by Wolfgang von Strucker, who has been experimenting on siblings Pietro and Wanda Maximoff using the scepter previously wielded by Loki. While the team fights outside, Stark enters the lab and finds the scepter, along with Chitauri ships from the Battle of New York under construction. Wanda sneaks up behind him and uses her mind manipulation powers to give him a haunting vision: the death of all the Avengers except him. Stark awakens from the vision and retrieves Loki’s scepter.

Returning to the Avengers Tower, Stark and Bruce Banner discover an artificial intelligence within the scepter’s gem, and secretly decide to use it to complete Stark’s «Ultron» global defense program. The unexpectedly sentient Ultron eliminates Stark’s A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. and attacks the Avengers. Escaping with the scepter, Ultron builds an army of robot drones, kills Strucker and recruits the Maximoffs, who hold Stark responsible for their parents’ deaths by his company’s weapons. The Avengers find and attack Ultron in Johannesburg, but Wanda subdues most of the team with personalized, disturbing visions, causing Banner to transform into the Hulk and rampage until Stark stops him with his anti-Hulk armor.

After hiding at Clint Barton’s house, Nick Fury arrives and encourages Stark and the others to form a plan to stop Ultron, who is discovered to have forced the team’s friend Dr. Helen Cho to perfect a new body for him. Rogers, Romanoff, and Barton find Ultron and retrieve the synthetic body, but Ultron captures Romanoff. Returning to Avengers Tower, the Avengers fight amongst themselves when Stark and Banner secretly upload J.A.R.V.I.S.—who is still operational after hiding from Ultron inside the Internet—into the synthetic body. Thor returns to help activate the body, explaining that the gem on its brow was part of his vision. This «Vision» and the Maximoffs, now on their side, accompany Stark and the Avengers to Sokovia, where Ultron has used the remaining vibranium to build a machine to lift part of the capital city skyward, intending to crash it into the ground to cause global extinction. One of Ultron’s drones is able to activate the machine. The city plummets, but Stark and Thor overload the machine and shatter the landmass. The Avengers establish a new base in upstate New York, and Stark leaves the team.

Sokovia Accords and the aftermath

In 2016, U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross informs the Avengers that the United Nations (UN) is preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will establish UN oversight of the team. The Avengers are divided: Stark supports oversight because of his role in Ultron’s creation and Sokovia’s devastation, while Rogers has more faith in their judgment than that of a government. Circumstances lead to Rogers and fellow super-soldier Bucky Barnes—framed for a terrorist attack—going rogue, along with Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Scott Lang. Stark assembles a team composed of Natasha Romanoff, T’Challa, James Rhodes, Vision, and Peter Parker to capture the renegades at Leipzig/Halle Airport. However, during the battle, Rogers and Barnes are able to escape and Rhodes is paralyzed. Stark learns that Barnes was framed and convinces Wilson to give him Rogers’ destination. Without informing Ross, Stark goes to the Siberian Hydra facility and strikes a truce with Rogers and Barnes. They find that the other super soldiers have been killed by Helmut Zemo, who plays footage that reveals that Barnes killed Stark’s parents. Stark turns on them, dismembering Barnes’ robotic arm. After an intense fight, Rogers finally manages to disable Stark’s Iron Man armor and departs with Barnes, leaving his shield behind. Stark returns to New York to work on exoskeletal leg braces to allow Rhodes to walk again. Steve Rogers sends a mobile phone to Stark to keep in contact if needed. When Ross calls informing him that Rogers has broken the others out of the Raft, Stark refuses to help.

Two months later, Peter Parker resumes his high school studies, with Stark telling him he is not yet ready to become a full Avenger. Stark rescues Parker from nearly drowning after an encounter with Adrian Toomes and warns Parker against further involvement with the criminals. When another weapon from Toomes malfunctions during a fight with Parker and tears the Staten Island Ferry in half, Stark helps Parker save the passengers before admonishing him for his recklessness and confiscating his suit. Parker realizes Toomes is planning to hijack a plane transporting weapons from Stark Tower to the team’s new headquarters. After Parker thwarts the plan and saves Toomes from an explosion, Stark admits he was wrong about Parker and invites him to become an Avenger full-time, but Parker declines. Potts emerges from a packed press conference, called to make the announcement, and Stark decides to use the opportunity to instead propose to Potts. At the end of the film, he returns the suit to Peter.

Infinity War

In 2018, Stark and Potts are in a New York City park discussing having children, when Banner, who had disappeared after the Battle of Sokovia, crash-lands at the New York Sanctum. Banner relays a warning to Stephen Strange, Wong, and Stark that the mad Titan Thanos plans to use the Infinity Stones to kill half of all life in the universe. Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian arrive to retrieve the Time Stone, prompting Strange, Stark, Wong, and Parker to confront them. Although Cull Obsidian is incapacitated, Strange is captured by Maw. Stark and Parker sneak aboard Maw’s spaceship to rescue him.

After successfully freeing Strange and killing Maw, the trio proceed to Thanos’ home planet Titan, where they meet members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They form a plan to confront Thanos and remove the Infinity Gauntlet, but Thanos overpowers the group and stabs Stark in the abdomen. Strange surrenders the Time Stone in exchange for Thanos sparing Stark. Thanos takes the stone and departs for Earth, retrieves the final stone, and activates the Infinity Gauntlet. Stark and Nebula, stranded on Titan, watch as Parker and others are turned to dust.

Time Heist and sacrifice

Stark and Nebula are rescued from space by Carol Danvers and returned to Earth, where Stark chooses to retire and raise his daughter Morgan, with Potts. Later, He constructs a secret beach house lab in Mexico for Banner to merge his two identities and spent some time with him including making a tiki bar. In 2023, when Scott Lang hypothesizes a way to bring back the fallen, the Avengers approach Stark, who initially refuses, considering the idea dangerous. Despite this, he examines the matter privately, discovers time travel, and agrees to help. The Avengers reassemble and plan to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past to undo Thanos’ actions. Traveling to 2012, Stark fails to retrieve the Space Stone following the Battle of New York and instead goes further back to the 1970s to steal it from a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where he has a meaningful conversation with a younger version of his father, Howard.

The Avengers successfully obtain all of the Infinity Stones before returning to the present. The Stones are incorporated into a gauntlet made by Stark, which Banner then uses to resurrect those that were disintegrated by Thanos. However, they are followed by an alternate version of Thanos and his army, who are summoned to 2023 by an alternate version of Nebula. During the ensuing battle, Thanos obtains Stark’s gauntlet and the two of them wrestle for control of it. Thanos is able to overpower Stark before attempting another snap but discovers that Stark has transferred the Infinity Stones to his own armor. Stark activates the Gauntlet and uses it to disintegrate Thanos and all of his forces and save the universe, but fatally injures himself in the process. He dies surrounded by Rhodes, Parker, and Potts.

Legacy

Eight months later, as the world continues to mourn Stark, Parker receives glasses that can access Stark’s artificial intelligence E.D.I.T.H., with a message that establishes him as Stark’s chosen successor. Parker is however tricked by disgruntled former Stark Industries employee Quentin Beck into giving him the glasses, as Parker sees him as a more worthy successor. Beck, leading a team of other ex-Stark Industries employees such as William Ginter Riva, and angered at being fired by Stark, seeks to fill the vacancy left by Stark as Iron Man by using the software he developed for Stark, B.A.R.F., to augment illusions of creatures known as the Elementals, presenting himself as a hero known as Mysterio in «defeating» them. He uses Stark’s glasses to conduct drone attacks in London, targeting Parker. Parker eventually foils Beck’s plots and retakes the glasses, and he designs his own Spider-Man suit using technology from Stark Industries, in a similar manner to Stark designing his first Iron Man armor.

Alternate versions

Losing the Tesseract

In an alternate 2012, Stark and the Avengers are victorious over Loki during the Battle of New York, however the time traveling Stark and Scott Lang from 2023 alter 2012-Stark’s history when they attempt to steal the briefcase containing the Tesseract. As 2012-Stark and 2012-Thor argue with Alexander Pierce and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents over custody of Loki and the Tesseract, Lang, using his Ant-Man suit, shrinks down and enters into 2012-Stark’s chest arc reactor, pulling a plug that gives him a cardiac dysrhythmia. 2012-Thor uses Mjolnir to restart the reactor, saving 2012-Stark’s life. 2023-Stark obtains the briefcase but loses it when 2012-Hulk smashes through the elevator. The Tesseract falls out, and with 2012-Stark and Thor distracted, Loki picks it up and teleports away.

What If…?

Several alternate versions of Stark appear in the animated series What If…?, in which he is voiced by Mick Wingert.

Death of the Avengers

In an alternate 2011, Stark is seemingly killed by Romanoff after she injects him with a temporary antidote to his arc reactor poisoning. Fury later deduces the culprit as Hank Pym.

Zombie outbreak

In an alternate 2018, Stark is infected with a quantum virus and is turned into a zombie along with the Avengers in San Francisco. When Bruce Banner crash-lands in the New York Sanctum to warn the heroes of Thanos’s arrival, a zombified Stark attacks him alongside Stephen Strange and Wong, but is quickly killed by Hope van Dyne.

Killmonger deception

In an alternate 2010, Erik «Killmonger» Stevens prevents Stark from being kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. Stark returns to the United States, where Killmonger exposes Obadiah Stane’s involvement in the ambush plot, and Stark names him the new COO of Stark Industries. Stark and Killmonger build a humanoid combat drone using the vibranium of N’Jobu’s ring, but Killmonger betrays and kills Stark, setting off a war between the United States and Wakanda.

Ultron’s conquest

In an alternate 2015, Ultron successfully uploads his consciousness into a new vibranium body, becoming powerful enough to kill Stark and most of the Avengers, eradicating all life on Earth.

Working with Gamora

In an alternate universe, Stark is a close ally of Gamora after the death of Thanos by her hands. When the Watcher is collecting heroes to fight a multiverse-breaking version of Ultron, he selects the Gamora of this world, but pointedly excludes Stark.

Appearances

Robert Downey Jr. portrays Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man (2008),^[15] Iron Man 2 (2010),^[16] The Avengers (2012),^[17] Iron Man 3 (2013),^[18] Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),^[19] Captain America: Civil War (2016),^[20] Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017),^[21] Avengers: Infinity War (2018),^[19] and Avengers: Endgame (2019).^[20] In addition, Downey makes an uncredited cameo appearance in The Incredible Hulk (2008).^[22]

In Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Stark appears in archival footage from Captain America: Civil War,^[23] and also appears via archive footage in the Marvel One-Shot The Consultant (2011).^[24] Archival footage of the character also appears in «Glorious Purpose», the first episode of the Disney+ television series Loki.^[25]

In September 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported that Downey would appear in Black Widow (2021) in his MCU role as Stark;^[26] an early version of the script included the end scene from Captain America: Civil War between Stark and Natasha Romanoff.^[27] This was not in the final film, with director Cate Shortland stating that she and Kevin Feige decided against adding Stark or any other heroes to the film in order for Romanoff to stand on her own,^[28] and screenwriter Eric Pearson adding that it was determined that the scene did not add anything new to the story.^[27]

Stark returns in the Disney+ animated series What If…?,^[29] although Mick Wingert voices the character instead; Wingert has previously provided the voice for Iron Man in multiple non-MCU video games and animated productions since 2017.^[30]

Characterization

Appearance and personality

Downey had an office next to Favreau during pre-production, which allowed him greater involvement in the screenwriting process,^[32] especially adding humor to the film.^[33] Downey explained, «What I usually hate about these [superhero] movies [is] when suddenly the guy that you were digging turns into Dudley Do-Right, and then you’re supposed to buy into all his ‘Let’s go do some good!’ That Eliot Ness-in-a-cape-type thing. What was really important to me was to not have him change so much that he’s unrecognizable. When someone used to be a schmuck and they’re not anymore, hopefully they still have a sense of humor.»^[34] To prepare, Downey spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape,^[11] which he said benefited him because «it’s hard not to have a personality meltdown … after about several hours in that suit. I’m calling up every therapeutic moment I can think of to just get through the day.»^[35] The revelation at the end of Iron Man of Stark’s alter ego was improvised by Stark’s actor Robert Downey Jr.^{[36][37][38][39]}

For the first film, Favreau and Downey had been handed an existing script and worked from it. In contrast, for Iron Man 2, the duo were given more freedom to conceive of the story for themselves,^[16] in which Stark struggles to keep his technology out of the hands of the government and rival weapons makers. On Stark being a hero, Downey said «It’s kind of heroic, but really kind of on his own behalf. So I think there’s probably a bit of an imposter complex and no sooner has he said, ‘I am Iron Man –’ that he’s now really wondering what that means. If you have all this cushion like he does and the public is on your side and you have immense wealth and power, I think he’s way too insulated to be okay.»^[43]

The Avengers introduced Stark’s role as one of an ensemble of heroes who must come together to defend the Earth from an alien invasion led by the god Loki. Downey initially pushed director Joss Whedon to make Stark the lead of the 2012 Avengers film: «Well, I said, ‘I need to be in the opening sequence. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.’ He was like, ‘Okay, let’s try that.’ We tried it and it didn’t work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus.»^[44] About the character’s evolution from previous films, Downey said, «In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, dealing with legacy issues and making space for others… In The Avengers, he’s throwing it down with the others».^[45] At the climax of the film, Stark guides a nuclear missile through an interstellar portal to destroy the main alien vessel, demonstrating a willingness to sacrifice his life to save the Earth.^[46]

In Iron Man 3, Stark struggles to come to terms with his near-death experience in The Avengers,^[47] suffering from anxiety attacks. On making a third Iron Man film, Downey said, «My sense of it is that we need to leave it all on the field—whatever that means in the end. You can pick several different points of departure for that.»^[18] On following up The Avengers, Downey said they «tried to be practical, in a post-Avengers world. What are his challenges now? What are some limitations that might be placed on him? And what sort of threat would have him, as usual, ignore those limitations?»^[48] Screenwriter Drew Pearce compared Stark in Iron Man 3 to an American James Bond for both being «heroes with a sense of danger to them, and unpredictability» even if Stark was a «free agent» instead of an authority figure like Bond. He also likened Tony to the protagonists of 1970s films such as The French Connection (1971), where «the idiosyncrasies of the heroes is what made them exciting.»^[49]

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Stark has become the benefactor of the Avengers.^[50][51][52] On how his character evolves after the events of Iron Man 3, Downey said, «I think he realizes that tweaking and making all the suits in the world—which is what he has been doing—still didn’t work for that thing of his tour of duty that left him a little PTSD. So his focus is more on how can we make it so that there’s no problem to begin with. That, you know, there’s a bouncer at our planet’s rope. That’s the big idea.»^[53] The events of Age of Ultron lead directly into the conflict of Captain America: Civil War, in which Stark leads a faction of Avengers in support of the regulation of individuals with superpowers.^[54][55] Anthony Russo said that Stark’s egomania allowed the writers «to bring him to a point in his life where he was willing to submit to an authority, where he felt it was the right thing to do.» Joe Russo added that because of the visions Stark saw in Age of Ultron, he now has a guilt complex which «drives him to make very specific decisions», calling his emotional arc «very complicated».^[56] Downey’s personal trainer Eric Oram stated that the trick to pitting Rogers against Stark, «is to show Iron Man using the ‘minimum force’ necessary to win the fight».^[57] Marvel initially wanted Downey’s part to be smaller, but «Downey wanted Stark to have a more substantial role in the film’s plot.» Variety noted that Downey would receive $40 million-plus backend for his participation, as well as an additional payout if the film outperformed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as Marvel would attribute that success to Downey’s presence.^[20]

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stark is Peter Parker’s mentor and is the creator of the U.S. Department of Damage Control.^[21][58] Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Thomas Rothman noted that, beyond the commercial advantage of featuring Downey in the film, the inclusion of Stark was important due to the relationship established between him and Parker in Captain America: Civil War.^[59] Watts noted that after Stark’s actions in Civil War, introducing Parker to life as an Avenger, there are «a lot of repercussions to that. Is it a first step towards Tony as some sort of mentor figure? Is he comfortable with that?»^[60] Co-writer Jonathan Goldstein compared Stark to Ethan Hawke’s father character in Boyhood (2014).^[61]

Downey reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).^[19][21] Iron Man 3 director Shane Black stated in March 2013 that «There has been a lot of discussion about it: ‘Is this the last Iron Man for Robert [Downey Jr.]?’ Something tells me that it will not be the case, and [he] will be seen in a fourth, or fifth.» Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that the character of Stark would continue to be featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe regardless of Downey’s involvement.^[62] Also in March, Downey said he was open to extending his contract, stating he feels «there’s a couple other things we’ve gotta do» with the character.^[63] In June 2013, when Downey signed on to return as Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he also signed on for a third Avengers film.^[19] In a July 2014 interview during the filming of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Downey expressed his interest in continuing to play Iron Man. «It’s down to Kevin [Feige] and Ike [Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment] and Disney to come to us with what the proposal is, and that’s on us to agree or disagree,» Downey said. «When things are going great, there’s a lot of agreement.» He added, «It’s that thing of: Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?»^[64] In April 2016, Downey expressed openness to appearing in a potential fourth Iron Man film, saying «I could do one more.»^[65] Downey’s Marvel contract expired following Avengers: Endgame, where Stark dies.^[66]

Stark’s fashion sense evolved over the course of the films, initially being described as «woefully basic… mostly saggy jeans, henleys and tank tops—with an occasional suit», but improving by the time of the first Avengers film,^[67] and becoming more sophisticated by Civil War, as Stark matured and accepted greater responsibility for the consequences of his actions.^[68] Downey expressed the desire for his wardrobe to reflect that «you still know he’s Tony Stark, and you still know that he’s the richest man in the world».^[68] Stark’s clothing has been described as alternating between «a sweet suit with some shades» in his corporate look, «or a t-shirt, jeans, and an arc reactor» in his personal time.^[69] His fashion sense has been referred to as «part Mob boss and part Big Bang Theory cast member», and alternating «between boxy pinstripe suits and faux-ironic vintage tees».^[67]

Armor and special effects

Tony Stark has worn multiple different armors in his MCU appearances. For Iron Man, Stan Winston and his company built metal and rubber versions of the armors featured in the film,^[70] while Iron Man comic book artist Adi Granov designed the Mark III with illustrator Phil Saunders.^[71] Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created the digital armors in the film,^[72] with The Orphanage and The Embassy doing additional work. To help with animating the more refined suits, information was sometimes captured by having Downey wear only the helmet, sleeves and chest of the costume over a motion capture suit.^[70]

For Iron Man 2, ILM again did the majority of the effects, as it did on the first film, with Double Negative also working on the film.^[73] In the filming of The Avengers, Weta Digital took over duties for animating Iron Man during the forest duel from ILM.^[74] For Iron Man 3, Digital Domain, Scanline VFX and Trixter each worked on separate shots featuring the Mark 42 armor, working with different digital models. The studios shared some of their files to ensure consistency between the shots. For the Mark 42 and Iron Patriot armors, Legacy Effects constructed partial suits that were worn on set.^[75]

Differences from the comics

The origin story of Iron Man has been updated for the films. In the comics, Stark becomes Iron Man following an experience in the Vietnam War, which is changed to the War in Afghanistan.^[76] Jarvis, in the comics, is the family butler, while in the films J.A.R.V.I.S. is an artificial intelligence created by Stark,^[77] though still inspired by the butler from Stark’s childhood, Edwin Jarvis, who is revealed to have died by the time the first film takes place.^[76] Stark also proceeds through the early iterations of his armor to reach the now-familiar red and gold color scheme much more quickly. Stark’s personality more closely resembles the Ultimate Comics version.^[76]

The AI version of J.A.R.V.I.S. is eventually uploaded by Stark to an artificial body and becomes Vision. In the films, Vision is created by Stark and Banner as a counter to Ultron. In the comics, however, Ultron is created by a different member of the Avengers, Hank Pym, and aspects of Pym’s personality are integrated into this version of Ultron, such as a desire for peace.^[78] Another difference in the films is the romance between Stark and Pepper Potts. In the comics, Potts has unrequited feelings for Stark, and ultimately becomes involved with Stark’s chauffeur and bodyguard, Happy Hogan.^[77][78]

A new approach not seen in comics is Stark’s mentorial relationship with Peter Parker. In the Ultimate Comics, Stark and Parker do not go past the normal trainer-trainee relationship. In the MCU, Stark is also the creator of two iterations of Parker’s Spider-Man suits, unlike in the comics where he only creates the Iron Spider Armor, while Parker creates other suits by himself.^[79] Stark is also shown to have a history with Parker’s foes Vulture and Mysterio; both are depicted as having turned into villains due to unforeseen consequences of actions by Stark. While he does not end up facing them, his protégé does.^[80][81]

The Mandarin, a recurring Iron Man villain in the comics, turns out to be just an actor portraying the character, with the real criminal mastermind behind the acts claimed by «the Mandarin» being Aldrich Killian—a minor character in the comics.^[78][82] The Mandarin is revealed to be a real person in the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King;^[83] this version is instead portrayed as the father and enemy of Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).^[84]

Reception

Downey’s portrayal of the character has been widely praised by fans and critics. Roger Ebert praised Downey’s performance in Iron Man, stating «At the end of the day it’s Robert Downey Jr. who powers the lift-off separating this from most other superhero movies».^[85] Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, a one-time Marvel Comics writer, commended that Iron Man 2 «doesn’t find a changed man. Inside the metal, imperfect humanity grows even more so, as thought-provoking questions of identity meet techno-fantasy made flesh».^[86]

For The Avengers, Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal—despite complimenting Downey’s performance—favored his work in Iron Man over his acting in The Avengers: «His Iron Man is certainly a team player, but Mr. Downey comes to the party with two insuperable superpowers: a character of established sophistication—the industrialist/inventor Tony Stark, a sharp-tongued man of the world—and his own quicksilver presence that finds its finest expression in self-irony».^[87] In his review of Avengers: Endgame, Morgenstern lauded both actor and character, praising «Robert Downey Jr.’s startlingly smart Tony Stark» who, along with Chris Evans’ Captain America and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, contributed to that film’s «feeling of family … because the debuts of its most prominent members remain vivid to this day.»^[88]

In 2015, Empire named Tony Stark the 13th greatest film character of all time.^[89] In 2019, following Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame, a statue representing the character in his Iron Man armor was erected in Forte dei Marmi, Italy.^[90]

Accolades

Downey has received numerous nominations and awards for his portrayal of Tony Stark. He notably won the Saturn Award for Best Actor three times,^[91][92][93] making him a record four-time winner (he had previously won the award for 1993’s Heart and Souls);^[94] it is also the record for most wins for portraying the same character, tied with Mark Hamill for playing Luke Skywalker.^[95][96][97]

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result	Ref(s)
2008	Iron Man	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Action	Nominated	[98]
Scream Awards	Best Science Fiction Actor	Won	[99]
Best Superhero	Nominated	[100]
2009	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Male Action Star	Nominated	[101]
Favorite Male Movie Star	Nominated
Favorite Superhero	Nominated
Empire Awards	Best Actor	Nominated	[102]
MTV Movie Awards	Best Male Performance	Nominated	[103]
Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Won	[91]
2010	Iron Man 2	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi	Nominated	[104]
Choice Movie: Dance	Nominated
Choice Movie: Fight (with Don Cheadle)	Nominated	[105]
Scream Awards	Best Science Fiction Actor	Nominated	[106]
Best Superhero	Won	[107]
2011	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[108]
Favorite Action Star	Nominated
Favorite On-Screen Team (with Don Cheadle)	Nominated
MTV Movie Awards	Biggest Badass Star	Nominated	[109]
Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Nominated	[110]
2012	The Avengers	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Nominated	[111]
Choice Summer Movie Star: Male	Nominated
2013	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Won	[112]
Favorite Action Movie Star	Nominated
Favorite Movie Superhero	Won
Critics’ Choice Awards	Best Actor in an Action Movie	Nominated	[113]
Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Male Buttkicker	Nominated	[114]
Empire Awards	Best Actor	Nominated	[115]
MTV Movie Awards	Best On-Screen Duo (with Mark Ruffalo)	Nominated	[116]
Best Fight (with cast)	Won
Best Hero	Nominated
Iron Man 3	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Action	Won	[117]
Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Nominated
Choice Movie: Chemistry (with Don Cheadle)	Nominated
2014	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[118]
Favorite Movie Duo (with Gwyneth Paltrow)	Nominated
Favorite Action Movie Star	Won
Critics’ Choice Awards	Best Actor in an Action Movie	Nominated	[119]
Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Male Buttkicker	Won	[120]
Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated
MTV Movie Awards	Best Hero	Nominated	[121]
Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Won	[92]
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Nominated	[122]
2016	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[123]
Favorite Action Movie Actor	Nominated
Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[124]
MTV Movie Awards	Best Fight (with Mark Ruffalo)	Nominated	[125]
Captain America: Civil War	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Nominated	[126]
Choice Movie: Chemistry (with cast)	Nominated	[127]
2017	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[128]
Favorite Action Movie Actor	Won
Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	Nominated	[129]
Favorite Frenemies (with Chris Evans)	Nominated
#Squad (with cast)	Nominated
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Movie Actor	Won	[130]
People’s Choice Awards	Male Movie Star of 2018	Nominated	[131]
2019	Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Superhero	Won	[132]
Avengers: Endgame	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Hero	Won	[133]
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Movie Actor	Won	[134]
Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Won	[93]
People’s Choice Awards	Male Movie Star of 2019	Won	[135]
Action Movie Star of 2019	Nominated

See also

• Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Iron Man in other media

Notes

References

External links

• Tony Stark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
• Tony Stark on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki
• Tony Stark on Marvel.com

Tony Stark Iron Man
Variant cover of Tony Stark: Iron Man #2 (July 2018) Art by Mark Brooks
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Anthony Edward Stark
Species	Human
Place of origin	Long Island, New York
Team affiliations	Avengers A.I. Army Department of Defense Force Works New Avengers Guardians of the Galaxy Illuminati Mighty Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark Industries Stark Resilient
Partnerships	War Machine Pepper Potts Captain America
Abilities	Proficient scientist and engineer Genius level intellect Powered armor suit granting: Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, and senses Energy repulsor and missile projection Regenerative life support Supersonic flight

Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963), and received his own title in Iron Man #1 (May 1968). In 1963, the character founded the Avengers superhero team with Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and the Hulk.

A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, philanthropist, inventor and ingenious scientist, Anthony Edward «Tony» Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a mechanized suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually publicly reveals himself to be Iron Man.

Initially, Stan Lee used Iron Man to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and industry in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have shifted to contemporary matters.^[1]

Iron Man has headlined various comic book series. Throughout most of the character’s publication history, he has been a founding member of the Avengers.

Iron Man has been adapted for several animated television shows and films. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark was portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the films Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019); while Mick Wingert voiced the character in the animated series What If…? (2021).

Publication history

Premiere

Iron Man’s Marvel Comics premiere in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963) was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby.^[2] In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.^[3] He wanted to create the «quintessential capitalist», a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel’s readership.^[4] Lee said:

I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military … So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist … I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him … And he became very popular.^[5]

He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies’ man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well.^[6] Writer Gerry Conway said, «Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can’t be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there’s a metaphor going on there. And that’s, I think, what made that character interesting.»^[5] Lee based this playboy’s looks and personality on Howard Hughes,^[7] explaining, «Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase.»^[8] «Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes,» Lee said.^[5]

While Lee intended to write the story himself,^[9] a minor deadline emergency eventually forced him to hand over the premiere issue to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.^[6] The art was split between Kirby and Heck. «He designed the costume,» Heck said of Kirby, «because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts.»^[10] In a 1990 interview, when asked if he had «a specific model for Tony Stark and the other characters?», Heck replied «No, I would be thinking more along the lines of some characters I like, which would be the same kind of characters that Alex Toth liked, which was an Errol Flynn type.»^[11] Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character’s original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40 April 1963). It was redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (December 1963) by that issue’s interior artist, Steve Ditko, although Kirby drew it on the cover. As Heck recalled in 1985, «[T]he second costume, the red and yellow one, was designed by Steve Ditko. I found it easier than drawing that bulky old thing. The earlier design, the robot-looking one, was more Kirbyish.»^[12]

In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents. Lee later regretted this early focus.^[3][13] Throughout the character’s comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism (as in the «Demon in a Bottle» storyline) and other personal difficulties.

From issue #59 (November 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. Lee and Heck introduced several adversaries for the character including the Mandarin in issue #50 (February 1964),^[14] the Black Widow in #52 (April 1964)^[15] and Hawkeye five issues later.^[16]

Lee said that «of all the comic books we published at Marvel, we got more fan mail for Iron Man from women, from females, than any other title … We didn’t get much fan mail from girls, but whenever we did, the letter was usually addressed to Iron Man.»^[5]

Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in The Avengers #1 (September 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. The character has since appeared in every subsequent volume of the series.

Writers have updated the war and locale in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,^[17] and in the 2000s updated again to be the war in Afghanistan. Stark’s time with the Asian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ho Yinsen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yinsen building the original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron Man, in which the armor Stark uses to escape his captors is not the first Iron Man suit.

Themes

The original Iron Man title explored Cold War themes, as did other Stan Lee projects in the early years of Marvel Comics. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk respectively focused on American domestic and government responses to the Communist threat, Iron Man explored industry’s role in the struggle. Tony Stark’s real-life model, Howard Hughes, was a significant defense contractor who developed new weapons technologies. Hughes was an icon both of American individualism and of the burdens of fame.^[18]

Historian Robert Genter, in The Journal of Popular Culture, writes that Tony Stark specifically presents an idealized portrait of the American inventor. Where earlier decades had seen important technological innovations come from famous individuals (e.g., Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers), the 1960s saw new technologies (including weapons) being developed mainly by the research teams of corporations. As a result, little room remained for the inventor who wanted credit for, and creative and economic control over, their own creations.

Issues of entrepreneurial autonomy, government supervision of research, and ultimate loyalty figured prominently in early Iron Man stories—the same issues affecting American scientists and engineers of that era.^[18] Tony Stark, writes Genter, is an inventor who finds motive in his emasculation as an autonomous creative individual. This blow is symbolized by his chest wound, inflicted at the moment he is forced to invent things for the purposes of others, instead of just himself. To Genter, Stark’s transformation into Iron Man represents Stark’s effort to reclaim his autonomy, and thus his manhood. The character’s pursuit of women in bed or in battle, writes Genter, represents another aspect of this effort. The pattern finds parallels in other works of 1960s popular fiction by authors such as «Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), and Norman Mailer, who made unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity.»^[18]

Solo series

After issue #99 (March 1968), the Tales of Suspense series was renamed Captain America. An Iron Man story appeared in the one-shot comic Iron Man and Sub-Mariner (April 1968), before the «Golden Avenger»^[19] made his solo debut with Iron Man #1 (May 1968).^[20] The series’s indicia gives its copyright title Iron Man, while the trademarked cover logo of most issues is The Invincible Iron Man.

This initial series ended with issue #332 (September 1996). Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Jeph Loeb authored a second volume of the series which was drawn primarily by Whilce Portacio and Ryan Benjamin. This volume took place in a parallel universe^[21] and ran 13 issues (November 1996 – November 1997).^[22] Volume 3, whose first 25 issues were written by Kurt Busiek^[23] and then by Busiek and Roger Stern, ran 89 issues (February 1998 – December 2004). Later writers included Joe Quesada, Frank Tieri, Mike Grell, and John Jackson Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering starting from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434.^[24] The next Iron Man series, Iron Man vol. 4, debuted in early 2005 with the Warren Ellis-written storyline «Extremis», with artist Adi Granov.^[25][26] It ran 35 issues (January 2005 – January 2009), with the cover logo simply Iron Man beginning with issue #13, and Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by «War Machine, Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.»,^[27] which led to the launch of a War Machine ongoing series.^[28]

The Invincible Iron Man by writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, began with a premiere issue cover-dated July 2008.^[29] For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both volume four and volume five simultaneously.^[30] This Invincible volume jumped its numbering of issues from #33 to #500, cover dated March 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968.

After the conclusion of The Invincible Iron Man a new Iron Man series was started as a part of Marvel Now!. Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Greg Land, it began with issue #1 in November 2012.^[31]

Many Iron Man annuals, miniseries, and one-shot titles have been published through the years, such as Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man (February 1996), Iron Man: The Iron Age #1–2 (August – September 1998), Iron Man: Bad Blood #1–4 (September – December 2000), Iron Man House of M #1–3 (September – November 2005), Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #1–4 (December 2005 – March 2006), Iron Man: The Inevitable #1–6 (February – July 2006), Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War (February 2007), Iron Man: Hypervelocity #1–6 (March – August 2007), Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1–6 (November 2007 – April 2008), and Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (June – September 2008). Publications have included such spin-offs as the one-shot Iron Man 2020 (June 1994), featuring a different Iron Man in the future, and the animated TV series adaptations Marvel Action Hour, Featuring Iron Man #1–8 (November 1994 – June 1995) and Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1–12 (July 2007 – June 2008).^[32]

Fictional character biography

Origins

Anthony Edward Stark is the son of Howard Stark, a wealthy industrialist who leads Stark Industries, and Maria Stark. A boy genius, he enters MIT at 15 to study engineering and later receives master’s degrees in engineering and physics. After his parents are killed in a car accident, he inherits his father’s company.

Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by enemy forces led by Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu orders Stark to build weapons, but Stark’s injuries are dire and shrapnel is moving towards his heart. His fellow prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructs a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark’s heart. In secret, Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and construct a suit of powered armor, which Stark uses to escape. During the escape attempt, Yinsen sacrifices his life to save Stark’s by distracting the enemy as Stark recharges. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers and rejoins the American forces, on his way meeting a wounded American Marine fighter pilot, James «Rhodey» Rhodes.

Back home, Stark discovers that the shrapnel fragment lodged in his chest cannot be removed without killing him, and he is forced to wear the armor’s chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his heart. He must recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover story that Stark tells the news media and general public is that Iron Man is his robotic personal bodyguard, and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company (e.g., Communist opponents Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Titanium Man), as well as independent villains like the Mandarin (who becomes his greatest enemy). No one suspects Stark of being Iron Man, as he cultivates a strong public image of being a rich playboy and industrialist. Two notable members of the series’s supporting cast, at this point, are his personal chauffeur Harold «Happy» Hogan, and secretary Virginia «Pepper» Potts—to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity. Meanwhile, James Rhodes finds his own niche as Stark’s personal pilot, ultimately revealing himself to be a man of extraordinary skill and daring in his own right.

The series took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as public (and therefore, presumably, reader) opposition rose to the Vietnam War.^[3] This change evolved in a series of storylines featuring Stark reconsidering his political opinions, and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the U.S. military. Stark shows himself to be occasionally arrogant, and willing to act unethically in order to ‘let the ends justify the means’.^[33][34] This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his vast personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor, but also to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.; other technologies (e.g., Quinjets used by the Avengers); and the image inducers used by the X-Men. Eventually, Stark’s heart condition is publicly discovered when he was summoned for a Congressional hearing and Stark collapsed when his chestpiece’s power failed, causing a heart attack. Stark was medically examined, which revealed his hidden equipment, and was hospitalized, forcing Pepper to have Happy don his employer’s armor to pose as Iron Man to protect his boss’s secret identity.^[35] Eventually, that specific medical issue was resolved with an artificial heart transplant, which still required the chestplate for some time to support the replacement organ.^[36]

1970s and early 1980s

Stark expands on his armor designs and begins to build his arsenal of specialized armors for particular situations such as for space travel^[37] and stealth.^[38][39] Stark also develops a serious dependency on alcohol in the «Demon in a Bottle» storyline.^[40] The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark discovers that the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been buying a controlling interest in his company in order to ensure Stark’s continued weapons development for them. At the same time, it is revealed that several minor supervillains armed with advanced weapons who had bedeviled Stark throughout his superhero career are in fact in the employ of Stark’s business rival, Justin Hammer, who begins to plague Stark more directly.^[41][42] At one point in Hammer’s manipulations, the Iron Man armor is taken over and used to murder a diplomat.^[42] Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities.^[43] Eventually Stark and Rhodes, who is now his personal pilot and confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although Hammer would return to bedevil Stark again.^[37][44] With the support of his then-girlfriend, Bethany Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on alcohol.^[45] Even as he recovers from this harrowing personal trial, Stark’s life is further complicated when he has a confrontation with Doctor Doom that is interrupted by an opportunistic enemy sending them back in time to the time of King Arthur.^[46] Once there, Iron Man thwarts Doom’s attempt to solicit the aid of Morgan Le Fay, and the Latverian ruler swears deadly vengeance—to be indulged sometime after the two return to their own time.^[47] This incident was collected and published as Doomquest.

Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane, manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result, Stark loses control of Stark International to Stane, becomes a homeless alcoholic vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man. Eventually, Stark recovers and joins a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrates on new technological designs, including building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as Iron Man but steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the armor not having been calibrated properly for his use. Eventually Rhodes goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don a replica of his original armor to stop him. Fully recovered, Stark confronts Stane who has himself designed armor based on designs seized along with Stark International, dubbing himself the ‘Iron Monger’. Defeated in battle, Stane, rather than give Stark the satisfaction of taking him to trial, commits suicide.^[48] Shortly thereafter, Stark regains his personal fortune, but decides against repurchasing Stark International until much later; he instead creates Stark Enterprises, headquartered in Los Angeles.

Late 1980s and 1990s

In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about disabling other armored heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were stolen by his enemy Spymaster. His quest to destroy the stolen technology—originally called «Stark Wars» but is more commonly known as the «Armor Wars»—severely hurts his reputation as Iron Man. After attacking and disabling a series of minor villains such as Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the government operative known as Stingray. The situation worsens when Stark realizes that Stingray’s armor does not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly «fires» Iron Man while covertly pursuing his agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable the armor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the Mandroids, as well as the armor of the Guardsmen. In the process, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes allow some of the villains in the Vault to escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw, and severely sours Stark’s relationship with Steve Rogers (Captain America, who was in his «Captain» persona at the time). Iron Man travels to Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet Titanium Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S., he faces an enemy commissioned by the government named Firepower. Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man’s demise,^[49] intending to retire the suit permanently. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates a new suit, claiming a new person is in the armor.

Soon after, Stark is nearly killed by Kathy Dare, a mentally unbalanced former lover. She shoots him dead center in his torso which injures his spine, paralyzing him.^[50] Stark undergoes special surgery to have a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility.^[51] Unbeknownst to the industrialist, the nerve chip is a clandestine means by which to gain control over his body. Rival businessmen the Marrs Twins and their cohort Kearson DeWitt are behind the machinations in what came to be known as «Armor Wars II.»^[52] After several successful tests by DeWitt at manipulating Stark, Tony finds that using his Encephalo Armor can counteract DeWitt’s controls.^[53] In response, DeWitt suddenly releases his control resulting in excruciating agony throughout Stark’s body.^[54] The constant «battle» for control of Stark’s nervous system and subsequent abdication on DeWitt’s end lead to massive nerve damage throughout Tony’s body. Stark’s nervous system continues its slide towards failure, and he constructs a «skin» made up of artificial nerve circuitry to assist it.^[55] Stark begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the telepresence suit proves inadequate.^[56] Stark designs a more heavily armed version of the suit to wear, the «Variable Threat Response Battle Suit», which becomes known as the War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in suspended animation to heal as Rhodes takes over both the running of Stark Enterprises and the mantle of Iron Man, although he uses the War Machine armor.^[57] Stark eventually makes a full recovery by using a chip to create an entirely new (artificial) nervous system, and resumes as Iron Man in a new Telepresence Armor.^[58] When Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and the two friends part ways. Rhodes continues on as War Machine in a solo career.

The Avengers story arc «The Crossing» reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the team’s ranks, due to years of manipulation by the time-traveling dictator Kang the Conqueror. Stark, as a sleeper agent in Kang’s thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver’s daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket, then Amanda Chaney, an ally of the Avengers. The «Avengers Forever» limited series retcons these events as the work of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months.^[59]

Needing help to defeat both Stark and Kang, the team travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Anthony Stark from an alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man suit in order to aid the Avengers against his older self. The sight of his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to regain momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop Kang.^[60] The young Stark later builds his own suit to become the new Iron Man and remains in the present day.

During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenage Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. Franklin Richards preserves these «dead» heroes in the «Heroes Reborn» pocket universe, in which Stark is once again an adult hero; Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the forms he is most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn adult Stark, upon returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with the original Stark, who had died during «The Crossing», but was resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Anthony Stark possesses the memories of both the original and teenage Anthony Stark, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he regains his fortune and, with Stark Enterprises having been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark’s death, sets up a new company, Stark Solutions. He returns from the pocket universe with a restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark demands a hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught incident. Cleared of wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.^[61]

2000s

At one point, Stark’s armor becomes sentient despite fail-safes to prevent its increasingly sophisticated computer systems from doing so.^[62] Initially, Stark welcomes this «living» armor for its improved tactical abilities. The armor begins to grow more aggressive, killing indiscriminately and eventually desiring to replace Stark altogether. In the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another heart attack. The armor sacrifices its own existence to save its creator’s life, giving up essential components to give Stark a new, artificial heart. This new heart solves Stark’s health problems, but it does not have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on periodic recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that he temporarily returns to using an unsophisticated early model version of his armor to avoid a repeat incident.^[63] He dabbles with using liquid metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that forms into a protective shell around his body, but eventually returns to more conventional hard metal armors.^[64]

During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa,^[65] a wealthy heiress and daughter of the man who had taken over his company during the «Heroes Reborn» period. Her relationship with Stark endures many highs and lows, including infidelity with Stark’s rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because the fun-loving Rumiko believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends with Rumiko’s death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in Iron Man vol. 3 #87.

In Iron Man vol. 3 #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that by doing so, he has invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government duplication, since those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would be used by an employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark himself. When he discovers that the United States military is again using his technology, and its defective nature nearly causes a disaster in Washington, D.C. which Iron Man barely manages to avert, Stark accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used.^[66]

In the «Avengers Disassembled» storyline, Stark is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against the Latverian ambassador at the United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced Scarlet Witch, who destroys Avengers Mansion and kills several members. Stark publicly stands down as Iron Man, but continues using the costume. He joins the Avengers in stopping the breakout in progress from the Raft and even saves Captain America from falling.^[67] Tony changes the Avengers base to Stark Tower.^[68] The Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster reappear and shift Iron Man from standard superhero stories to dealing with politics and industrialism.^[69]

New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, Stark had participated with a secret group that included the Black Panther, Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Namor. The goal of the group (dubbed the Illuminati by Marvel) was to strategize overarching menaces, in which the Black Panther rejects a membership offer. Stark’s goal is to create a governing body for all superheroes in the world, but the beliefs of its members instead force them all to share vital information.

«Civil War»

In the «Civil War» storyline, after the actions of inexperienced superheroes the New Warriors result in the destruction of several city blocks in Stamford, Connecticut, there is an outcry across America against superhumans. Learning of the Government’s proposed plans, Tony Stark suggests a new plan to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act. The Act would force every superpowered individual in the U.S. to register their identity with the government and act as licensed agents. The Act would force inexperienced superhumans to receive training in how to use and control their abilities, something in which Tony strongly believes. Since his struggle with alcoholism, Stark has carried a tremendous burden of guilt after nearly killing an innocent bystander while piloting the armor drunk. While Reed Richards and Dr. Henry «Hank» Pym both agree with Stark’s proposal, not everyone does. After Captain America is ordered to bring in anyone who refuses to register, he and other anti-registration superheroes go rogue, coming into conflict with the pro-registration heroes, led by Iron Man. The war ends when Captain America surrenders to prevent further collateral damage and civilian casualties, although he had defeated Stark by defusing his armor. Stark is appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,^[70] and organizes a new government-sanctioned group of Avengers. Shortly afterwards, Captain America is assassinated while in custody.^[71] This leaves Stark with a great amount of guilt and misgivings about the cost of his victory.^[72]

«Secret Invasion»

To tie into the 2008 Iron Man feature film, Marvel launched a new Iron Man ongoing series, The Invincible Iron Man, with writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca. The series inaugural six-part storyline was «The Five Nightmares», which saw Stark targeted by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Stark’s former nemesis, Obadiah Stane.^[73]

In the «Secret Invasion» storyline, after Tony Stark survives an attempt by Ultron to take over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra. Realizing this is the start of an invasion by the Skrulls, Tony reveals the corpse to the Illuminati and declares that they are at war. After Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by Namor, a squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other Illuminati members and destroy the area, killing all the Skrulls. Realizing that they are incapable of trusting each other, the members all separate to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.^[74]

Stark is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent the secret infiltration and invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a virtual monopoly on worldwide defense.^[75] After the invasion, the U.S. government removes him as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and disbands the Avengers, handing control of the Initiative over to Norman Osborn.

«Dark Reign»

With his Extremis powers failing, Stark uploads a virus to destroy all records of the Registration Act, thus preventing Osborn from learning the identities of his fellow heroes and anything that Osborn could use, including his repulsor generators. The only copy of the database is in Stark’s brain, which he tries to delete while on the run from Osborn.^[76] Stark goes so far as to inflict brain damage on himself in order to ensure that the relevant information is wiped. When Osborn catches up to the debilitated Stark and beats him savagely, Pepper Potts broadcasts the beatings worldwide, costing Osborn credibility and giving Stark public sympathy. Stark goes into a vegetative state, having previously granted Donald Blake (alter ego of the superhero Thor) power of attorney.^[77] A holographic message stored in Pepper’s armor reveals that Stark had developed a means of ‘rebooting’ his mind from his current state prior to his destruction of the database, with Blake and Bucky resolving to use it to restore him to normal. Meanwhile, Stark is trapped in his subconscious, where figments of his own mind prevent him from returning to the waking world. When the procedure fails to work, Bucky calls in Doctor Strange, who succeeds in restoring Stark back to consciousness. The backup Stark created was made prior to the Civil War, and as such he does not remember anything that took place during the event, although he still concludes after reviewing his past actions that he would not have done anything differently. His brain damage means he is now dependent on an arc reactor to sustain his body’s autonomous functions.^[78]

2010s

«Siege»

In the «Siege» storyline, Tony Stark is seen under the care of Dr. Donald Blake and Maria Hill when Asgard is attacked.^[79] Thor is ambushed by Osborn and the Sentry, but rescued by Hill. Osborn declares martial law and unleashes Daken and the Sentry on Broxton to root out Thor and Hill. Hill returns to Stark’s hiding place to move him to a safer location and are joined by Speed of the Young Avengers, who has a set of Iron Man’s MK III armor that Edwin Jarvis had given Captain America. While Osborn is battling the New Avengers, Stark appears and disables Osborn’s Iron Patriot armor. Osborn orders the Sentry to annihilate Asgard, rather than allow the Avengers to have it. After Asgard falls, Stark stands alongside his fellow heroes, as Osborn exclaims they are all doomed and he ‘was saving them from him’ pointing up towards a Void-possessed Sentry.^[80] As the Void tears apart the teams, Loki gives them the power to fight back through the Norn Stones. The Void kills Loki, enraging Thor. Tony tells Thor to get the Void away from Asgard, which allows Tony to drop a commandeered H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier on the Void. Thor is forced to killed Sentry when the Void resurfaces. Sometime later, the Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and Tony is given back his company and armor. As a symbol for their heroics and their new unity, Thor places an Asgardian tower on Stark Tower where the Watchtower once stood.^[81]

«Heroic Age»

In the 2010–2011 «Stark: Resilient» storyline, Tony builds the Bleeding Edge armor with the help of Mister Fantastic. This new armor fully uses the repulsor tech battery embedded in his chest to power Tony’s entire body and mind, thus allowing him access to Extremis once more. Furthermore, the battery operates as his «heart» and is the only thing keeping him alive.^[82] Tony announces he will form a new company, Stark Resilient. He states that he will no longer develop weapons, but will use his repulsor technology to give free energy to the world. Justine and Sasha Hammer create their own armored hero, Detroit Steel, to take Stark’s place as the Army’s leading weapons-builder. Stark’s plan consists of building two repulsor-powered cars. The Hammers try to foil his efforts. The first car is destroyed by sabotage, while Detroit Steel attacks Stark Resilient’s facilities while Tony tests the second car. Through a legal maneuver, Tony is able to get the Hammers to stop their attacks and releases a successful commercial about his new car.^[83][84]

«Fear Itself»

In the 2011 «Fear Itself» storyline, Earth is attacked by the Serpent, the God of Fear and the long-forgotten brother of Odin.^[85] In Paris, Iron Man fights Grey Gargoyle, who has become Mokk, Breaker of Faith, one of the Serpent’s Worthy. Mokk leaves Iron Man unconscious and transforms Detroit Steel and the citizens of Paris into stone.^[86][87] To defeat the Serpent’s army, Tony drinks a bottle of wine (thus ‘sacrificing’ his sobriety) to gain an audience with Odin, who allows Tony to enter the realm of Svartalfheim. Tony and the dwarves of Svartalfheim build enchanted weapons.^[88] Tony upgrades his armor with uru-infused enchantments and delivers the finished weapons to the Avengers, who use them for the final battle against the Serpent’s forces. Iron Man watches as Thor kills the Serpent, but dies in the process. After the battle is over, Tony melts down the weapons he created and repairs Captain America’s shield, which had been broken by Serpent, and gives it back to Captain America.^[89] During a subsequent argument with Odin about the gods’ lack of involvement in the recent crisis, Odin gives Tony a brief opportunity to see the vastness of the universe the way he sees it. As thanks for Tony’s role in the recent crisis, Odin restores all the people that the Grey Gargoyle killed during his rampage.^[90]

Return of the Mandarin and Marvel NOW!

In the storylines «Demon» and «The Long Way Down», Stark is subpoenaed by the U.S. government after evidence surfaces of him using the Iron Man armor while under the influence. Mandarin and Zeke Stane upgrade some of Iron Man’s old enemies and send them to commit acts of terrorism across the world, intending to discredit Iron Man. General Bruce Babbage forces Stark to wear a tech governor, a device that allows Babbage to deactivate Stark’s armor whenever he wants. To fight back, Tony undergoes a surgical procedure that expels the Bleeding Edge technology out of his body and replaces his repulsor node with a new model, forcing Babbage to remove the tech governor off his chest. He announces his retirement as Iron Man, faking Rhodes’s death and giving him a new armor so that he becomes the new Iron Man.^[91] This leads into the next storyline, «The Future», in which the Mandarin takes control of Stark’s mind and uses him to create new armored bodies for the alien spirits inhabiting his rings, but Stark allies himself with some of his old enemies, who have also been imprisoned by Mandarin, and manages to defeat him. The final issue of this storyline concluded Matt Fraction’s series.^[92]

In the ongoing series that premiered in 2012 as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Tony Stark has hit a technological ceiling. After the death of Dr. Maya Hansen and the destruction of all of the Extremis Version 2 kits that were being sold to the black market, Tony decides that the Earth is not safe without him learning more from what is in the final frontier. He takes his new suit, enhanced with an artificial intelligence named P.E.P.P.E.R. and joins Peter Quill and The Guardians of the Galaxy after helping them thwart a Badoon attack on Earth.^[93]

Superior Iron Man

Tony Stark’s personality is inverted during the events of AXIS, bringing out more dark aspects of himself like irresponsibility, egotism and alcoholism.^[94] Stark relocates to San Francisco and builds a new, all-white armor. He supplies the citizens of San Francisco with the Extremis 3.0 app, a version of the techno-virus that offers beauty, health or even immortality, free.^[95] When every person in the city viewed Iron Man as a messiah for making their dreams come true, he ended the free trial mode and started charging a daily fee of $99.99, causing many to resort to crime to pay for the upgrade.^[96] Daredevil confronts Stark at his new Alcatraz Island penthouse, but is easily brushed off.^[97] Iron Man uses Extremis 3.0 to temporarily restore Daredevil’s sight, just to prove his point.^[98] Daredevil deduces that Stark had added Extremis to the water supply and the phones only transmit an activation signal, but Stark subjects Murdock to minor brain damage to prevent him from sharing this revelation with others.^[99]

After discovering that new villain Teen Abomination is the son of Happy Hogan, Stark decides to help him,^[100] but this minor act of redemption is too late for Pepper Potts, who attacks Stark with the aid of an AI based on Stark’s mind.^[101] This culminates in a confrontation between the two Starks, as Stark calls on the unwitting aid of all ‘infected’ with the Extremis upgrade while the AI uses Stark’s various old armors to attack him.^[102] Although Stark technically wins the battle as he destroys his other armors and deletes the AI backup, Pepper states that she plans to reveal the truth about his goals with Extremis, bluntly informing him that if he continues his Extremis upgrade project, he will have to do it alone, accepting his fate of being regarded as a monster by all who know him.^[103]

Time Runs Out

During the «Time Runs Out» storyline, an attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had created to destroy incursive Earths results in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis.^[104] After the Cabal are apparently killed, the Illuminati free Tony, who is forced to flee due to the Illuminati’s unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they meet Rogers and the Avengers. When the Shi’ar and their allies arrive to destroy Earth, the Avengers and the Illuminati unsuccessfully try to retaliate. Iron Man uses Sol’s Hammer to destroy the fleet.^[105] The incursions continue, and Rogers confronts Stark about what he knows. A fight ensues between them and Stark admits that he had lied and had known about the incursions all along. During the final incursion, Earth-1610’s S.H.I.E.L.D. launches a full-scale attack on Earth-616, during which Stark and Rogers are crushed by a Helicarrier.^[106]

All-New, All-Different Marvel

After the events of the Secret Wars crossover, Stark returns to his normal self with no signs of his inverted personality. Eight months following the return of the universe as seen in the «All-New, All-Different Marvel» event, Tony works in his laboratory non-stop after his position as an innovator had been put in doubt. Because an M.I.T. student reverse-engineered some of his technology, Stark develops a new armor which can change shape according to the situation he would find himself. When Stark’s new AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. informs him that Madame Masque has broken into the ruins of Castle Doom, he travels to Latveria to investigate and runs into some revolutionaries who are then defeated by a man in a suit. To his amazement, Iron Man’s armor computer identifies him as Doctor Doom with his face restored. Doctor Doom claims that he wanted to help Iron Man.^[107]

After learning from Doctor Doom that Madame Masque has taken a decoy of the Wand of Watoomb, Tony Stark confronts Madame Masque. Upon learning that Madame Masque is not allied with Doctor Doom, Tony is attacked by her with a burst of energy that damages his armor.^[108] F.R.I.D.A.Y. manages to gain control of the suit and takes Tony to a safe location. Iron Man tracks Madame Masque to Marina del Rey. After finding a tape recorder with her messages, Tony is attacked by several black silhouettes with swords.^[109]

Iron Man escapes the ninjas that are attacking him and manages to defeat most of them, but they kill themselves before he can interrogate any of them. Iron Man and Doctor Doom arrive at Mary Jane Watson’s newest Chicago night club Jackpot when Madame Masque attacks it.^[110] As Mary Jane distracts Madame Masque by knocking off her mask, Iron Man and Doctor Doom discover that Madame Masque is possessed by a demon. Doctor Doom is able to perform an exorcism on her.^[111]

Doctor Strange arrives and tells Iron Man he will take Madame Masque with him to fix her metaphysically and then hand her over at S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man also informs him of Doctor Doom’s help who had left the scene some time ago. Three days later, Iron Man offers Mary Jane a job to make up for the damage to her nightclub.^[112] After speaking with War Machine, Tony Stark meets up at a diner with Amara Perera when they are unexpectedly joined by Doctor Doom who wanted to make sure that the demonic possession that affected Madame Masque has not affected Stark or Amara.^[113] Stark shows Mary Jane the demonstration on the people that he will be working with. They are interrupted by F.R.I.D.A.Y. who tells Tony that War Machine is missing.^[114] Before heading to Tokyo, Tony receives from Mary Jane the emergency number for Peter Parker. In Tokyo, Iron Man is contacted by Spider-Man at War Machine’s last known location as he is being observed by ninjas.^[115]

During the Civil War II storyline, Iron Man protests the logic of using precognitive powers to stop future crimes after the recently emerged Inhuman Ulysses predicted Thanos’s attack on Project Pegasus. Three weeks later, Iron Man is summoned to the Triskelion after War Machine is killed in battle against Thanos. When Iron Man learns that War Machine and the Ultimates used Ulysses’s power to ambush Thanos, he vows to stop anyone from using that power again.^[116] Iron Man infiltrates New Attilan and makes off with Ulysses. At Stark Tower, Iron Man vows to find out how Ulysses’s precognition works. The Inhumans attack Stark Tower but are stopped by the Avengers, the Ultimates, and S.H.I.E.L.D. During the confrontation, Ulysses has another vision which he projects to Iron Man and everyone present, showing a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the defeated superheroes.^[117] The heroes confront Banner, who is killed by Hawkeye. Barton claims that Banner was about to transform and Banner had previously asked Hawkeye to kill him if he should turn back into the Hulk. Tony is disgusted at this use of Ulysses’s power. When his analysis of Ulysses brain is completed,^[118] Tony reveals that Ulysses does not actually see the future, but simply assembles large quantities of data to project likely outcomes. While Danvers continues to use the visions as a resource, Tony objects to the concept of profiling people. This results in a stand-off when Tony’s side abducts a woman from custody after Ulysses’s visions identified her as a deep-cover HYDRA agent, despite the lack of supporting evidence.^[119]

Iron Man learns that his biological mother was actually Amanda Armstrong, who had given him up for adoption and that his biological father was a Hydra double agent named Jude. S.H.I.E.L.D. had Armstrong’s baby adopted by Howard and Maria Stark.^[120]

Marvel NOW! 2016

In July 2016, it was announced that Tony Stark would hand off the mantle of Iron Man to a 15-year-old girl named Riri Williams. Riri is an MIT student who built her own Iron Man suit out of scrap pieces and, as such, attracted Stark’s attention. Early depictions of Williams’ suit depict it without the Arc Reactor, but leaves the power source for the suit unclear.^[121] Another Iron Man-based series titled Infamous Iron Man debuted featuring Doctor Doom sporting his version of the Iron Man armor.^[122] This is revealed to be the result of serious injuries sustained by Stark during his final confrontation with Captain Marvel. Danvers’ beating leaves Stark in a coma, but he is left alive due to unspecified experiments Stark has carried out on himself over the years.^[123]

Existing as an AI

Following the revelation that Stark experimented on himself at the end of Civil War II, Beast concludes that the only option is to let the experiments do their job in healing Tony and recover on his own.^[124] In Invincible Iron Man #1, an employee of Stark sends Riri Williams an artificial intelligence housing a copy of Tony Stark’s consciousness to help her control and mentor in her own version of the Iron Man armor. This AI is directly copied from Tony’s brain, granting sentience, with Williams commenting on Stark existing as a «techno-ghost». As an AI, Stark can walk around as a hard-light object and gains the ability to remote control his vast armory of Iron Man suits.^[125] In The Mighty Captain Marvel #3, the Tony Stark AI goes to Antarctica and visits Captain Marvel with the intent on settling their differences from the Second Civil War, she apologizes to him for her regrets, reconciles with him eventually and they become allies once more. Then in Secret Empire, the Tony Stark AI suits up as Iron Man once again and learns of Captain America’s betrayal to Hydra and how he ended up like this. As Hydra tightens its grip across America, the Tony Stark AI leads a team known as the Underground to find the Cosmic Cubes to restore Rogers to his normal self. When things start to escalate, Tony and his crew go rogue and in search for answers for the Cube. As Iron Man and the Underground search for them they are intercepted by Captain America and his Hydra team. With both teams encountering each other, they are captured by the Ultron/Hank Pym hybrid, who forces both teams to sit at a dinner table. During «dinner», Ultron reveals information about the Hydra Avengers – such as Odinson working with Hydra to reclaim Mjolnir, Scarlet Witch being possessed by Chthon, and Vision being affected by an AI virus. Ultron argues that he is doing this because the Avengers have become less of a family over the years as so many of them jump to obey Captain America or Iron Man, despite past experience confirming that this is not always a good idea, but Tony counters that the only reason the team failed as a family was because of Hank’s abuse towards Wasp. Enraged, Ultron is about to kill everyone, but Ant-Man is able to calm him down by arguing that Hank remains his own inspiration. Ultron allows the Underground to leave with the fragment, arguing that neither side should have an advantage over the other. Back in America, Hydra Supreme has put Namor in a position where he will be forced to sign a peace treaty that gives Rogers access to the Cosmic Cube fragment in Atlantis, but Hydra Supreme muses that he is unconcerned about who will acquire the fragments, as he has an inside man in the Underground. After the Mount was attacked by Thor and the resurrected Hulk led by Hydra, the Underground evacuated the civilians thanks to Hawkeye and the rest of the heroes. Captain America and Iron Man fight as the Mount collapses around them. The Tony Stark AI initiates the Mount’s «Clean Slate Protocol», and blows up the Mount, killing Madame Hydra, then apologizes to Steve Rogers about their past differences, but the A.I survives and, in the aftermath, helps the heroes pull the pieces back together to take down Hydra. When Iron Man confronts Hydra Supreme, he and the other heroes are easily overpowered by him and watch the original Captain America defeat his Hydra self and into celebrating their victory.^[126]

Marvel Legacy

Mary Jane Watson and other Stark employees find that Stark’s body has completely vanished from its pod, despite tests taken mere hours ago showing no sign of improvement or brain activity.^{[volume & issue needed][127]} It was discovered that Tony Stark’s comatose body was taken to the Stark Industries Complex in Dover.^[128] Upon awakening when his biological systems rebooted, Tony Stark went into hiding until he fully recovered.^[129] Wanting to make sure that James Rhodes was in a similar state that he was in, Tony Stark exhumed his body from Arlington Cemetery and kick-started the biological systems in him. Afterwards, Iron Man and War Machine fought Hood to keep Stark Industries from falling into Hood’s hands where he switched to a version of his Extremis armor. Then he proceeded to defeat Jude when he turned up alive.^[130]

During «The Ultron Agenda» arc, Iron Man went up against the Ultron/Hank Pym who begun a plan to merge humans with robots while taking up the name «Ultron Pym.» Iron Man was briefly fused with his armor. After using Stark Unlimited’s atomic separator on himself, Iron Man figured out that Hank Pym was dead the moment he accidentally fused with Ultron. Not wanting to prove Tony right, Ultron Pym surrendered to Iron Man and the Avengers. As it turned out that Iron Man actually died during the Civil War II storyline, Arno Stark used this to his advantage to acquire Stark Unlimited through a merger with Baintronics. With the combined resources, he built the Iron Man Armor Model 66 as his attempt to recreate the Godbuster Armor. Now having a new destiny, Arno Stark became the latest person to take on the Iron Man mantle.^[131]

Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated AI at the start of the «Iron Man 2020» storyline, Tony Stark became Mark One and started to establish the A.I. Army which also consists of Albert, Awesome Android, Egghead II, H.E.R.B.I.E., M-11, Machine Man, Machinesmith, Quasimodo, Super-Adaptoid, Walking Stiletto, the Dreadnoughts, a Sentinel, several Constructo-Bots, several Nick Fury LMDs, and an unnamed bomb disposal robot. This group of robots and androids want to obtain equal rights with organic beings through whatever way possible. Mark One provided them with a hideout on Floor Thirteen, a solid light construct that can only be accessed by robots and androids. With the establishment of Floor Thirteen, Mark One keeps the A.I. Army safe from their enemies and oppressors. Tony Stark was restored to normal thanks to his allies. Then he placed Arno into a virtual reality when he found that Arno’s illness was returning as the virtual reality showed Arno leading the charge in defeating the Extinction Entity.^[132]

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Armor

Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and worn by Stark (with occasional short-term exceptions). It’s also constantly improved upon and Stark develops many specialized versions of the armor. Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include Stark’s long-time partner and best friend James Rhodes;^[133] close associates Harold «Happy» Hogan; Eddie March;^[134][135] (briefly) Michael O’Brien and Riri Williams.

The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but Iron Man’s standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts (that pick up kinetic energy along the way; so the farther they travel, the harder they hit); an electromagnetic pulse generator; and a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360 degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and manipulating magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and projecting 3-dimensional holograms (to create decoys).

In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel,^[37] deep-sea diving, stealth,^[38][39] and other special purposes. Stark has modified suits, like the Hulkbuster heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability enough to engage the Hulk in a fight. A later model, created with the help of Odin and the Asgardian metal Uru, is similar to the Destroyer. Stark develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technologies, will burn out those components, rendering the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models. While it is typically associated with James Rhodes, the War Machine armor began as one of Stark’s specialty armors.

The most recent models of Stark’s armor, beginning with the Extremis armor, are now stored in the hollow portions of Stark’s bones, and the personal area networking implement used to control it is implanted into his forearm, and connected directly to his central nervous system.

The Extremis has since been removed,^{[volume & issue needed]} and he now uses more conventional armors. Some armors still take a liquid form, but are not stored within his body. His Endo-Sym Armor incorporates a combination of the liquid smart-metal with the alien Venom symbiote, psionically controlled by Stark.

Post-Secret Wars, Stark uses a more streamlined suit of armor that uses nanotechnology to shape shift into other armors or weapons.^[136]

Powers

After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the Extremis process).^[137] By rewriting his own biology, Stark is able to save his life, gain an enhanced healing factor, and partially merge with the Iron Man armor, superseding the need for bulky, AI-controlled armors in favor of lighter designs, technopathically controlled by his own brain. His enhanced technopathy extends to every piece of technology, limitless and effortlessly due to his ability to interface with communication satellites and wireless connections to increase his «range». Some components of the armor-sheath are now stored in Tony’s body, able to be recalled, and extruded from his own skin, at will.

During the «Secret Invasion» storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shut down by a virus, forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations. Furthermore, Osborn’s takeover of most of the few remaining Starktech factories, with Ezekiel Stane systematically crippling the others, limits Tony to the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.^[138]

After being forced to «wipe out» his brain to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining his information, Tony Stark is forced to have a new arc reactor, of Rand design installed in his chest. The process greatly improves his strength, stamina and intellect. The procedure left him with virtually no autonomic functions: as his brain was stripped of every biological function, Tony is forced to rely on a digital backup of his memories (leaving him with severe gaps and lapses in his long-term memory) and on software routine in the arc reactor for basic stimuli reaction, such as blinking and breathing.^[139][140] The Bleeding Edge package of armor and physical enhancement is now equal in power, if not a more advanced, version of the old Extremis tech.^[82]

Skills

Considered to be one of the most powerful non powered humans on the planet, Tony Stark is a highly intelligent inventor and scientist as well as being a successfully wealthy businessman in charge of his own company.

An inventive genius whose expertise in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science rivals that of Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner, and his expertise in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering surpasses even theirs. He is regarded as one of the most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe. He graduated with advanced degrees in physics and engineering at the age of 17 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)^[141] and further developed his knowledge ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum mechanics as time progressed. His expertise extends to his ingenuity in dealing with difficult situations, such as difficult foes and deathtraps, in which he is capable of using available tools, including his suit, in unorthodox but effective ways. For instance, in Stark’s final confrontation with Obadiah Stane, the villain managed to have Stark’s companions in an unconscious state in a room with motion sensors; when Stark entered the room, Stane warned him that the slightest move would trigger a fatal electrical current to his hostages, thus forcing Stark to stay still and slowly die of dehydration lest he wants his friends to die. However, while Stane was confident that such a trap was inescapable, Stark is able to outwit and defeat its mechanism in seconds, thus freeing the hostages and allowing him to continue the battle against Stane.^[142]

As the CEO of Stark Industries, Stark is well respected in the business world, able to command people’s attention when he speaks on economic matters, having over the years built up several multimillion-dollar companies from virtually nothing. He is noted for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as for his business ethics. Thus he immediately fired an employee who made profitable, but illegal, sales to Doctor Doom.^[46] He strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.

Considered to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet, the success of Stark Industries provides Tony with a seemingly bottomless revenue stream that allows him to not only enjoy a life of luxury further build up his company but also allows him to fund his superhero activities. Even before becoming Superhero, Tony often purchased the most expensive clothes, cars, houses and other luxury items money can buy. After becoming a hero, Tony began using his vast wealth to continue superhero activities by building his Iron Man suit and later creating an arsenal of other suits that serve multiple purposes. Stark also provides funding to several peacekeeping organizations and superhero teams among them being S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

At a time when Stark was unable to use his armor for a period, he received some combat training from Captain America and has become physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it.^[143] In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them amid corporate takeovers.^[144]

Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space gem to safeguard.^[145] It allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space.

Supporting characters

Cultural impact and legacy

Accolades

• In 2011, IGN ranked Iron Man 12th in their «Top 100 Comic Book Heroes» list.^[146]
• In 2012, IGN ranked Iron Man 3rd in their list of «Top 50 Avengers» list.^[147]
• In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Iron Man 10th in their «Let’s rank every Avenger ever» list.^[148]
• In 2015, Gizmodo ranked Iron Man 5th in their «Every Member Of The Avengers, Ranked» list.^[149]
• In 2015, BuzzFeed ranked Iron Man 2nd in their «84 Avengers Members Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[150]
• In 2016, Screen Rant ranked Iron Man 12th in their «20 Most Powerful Members Of The Avengers» list.^[151]
• In 2017, CBR.com ranked Iron Man 17th in their «15 Avengers Leaders, Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[152]
• In 2018, GameSpot ranked Iron Man 9th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes» list.^[153]
• In 2019, Comicbook.com ranked Iron Man 9th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes Ever» list.^[154]
• In 2019, Empire ranked Iron Man 17th in their «50 greatest comic-book characters» list.^[155]
• In 2022, Collider ranked Iron Man 5th in their «10 Smartest Marvel Universe Geniuses» list.^[156]
• In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Iron Man 4th in their «100 best Marvel characters» list.^[157]
• In 2022, The Mary Sue ranked Iron Man 10th in their «The Best and the Brightest of All the Superheroes» list.^[158]
• In 2022, Nerdist ranked Iron Man 9th in their «Top 10 Marvel Comics Rogues Galleries» list.^[159]
• In 2022, Newsarama ranked Iron Man 3rd in their «Best Avengers members of all time» list.^[160]
• In 2022, Entertainment Weekly ranked Iron Man 6th in their «50 most powerful superheroes» list.^[161]

Impact

• The rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, titled his 1996 debut solo album Ironman, and has since continued to use lyrics related to the Iron Man comics and samples from the animated TV shows on his records.^[163][164] He has adopted the nickname Tony Starks as one of his numerous alter-egos,^[164] and was featured in a scene deleted from the Iron Man film.
• Paul McCartney’s song «Magneto and Titanium Man» was inspired by the X-Men’s nemesis and the original version of the Iron Man villain. Another Iron Man villain, the Crimson Dynamo, is mentioned in the lyrics to this song.^[165][166]
• The British band Razorlight mentions Tony Stark in a verse of their song, «Hang By, Hang By».^[167]
• The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark.^[168]
• Two Iron Man-themed trucks compete in the Monster Jam monster truck racing series. Debuted in Atlanta on 9 January 2010, they are driven by Lee O’ Donnell and Morgan Kane.^[169]
• In 2015, University of Central Florida engineering student Albert Manero, who builds and donates affordable 3D-printed bionic limbs to those in need, constructed a bionic arm based on Iron Man’s suit for 7-year-old Alex Pring, a superhero fan who was born with a partially formed right arm. He then delivered the Iron Man arm to Pring with the help of Robert Downey Jr. in character as Tony Stark.^[170]
• For Major League Baseball Players Weekend in August 2018, New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres designed his custom cleats after Iron Man’s suit.^[171]
• A TV show demonstrated a hovering bullet-mitigating suit with some of the official Marvel design features in 2019.^[172][173]
• Ice hockey players Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Yanni Gourde of the Seattle Kraken participated in a ceremonial puck drop featuring Iron Man and a boy from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, as part of ‘Marvel Super Hero Night’.^[174]
• In 2019, a statue representing the character in his Iron Man armor was erected in Forte dei Marmi, Italy.^[175][176]

Other versions

1602

1602: New World features a 17th-century Spanish Iron Man named Lord Iron. Taken captive in the Holy Land during the English / Spanish war, he is forced to make weapons for them after being tortured by David Banner, the later Hulk of that world. He needs his massive armor to survive. The armor is powered by «lightning bottles» and provides him with super-strength and invulnerability as well as several electricity-powered^{[volume & issue needed]}

With his Moorish associate, Rhodes, Lord Iron is assigned by King James to put an end to the traitors and witchbreed in the New World. Instead, he realizes he has let bitterness consume him, and makes his peace with Banner. He is last seen using his armor to power the colony’s printing press.^{[volume & issue needed]}

2020

Iron Man 2020 features Arno Stark as a mercenary in the employ of Sunset Bain.^[177] In 2012, Arno had traveled to the past in an effort to save his family from a madman’s bomb. All he needs are the retinal patterns of the bomb maker, but he runs into the original Blizzard who mistakes him for the «real» Iron Man/Tony Stark. Not having time to deal with this threat, Arno kills Blizzard. While attempting to scan the retinal patterns of the young terrorist, Spider-Man snatches the scanner with his webbing and asks IM 2020 what he is doing. The two battle one another (Arno is «against the clock») when suddenly Arno is pulled back to his time to discover the bomb had a design flaw and exploded prematurely. His wife, son, employees, and factory have all been destroyed.^[178]

2093

Tony Stark and Doctor Doom are brought to the year 2093 by Merlin to stop a plot by a primarily robotic Doom and the Iron Man of 2093, Andros Stark. Andros is a psychotic madman and uses his grandfather Arno’s armor. Tony defeats Andros while wielding the legendary sword Excalibur.^[179]

Andros Stark/Iron Man 2099 voiced by Alessandro Juliani would later be adopted into the second season of Iron Man: Armored Adventures with him being from the year 2099 and traveling back when Tony was a teenager before inventing an AI named «Vortex». Vortex dooms the entire human race with Andros donning a futuristic suit (classed «Hyperspace Mark XL») and the Extremis to kill Tony/Iron Man but goes to S.H.I.E.L.D. for assistance. Andros destroys Iron Man with his ultra-beam, afterward, Hawkeye managed to implant the virus on Andros’s armor, and realized that all this is because Tony was trying to save himself by using the virus to stop Andros using his nano-virus which is actually the original seed for the Vortex virus. He travels back in time for a short moment to warn Iron Man that his nano-virus chips were actually the Vortex virus. He quickly destroys the last nano-virus arrow, saving Andros. As a result of this change in the timeline, the future was saved and because of this, Andros is erased from existence after saying his last words to his grandfather.^{[volume & issue needed]}

3030

The Iron Man of 3030 is Tony Stark’s biracial granddaughter, Rhodey Stark (named after Stark’s close friend James Rhodes). She travels to the present in order to help the Avengers save Earth from a rogue planet that had been fired from the future, and departs after warning her grandfather that his life is in danger.^[180]

Adam Warlock

In Adam Warlock #2 (1972), Peter Parker’s counterpart on Counter-Earth mentions that «the heart of Tony Stark beats unscathed».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Tony Stark is an agent of the Human High Council.^[181] The injury that compromised his heart is caused by the attack of a mutant.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Age of X

Officially code named Iron Man, he prefers the name Steel Corpse. Iron Man was infected by a disease, thought to be of mutant origin, that bonded him permanently to his armor. Not only can he never remove the armor, the disease is causing the armor to slowly consume his flesh, meaning that one day Tony Stark will cease to exist and only the armor will be left. He works with this reality’s version of the Avengers to exterminate all mutants, but eventually rebels against his purpose when a ‘Trojan horse’ in the armor nearly drives him to kill innocent mutant children, forcing his teammates to kill him.^[182]

Avataars

In the sword and sorcery world of the Avataars: Covenant of the Shield miniseries, Iron Man’s counterpart is Ironheart, one of the Champions of the Realm. A powerful warrior, he wears a huge suit of grey armor.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Bullet Points

In Bullet Points, Iron Man is Steve Rogers, who, due to the assassination of Dr. Abraham Erskine occurring earlier than in the mainstream Marvel universe, never receives the Super-Soldier formula. Instead, he agrees to be bonded to the prototype ‘Iron Man’ armor despite the intense physical pain and discomfort this will cause. Rogers is later killed fighting an alternative version of the Hulk. Tony Stark, in this reality a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., expresses a desire to continue in Rogers’ footsteps as Iron Man, but is rejected owing to a heart condition. He later disobeys this command and adopts the mantle upon the arrival of Galactus.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Contest of Champions

The 2015 Contest of Champions series has a version of Tony Stark that won Civil War with nearly everything working out in his favor. Five years later, Tony has donned the Iron Patriot armor and is the President of the United States. He and his Mighty Avengers team are kidnapped by Maestro and placed onto Battleworld, where Maestro alters their memories to believe the remaining heroes are unregistered and need to be taken in. Their fight is interrupted by that universe’s Thunderbolts (led by Steve Rogers).^[183] In the next issue, the Mighty Avengers battle the Thunderbolts and Renegade Champions, during which Tony kills Steve and reveals that the reason the Civil War went completely in his favor was because he used the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet. When he tries to use it again on Battleworld, it does not work because he is in a different dimension, and he is killed by Maestro.^[184]

Earth X

In the alternative reality of Earth X, Tony Stark builds a headquarters that protects himself from a plague that grants all humans superpowers. Afterwards, he builds the Iron Avengers. His headquarters is revealed to be a giant armor, based on the old Godzilla fighting mecha, the Red Ronin, which he uses to delay the Celestial attack until the coming of Galactus, sacrificing his life in the process. In Paradise X, he becomes part of the angelic Avenging Host of Marvel’s «Paradise», with an Iron Man motif.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Earth-691

In the continuity of Earth-691, Tony Stark is devastated by the horrors of the Martian invasion and jettisons his technology into space. It is found by a primitive alien race who use it to become an interstellar menace calling themselves the Stark, who subsequently clash with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the 31st century.^[185] «Standard» continuity Iron Man (Earth-616) encountered his «creations» when a cadre of rational, scientific members of the Stark called the Programmers bring Tony Stark to the future to help them solve various planet-wide problems.^[186]

Earth-818

On Earth-818 which was conquered by Multiversal Masters of Evil member Black Skull, Tony Stark was forced by Black Skull to build the War Machines to build his army. He would later escape from Black Skull’s clutches and become Ant-Man where he formed a resistance that involved Vision, Moon Knight (Mariama Spector), Wonder Man, and Infinity Thing. Ant-Man later led the resistance in rescuing Robbie Reyes from Black Skull while being assisted by a robotic ant named Shellhead. With help from the granddaughters of King Thor, Robbie, his Deathlok companion, and the resistance defeated Black Skull and his counterparts as Vision and Moon Knight get sucked into a portal. Afterwards, Ant-Man showed the granddaughters of King Thor the Mjolnir he found. After the granddaughters of King Thor bring rain to Earth-818, Ant-Man joins Robbie and his Deathlok companion on their quest while Wonder Man and Infinity Thing work to rebuild Earth-818.^[187]

Arriving in an unnamed reality, Ant-Man of Earth-818, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion follow the signal of that reality’s T’Challa to an active star. After Ghost Rider drives his car through the active star to retrieve a vibranium cocoon, T’Challa emerges from it and takes the name Star Panther.^[188] Looking for other allies, Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion enlist Captain Ape-Merica from Earth-8101, the Captain America from Earth-71912, Cap-Wolf from Earth-666, Yeoman America from Earth-398, and a U.S. Agent variant of Steve Rogers to train the powerless Steve Rogers variants and a Weapon America version of Steve Rogers in a prison-like training ground. They next plan to recruit a Steve Rogers from Earth-4479 who was a drifter that got caught in a gamma bomb explosion.^[189] Ant-Man accompanies Ghost Rider on a trip to Earth-56377 where they pick up its Thor who wields the Iron Fist move and the Mjolnir that has followed him ever since Thor had been unworthy to lift it.^[190]

Traveling with Ghost Rider and his Deathlok companion, Ant-Man recalls with them on how they found Star Panther, the Thor who became the «God of Fists», the all Steve Rogers army that was dubbed the Howling Commandos, and the Carol Corps. Ant-Man is surprised that the last pillar that they have to complete is Iron Man and that they need an Iron Man in their group. They go to unnamed alternate realities where they find an alcoholic Iron Man who crashed trying to avoid them, a Tony Stark that mostly did his work in a junkyard who is already dead because people thought he was a witch, a Tony Stark in Godkiller armor who is not interested in protecting the Earth as it consumes a planet, 30 Tony Starks who use their armors as robot bartenders, two dozen Tony Starks who flew into the sun either on purpose or by accident, 50 Tony Starks who are in catatonic states, and others who went mad. After a visit to a Tony Stark who is a perfectionist trying to build the perfect armor even though his captors have been dead for 10 years, the next visit was to an elderly Tony Stark who ran a repair shop until he was too old and died in Ant-Man’s company. Ant-Man then threw some alcohol into the Hell Charger’s trunk and returned to the perfectionist Tony Stark’s reality and introduces him to the Godkiller Tony Stark and the other Tony Stark variants they successfully recruited as they all say hi to the perfectionist Tony Stark.^[191]

Following a mission where Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and Deathlok have helped Captain Fury against the Goblin Corps, the three of them are informed that their time is up and to head to Avenger Tower at Infinity’s End. Ant-Man of Earth-818 is looking forward to meeting Avenger Prime. After Ghost Rider gets word that another Spirit of Vengeance has fallen, he subdues Ant-Man and Deathlok in chains and takes off. By the time they catch up with Ghost Rider on an unidentified world, he was already engaging Doom Supreme as Ant-Man shrinks him. When Dark Phoenix goes on the attack, Deathlok tells Ant-Man to get Ghost Rider away as he buys them some time.^[192]

Ant-Man and Robbie Reyes arrive at Avengers Tower in the Quarry of Creation where they find it under attack by the members of the Council of Red. As the Hell Charger drives into some of them, Ant-Man learns from Robbie that he can’t transform into Ghost Rider.^[193]

When the Council of Red continues the attack on Avengers Tower, Ant-Man notes that he hasn’t seen the inside of this Avengers Tower before as he is reunited with Moon Knight and Vision. After telling them about Robbie’s fight with Doom Supreme and the Multiversal Masters of Evil, Ant-Man makes use of the ants in Avengers Tower’s ant farm and shrinks himself, Vision, and Moon Knight down to small size. While underground, they find that some of the Council of Red members are digging a tunnel of their own toward the First Firmament. As they fight the Council of Red members present, one member tries to get Ant-Man intoxicated only to be defeated by Moon Knight. Just then, Ant-Man, Vision, and Moon Knight are saved upon the arrival of Old Man Phoenix and the granddaughters of King Thor.^[194]

Earth-2122

In the continuity of Earth-2122, the home of Crusader X, where the British won the American Revolution and still control North America, Anthony Stark is a member of a group called the Sons of Liberty. In this reality, Stark is willing to kill innocent people.^[195]

Earth-3490

In the continuity of Earth-3490, Tony Stark was born a woman (Natasha Stark) rather than a man; Stark’s superhero alter-ego in this universe is Iron Woman. The Civil War between superheroes in Earth-3490 was averted due to the fact that Stark and Steve Rogers (Captain America) are romantically involved, and have since married.^[196]

Exiles

Different versions of Iron Man appear in the pages of Exiles:

• In one reality, a villainous alternative Iron Man of Earth-2020 is a member of Weapon X, the more ruthless team of reality fixers.^[197] After ending up at the ‘Crystal Palace’ (the Exiles’ headquarters) and fighting them there, he is eventually exposed and sent back to his own timeline where he is arrested by the Army for starting a world war.^[198]
• In one alternative reality Tony Stark has become the absolute ruler of the entire planet Earth, and kills many of that Earth’s heroes and mutants. Weapon X arrives on this reality to help him conquer Attilan, though their true purpose is to cause his downfall. Tony is eventually killed by Susan Storm.^[199]
• In one alternative reality, he is partners with both Mister Fantastic and Doctor Octopus before he created the Iron Man suit.^[200]
• On an alternative world devastated by the Hulk’s Annihilation Wave, Iron Man was one of those killed in the attack. When the Exiles arrange for the dead heroes to be replaced by alternatives, Iron Man’s replacement is a version of Spitfire, on the grounds that they have never got along with any alternative Tony Starks.^[201]
• The Sons of Iron are a group of armor-wearing warriors from an Earth shared by humans and reptilian humanoids. Because they are completely concealed by the Iron Man armor, no-one can tell which they are.^[202]

Fantastic Four: The End

In the miniseries Fantastic Four: The End, which is set in a future where Reed Richards’ technology has launched humanity into a golden age, Tony Stark has died long ago — but his consciousness survives, ‘hopping’ from artificial body to artificial body. Most of the bodies shown in the miniseries resemble Iron Man armors, often being identical to existing armors. One notable exception was the bulky, stocky space-armor which played an important role in the battle of humanity’s heroes versus several alien armadas.^{[volume & issue needed]}

House of M

Born to Howard and Maria Stark, the heads of the powerful business conglomerate Stark Industries, Tony Stark grew to be an imaginative and brilliant inventor. He worked with his father from an early age, and surpassed his father’s technical brilliance by the age of 16. Stark became the key supplier of hi-tech weaponry used to fight mutants, and was on the verge of a technological breakthrough when the Mutant-Human war came to an end. The suits are powered down to become part of a game called Robo Death Match, a television sport with giant robots fighting each other. Stark Industries scored its biggest victory when it secured the Sentinel production contracts, pushing major competitor, Jason Wyngarde, out of business. Erik Magnus and Sebastian Shaw awarded Tony the contract under the condition that he would hire Beast and Forge as observers. McCoy became a key contributor along with Doctor Pym on The Vision project. Tony secretly worked on a special project beneath Stark Industries: a brand new suit of hi-tech armor he planned to use as his new Robo Death Match suit.^[203]

Infinity Warps

During the Infinity Wars storyline, where the universe was combined in half, Iron Man was fused with Thor creating Iron Hammer. Sigurd Stark was the fifth richest person on the world thanks to his genius about technology, however due to his lack of memories before five years, taunted him driving to drink. After going through the Norvegian, he was attacked by some Dark Elves, led by Krimson Kurse (fusion Crimson Dynamo and Kurse). He got poisoned by an arrow, slowing killing him and taken by the Elves to aid their other prisoner Eitri (fusion of Eitri and Ho Yinsen) in order to build powerful weapons for the Elves. Then, Sigurd became friend with Eitri and together build an armor, that prevented the poison from killing Sigurd, along with a hammer in order to escape the Dark Elves. However, during their escape Eitri is killed and after Sigurd defeated the Elves and Krimson Kurse, he discovered that Krimson was his lost friend who had turned into a Thrall to be a servant to Dark Elves and after that he mercy killed his friend. Sigurd then decided to the All-Father on Asgard to seek help into defeating Malekith (fusion of Malekith and Mandarin) and with the help of his AI assistant H.E.I.M.D.A.L.L. (fusion of Heimdall and J.A.R.V.I.S.) opened the B.I.F.R.O.S.T. and went to Asgard. When travelling, he remembered his old memories: his true name was Stark Odinson, who due to his arrogance, his father Howard Odin (fusion of Howard Stark and Odin) banished his son to Earth where he would learn to how is like to be a mortal. Upon arriving, Malekith had trapped the Aesir and had allied with Madame Hel (fusion of Madame Masque and Hela) and Stane Odinson (fusion of Loki and Obadiah Stane). Luckily, Iron Hammer was able to defeat Malekith and Odin allowed his son to become a god again. However, Sigurd refused, feeling better as a human.^[204]

Inter-company crossovers

In Marvel and DC’s Amalgam Comics, Stark is merged with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan into the Iron Lantern. «Hal Stark» wears a suit resembling a green Iron Man armor, powered by a Green Lantern battery.^[205]

In the miniseries JLA/Avengers, Iron Man aids the Avengers in the battle against Starro the Conqueror. Afterwards, he creates a dimensional alarm in order to tell when invaders from another dimension come into their universe. After a brief scuffle with the JLA in the Savage Land, the Avengers are confronted by Metron, who gives Tony a Mother Box. Using this, Tony is able to get the Avengers to Metropolis, where the Avengers confront the JLA again.^[206] The Avengers escape, but Tony and Hawkeye manage to take Green Lantern’s Power Battery before they leave, with Tony able to stop the Flash in his tracks. The two later take down Captain Atom and Green Arrow in order to collect the Casket of Ancient Winters. Tony then leaves and arrives to save Photon and Quasar from Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, allowing them to take the Spear of Destiny.^[207] After the battle in the Savage Land, Tony is one of the Avengers and is clueless as to the dimensional shifts that are happening around him. After Cap and Superman attack each other, Tony ends up in Metropolis. When the two worlds are briefly corrected by the Grandmaster, Tony is shown his true future with his alcoholism and his defeat by Obadiah Stane.^[208] Accepting this, he aids the JLA and the Avengers in the final battle and helped build the ship that took them to Krona’s base. During the battle, he teams up with Kyle Rayner to create a weapon to use against their enemies and the two are shown to be impressed by one another, Kyle expressing his awe at Tony’s engineering prowess and Tony asking Kyle where he could get a Green Lantern ring.^[209]

Iron Man: The End

In the one-shot Iron Man: The End, an aging Tony Stark works on his greatest creation, a space elevator called «Big Jump.» Stark faces retirement due to age and the physical toll of an illness, no longer allowing him to run his business «Stark Universal» and continue to be Iron Man. This leads to the need to groom a replacement.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Iron Maniac

Iron Maniac is an evil alternative universe version of Iron Man from Earth-5012. He first appeared in Marvel Team-Up vol. 3 #2, wearing armor that resembles that of Doctor Doom’s. He comes from an alternative reality where most of the Avengers were killed when they encountered the vicious alien Titannus in space. While the team is rescued by the reserve Avengers five years later, it takes another five years to fight back the Trellions, the alien race that has brainwashed Titannus. During that time, a power-hungry Reed Richards turns his back on the surviving heroes. Scarred for life due to an attack from the Human Torch, Iron Man sets his own operation base in Latveria to «take over the world to save it from Richards.» Richards somehow manages to banish him into Earth-616 Other differences between his world and Earth-616 include that there is no Spider-Man, and that Hank Pym is another version of the Hulk.^{[volume & issue needed]}

After being transported to Earth-616, Iron Maniac fights the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange, all of whom mistake him for their Doctor Doom. After unmasking himself, they learn his true identity, shortly before he manages to temporarily negate the FF’s powers and escape, concluding that he has no reason to trust that they will not turn on him like the FF of his world did. Capturing a recently discovered mutant, the alternative Iron Man attempts to return to his home dimension by using the mutant as a power source, but is attacked by Spider-Man and X-23 as they investigate the situation. After the appearance of Captain America and Black Widow, he realizes that he is in an alternative world, but continues to fight the heroes, calling them all ‘Richards’ lackeys’, proclaiming that he cannot trust that they will not turn into ‘villains’ just as his own former allies did. He is defeated thanks to Spider-Man and X-23’s use of their own version of the fastball special to destroy his equipment, shortly after ‘warning’ the other heroes of the Titannus War (by saying that he would not kill them now because it would be a kindness).^{[volume & issue needed]}

While the alternative Tony Stark is kept locked up and drugged in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, he is briefly visited by his counterpart in this universe, although he is unaware of the visit. Shortly after the alternative Stark is transferred to a conventional cell, Titannus soon arrives and fights the heroes, this time confronting a new group of Defenders assembled by Doctor Strange. When Titannus’ comatose lover is revived, she tells him that she never loved him and that he was insane, causing Titannus to kill himself. The alternative Iron Man later discovers from Spider-Man and Wolverine that the Avengers were never massacred in space in this reality because the group had been disassembled; as a result, other heroes only encountered Titannus after he had attacked Tokyo in a rage, leaving the heroes who did encounter him less inclined to believe his story and averting the so-called ‘Titannus War’.^[210]

Stark subsequently broke free from captivity, having immunized himself to the gas that was used to keep him sedated on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. In the process, he gained the unwilling alliance of the LMD Diamondback. Having convinced her that he is the «real» Tony, the AU Tony Stark erased her memories, reshaping the former LMD into an advanced suit of armor. This armor, even more advanced than the pre-Extremis suit Iron Man wore at that time, was able to replicate any weapon from the wearer’s memory. He subsequently battled Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America and Luke Cage, but was only defeated after the sacrifice of rookie hero Freedom Ring, who kept Iron Maniac occupied long enough for Captain America to knock him out with a shield thrown at the back of his neck.^[211]

The name Iron Maniac is what he calls himself, due to being the «sole survivor of a sane world living in a backwards, insane world».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Iron Maniac is known to be at least partially cyberized, with armor plating implanted in his chest (revealed during his escape from the Helicarrier, when he is shot). It is unknown whether the rest of his body is similarly armored or if he possesses other cybernetic enhancements.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He has been briefly mentioned as being held in a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier recently in The Irredeemable Ant-Man.^{[citation needed]}

Iron Man Noir

In Iron Man Noir, Tony Stark is an industrialist in the 1930s. He is also an adventurer, whose exploits are recorded in Marvels: A Magazine Of Men’s Adventure. He is initially accompanied by his associate James Rhodes, his personal assistant Giulietta Nefaria and his biographer Vergil Munsey. When Nefaria is revealed as working with the Nazis (specifically Baron Zemo and Baron von Strucker) and Vergil is killed, their role in the story is taken by Stark’s new biographer Pepper Potts. His heart having been damaged on an earlier adventure, Stark keeps it going with repulsor technology installed and recharged by Stark Industries engineer Edwin Jarvis.^[212]

While investigating a mysterious power source in the ruins of Atlantis, Pepper Potts gets kidnapped by the Nazis and taken to their stronghold in Norway. To rescue her, Stark and Rhodes don suits of bulky power armor built by Jarvis, but are shocked to discover that ‘Baron Zemo’ is actually Tony’s missing father Howard Stark, brainwashed by a unique chemical compound to serve the Nazis. Despite his depleted power supply, Tony manages to destroy the various suits of armor that Zemo had built for the Nazis, concluding that his father had died long ago, before returning to the USA.^[213]

Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse reality, Tony Stark creates the original armor together with Dr. Ho Yinsen and acts as Iron Man for a time, but eventually vanishes after a battle with Namor, the Submariner. He is succeeded by Antoinette (Toni) Stark, his twin sister, a former agent of SHIELD, who turns Iron Man into a massive operation — a veritable army of Iron Men in many forms, with herself as Iron Woman. After she dies in battle against the Hulk, Tony Stark reveals himself again; he has gone underground after spinal cancer reduced him to a disembodied head hooked up to a life support system. However, he has designed a new armor, and a body that he can integrate with.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He also had designed four massive vehicles for the Avengers of his world to use, which could combine (in a manner resembling old-fashioned combining super robots like Combattler V and Voltes V) into a skyscraper-sized Iron Man-mecha (dubbed Ultimate Iron Man in its first appearance, then the Iron Avenger in its battle with the Hulk, and finally «the Avenger’s mecha» in Volume 2 of the series). Unfortunately it was quickly destroyed by that world’s Hulk. Apparently, however, it was rebuilt again by the time of the second volume, this time as a single robotic unit without transformation (or, if it was capable of transformation, it was never demonstrated). This unit helped fight off the giant Galactus spores, but was later destroyed, along with most of the Avengers, single-handedly by the Mangaverse version of Dr. Doom.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Adventures

The Marvel Adventures Iron Man is very similar to the Earth-616 Iron Man, but with some changes. Instead of suffering damage to his heart due to a booby trap in Vietnam, Tony Stark’s heart was damaged when an experimental plane he was flying was brought down by A.I.M. A.I.M. wanted Stark to build weapons and devices for them. Dr. Gia-Bao Yinsen aided Tony in escaping AIM, but Yinsen died saving his country from A.I.M. Iron Man does not seem to have problems with alcoholism, since the Marvel Adventures is aimed at a younger demographic. Iron Man’s armor resembles his Extremis armor although Iron Man has other armors that fit over his regular armor, as in the case of his underwater armor.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Apes

The version of Iron Man appearing in the Marvel Apes mini-series is a mandrill, appropriately being named the Iron Mandrill. He is a member of the Apevengers. At one point, he is attacked by the zombified Wasp of the Marvel Zombies universe and infected, though he is later apparently cured when these events are undone via time travel.^{[214][215][216]}

Marvel Zombies

There are different versions of Iron Man in the Marvel Zombies series:

The first series

In the Marvel Zombies universe, Tony Stark has been infected by the zombie virus. Alongside a horde of starving undead superhuman zombies, Iron Man attacks the Silver Surfer. The attack is successful, but one of the Surfer’s energy bolts hits Iron Man’s lower torso, cutting him in half. The zombie «survives» this wound and later gains cosmic powers (including flight) by eating part of the Surfer’s corpse. When Galactus arrives, Iron Man and the five other surviving zombies devour him. They are able to absorb Galactus’ power, and call themselves «The Galacti».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies 2

He also appears in Marvel Zombies 2, one of the small group of super-powered zombies that have eaten their way across all known space. Here Stark has had his entire lost lower body replaced with cybernetics. He also appears to have forgotten he had some design in the machine which opened a link to the Ultimate Universe. He was shocked to see Forge, one of the surviving X-Men, wearing his Mark I armored suit. The zombified Hulk kills Iron Man when he stomps through the armor, forcing Tony Stark’s flesh and blood through any openings left in the armor. However Iron Man had recently revived next issue, but only as a cameo, on Marvel Zombies 3.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies Return

In the final issue of Marvel Zombies 2, the remaining zombies are transported to another universe. At the point where the zombies reach this new reality, the period is nearly identical to the one where Tony Stark was an alcoholic. Zombie Giant Man infects Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and a number of other people at Stark Industries. A drunken Tony Stark lacks the will power to become Iron Man despite Pepper Potts’ requests, so James Rhodes dons the suit to save him. Crucial to fate of the multiverse are the nanites that Stark has accidentally created, which destroy damaged flesh and tissue as a cure for cancer, and prove to be a potent weapon against the zombies. This was grafted onto Flint Marko’s body. He sacrifices himself to kill several zombies in Stark Tower, with Rhodes permanently succeeding him in the role of Iron Man.^[217] His nanites are then used by his successor, now a member of the New Avengers, years later to kill the remaining super-powered zombies and end the inter-dimensional zombie threat.^[218]

MC2

In the alternative future of MC2, Tony Stark retires after the loss of many heroes in battle, but eventually creates the armored computer program Mainframe, which joins the next generation of Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mini Marvels

Iron Man is a recurring character in «Mini Marvels». He appears in story arcs like «The Armored Avengers» & «World War Hulk». He is portrayed as conceited and thinks himself the best of the team. He has a friendly rivalry with Hawkeye.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mutant X

In Mutant X, Tony Stark is Iron Giant Man and part of the anti-mutant group the Avengers. He was later killed by X-Man Captain America along with the other Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Newuniversal

In the alternative world of newuniversal, Tony Stark is one of three humans altered by the Fireworks on April 26, 1953, gaining abilities associated with the Cipher glyph. Prior to the Fireworks, Stark is unexceptional, but he then becomes a technological genius. His discoveries revitalise his father’s company, Stark Industries, and are «five years ahead of everything everyone else is working on». There are suggestions that he is capable of more, but is not making all of his discoveries public.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Stark’s transformation is noticed by the National Security Agency’s Project Spitfire, which is discreetly monitoring the superhumans created by the Fireworks. In March 1959, Stark’s plane crashes in North Vietnam and he is imprisoned. He escapes by constructing an Iron Man suit from «spare parts» and flying out of the country.^{[volume & issue needed]}

On April 4, 1959, when he returns to the US, the NSA takes Stark to a San Diego naval base, ostensibly to debrief him. Stark is then shot dead by Philip L. Voight, a Project Spitfire agent, to prevent him from making contact with the other superhumans.^[219]

The Iron Man suit is seized by Project Spitfire and reverse engineered by Doctor Joe Swann, eventually becoming the basis of the project’s H.E.X suit, an exoskeleton designed for combat with superhumans.^[220]

Realm of Kings

In this one-shot, Quasar, the newly resurrected Protector of the Universe travels into the Fault, the immense tear which has appeared in the fabric of spacetime itself after the catastrophic battle between Vulcan and Black Bolt. Reaching what he perceives to be the other end of the tunnel that is the Fault, he arrives in another universe… a dark, twisted universe, the `corpse of a universe´, possessed by Lovecraftian horrors which are worshipped by all the denizens of that universe, including Earth’s mightiest heroes. Iron Man is never seen outside his armor, but he, like the others, serves the «Many-angled ones» with total devotion.^[221]

Ruins

In the two issue Warren Ellis series Ruins, Tony Stark is a rich industrialist who supplied weapons for the US military in an attempt to win the Vietnam War. This version of Iron Man was injured while mediating between US forces and pro-secessionist Californians by a piece of shrapnel thrown by the National Guard. This embittered Stark who formed a revolutionary cell named the Avengers. This version of Iron Man was betrayed by Scarlet Witch who provided the United States military information to crush the Avengers. Tony Stark is presumably killed.^[222]

Secret Wars (2015)

During the «Secret Wars» storyline, there are different versions of Iron Man that exist in the different Battleworld domains:

• In the Battleworld domain of Technopolis, Tony Stark is the Baron of Technopolis where everybody wears high-tech armor to protect themselves from an airborne virus. Tony is shown to be in competition with his brother Arno. It turns out that Howard Stark created the airborne virus that caused everybody to wear high-tech armors. Both brothers were defeated by Lila Rhodes and were arrested by the Thor Corps.^[223]
• In the Battleworld domain of Spider-Island, Iron Man is mutated into one of the Spider Queen’s spider minions and battles Agent Venom and the now monstrous Avengers. Venom sprays Tony with Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin formula, freeing Tony from the Queen, but slowly making him insane. He modifies Norman’s armor and becomes the Iron Goblin to aid the resistance. When they are surrounded by a number of Man-Spiders (including Giant Man) with few means of escape, Tony sacrifices himself using the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade so he can aid them and die before the Goblin formula completely takes him over.^[224]
• The Secret Wars War Zone tie-in 1872 reimagines Tony in the Wild West and living in the Battleworld domain called the Valley of Doom. Tony was once a respected inventor who lives in the town of Timely. When the Union army used his repeating rifle to slaughter a large group of Confederates rather let them surrender, Tony spirals into alcoholism. After Sheriff Steve Rogers is murdered by Mayor Wilson Fisk and his cohorts, Tony builds a large suit of armor resembling the original Iron Man suit to aid Red Wolf in bringing him down. After Fisk is defeated, Tony dedicates his time to aiding the people of Timely with his new invention.^[225]
• The Iron Man of the Battleworld domain of 2099 is a man named Sonny Frisco. Despite piloting a normal-sized suit of Iron Man armor, Frisco actually suffers from dwarfism. He is a member of the Alchemax corporation’s team of Avengers, and secretly uses the help of Vision, a woman with precognitive abilities.^[226]

Spider-Verse

In the Amazing Spider-Man comic’s event Spider-Verse, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Scarlet Spider (Kaine) and Spider-man (Ben Reily) meet and fight a clone of Tony Stark (Earth-802) as Iron Man serving one of the Inheritors, Jennix.^[227]

Spider-Gwen

In Spider-Gwen Tony Stark of Earth-65 is an arms dealer, the owner of global private military company WAR MACHINE, and owner of the coffee chain StarkBucks.^[228]

Spider-Man: Life Story

In Spider-Man: Life Story, Tony Stark/Iron Man does not face a traumatizing experience that leads to stop weapons manufacturing as his Earth-616 counterpart did instead he continues to produce them and play a key role in the Vietnam War and a World War III-esque conflict known as «The Russian War» as well as participating in Secret Wars while on Battleworld. Iron Man also became Secretary of Defense in the United States government and was one of the two leaders alongside Captain America in the Superhuman Civil War.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Squadron Supreme

In the Squadron Supreme series, the equivalent of Iron Man is Tucker Ford.^{[original research?]} Tucker was a very intelligent boy since his early years, however since being raised by his strong-willed mother along with never going to school with anyone his own age made Tucker to have difficulty to make any kind of meaningful personal relationship and because of this, he became very introverted.^[229] As he grew up, he had built an imaginative world where he was a superhero. When trying to explain his imaginations to his therapist, they turned around and mocked him before their colleagues, however being unaware that Tucker had them under electronic surveillance. This experience motivated him to follow his dream and become a real superhero.^{[volume & issue needed]}
As a young adult, he built a powerful, but unstable armor made from nanotechnology in order to achieve his dream, eventually meeting the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and offered his intelligence and company to Nick Fury to help defend America.^{[volume & issue needed]}
He fails to gain the affection of Nick Fury and to get a kiss from the spider-powered superhuman, Nell Ruggles, also known as Arachnophilia.^{[volume & issue needed]} He offers to build a S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier as a base for the organization and to be a member of the team in order to live out of his imagination. The only person that Tucker had the closest relationship with is Nell, expressing romantic feelings towards her.^[230]

Ultimate Marvel

What If

Newer Fantastic Four

In the timeline of What if: Newer Fantastic Four, the Fantastic Four were killed by De’Lila (a rogue Skrull) and the Hulk, so Spider-Man, the Ghost Rider and Wolverine joined to avenge them as the New Fantastic Four. Thanos of Titan, as in the mainline universe, came into possession of the six Infinity Gems and became ruler of all reality, before erasing half of all living beings from existence. Among those who vanished was Ghost Rider, and, being present at the battle during which he was erased, Iron Man takes his place. The Newer Fantastic Four soon realize they are outmatched. Stark, with help from the Hulk, manages to salvage the empty armor of Ziran, a Celestial, and realizes it can be controlled by thoughts. Stark takes control of the armor and connects it to the Negative Zone, allowing him to call on all the power of that reality. Despite this, he is defeated by Thanos. Stark’s sacrifice allows Wolverine to trick Thanos into a position where the Gauntlet could be removed. Spider-Man subsequently uses the Gauntlet to undo the damage Thanos had caused.^[231]

Iron Man: Demon in an Armor

In What If: Iron Man: Demon in an Armor, Tony Stark is Doom’s college roommate rather than Reed Richards, inspiring Doom to develop a machine that allows him to transfer his mind into Stark’s body while leaving Stark trapped in Doom’s body with no memory of his past. While Doom uses Stark’s connections and company to establish himself, the amnesic Stark- believing himself to be Doom- works to rebuild his life, creating his own company and forming his own reputation from the ground up. This culminates in a confrontation between the two wearing early versions of their respective armors- Doom having developed a green-and-silver Iron Man armor while Stark has created Doom’s costume with gold and a red cloak-, during which Doom reveals the truth about their switch, only for Stark to reject the offer to switch back because Doom has destroyed the name of Tony Stark while Doctor von Doom has developed an honorable reputation.^{[volume & issue needed]}

X-Men Forever

In this alternative universe of X-Men Forever, Tony Stark, while still publicly the super-hero Iron Man, is also the head of the shadowy organization known as The Consortium. The scientific wing of the organization is headed by the Trask family, who turn out to be his relatives. They create newer versions of the Sentinels and kidnap mutants to use in experimentation to find the cause of the so-called «Burnout» syndrome that causes mutants to die early.^[232] However, as part of his efforts to undermine the Consortium’s anti-mutant agenda, he becomes Nick Fury’s insider and eventually sacrifices his life along with Beast.^[233] He assists Storm- who has been split into an amnesic child version of herself and an energy form with full memory and no body- by providing her energy self with a suit based on the now-deceased Black Panther so that her energy can maintain corporeal form, although he is subsequently killed by a twisted clone of Storm before he can reveal her existence to anyone else.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In other media

In 1966, Iron Man was featured in a series of cartoons.^[234] In 1981, Iron Man guest appeared in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, but only as Tony Stark.^[235] He went on to feature again in his own series in the 1990s as part of the Marvel Action Hour with the Fantastic Four; Robert Hays provided his voice in these animated cartoons. Iron Man makes an appearance in the episode «Shell Games» of Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes. Apart from comic books, Iron Man appears in Capcom’s «Vs.» video games, including Marvel Super Heroes,  Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Iron Man is a playable character in the 1992 arcade game Captain America and the Avengers, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, as well as being featured as an unlockable character in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Tony Hawk’s Underground.^[236] Iron man was also featured in an independent video game based upon the first movie called Iron Man that was playable on the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Wii, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows.^[237] He is also seen in Iron Man VR made for the PlayStation 4,^[238] and is featured in the 2020 Marvel’s Avengers (video game) that is payable on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X and Series S.^[239] Set for the end of 2023, there will also be a new single-player Iron Man game released.^[240] In the 2009 animated series, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, most of the characters, including Tony Stark, are teenagers. An anime adaptation aired in Japan in late 2010 as part of a collaboration between Marvel Animation and Madhouse, in which Stark, voiced by Keiji Fujiwara, travels to Japan where he ends up facing off against the Zodiac, a terrorist organization that is aligned with A.I.M in order to produce several mechanic suits embodying astrological star signs.^[241][242]

In 2008, a film adaptation titled Iron Man was released, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and directed by Jon Favreau. Iron Man was met with positive reviews from film critics,^[243] grossing $318 million domestically and $585 million worldwide, and became the first in a series of over 20 films, later becoming known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.^[244] The character of Tony Stark, again played by Robert Downey Jr., appeared at the end of the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk. Downey reprised his role in Iron Man 2 (2010), Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In 2009, Playtech released an online casino slot machine game called Iron Man. After that they created two more games, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.^[245]

In October 2016, Eoin Colfer released a young adult novel called Iron Man: The Gauntlet.^[246]

See also

• List of Iron Man enemies
• Jetpack man

References

Further reading

• Will Cooley and Mark C. Rogers, «Ike’s Nightmare: Iron Man and the Military-Industrial Complex,» in Ages of Iron Man, Joseph Dorowski, ed., 2015. ISBN 978-0-7864-7842-2
• Tom DeFalco, Avengers: The Ultimate Guide, Dorling Kindersley, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7566-1461-4
• Mark D. White (ed.), Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. ISBN 978-0-4704-8218-6

External links

• Iron Man at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Iron Man (Tony Stark) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• «Stark Reality: A Different Hero for Different Times» by Ian Chant — PopMatters.com
• Advanced Iron (fanzine)
• Iron Man Library Archived 2018-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Tony Stark on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki

Tony Stark Iron Man
Variant cover of Tony Stark: Iron Man #2 (July 2018) Art by Mark Brooks
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Anthony Edward Stark
Species	Human
Place of origin	Long Island, New York
Team affiliations	Avengers A.I. Army Department of Defense Force Works New Avengers Guardians of the Galaxy Illuminati Mighty Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark Industries Stark Resilient
Partnerships	War Machine Pepper Potts Captain America
Abilities	Proficient scientist and engineer Genius level intellect Powered armor suit granting: Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, and senses Energy repulsor and missile projection Regenerative life support Supersonic flight

Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963), and received his own title in Iron Man #1 (May 1968). In 1963, the character founded the Avengers superhero team with Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and the Hulk.

A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, philanthropist, inventor and ingenious scientist, Anthony Edward «Tony» Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a mechanized suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually publicly reveals himself to be Iron Man.

Initially, Stan Lee used Iron Man to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and industry in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have shifted to contemporary matters.^[1]

Iron Man has headlined various comic book series. Throughout most of the character’s publication history, he has been a founding member of the Avengers.

Iron Man has been adapted for several animated television shows and films. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark was portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the films Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019); while Mick Wingert voiced the character in the animated series What If…? (2021).

Publication history

Premiere

Iron Man’s Marvel Comics premiere in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963) was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby.^[2] In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.^[3] He wanted to create the «quintessential capitalist», a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel’s readership.^[4] Lee said:

I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military … So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist … I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him … And he became very popular.^[5]

He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies’ man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well.^[6] Writer Gerry Conway said, «Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can’t be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there’s a metaphor going on there. And that’s, I think, what made that character interesting.»^[5] Lee based this playboy’s looks and personality on Howard Hughes,^[7] explaining, «Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase.»^[8] «Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes,» Lee said.^[5]

While Lee intended to write the story himself,^[9] a minor deadline emergency eventually forced him to hand over the premiere issue to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.^[6] The art was split between Kirby and Heck. «He designed the costume,» Heck said of Kirby, «because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts.»^[10] In a 1990 interview, when asked if he had «a specific model for Tony Stark and the other characters?», Heck replied «No, I would be thinking more along the lines of some characters I like, which would be the same kind of characters that Alex Toth liked, which was an Errol Flynn type.»^[11] Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character’s original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40 April 1963). It was redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (December 1963) by that issue’s interior artist, Steve Ditko, although Kirby drew it on the cover. As Heck recalled in 1985, «[T]he second costume, the red and yellow one, was designed by Steve Ditko. I found it easier than drawing that bulky old thing. The earlier design, the robot-looking one, was more Kirbyish.»^[12]

In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents. Lee later regretted this early focus.^[3][13] Throughout the character’s comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism (as in the «Demon in a Bottle» storyline) and other personal difficulties.

From issue #59 (November 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. Lee and Heck introduced several adversaries for the character including the Mandarin in issue #50 (February 1964),^[14] the Black Widow in #52 (April 1964)^[15] and Hawkeye five issues later.^[16]

Lee said that «of all the comic books we published at Marvel, we got more fan mail for Iron Man from women, from females, than any other title … We didn’t get much fan mail from girls, but whenever we did, the letter was usually addressed to Iron Man.»^[5]

Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in The Avengers #1 (September 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. The character has since appeared in every subsequent volume of the series.

Writers have updated the war and locale in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,^[17] and in the 2000s updated again to be the war in Afghanistan. Stark’s time with the Asian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ho Yinsen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yinsen building the original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron Man, in which the armor Stark uses to escape his captors is not the first Iron Man suit.

Themes

The original Iron Man title explored Cold War themes, as did other Stan Lee projects in the early years of Marvel Comics. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk respectively focused on American domestic and government responses to the Communist threat, Iron Man explored industry’s role in the struggle. Tony Stark’s real-life model, Howard Hughes, was a significant defense contractor who developed new weapons technologies. Hughes was an icon both of American individualism and of the burdens of fame.^[18]

Historian Robert Genter, in The Journal of Popular Culture, writes that Tony Stark specifically presents an idealized portrait of the American inventor. Where earlier decades had seen important technological innovations come from famous individuals (e.g., Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers), the 1960s saw new technologies (including weapons) being developed mainly by the research teams of corporations. As a result, little room remained for the inventor who wanted credit for, and creative and economic control over, their own creations.

Issues of entrepreneurial autonomy, government supervision of research, and ultimate loyalty figured prominently in early Iron Man stories—the same issues affecting American scientists and engineers of that era.^[18] Tony Stark, writes Genter, is an inventor who finds motive in his emasculation as an autonomous creative individual. This blow is symbolized by his chest wound, inflicted at the moment he is forced to invent things for the purposes of others, instead of just himself. To Genter, Stark’s transformation into Iron Man represents Stark’s effort to reclaim his autonomy, and thus his manhood. The character’s pursuit of women in bed or in battle, writes Genter, represents another aspect of this effort. The pattern finds parallels in other works of 1960s popular fiction by authors such as «Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), and Norman Mailer, who made unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity.»^[18]

Solo series

After issue #99 (March 1968), the Tales of Suspense series was renamed Captain America. An Iron Man story appeared in the one-shot comic Iron Man and Sub-Mariner (April 1968), before the «Golden Avenger»^[19] made his solo debut with Iron Man #1 (May 1968).^[20] The series’s indicia gives its copyright title Iron Man, while the trademarked cover logo of most issues is The Invincible Iron Man.

This initial series ended with issue #332 (September 1996). Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Jeph Loeb authored a second volume of the series which was drawn primarily by Whilce Portacio and Ryan Benjamin. This volume took place in a parallel universe^[21] and ran 13 issues (November 1996 – November 1997).^[22] Volume 3, whose first 25 issues were written by Kurt Busiek^[23] and then by Busiek and Roger Stern, ran 89 issues (February 1998 – December 2004). Later writers included Joe Quesada, Frank Tieri, Mike Grell, and John Jackson Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering starting from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434.^[24] The next Iron Man series, Iron Man vol. 4, debuted in early 2005 with the Warren Ellis-written storyline «Extremis», with artist Adi Granov.^[25][26] It ran 35 issues (January 2005 – January 2009), with the cover logo simply Iron Man beginning with issue #13, and Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by «War Machine, Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.»,^[27] which led to the launch of a War Machine ongoing series.^[28]

The Invincible Iron Man by writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, began with a premiere issue cover-dated July 2008.^[29] For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both volume four and volume five simultaneously.^[30] This Invincible volume jumped its numbering of issues from #33 to #500, cover dated March 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968.

After the conclusion of The Invincible Iron Man a new Iron Man series was started as a part of Marvel Now!. Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Greg Land, it began with issue #1 in November 2012.^[31]

Many Iron Man annuals, miniseries, and one-shot titles have been published through the years, such as Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man (February 1996), Iron Man: The Iron Age #1–2 (August – September 1998), Iron Man: Bad Blood #1–4 (September – December 2000), Iron Man House of M #1–3 (September – November 2005), Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #1–4 (December 2005 – March 2006), Iron Man: The Inevitable #1–6 (February – July 2006), Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War (February 2007), Iron Man: Hypervelocity #1–6 (March – August 2007), Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1–6 (November 2007 – April 2008), and Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (June – September 2008). Publications have included such spin-offs as the one-shot Iron Man 2020 (June 1994), featuring a different Iron Man in the future, and the animated TV series adaptations Marvel Action Hour, Featuring Iron Man #1–8 (November 1994 – June 1995) and Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1–12 (July 2007 – June 2008).^[32]

Fictional character biography

Origins

Anthony Edward Stark is the son of Howard Stark, a wealthy industrialist who leads Stark Industries, and Maria Stark. A boy genius, he enters MIT at 15 to study engineering and later receives master’s degrees in engineering and physics. After his parents are killed in a car accident, he inherits his father’s company.

Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by enemy forces led by Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu orders Stark to build weapons, but Stark’s injuries are dire and shrapnel is moving towards his heart. His fellow prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructs a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark’s heart. In secret, Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and construct a suit of powered armor, which Stark uses to escape. During the escape attempt, Yinsen sacrifices his life to save Stark’s by distracting the enemy as Stark recharges. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers and rejoins the American forces, on his way meeting a wounded American Marine fighter pilot, James «Rhodey» Rhodes.

Back home, Stark discovers that the shrapnel fragment lodged in his chest cannot be removed without killing him, and he is forced to wear the armor’s chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his heart. He must recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover story that Stark tells the news media and general public is that Iron Man is his robotic personal bodyguard, and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company (e.g., Communist opponents Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Titanium Man), as well as independent villains like the Mandarin (who becomes his greatest enemy). No one suspects Stark of being Iron Man, as he cultivates a strong public image of being a rich playboy and industrialist. Two notable members of the series’s supporting cast, at this point, are his personal chauffeur Harold «Happy» Hogan, and secretary Virginia «Pepper» Potts—to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity. Meanwhile, James Rhodes finds his own niche as Stark’s personal pilot, ultimately revealing himself to be a man of extraordinary skill and daring in his own right.

The series took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as public (and therefore, presumably, reader) opposition rose to the Vietnam War.^[3] This change evolved in a series of storylines featuring Stark reconsidering his political opinions, and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the U.S. military. Stark shows himself to be occasionally arrogant, and willing to act unethically in order to ‘let the ends justify the means’.^[33][34] This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his vast personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor, but also to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.; other technologies (e.g., Quinjets used by the Avengers); and the image inducers used by the X-Men. Eventually, Stark’s heart condition is publicly discovered when he was summoned for a Congressional hearing and Stark collapsed when his chestpiece’s power failed, causing a heart attack. Stark was medically examined, which revealed his hidden equipment, and was hospitalized, forcing Pepper to have Happy don his employer’s armor to pose as Iron Man to protect his boss’s secret identity.^[35] Eventually, that specific medical issue was resolved with an artificial heart transplant, which still required the chestplate for some time to support the replacement organ.^[36]

1970s and early 1980s

Stark expands on his armor designs and begins to build his arsenal of specialized armors for particular situations such as for space travel^[37] and stealth.^[38][39] Stark also develops a serious dependency on alcohol in the «Demon in a Bottle» storyline.^[40] The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark discovers that the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been buying a controlling interest in his company in order to ensure Stark’s continued weapons development for them. At the same time, it is revealed that several minor supervillains armed with advanced weapons who had bedeviled Stark throughout his superhero career are in fact in the employ of Stark’s business rival, Justin Hammer, who begins to plague Stark more directly.^[41][42] At one point in Hammer’s manipulations, the Iron Man armor is taken over and used to murder a diplomat.^[42] Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities.^[43] Eventually Stark and Rhodes, who is now his personal pilot and confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although Hammer would return to bedevil Stark again.^[37][44] With the support of his then-girlfriend, Bethany Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on alcohol.^[45] Even as he recovers from this harrowing personal trial, Stark’s life is further complicated when he has a confrontation with Doctor Doom that is interrupted by an opportunistic enemy sending them back in time to the time of King Arthur.^[46] Once there, Iron Man thwarts Doom’s attempt to solicit the aid of Morgan Le Fay, and the Latverian ruler swears deadly vengeance—to be indulged sometime after the two return to their own time.^[47] This incident was collected and published as Doomquest.

Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane, manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result, Stark loses control of Stark International to Stane, becomes a homeless alcoholic vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man. Eventually, Stark recovers and joins a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrates on new technological designs, including building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as Iron Man but steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the armor not having been calibrated properly for his use. Eventually Rhodes goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don a replica of his original armor to stop him. Fully recovered, Stark confronts Stane who has himself designed armor based on designs seized along with Stark International, dubbing himself the ‘Iron Monger’. Defeated in battle, Stane, rather than give Stark the satisfaction of taking him to trial, commits suicide.^[48] Shortly thereafter, Stark regains his personal fortune, but decides against repurchasing Stark International until much later; he instead creates Stark Enterprises, headquartered in Los Angeles.

Late 1980s and 1990s

In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about disabling other armored heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were stolen by his enemy Spymaster. His quest to destroy the stolen technology—originally called «Stark Wars» but is more commonly known as the «Armor Wars»—severely hurts his reputation as Iron Man. After attacking and disabling a series of minor villains such as Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the government operative known as Stingray. The situation worsens when Stark realizes that Stingray’s armor does not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly «fires» Iron Man while covertly pursuing his agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable the armor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the Mandroids, as well as the armor of the Guardsmen. In the process, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes allow some of the villains in the Vault to escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw, and severely sours Stark’s relationship with Steve Rogers (Captain America, who was in his «Captain» persona at the time). Iron Man travels to Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet Titanium Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S., he faces an enemy commissioned by the government named Firepower. Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man’s demise,^[49] intending to retire the suit permanently. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates a new suit, claiming a new person is in the armor.

Soon after, Stark is nearly killed by Kathy Dare, a mentally unbalanced former lover. She shoots him dead center in his torso which injures his spine, paralyzing him.^[50] Stark undergoes special surgery to have a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility.^[51] Unbeknownst to the industrialist, the nerve chip is a clandestine means by which to gain control over his body. Rival businessmen the Marrs Twins and their cohort Kearson DeWitt are behind the machinations in what came to be known as «Armor Wars II.»^[52] After several successful tests by DeWitt at manipulating Stark, Tony finds that using his Encephalo Armor can counteract DeWitt’s controls.^[53] In response, DeWitt suddenly releases his control resulting in excruciating agony throughout Stark’s body.^[54] The constant «battle» for control of Stark’s nervous system and subsequent abdication on DeWitt’s end lead to massive nerve damage throughout Tony’s body. Stark’s nervous system continues its slide towards failure, and he constructs a «skin» made up of artificial nerve circuitry to assist it.^[55] Stark begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the telepresence suit proves inadequate.^[56] Stark designs a more heavily armed version of the suit to wear, the «Variable Threat Response Battle Suit», which becomes known as the War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in suspended animation to heal as Rhodes takes over both the running of Stark Enterprises and the mantle of Iron Man, although he uses the War Machine armor.^[57] Stark eventually makes a full recovery by using a chip to create an entirely new (artificial) nervous system, and resumes as Iron Man in a new Telepresence Armor.^[58] When Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and the two friends part ways. Rhodes continues on as War Machine in a solo career.

The Avengers story arc «The Crossing» reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the team’s ranks, due to years of manipulation by the time-traveling dictator Kang the Conqueror. Stark, as a sleeper agent in Kang’s thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver’s daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket, then Amanda Chaney, an ally of the Avengers. The «Avengers Forever» limited series retcons these events as the work of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months.^[59]

Needing help to defeat both Stark and Kang, the team travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Anthony Stark from an alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man suit in order to aid the Avengers against his older self. The sight of his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to regain momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop Kang.^[60] The young Stark later builds his own suit to become the new Iron Man and remains in the present day.

During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenage Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. Franklin Richards preserves these «dead» heroes in the «Heroes Reborn» pocket universe, in which Stark is once again an adult hero; Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the forms he is most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn adult Stark, upon returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with the original Stark, who had died during «The Crossing», but was resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Anthony Stark possesses the memories of both the original and teenage Anthony Stark, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he regains his fortune and, with Stark Enterprises having been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark’s death, sets up a new company, Stark Solutions. He returns from the pocket universe with a restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark demands a hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught incident. Cleared of wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.^[61]

2000s

At one point, Stark’s armor becomes sentient despite fail-safes to prevent its increasingly sophisticated computer systems from doing so.^[62] Initially, Stark welcomes this «living» armor for its improved tactical abilities. The armor begins to grow more aggressive, killing indiscriminately and eventually desiring to replace Stark altogether. In the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another heart attack. The armor sacrifices its own existence to save its creator’s life, giving up essential components to give Stark a new, artificial heart. This new heart solves Stark’s health problems, but it does not have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on periodic recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that he temporarily returns to using an unsophisticated early model version of his armor to avoid a repeat incident.^[63] He dabbles with using liquid metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that forms into a protective shell around his body, but eventually returns to more conventional hard metal armors.^[64]

During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa,^[65] a wealthy heiress and daughter of the man who had taken over his company during the «Heroes Reborn» period. Her relationship with Stark endures many highs and lows, including infidelity with Stark’s rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because the fun-loving Rumiko believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends with Rumiko’s death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in Iron Man vol. 3 #87.

In Iron Man vol. 3 #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that by doing so, he has invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government duplication, since those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would be used by an employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark himself. When he discovers that the United States military is again using his technology, and its defective nature nearly causes a disaster in Washington, D.C. which Iron Man barely manages to avert, Stark accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used.^[66]

In the «Avengers Disassembled» storyline, Stark is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against the Latverian ambassador at the United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced Scarlet Witch, who destroys Avengers Mansion and kills several members. Stark publicly stands down as Iron Man, but continues using the costume. He joins the Avengers in stopping the breakout in progress from the Raft and even saves Captain America from falling.^[67] Tony changes the Avengers base to Stark Tower.^[68] The Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster reappear and shift Iron Man from standard superhero stories to dealing with politics and industrialism.^[69]

New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, Stark had participated with a secret group that included the Black Panther, Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Namor. The goal of the group (dubbed the Illuminati by Marvel) was to strategize overarching menaces, in which the Black Panther rejects a membership offer. Stark’s goal is to create a governing body for all superheroes in the world, but the beliefs of its members instead force them all to share vital information.

«Civil War»

In the «Civil War» storyline, after the actions of inexperienced superheroes the New Warriors result in the destruction of several city blocks in Stamford, Connecticut, there is an outcry across America against superhumans. Learning of the Government’s proposed plans, Tony Stark suggests a new plan to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act. The Act would force every superpowered individual in the U.S. to register their identity with the government and act as licensed agents. The Act would force inexperienced superhumans to receive training in how to use and control their abilities, something in which Tony strongly believes. Since his struggle with alcoholism, Stark has carried a tremendous burden of guilt after nearly killing an innocent bystander while piloting the armor drunk. While Reed Richards and Dr. Henry «Hank» Pym both agree with Stark’s proposal, not everyone does. After Captain America is ordered to bring in anyone who refuses to register, he and other anti-registration superheroes go rogue, coming into conflict with the pro-registration heroes, led by Iron Man. The war ends when Captain America surrenders to prevent further collateral damage and civilian casualties, although he had defeated Stark by defusing his armor. Stark is appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,^[70] and organizes a new government-sanctioned group of Avengers. Shortly afterwards, Captain America is assassinated while in custody.^[71] This leaves Stark with a great amount of guilt and misgivings about the cost of his victory.^[72]

«Secret Invasion»

To tie into the 2008 Iron Man feature film, Marvel launched a new Iron Man ongoing series, The Invincible Iron Man, with writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca. The series inaugural six-part storyline was «The Five Nightmares», which saw Stark targeted by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Stark’s former nemesis, Obadiah Stane.^[73]

In the «Secret Invasion» storyline, after Tony Stark survives an attempt by Ultron to take over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra. Realizing this is the start of an invasion by the Skrulls, Tony reveals the corpse to the Illuminati and declares that they are at war. After Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by Namor, a squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other Illuminati members and destroy the area, killing all the Skrulls. Realizing that they are incapable of trusting each other, the members all separate to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.^[74]

Stark is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent the secret infiltration and invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a virtual monopoly on worldwide defense.^[75] After the invasion, the U.S. government removes him as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and disbands the Avengers, handing control of the Initiative over to Norman Osborn.

«Dark Reign»

With his Extremis powers failing, Stark uploads a virus to destroy all records of the Registration Act, thus preventing Osborn from learning the identities of his fellow heroes and anything that Osborn could use, including his repulsor generators. The only copy of the database is in Stark’s brain, which he tries to delete while on the run from Osborn.^[76] Stark goes so far as to inflict brain damage on himself in order to ensure that the relevant information is wiped. When Osborn catches up to the debilitated Stark and beats him savagely, Pepper Potts broadcasts the beatings worldwide, costing Osborn credibility and giving Stark public sympathy. Stark goes into a vegetative state, having previously granted Donald Blake (alter ego of the superhero Thor) power of attorney.^[77] A holographic message stored in Pepper’s armor reveals that Stark had developed a means of ‘rebooting’ his mind from his current state prior to his destruction of the database, with Blake and Bucky resolving to use it to restore him to normal. Meanwhile, Stark is trapped in his subconscious, where figments of his own mind prevent him from returning to the waking world. When the procedure fails to work, Bucky calls in Doctor Strange, who succeeds in restoring Stark back to consciousness. The backup Stark created was made prior to the Civil War, and as such he does not remember anything that took place during the event, although he still concludes after reviewing his past actions that he would not have done anything differently. His brain damage means he is now dependent on an arc reactor to sustain his body’s autonomous functions.^[78]

2010s

«Siege»

In the «Siege» storyline, Tony Stark is seen under the care of Dr. Donald Blake and Maria Hill when Asgard is attacked.^[79] Thor is ambushed by Osborn and the Sentry, but rescued by Hill. Osborn declares martial law and unleashes Daken and the Sentry on Broxton to root out Thor and Hill. Hill returns to Stark’s hiding place to move him to a safer location and are joined by Speed of the Young Avengers, who has a set of Iron Man’s MK III armor that Edwin Jarvis had given Captain America. While Osborn is battling the New Avengers, Stark appears and disables Osborn’s Iron Patriot armor. Osborn orders the Sentry to annihilate Asgard, rather than allow the Avengers to have it. After Asgard falls, Stark stands alongside his fellow heroes, as Osborn exclaims they are all doomed and he ‘was saving them from him’ pointing up towards a Void-possessed Sentry.^[80] As the Void tears apart the teams, Loki gives them the power to fight back through the Norn Stones. The Void kills Loki, enraging Thor. Tony tells Thor to get the Void away from Asgard, which allows Tony to drop a commandeered H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier on the Void. Thor is forced to killed Sentry when the Void resurfaces. Sometime later, the Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and Tony is given back his company and armor. As a symbol for their heroics and their new unity, Thor places an Asgardian tower on Stark Tower where the Watchtower once stood.^[81]

«Heroic Age»

In the 2010–2011 «Stark: Resilient» storyline, Tony builds the Bleeding Edge armor with the help of Mister Fantastic. This new armor fully uses the repulsor tech battery embedded in his chest to power Tony’s entire body and mind, thus allowing him access to Extremis once more. Furthermore, the battery operates as his «heart» and is the only thing keeping him alive.^[82] Tony announces he will form a new company, Stark Resilient. He states that he will no longer develop weapons, but will use his repulsor technology to give free energy to the world. Justine and Sasha Hammer create their own armored hero, Detroit Steel, to take Stark’s place as the Army’s leading weapons-builder. Stark’s plan consists of building two repulsor-powered cars. The Hammers try to foil his efforts. The first car is destroyed by sabotage, while Detroit Steel attacks Stark Resilient’s facilities while Tony tests the second car. Through a legal maneuver, Tony is able to get the Hammers to stop their attacks and releases a successful commercial about his new car.^[83][84]

«Fear Itself»

In the 2011 «Fear Itself» storyline, Earth is attacked by the Serpent, the God of Fear and the long-forgotten brother of Odin.^[85] In Paris, Iron Man fights Grey Gargoyle, who has become Mokk, Breaker of Faith, one of the Serpent’s Worthy. Mokk leaves Iron Man unconscious and transforms Detroit Steel and the citizens of Paris into stone.^[86][87] To defeat the Serpent’s army, Tony drinks a bottle of wine (thus ‘sacrificing’ his sobriety) to gain an audience with Odin, who allows Tony to enter the realm of Svartalfheim. Tony and the dwarves of Svartalfheim build enchanted weapons.^[88] Tony upgrades his armor with uru-infused enchantments and delivers the finished weapons to the Avengers, who use them for the final battle against the Serpent’s forces. Iron Man watches as Thor kills the Serpent, but dies in the process. After the battle is over, Tony melts down the weapons he created and repairs Captain America’s shield, which had been broken by Serpent, and gives it back to Captain America.^[89] During a subsequent argument with Odin about the gods’ lack of involvement in the recent crisis, Odin gives Tony a brief opportunity to see the vastness of the universe the way he sees it. As thanks for Tony’s role in the recent crisis, Odin restores all the people that the Grey Gargoyle killed during his rampage.^[90]

Return of the Mandarin and Marvel NOW!

In the storylines «Demon» and «The Long Way Down», Stark is subpoenaed by the U.S. government after evidence surfaces of him using the Iron Man armor while under the influence. Mandarin and Zeke Stane upgrade some of Iron Man’s old enemies and send them to commit acts of terrorism across the world, intending to discredit Iron Man. General Bruce Babbage forces Stark to wear a tech governor, a device that allows Babbage to deactivate Stark’s armor whenever he wants. To fight back, Tony undergoes a surgical procedure that expels the Bleeding Edge technology out of his body and replaces his repulsor node with a new model, forcing Babbage to remove the tech governor off his chest. He announces his retirement as Iron Man, faking Rhodes’s death and giving him a new armor so that he becomes the new Iron Man.^[91] This leads into the next storyline, «The Future», in which the Mandarin takes control of Stark’s mind and uses him to create new armored bodies for the alien spirits inhabiting his rings, but Stark allies himself with some of his old enemies, who have also been imprisoned by Mandarin, and manages to defeat him. The final issue of this storyline concluded Matt Fraction’s series.^[92]

In the ongoing series that premiered in 2012 as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Tony Stark has hit a technological ceiling. After the death of Dr. Maya Hansen and the destruction of all of the Extremis Version 2 kits that were being sold to the black market, Tony decides that the Earth is not safe without him learning more from what is in the final frontier. He takes his new suit, enhanced with an artificial intelligence named P.E.P.P.E.R. and joins Peter Quill and The Guardians of the Galaxy after helping them thwart a Badoon attack on Earth.^[93]

Superior Iron Man

Tony Stark’s personality is inverted during the events of AXIS, bringing out more dark aspects of himself like irresponsibility, egotism and alcoholism.^[94] Stark relocates to San Francisco and builds a new, all-white armor. He supplies the citizens of San Francisco with the Extremis 3.0 app, a version of the techno-virus that offers beauty, health or even immortality, free.^[95] When every person in the city viewed Iron Man as a messiah for making their dreams come true, he ended the free trial mode and started charging a daily fee of $99.99, causing many to resort to crime to pay for the upgrade.^[96] Daredevil confronts Stark at his new Alcatraz Island penthouse, but is easily brushed off.^[97] Iron Man uses Extremis 3.0 to temporarily restore Daredevil’s sight, just to prove his point.^[98] Daredevil deduces that Stark had added Extremis to the water supply and the phones only transmit an activation signal, but Stark subjects Murdock to minor brain damage to prevent him from sharing this revelation with others.^[99]

After discovering that new villain Teen Abomination is the son of Happy Hogan, Stark decides to help him,^[100] but this minor act of redemption is too late for Pepper Potts, who attacks Stark with the aid of an AI based on Stark’s mind.^[101] This culminates in a confrontation between the two Starks, as Stark calls on the unwitting aid of all ‘infected’ with the Extremis upgrade while the AI uses Stark’s various old armors to attack him.^[102] Although Stark technically wins the battle as he destroys his other armors and deletes the AI backup, Pepper states that she plans to reveal the truth about his goals with Extremis, bluntly informing him that if he continues his Extremis upgrade project, he will have to do it alone, accepting his fate of being regarded as a monster by all who know him.^[103]

Time Runs Out

During the «Time Runs Out» storyline, an attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had created to destroy incursive Earths results in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis.^[104] After the Cabal are apparently killed, the Illuminati free Tony, who is forced to flee due to the Illuminati’s unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they meet Rogers and the Avengers. When the Shi’ar and their allies arrive to destroy Earth, the Avengers and the Illuminati unsuccessfully try to retaliate. Iron Man uses Sol’s Hammer to destroy the fleet.^[105] The incursions continue, and Rogers confronts Stark about what he knows. A fight ensues between them and Stark admits that he had lied and had known about the incursions all along. During the final incursion, Earth-1610’s S.H.I.E.L.D. launches a full-scale attack on Earth-616, during which Stark and Rogers are crushed by a Helicarrier.^[106]

All-New, All-Different Marvel

After the events of the Secret Wars crossover, Stark returns to his normal self with no signs of his inverted personality. Eight months following the return of the universe as seen in the «All-New, All-Different Marvel» event, Tony works in his laboratory non-stop after his position as an innovator had been put in doubt. Because an M.I.T. student reverse-engineered some of his technology, Stark develops a new armor which can change shape according to the situation he would find himself. When Stark’s new AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. informs him that Madame Masque has broken into the ruins of Castle Doom, he travels to Latveria to investigate and runs into some revolutionaries who are then defeated by a man in a suit. To his amazement, Iron Man’s armor computer identifies him as Doctor Doom with his face restored. Doctor Doom claims that he wanted to help Iron Man.^[107]

After learning from Doctor Doom that Madame Masque has taken a decoy of the Wand of Watoomb, Tony Stark confronts Madame Masque. Upon learning that Madame Masque is not allied with Doctor Doom, Tony is attacked by her with a burst of energy that damages his armor.^[108] F.R.I.D.A.Y. manages to gain control of the suit and takes Tony to a safe location. Iron Man tracks Madame Masque to Marina del Rey. After finding a tape recorder with her messages, Tony is attacked by several black silhouettes with swords.^[109]

Iron Man escapes the ninjas that are attacking him and manages to defeat most of them, but they kill themselves before he can interrogate any of them. Iron Man and Doctor Doom arrive at Mary Jane Watson’s newest Chicago night club Jackpot when Madame Masque attacks it.^[110] As Mary Jane distracts Madame Masque by knocking off her mask, Iron Man and Doctor Doom discover that Madame Masque is possessed by a demon. Doctor Doom is able to perform an exorcism on her.^[111]

Doctor Strange arrives and tells Iron Man he will take Madame Masque with him to fix her metaphysically and then hand her over at S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man also informs him of Doctor Doom’s help who had left the scene some time ago. Three days later, Iron Man offers Mary Jane a job to make up for the damage to her nightclub.^[112] After speaking with War Machine, Tony Stark meets up at a diner with Amara Perera when they are unexpectedly joined by Doctor Doom who wanted to make sure that the demonic possession that affected Madame Masque has not affected Stark or Amara.^[113] Stark shows Mary Jane the demonstration on the people that he will be working with. They are interrupted by F.R.I.D.A.Y. who tells Tony that War Machine is missing.^[114] Before heading to Tokyo, Tony receives from Mary Jane the emergency number for Peter Parker. In Tokyo, Iron Man is contacted by Spider-Man at War Machine’s last known location as he is being observed by ninjas.^[115]

During the Civil War II storyline, Iron Man protests the logic of using precognitive powers to stop future crimes after the recently emerged Inhuman Ulysses predicted Thanos’s attack on Project Pegasus. Three weeks later, Iron Man is summoned to the Triskelion after War Machine is killed in battle against Thanos. When Iron Man learns that War Machine and the Ultimates used Ulysses’s power to ambush Thanos, he vows to stop anyone from using that power again.^[116] Iron Man infiltrates New Attilan and makes off with Ulysses. At Stark Tower, Iron Man vows to find out how Ulysses’s precognition works. The Inhumans attack Stark Tower but are stopped by the Avengers, the Ultimates, and S.H.I.E.L.D. During the confrontation, Ulysses has another vision which he projects to Iron Man and everyone present, showing a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the defeated superheroes.^[117] The heroes confront Banner, who is killed by Hawkeye. Barton claims that Banner was about to transform and Banner had previously asked Hawkeye to kill him if he should turn back into the Hulk. Tony is disgusted at this use of Ulysses’s power. When his analysis of Ulysses brain is completed,^[118] Tony reveals that Ulysses does not actually see the future, but simply assembles large quantities of data to project likely outcomes. While Danvers continues to use the visions as a resource, Tony objects to the concept of profiling people. This results in a stand-off when Tony’s side abducts a woman from custody after Ulysses’s visions identified her as a deep-cover HYDRA agent, despite the lack of supporting evidence.^[119]

Iron Man learns that his biological mother was actually Amanda Armstrong, who had given him up for adoption and that his biological father was a Hydra double agent named Jude. S.H.I.E.L.D. had Armstrong’s baby adopted by Howard and Maria Stark.^[120]

Marvel NOW! 2016

In July 2016, it was announced that Tony Stark would hand off the mantle of Iron Man to a 15-year-old girl named Riri Williams. Riri is an MIT student who built her own Iron Man suit out of scrap pieces and, as such, attracted Stark’s attention. Early depictions of Williams’ suit depict it without the Arc Reactor, but leaves the power source for the suit unclear.^[121] Another Iron Man-based series titled Infamous Iron Man debuted featuring Doctor Doom sporting his version of the Iron Man armor.^[122] This is revealed to be the result of serious injuries sustained by Stark during his final confrontation with Captain Marvel. Danvers’ beating leaves Stark in a coma, but he is left alive due to unspecified experiments Stark has carried out on himself over the years.^[123]

Existing as an AI

Following the revelation that Stark experimented on himself at the end of Civil War II, Beast concludes that the only option is to let the experiments do their job in healing Tony and recover on his own.^[124] In Invincible Iron Man #1, an employee of Stark sends Riri Williams an artificial intelligence housing a copy of Tony Stark’s consciousness to help her control and mentor in her own version of the Iron Man armor. This AI is directly copied from Tony’s brain, granting sentience, with Williams commenting on Stark existing as a «techno-ghost». As an AI, Stark can walk around as a hard-light object and gains the ability to remote control his vast armory of Iron Man suits.^[125] In The Mighty Captain Marvel #3, the Tony Stark AI goes to Antarctica and visits Captain Marvel with the intent on settling their differences from the Second Civil War, she apologizes to him for her regrets, reconciles with him eventually and they become allies once more. Then in Secret Empire, the Tony Stark AI suits up as Iron Man once again and learns of Captain America’s betrayal to Hydra and how he ended up like this. As Hydra tightens its grip across America, the Tony Stark AI leads a team known as the Underground to find the Cosmic Cubes to restore Rogers to his normal self. When things start to escalate, Tony and his crew go rogue and in search for answers for the Cube. As Iron Man and the Underground search for them they are intercepted by Captain America and his Hydra team. With both teams encountering each other, they are captured by the Ultron/Hank Pym hybrid, who forces both teams to sit at a dinner table. During «dinner», Ultron reveals information about the Hydra Avengers – such as Odinson working with Hydra to reclaim Mjolnir, Scarlet Witch being possessed by Chthon, and Vision being affected by an AI virus. Ultron argues that he is doing this because the Avengers have become less of a family over the years as so many of them jump to obey Captain America or Iron Man, despite past experience confirming that this is not always a good idea, but Tony counters that the only reason the team failed as a family was because of Hank’s abuse towards Wasp. Enraged, Ultron is about to kill everyone, but Ant-Man is able to calm him down by arguing that Hank remains his own inspiration. Ultron allows the Underground to leave with the fragment, arguing that neither side should have an advantage over the other. Back in America, Hydra Supreme has put Namor in a position where he will be forced to sign a peace treaty that gives Rogers access to the Cosmic Cube fragment in Atlantis, but Hydra Supreme muses that he is unconcerned about who will acquire the fragments, as he has an inside man in the Underground. After the Mount was attacked by Thor and the resurrected Hulk led by Hydra, the Underground evacuated the civilians thanks to Hawkeye and the rest of the heroes. Captain America and Iron Man fight as the Mount collapses around them. The Tony Stark AI initiates the Mount’s «Clean Slate Protocol», and blows up the Mount, killing Madame Hydra, then apologizes to Steve Rogers about their past differences, but the A.I survives and, in the aftermath, helps the heroes pull the pieces back together to take down Hydra. When Iron Man confronts Hydra Supreme, he and the other heroes are easily overpowered by him and watch the original Captain America defeat his Hydra self and into celebrating their victory.^[126]

Marvel Legacy

Mary Jane Watson and other Stark employees find that Stark’s body has completely vanished from its pod, despite tests taken mere hours ago showing no sign of improvement or brain activity.^{[volume & issue needed][127]} It was discovered that Tony Stark’s comatose body was taken to the Stark Industries Complex in Dover.^[128] Upon awakening when his biological systems rebooted, Tony Stark went into hiding until he fully recovered.^[129] Wanting to make sure that James Rhodes was in a similar state that he was in, Tony Stark exhumed his body from Arlington Cemetery and kick-started the biological systems in him. Afterwards, Iron Man and War Machine fought Hood to keep Stark Industries from falling into Hood’s hands where he switched to a version of his Extremis armor. Then he proceeded to defeat Jude when he turned up alive.^[130]

During «The Ultron Agenda» arc, Iron Man went up against the Ultron/Hank Pym who begun a plan to merge humans with robots while taking up the name «Ultron Pym.» Iron Man was briefly fused with his armor. After using Stark Unlimited’s atomic separator on himself, Iron Man figured out that Hank Pym was dead the moment he accidentally fused with Ultron. Not wanting to prove Tony right, Ultron Pym surrendered to Iron Man and the Avengers. As it turned out that Iron Man actually died during the Civil War II storyline, Arno Stark used this to his advantage to acquire Stark Unlimited through a merger with Baintronics. With the combined resources, he built the Iron Man Armor Model 66 as his attempt to recreate the Godbuster Armor. Now having a new destiny, Arno Stark became the latest person to take on the Iron Man mantle.^[131]

Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated AI at the start of the «Iron Man 2020» storyline, Tony Stark became Mark One and started to establish the A.I. Army which also consists of Albert, Awesome Android, Egghead II, H.E.R.B.I.E., M-11, Machine Man, Machinesmith, Quasimodo, Super-Adaptoid, Walking Stiletto, the Dreadnoughts, a Sentinel, several Constructo-Bots, several Nick Fury LMDs, and an unnamed bomb disposal robot. This group of robots and androids want to obtain equal rights with organic beings through whatever way possible. Mark One provided them with a hideout on Floor Thirteen, a solid light construct that can only be accessed by robots and androids. With the establishment of Floor Thirteen, Mark One keeps the A.I. Army safe from their enemies and oppressors. Tony Stark was restored to normal thanks to his allies. Then he placed Arno into a virtual reality when he found that Arno’s illness was returning as the virtual reality showed Arno leading the charge in defeating the Extinction Entity.^[132]

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Armor

Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and worn by Stark (with occasional short-term exceptions). It’s also constantly improved upon and Stark develops many specialized versions of the armor. Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include Stark’s long-time partner and best friend James Rhodes;^[133] close associates Harold «Happy» Hogan; Eddie March;^[134][135] (briefly) Michael O’Brien and Riri Williams.

The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but Iron Man’s standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts (that pick up kinetic energy along the way; so the farther they travel, the harder they hit); an electromagnetic pulse generator; and a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360 degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and manipulating magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and projecting 3-dimensional holograms (to create decoys).

In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel,^[37] deep-sea diving, stealth,^[38][39] and other special purposes. Stark has modified suits, like the Hulkbuster heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability enough to engage the Hulk in a fight. A later model, created with the help of Odin and the Asgardian metal Uru, is similar to the Destroyer. Stark develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technologies, will burn out those components, rendering the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models. While it is typically associated with James Rhodes, the War Machine armor began as one of Stark’s specialty armors.

The most recent models of Stark’s armor, beginning with the Extremis armor, are now stored in the hollow portions of Stark’s bones, and the personal area networking implement used to control it is implanted into his forearm, and connected directly to his central nervous system.

The Extremis has since been removed,^{[volume & issue needed]} and he now uses more conventional armors. Some armors still take a liquid form, but are not stored within his body. His Endo-Sym Armor incorporates a combination of the liquid smart-metal with the alien Venom symbiote, psionically controlled by Stark.

Post-Secret Wars, Stark uses a more streamlined suit of armor that uses nanotechnology to shape shift into other armors or weapons.^[136]

Powers

After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the Extremis process).^[137] By rewriting his own biology, Stark is able to save his life, gain an enhanced healing factor, and partially merge with the Iron Man armor, superseding the need for bulky, AI-controlled armors in favor of lighter designs, technopathically controlled by his own brain. His enhanced technopathy extends to every piece of technology, limitless and effortlessly due to his ability to interface with communication satellites and wireless connections to increase his «range». Some components of the armor-sheath are now stored in Tony’s body, able to be recalled, and extruded from his own skin, at will.

During the «Secret Invasion» storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shut down by a virus, forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations. Furthermore, Osborn’s takeover of most of the few remaining Starktech factories, with Ezekiel Stane systematically crippling the others, limits Tony to the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.^[138]

After being forced to «wipe out» his brain to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining his information, Tony Stark is forced to have a new arc reactor, of Rand design installed in his chest. The process greatly improves his strength, stamina and intellect. The procedure left him with virtually no autonomic functions: as his brain was stripped of every biological function, Tony is forced to rely on a digital backup of his memories (leaving him with severe gaps and lapses in his long-term memory) and on software routine in the arc reactor for basic stimuli reaction, such as blinking and breathing.^[139][140] The Bleeding Edge package of armor and physical enhancement is now equal in power, if not a more advanced, version of the old Extremis tech.^[82]

Skills

Considered to be one of the most powerful non powered humans on the planet, Tony Stark is a highly intelligent inventor and scientist as well as being a successfully wealthy businessman in charge of his own company.

An inventive genius whose expertise in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science rivals that of Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner, and his expertise in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering surpasses even theirs. He is regarded as one of the most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe. He graduated with advanced degrees in physics and engineering at the age of 17 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)^[141] and further developed his knowledge ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum mechanics as time progressed. His expertise extends to his ingenuity in dealing with difficult situations, such as difficult foes and deathtraps, in which he is capable of using available tools, including his suit, in unorthodox but effective ways. For instance, in Stark’s final confrontation with Obadiah Stane, the villain managed to have Stark’s companions in an unconscious state in a room with motion sensors; when Stark entered the room, Stane warned him that the slightest move would trigger a fatal electrical current to his hostages, thus forcing Stark to stay still and slowly die of dehydration lest he wants his friends to die. However, while Stane was confident that such a trap was inescapable, Stark is able to outwit and defeat its mechanism in seconds, thus freeing the hostages and allowing him to continue the battle against Stane.^[142]

As the CEO of Stark Industries, Stark is well respected in the business world, able to command people’s attention when he speaks on economic matters, having over the years built up several multimillion-dollar companies from virtually nothing. He is noted for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as for his business ethics. Thus he immediately fired an employee who made profitable, but illegal, sales to Doctor Doom.^[46] He strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.

Considered to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet, the success of Stark Industries provides Tony with a seemingly bottomless revenue stream that allows him to not only enjoy a life of luxury further build up his company but also allows him to fund his superhero activities. Even before becoming Superhero, Tony often purchased the most expensive clothes, cars, houses and other luxury items money can buy. After becoming a hero, Tony began using his vast wealth to continue superhero activities by building his Iron Man suit and later creating an arsenal of other suits that serve multiple purposes. Stark also provides funding to several peacekeeping organizations and superhero teams among them being S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

At a time when Stark was unable to use his armor for a period, he received some combat training from Captain America and has become physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it.^[143] In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them amid corporate takeovers.^[144]

Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space gem to safeguard.^[145] It allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space.

Supporting characters

Cultural impact and legacy

Accolades

• In 2011, IGN ranked Iron Man 12th in their «Top 100 Comic Book Heroes» list.^[146]
• In 2012, IGN ranked Iron Man 3rd in their list of «Top 50 Avengers» list.^[147]
• In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Iron Man 10th in their «Let’s rank every Avenger ever» list.^[148]
• In 2015, Gizmodo ranked Iron Man 5th in their «Every Member Of The Avengers, Ranked» list.^[149]
• In 2015, BuzzFeed ranked Iron Man 2nd in their «84 Avengers Members Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[150]
• In 2016, Screen Rant ranked Iron Man 12th in their «20 Most Powerful Members Of The Avengers» list.^[151]
• In 2017, CBR.com ranked Iron Man 17th in their «15 Avengers Leaders, Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[152]
• In 2018, GameSpot ranked Iron Man 9th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes» list.^[153]
• In 2019, Comicbook.com ranked Iron Man 9th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes Ever» list.^[154]
• In 2019, Empire ranked Iron Man 17th in their «50 greatest comic-book characters» list.^[155]
• In 2022, Collider ranked Iron Man 5th in their «10 Smartest Marvel Universe Geniuses» list.^[156]
• In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Iron Man 4th in their «100 best Marvel characters» list.^[157]
• In 2022, The Mary Sue ranked Iron Man 10th in their «The Best and the Brightest of All the Superheroes» list.^[158]
• In 2022, Nerdist ranked Iron Man 9th in their «Top 10 Marvel Comics Rogues Galleries» list.^[159]
• In 2022, Newsarama ranked Iron Man 3rd in their «Best Avengers members of all time» list.^[160]
• In 2022, Entertainment Weekly ranked Iron Man 6th in their «50 most powerful superheroes» list.^[161]

Impact

• The rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, titled his 1996 debut solo album Ironman, and has since continued to use lyrics related to the Iron Man comics and samples from the animated TV shows on his records.^[163][164] He has adopted the nickname Tony Starks as one of his numerous alter-egos,^[164] and was featured in a scene deleted from the Iron Man film.
• Paul McCartney’s song «Magneto and Titanium Man» was inspired by the X-Men’s nemesis and the original version of the Iron Man villain. Another Iron Man villain, the Crimson Dynamo, is mentioned in the lyrics to this song.^[165][166]
• The British band Razorlight mentions Tony Stark in a verse of their song, «Hang By, Hang By».^[167]
• The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark.^[168]
• Two Iron Man-themed trucks compete in the Monster Jam monster truck racing series. Debuted in Atlanta on 9 January 2010, they are driven by Lee O’ Donnell and Morgan Kane.^[169]
• In 2015, University of Central Florida engineering student Albert Manero, who builds and donates affordable 3D-printed bionic limbs to those in need, constructed a bionic arm based on Iron Man’s suit for 7-year-old Alex Pring, a superhero fan who was born with a partially formed right arm. He then delivered the Iron Man arm to Pring with the help of Robert Downey Jr. in character as Tony Stark.^[170]
• For Major League Baseball Players Weekend in August 2018, New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres designed his custom cleats after Iron Man’s suit.^[171]
• A TV show demonstrated a hovering bullet-mitigating suit with some of the official Marvel design features in 2019.^[172][173]
• Ice hockey players Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Yanni Gourde of the Seattle Kraken participated in a ceremonial puck drop featuring Iron Man and a boy from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, as part of ‘Marvel Super Hero Night’.^[174]
• In 2019, a statue representing the character in his Iron Man armor was erected in Forte dei Marmi, Italy.^[175][176]

Other versions

1602

1602: New World features a 17th-century Spanish Iron Man named Lord Iron. Taken captive in the Holy Land during the English / Spanish war, he is forced to make weapons for them after being tortured by David Banner, the later Hulk of that world. He needs his massive armor to survive. The armor is powered by «lightning bottles» and provides him with super-strength and invulnerability as well as several electricity-powered^{[volume & issue needed]}

With his Moorish associate, Rhodes, Lord Iron is assigned by King James to put an end to the traitors and witchbreed in the New World. Instead, he realizes he has let bitterness consume him, and makes his peace with Banner. He is last seen using his armor to power the colony’s printing press.^{[volume & issue needed]}

2020

Iron Man 2020 features Arno Stark as a mercenary in the employ of Sunset Bain.^[177] In 2012, Arno had traveled to the past in an effort to save his family from a madman’s bomb. All he needs are the retinal patterns of the bomb maker, but he runs into the original Blizzard who mistakes him for the «real» Iron Man/Tony Stark. Not having time to deal with this threat, Arno kills Blizzard. While attempting to scan the retinal patterns of the young terrorist, Spider-Man snatches the scanner with his webbing and asks IM 2020 what he is doing. The two battle one another (Arno is «against the clock») when suddenly Arno is pulled back to his time to discover the bomb had a design flaw and exploded prematurely. His wife, son, employees, and factory have all been destroyed.^[178]

2093

Tony Stark and Doctor Doom are brought to the year 2093 by Merlin to stop a plot by a primarily robotic Doom and the Iron Man of 2093, Andros Stark. Andros is a psychotic madman and uses his grandfather Arno’s armor. Tony defeats Andros while wielding the legendary sword Excalibur.^[179]

Andros Stark/Iron Man 2099 voiced by Alessandro Juliani would later be adopted into the second season of Iron Man: Armored Adventures with him being from the year 2099 and traveling back when Tony was a teenager before inventing an AI named «Vortex». Vortex dooms the entire human race with Andros donning a futuristic suit (classed «Hyperspace Mark XL») and the Extremis to kill Tony/Iron Man but goes to S.H.I.E.L.D. for assistance. Andros destroys Iron Man with his ultra-beam, afterward, Hawkeye managed to implant the virus on Andros’s armor, and realized that all this is because Tony was trying to save himself by using the virus to stop Andros using his nano-virus which is actually the original seed for the Vortex virus. He travels back in time for a short moment to warn Iron Man that his nano-virus chips were actually the Vortex virus. He quickly destroys the last nano-virus arrow, saving Andros. As a result of this change in the timeline, the future was saved and because of this, Andros is erased from existence after saying his last words to his grandfather.^{[volume & issue needed]}

3030

The Iron Man of 3030 is Tony Stark’s biracial granddaughter, Rhodey Stark (named after Stark’s close friend James Rhodes). She travels to the present in order to help the Avengers save Earth from a rogue planet that had been fired from the future, and departs after warning her grandfather that his life is in danger.^[180]

Adam Warlock

In Adam Warlock #2 (1972), Peter Parker’s counterpart on Counter-Earth mentions that «the heart of Tony Stark beats unscathed».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Tony Stark is an agent of the Human High Council.^[181] The injury that compromised his heart is caused by the attack of a mutant.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Age of X

Officially code named Iron Man, he prefers the name Steel Corpse. Iron Man was infected by a disease, thought to be of mutant origin, that bonded him permanently to his armor. Not only can he never remove the armor, the disease is causing the armor to slowly consume his flesh, meaning that one day Tony Stark will cease to exist and only the armor will be left. He works with this reality’s version of the Avengers to exterminate all mutants, but eventually rebels against his purpose when a ‘Trojan horse’ in the armor nearly drives him to kill innocent mutant children, forcing his teammates to kill him.^[182]

Avataars

In the sword and sorcery world of the Avataars: Covenant of the Shield miniseries, Iron Man’s counterpart is Ironheart, one of the Champions of the Realm. A powerful warrior, he wears a huge suit of grey armor.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Bullet Points

In Bullet Points, Iron Man is Steve Rogers, who, due to the assassination of Dr. Abraham Erskine occurring earlier than in the mainstream Marvel universe, never receives the Super-Soldier formula. Instead, he agrees to be bonded to the prototype ‘Iron Man’ armor despite the intense physical pain and discomfort this will cause. Rogers is later killed fighting an alternative version of the Hulk. Tony Stark, in this reality a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., expresses a desire to continue in Rogers’ footsteps as Iron Man, but is rejected owing to a heart condition. He later disobeys this command and adopts the mantle upon the arrival of Galactus.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Contest of Champions

The 2015 Contest of Champions series has a version of Tony Stark that won Civil War with nearly everything working out in his favor. Five years later, Tony has donned the Iron Patriot armor and is the President of the United States. He and his Mighty Avengers team are kidnapped by Maestro and placed onto Battleworld, where Maestro alters their memories to believe the remaining heroes are unregistered and need to be taken in. Their fight is interrupted by that universe’s Thunderbolts (led by Steve Rogers).^[183] In the next issue, the Mighty Avengers battle the Thunderbolts and Renegade Champions, during which Tony kills Steve and reveals that the reason the Civil War went completely in his favor was because he used the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet. When he tries to use it again on Battleworld, it does not work because he is in a different dimension, and he is killed by Maestro.^[184]

Earth X

In the alternative reality of Earth X, Tony Stark builds a headquarters that protects himself from a plague that grants all humans superpowers. Afterwards, he builds the Iron Avengers. His headquarters is revealed to be a giant armor, based on the old Godzilla fighting mecha, the Red Ronin, which he uses to delay the Celestial attack until the coming of Galactus, sacrificing his life in the process. In Paradise X, he becomes part of the angelic Avenging Host of Marvel’s «Paradise», with an Iron Man motif.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Earth-691

In the continuity of Earth-691, Tony Stark is devastated by the horrors of the Martian invasion and jettisons his technology into space. It is found by a primitive alien race who use it to become an interstellar menace calling themselves the Stark, who subsequently clash with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the 31st century.^[185] «Standard» continuity Iron Man (Earth-616) encountered his «creations» when a cadre of rational, scientific members of the Stark called the Programmers bring Tony Stark to the future to help them solve various planet-wide problems.^[186]

Earth-818

On Earth-818 which was conquered by Multiversal Masters of Evil member Black Skull, Tony Stark was forced by Black Skull to build the War Machines to build his army. He would later escape from Black Skull’s clutches and become Ant-Man where he formed a resistance that involved Vision, Moon Knight (Mariama Spector), Wonder Man, and Infinity Thing. Ant-Man later led the resistance in rescuing Robbie Reyes from Black Skull while being assisted by a robotic ant named Shellhead. With help from the granddaughters of King Thor, Robbie, his Deathlok companion, and the resistance defeated Black Skull and his counterparts as Vision and Moon Knight get sucked into a portal. Afterwards, Ant-Man showed the granddaughters of King Thor the Mjolnir he found. After the granddaughters of King Thor bring rain to Earth-818, Ant-Man joins Robbie and his Deathlok companion on their quest while Wonder Man and Infinity Thing work to rebuild Earth-818.^[187]

Arriving in an unnamed reality, Ant-Man of Earth-818, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion follow the signal of that reality’s T’Challa to an active star. After Ghost Rider drives his car through the active star to retrieve a vibranium cocoon, T’Challa emerges from it and takes the name Star Panther.^[188] Looking for other allies, Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion enlist Captain Ape-Merica from Earth-8101, the Captain America from Earth-71912, Cap-Wolf from Earth-666, Yeoman America from Earth-398, and a U.S. Agent variant of Steve Rogers to train the powerless Steve Rogers variants and a Weapon America version of Steve Rogers in a prison-like training ground. They next plan to recruit a Steve Rogers from Earth-4479 who was a drifter that got caught in a gamma bomb explosion.^[189] Ant-Man accompanies Ghost Rider on a trip to Earth-56377 where they pick up its Thor who wields the Iron Fist move and the Mjolnir that has followed him ever since Thor had been unworthy to lift it.^[190]

Traveling with Ghost Rider and his Deathlok companion, Ant-Man recalls with them on how they found Star Panther, the Thor who became the «God of Fists», the all Steve Rogers army that was dubbed the Howling Commandos, and the Carol Corps. Ant-Man is surprised that the last pillar that they have to complete is Iron Man and that they need an Iron Man in their group. They go to unnamed alternate realities where they find an alcoholic Iron Man who crashed trying to avoid them, a Tony Stark that mostly did his work in a junkyard who is already dead because people thought he was a witch, a Tony Stark in Godkiller armor who is not interested in protecting the Earth as it consumes a planet, 30 Tony Starks who use their armors as robot bartenders, two dozen Tony Starks who flew into the sun either on purpose or by accident, 50 Tony Starks who are in catatonic states, and others who went mad. After a visit to a Tony Stark who is a perfectionist trying to build the perfect armor even though his captors have been dead for 10 years, the next visit was to an elderly Tony Stark who ran a repair shop until he was too old and died in Ant-Man’s company. Ant-Man then threw some alcohol into the Hell Charger’s trunk and returned to the perfectionist Tony Stark’s reality and introduces him to the Godkiller Tony Stark and the other Tony Stark variants they successfully recruited as they all say hi to the perfectionist Tony Stark.^[191]

Following a mission where Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and Deathlok have helped Captain Fury against the Goblin Corps, the three of them are informed that their time is up and to head to Avenger Tower at Infinity’s End. Ant-Man of Earth-818 is looking forward to meeting Avenger Prime. After Ghost Rider gets word that another Spirit of Vengeance has fallen, he subdues Ant-Man and Deathlok in chains and takes off. By the time they catch up with Ghost Rider on an unidentified world, he was already engaging Doom Supreme as Ant-Man shrinks him. When Dark Phoenix goes on the attack, Deathlok tells Ant-Man to get Ghost Rider away as he buys them some time.^[192]

Ant-Man and Robbie Reyes arrive at Avengers Tower in the Quarry of Creation where they find it under attack by the members of the Council of Red. As the Hell Charger drives into some of them, Ant-Man learns from Robbie that he can’t transform into Ghost Rider.^[193]

When the Council of Red continues the attack on Avengers Tower, Ant-Man notes that he hasn’t seen the inside of this Avengers Tower before as he is reunited with Moon Knight and Vision. After telling them about Robbie’s fight with Doom Supreme and the Multiversal Masters of Evil, Ant-Man makes use of the ants in Avengers Tower’s ant farm and shrinks himself, Vision, and Moon Knight down to small size. While underground, they find that some of the Council of Red members are digging a tunnel of their own toward the First Firmament. As they fight the Council of Red members present, one member tries to get Ant-Man intoxicated only to be defeated by Moon Knight. Just then, Ant-Man, Vision, and Moon Knight are saved upon the arrival of Old Man Phoenix and the granddaughters of King Thor.^[194]

Earth-2122

In the continuity of Earth-2122, the home of Crusader X, where the British won the American Revolution and still control North America, Anthony Stark is a member of a group called the Sons of Liberty. In this reality, Stark is willing to kill innocent people.^[195]

Earth-3490

In the continuity of Earth-3490, Tony Stark was born a woman (Natasha Stark) rather than a man; Stark’s superhero alter-ego in this universe is Iron Woman. The Civil War between superheroes in Earth-3490 was averted due to the fact that Stark and Steve Rogers (Captain America) are romantically involved, and have since married.^[196]

Exiles

Different versions of Iron Man appear in the pages of Exiles:

• In one reality, a villainous alternative Iron Man of Earth-2020 is a member of Weapon X, the more ruthless team of reality fixers.^[197] After ending up at the ‘Crystal Palace’ (the Exiles’ headquarters) and fighting them there, he is eventually exposed and sent back to his own timeline where he is arrested by the Army for starting a world war.^[198]
• In one alternative reality Tony Stark has become the absolute ruler of the entire planet Earth, and kills many of that Earth’s heroes and mutants. Weapon X arrives on this reality to help him conquer Attilan, though their true purpose is to cause his downfall. Tony is eventually killed by Susan Storm.^[199]
• In one alternative reality, he is partners with both Mister Fantastic and Doctor Octopus before he created the Iron Man suit.^[200]
• On an alternative world devastated by the Hulk’s Annihilation Wave, Iron Man was one of those killed in the attack. When the Exiles arrange for the dead heroes to be replaced by alternatives, Iron Man’s replacement is a version of Spitfire, on the grounds that they have never got along with any alternative Tony Starks.^[201]
• The Sons of Iron are a group of armor-wearing warriors from an Earth shared by humans and reptilian humanoids. Because they are completely concealed by the Iron Man armor, no-one can tell which they are.^[202]

Fantastic Four: The End

In the miniseries Fantastic Four: The End, which is set in a future where Reed Richards’ technology has launched humanity into a golden age, Tony Stark has died long ago — but his consciousness survives, ‘hopping’ from artificial body to artificial body. Most of the bodies shown in the miniseries resemble Iron Man armors, often being identical to existing armors. One notable exception was the bulky, stocky space-armor which played an important role in the battle of humanity’s heroes versus several alien armadas.^{[volume & issue needed]}

House of M

Born to Howard and Maria Stark, the heads of the powerful business conglomerate Stark Industries, Tony Stark grew to be an imaginative and brilliant inventor. He worked with his father from an early age, and surpassed his father’s technical brilliance by the age of 16. Stark became the key supplier of hi-tech weaponry used to fight mutants, and was on the verge of a technological breakthrough when the Mutant-Human war came to an end. The suits are powered down to become part of a game called Robo Death Match, a television sport with giant robots fighting each other. Stark Industries scored its biggest victory when it secured the Sentinel production contracts, pushing major competitor, Jason Wyngarde, out of business. Erik Magnus and Sebastian Shaw awarded Tony the contract under the condition that he would hire Beast and Forge as observers. McCoy became a key contributor along with Doctor Pym on The Vision project. Tony secretly worked on a special project beneath Stark Industries: a brand new suit of hi-tech armor he planned to use as his new Robo Death Match suit.^[203]

Infinity Warps

During the Infinity Wars storyline, where the universe was combined in half, Iron Man was fused with Thor creating Iron Hammer. Sigurd Stark was the fifth richest person on the world thanks to his genius about technology, however due to his lack of memories before five years, taunted him driving to drink. After going through the Norvegian, he was attacked by some Dark Elves, led by Krimson Kurse (fusion Crimson Dynamo and Kurse). He got poisoned by an arrow, slowing killing him and taken by the Elves to aid their other prisoner Eitri (fusion of Eitri and Ho Yinsen) in order to build powerful weapons for the Elves. Then, Sigurd became friend with Eitri and together build an armor, that prevented the poison from killing Sigurd, along with a hammer in order to escape the Dark Elves. However, during their escape Eitri is killed and after Sigurd defeated the Elves and Krimson Kurse, he discovered that Krimson was his lost friend who had turned into a Thrall to be a servant to Dark Elves and after that he mercy killed his friend. Sigurd then decided to the All-Father on Asgard to seek help into defeating Malekith (fusion of Malekith and Mandarin) and with the help of his AI assistant H.E.I.M.D.A.L.L. (fusion of Heimdall and J.A.R.V.I.S.) opened the B.I.F.R.O.S.T. and went to Asgard. When travelling, he remembered his old memories: his true name was Stark Odinson, who due to his arrogance, his father Howard Odin (fusion of Howard Stark and Odin) banished his son to Earth where he would learn to how is like to be a mortal. Upon arriving, Malekith had trapped the Aesir and had allied with Madame Hel (fusion of Madame Masque and Hela) and Stane Odinson (fusion of Loki and Obadiah Stane). Luckily, Iron Hammer was able to defeat Malekith and Odin allowed his son to become a god again. However, Sigurd refused, feeling better as a human.^[204]

Inter-company crossovers

In Marvel and DC’s Amalgam Comics, Stark is merged with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan into the Iron Lantern. «Hal Stark» wears a suit resembling a green Iron Man armor, powered by a Green Lantern battery.^[205]

In the miniseries JLA/Avengers, Iron Man aids the Avengers in the battle against Starro the Conqueror. Afterwards, he creates a dimensional alarm in order to tell when invaders from another dimension come into their universe. After a brief scuffle with the JLA in the Savage Land, the Avengers are confronted by Metron, who gives Tony a Mother Box. Using this, Tony is able to get the Avengers to Metropolis, where the Avengers confront the JLA again.^[206] The Avengers escape, but Tony and Hawkeye manage to take Green Lantern’s Power Battery before they leave, with Tony able to stop the Flash in his tracks. The two later take down Captain Atom and Green Arrow in order to collect the Casket of Ancient Winters. Tony then leaves and arrives to save Photon and Quasar from Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, allowing them to take the Spear of Destiny.^[207] After the battle in the Savage Land, Tony is one of the Avengers and is clueless as to the dimensional shifts that are happening around him. After Cap and Superman attack each other, Tony ends up in Metropolis. When the two worlds are briefly corrected by the Grandmaster, Tony is shown his true future with his alcoholism and his defeat by Obadiah Stane.^[208] Accepting this, he aids the JLA and the Avengers in the final battle and helped build the ship that took them to Krona’s base. During the battle, he teams up with Kyle Rayner to create a weapon to use against their enemies and the two are shown to be impressed by one another, Kyle expressing his awe at Tony’s engineering prowess and Tony asking Kyle where he could get a Green Lantern ring.^[209]

Iron Man: The End

In the one-shot Iron Man: The End, an aging Tony Stark works on his greatest creation, a space elevator called «Big Jump.» Stark faces retirement due to age and the physical toll of an illness, no longer allowing him to run his business «Stark Universal» and continue to be Iron Man. This leads to the need to groom a replacement.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Iron Maniac

Iron Maniac is an evil alternative universe version of Iron Man from Earth-5012. He first appeared in Marvel Team-Up vol. 3 #2, wearing armor that resembles that of Doctor Doom’s. He comes from an alternative reality where most of the Avengers were killed when they encountered the vicious alien Titannus in space. While the team is rescued by the reserve Avengers five years later, it takes another five years to fight back the Trellions, the alien race that has brainwashed Titannus. During that time, a power-hungry Reed Richards turns his back on the surviving heroes. Scarred for life due to an attack from the Human Torch, Iron Man sets his own operation base in Latveria to «take over the world to save it from Richards.» Richards somehow manages to banish him into Earth-616 Other differences between his world and Earth-616 include that there is no Spider-Man, and that Hank Pym is another version of the Hulk.^{[volume & issue needed]}

After being transported to Earth-616, Iron Maniac fights the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange, all of whom mistake him for their Doctor Doom. After unmasking himself, they learn his true identity, shortly before he manages to temporarily negate the FF’s powers and escape, concluding that he has no reason to trust that they will not turn on him like the FF of his world did. Capturing a recently discovered mutant, the alternative Iron Man attempts to return to his home dimension by using the mutant as a power source, but is attacked by Spider-Man and X-23 as they investigate the situation. After the appearance of Captain America and Black Widow, he realizes that he is in an alternative world, but continues to fight the heroes, calling them all ‘Richards’ lackeys’, proclaiming that he cannot trust that they will not turn into ‘villains’ just as his own former allies did. He is defeated thanks to Spider-Man and X-23’s use of their own version of the fastball special to destroy his equipment, shortly after ‘warning’ the other heroes of the Titannus War (by saying that he would not kill them now because it would be a kindness).^{[volume & issue needed]}

While the alternative Tony Stark is kept locked up and drugged in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, he is briefly visited by his counterpart in this universe, although he is unaware of the visit. Shortly after the alternative Stark is transferred to a conventional cell, Titannus soon arrives and fights the heroes, this time confronting a new group of Defenders assembled by Doctor Strange. When Titannus’ comatose lover is revived, she tells him that she never loved him and that he was insane, causing Titannus to kill himself. The alternative Iron Man later discovers from Spider-Man and Wolverine that the Avengers were never massacred in space in this reality because the group had been disassembled; as a result, other heroes only encountered Titannus after he had attacked Tokyo in a rage, leaving the heroes who did encounter him less inclined to believe his story and averting the so-called ‘Titannus War’.^[210]

Stark subsequently broke free from captivity, having immunized himself to the gas that was used to keep him sedated on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. In the process, he gained the unwilling alliance of the LMD Diamondback. Having convinced her that he is the «real» Tony, the AU Tony Stark erased her memories, reshaping the former LMD into an advanced suit of armor. This armor, even more advanced than the pre-Extremis suit Iron Man wore at that time, was able to replicate any weapon from the wearer’s memory. He subsequently battled Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America and Luke Cage, but was only defeated after the sacrifice of rookie hero Freedom Ring, who kept Iron Maniac occupied long enough for Captain America to knock him out with a shield thrown at the back of his neck.^[211]

The name Iron Maniac is what he calls himself, due to being the «sole survivor of a sane world living in a backwards, insane world».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Iron Maniac is known to be at least partially cyberized, with armor plating implanted in his chest (revealed during his escape from the Helicarrier, when he is shot). It is unknown whether the rest of his body is similarly armored or if he possesses other cybernetic enhancements.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He has been briefly mentioned as being held in a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier recently in The Irredeemable Ant-Man.^{[citation needed]}

Iron Man Noir

In Iron Man Noir, Tony Stark is an industrialist in the 1930s. He is also an adventurer, whose exploits are recorded in Marvels: A Magazine Of Men’s Adventure. He is initially accompanied by his associate James Rhodes, his personal assistant Giulietta Nefaria and his biographer Vergil Munsey. When Nefaria is revealed as working with the Nazis (specifically Baron Zemo and Baron von Strucker) and Vergil is killed, their role in the story is taken by Stark’s new biographer Pepper Potts. His heart having been damaged on an earlier adventure, Stark keeps it going with repulsor technology installed and recharged by Stark Industries engineer Edwin Jarvis.^[212]

While investigating a mysterious power source in the ruins of Atlantis, Pepper Potts gets kidnapped by the Nazis and taken to their stronghold in Norway. To rescue her, Stark and Rhodes don suits of bulky power armor built by Jarvis, but are shocked to discover that ‘Baron Zemo’ is actually Tony’s missing father Howard Stark, brainwashed by a unique chemical compound to serve the Nazis. Despite his depleted power supply, Tony manages to destroy the various suits of armor that Zemo had built for the Nazis, concluding that his father had died long ago, before returning to the USA.^[213]

Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse reality, Tony Stark creates the original armor together with Dr. Ho Yinsen and acts as Iron Man for a time, but eventually vanishes after a battle with Namor, the Submariner. He is succeeded by Antoinette (Toni) Stark, his twin sister, a former agent of SHIELD, who turns Iron Man into a massive operation — a veritable army of Iron Men in many forms, with herself as Iron Woman. After she dies in battle against the Hulk, Tony Stark reveals himself again; he has gone underground after spinal cancer reduced him to a disembodied head hooked up to a life support system. However, he has designed a new armor, and a body that he can integrate with.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He also had designed four massive vehicles for the Avengers of his world to use, which could combine (in a manner resembling old-fashioned combining super robots like Combattler V and Voltes V) into a skyscraper-sized Iron Man-mecha (dubbed Ultimate Iron Man in its first appearance, then the Iron Avenger in its battle with the Hulk, and finally «the Avenger’s mecha» in Volume 2 of the series). Unfortunately it was quickly destroyed by that world’s Hulk. Apparently, however, it was rebuilt again by the time of the second volume, this time as a single robotic unit without transformation (or, if it was capable of transformation, it was never demonstrated). This unit helped fight off the giant Galactus spores, but was later destroyed, along with most of the Avengers, single-handedly by the Mangaverse version of Dr. Doom.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Adventures

The Marvel Adventures Iron Man is very similar to the Earth-616 Iron Man, but with some changes. Instead of suffering damage to his heart due to a booby trap in Vietnam, Tony Stark’s heart was damaged when an experimental plane he was flying was brought down by A.I.M. A.I.M. wanted Stark to build weapons and devices for them. Dr. Gia-Bao Yinsen aided Tony in escaping AIM, but Yinsen died saving his country from A.I.M. Iron Man does not seem to have problems with alcoholism, since the Marvel Adventures is aimed at a younger demographic. Iron Man’s armor resembles his Extremis armor although Iron Man has other armors that fit over his regular armor, as in the case of his underwater armor.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Apes

The version of Iron Man appearing in the Marvel Apes mini-series is a mandrill, appropriately being named the Iron Mandrill. He is a member of the Apevengers. At one point, he is attacked by the zombified Wasp of the Marvel Zombies universe and infected, though he is later apparently cured when these events are undone via time travel.^{[214][215][216]}

Marvel Zombies

There are different versions of Iron Man in the Marvel Zombies series:

The first series

In the Marvel Zombies universe, Tony Stark has been infected by the zombie virus. Alongside a horde of starving undead superhuman zombies, Iron Man attacks the Silver Surfer. The attack is successful, but one of the Surfer’s energy bolts hits Iron Man’s lower torso, cutting him in half. The zombie «survives» this wound and later gains cosmic powers (including flight) by eating part of the Surfer’s corpse. When Galactus arrives, Iron Man and the five other surviving zombies devour him. They are able to absorb Galactus’ power, and call themselves «The Galacti».^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies 2

He also appears in Marvel Zombies 2, one of the small group of super-powered zombies that have eaten their way across all known space. Here Stark has had his entire lost lower body replaced with cybernetics. He also appears to have forgotten he had some design in the machine which opened a link to the Ultimate Universe. He was shocked to see Forge, one of the surviving X-Men, wearing his Mark I armored suit. The zombified Hulk kills Iron Man when he stomps through the armor, forcing Tony Stark’s flesh and blood through any openings left in the armor. However Iron Man had recently revived next issue, but only as a cameo, on Marvel Zombies 3.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies Return

In the final issue of Marvel Zombies 2, the remaining zombies are transported to another universe. At the point where the zombies reach this new reality, the period is nearly identical to the one where Tony Stark was an alcoholic. Zombie Giant Man infects Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and a number of other people at Stark Industries. A drunken Tony Stark lacks the will power to become Iron Man despite Pepper Potts’ requests, so James Rhodes dons the suit to save him. Crucial to fate of the multiverse are the nanites that Stark has accidentally created, which destroy damaged flesh and tissue as a cure for cancer, and prove to be a potent weapon against the zombies. This was grafted onto Flint Marko’s body. He sacrifices himself to kill several zombies in Stark Tower, with Rhodes permanently succeeding him in the role of Iron Man.^[217] His nanites are then used by his successor, now a member of the New Avengers, years later to kill the remaining super-powered zombies and end the inter-dimensional zombie threat.^[218]

MC2

In the alternative future of MC2, Tony Stark retires after the loss of many heroes in battle, but eventually creates the armored computer program Mainframe, which joins the next generation of Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mini Marvels

Iron Man is a recurring character in «Mini Marvels». He appears in story arcs like «The Armored Avengers» & «World War Hulk». He is portrayed as conceited and thinks himself the best of the team. He has a friendly rivalry with Hawkeye.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mutant X

In Mutant X, Tony Stark is Iron Giant Man and part of the anti-mutant group the Avengers. He was later killed by X-Man Captain America along with the other Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Newuniversal

In the alternative world of newuniversal, Tony Stark is one of three humans altered by the Fireworks on April 26, 1953, gaining abilities associated with the Cipher glyph. Prior to the Fireworks, Stark is unexceptional, but he then becomes a technological genius. His discoveries revitalise his father’s company, Stark Industries, and are «five years ahead of everything everyone else is working on». There are suggestions that he is capable of more, but is not making all of his discoveries public.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Stark’s transformation is noticed by the National Security Agency’s Project Spitfire, which is discreetly monitoring the superhumans created by the Fireworks. In March 1959, Stark’s plane crashes in North Vietnam and he is imprisoned. He escapes by constructing an Iron Man suit from «spare parts» and flying out of the country.^{[volume & issue needed]}

On April 4, 1959, when he returns to the US, the NSA takes Stark to a San Diego naval base, ostensibly to debrief him. Stark is then shot dead by Philip L. Voight, a Project Spitfire agent, to prevent him from making contact with the other superhumans.^[219]

The Iron Man suit is seized by Project Spitfire and reverse engineered by Doctor Joe Swann, eventually becoming the basis of the project’s H.E.X suit, an exoskeleton designed for combat with superhumans.^[220]

Realm of Kings

In this one-shot, Quasar, the newly resurrected Protector of the Universe travels into the Fault, the immense tear which has appeared in the fabric of spacetime itself after the catastrophic battle between Vulcan and Black Bolt. Reaching what he perceives to be the other end of the tunnel that is the Fault, he arrives in another universe… a dark, twisted universe, the `corpse of a universe´, possessed by Lovecraftian horrors which are worshipped by all the denizens of that universe, including Earth’s mightiest heroes. Iron Man is never seen outside his armor, but he, like the others, serves the «Many-angled ones» with total devotion.^[221]

Ruins

In the two issue Warren Ellis series Ruins, Tony Stark is a rich industrialist who supplied weapons for the US military in an attempt to win the Vietnam War. This version of Iron Man was injured while mediating between US forces and pro-secessionist Californians by a piece of shrapnel thrown by the National Guard. This embittered Stark who formed a revolutionary cell named the Avengers. This version of Iron Man was betrayed by Scarlet Witch who provided the United States military information to crush the Avengers. Tony Stark is presumably killed.^[222]

Secret Wars (2015)

During the «Secret Wars» storyline, there are different versions of Iron Man that exist in the different Battleworld domains:

• In the Battleworld domain of Technopolis, Tony Stark is the Baron of Technopolis where everybody wears high-tech armor to protect themselves from an airborne virus. Tony is shown to be in competition with his brother Arno. It turns out that Howard Stark created the airborne virus that caused everybody to wear high-tech armors. Both brothers were defeated by Lila Rhodes and were arrested by the Thor Corps.^[223]
• In the Battleworld domain of Spider-Island, Iron Man is mutated into one of the Spider Queen’s spider minions and battles Agent Venom and the now monstrous Avengers. Venom sprays Tony with Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin formula, freeing Tony from the Queen, but slowly making him insane. He modifies Norman’s armor and becomes the Iron Goblin to aid the resistance. When they are surrounded by a number of Man-Spiders (including Giant Man) with few means of escape, Tony sacrifices himself using the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade so he can aid them and die before the Goblin formula completely takes him over.^[224]
• The Secret Wars War Zone tie-in 1872 reimagines Tony in the Wild West and living in the Battleworld domain called the Valley of Doom. Tony was once a respected inventor who lives in the town of Timely. When the Union army used his repeating rifle to slaughter a large group of Confederates rather let them surrender, Tony spirals into alcoholism. After Sheriff Steve Rogers is murdered by Mayor Wilson Fisk and his cohorts, Tony builds a large suit of armor resembling the original Iron Man suit to aid Red Wolf in bringing him down. After Fisk is defeated, Tony dedicates his time to aiding the people of Timely with his new invention.^[225]
• The Iron Man of the Battleworld domain of 2099 is a man named Sonny Frisco. Despite piloting a normal-sized suit of Iron Man armor, Frisco actually suffers from dwarfism. He is a member of the Alchemax corporation’s team of Avengers, and secretly uses the help of Vision, a woman with precognitive abilities.^[226]

Spider-Verse

In the Amazing Spider-Man comic’s event Spider-Verse, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Scarlet Spider (Kaine) and Spider-man (Ben Reily) meet and fight a clone of Tony Stark (Earth-802) as Iron Man serving one of the Inheritors, Jennix.^[227]

Spider-Gwen

In Spider-Gwen Tony Stark of Earth-65 is an arms dealer, the owner of global private military company WAR MACHINE, and owner of the coffee chain StarkBucks.^[228]

Spider-Man: Life Story

In Spider-Man: Life Story, Tony Stark/Iron Man does not face a traumatizing experience that leads to stop weapons manufacturing as his Earth-616 counterpart did instead he continues to produce them and play a key role in the Vietnam War and a World War III-esque conflict known as «The Russian War» as well as participating in Secret Wars while on Battleworld. Iron Man also became Secretary of Defense in the United States government and was one of the two leaders alongside Captain America in the Superhuman Civil War.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Squadron Supreme

In the Squadron Supreme series, the equivalent of Iron Man is Tucker Ford.^{[original research?]} Tucker was a very intelligent boy since his early years, however since being raised by his strong-willed mother along with never going to school with anyone his own age made Tucker to have difficulty to make any kind of meaningful personal relationship and because of this, he became very introverted.^[229] As he grew up, he had built an imaginative world where he was a superhero. When trying to explain his imaginations to his therapist, they turned around and mocked him before their colleagues, however being unaware that Tucker had them under electronic surveillance. This experience motivated him to follow his dream and become a real superhero.^{[volume & issue needed]}
As a young adult, he built a powerful, but unstable armor made from nanotechnology in order to achieve his dream, eventually meeting the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and offered his intelligence and company to Nick Fury to help defend America.^{[volume & issue needed]}
He fails to gain the affection of Nick Fury and to get a kiss from the spider-powered superhuman, Nell Ruggles, also known as Arachnophilia.^{[volume & issue needed]} He offers to build a S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier as a base for the organization and to be a member of the team in order to live out of his imagination. The only person that Tucker had the closest relationship with is Nell, expressing romantic feelings towards her.^[230]

Ultimate Marvel

What If

Newer Fantastic Four

In the timeline of What if: Newer Fantastic Four, the Fantastic Four were killed by De’Lila (a rogue Skrull) and the Hulk, so Spider-Man, the Ghost Rider and Wolverine joined to avenge them as the New Fantastic Four. Thanos of Titan, as in the mainline universe, came into possession of the six Infinity Gems and became ruler of all reality, before erasing half of all living beings from existence. Among those who vanished was Ghost Rider, and, being present at the battle during which he was erased, Iron Man takes his place. The Newer Fantastic Four soon realize they are outmatched. Stark, with help from the Hulk, manages to salvage the empty armor of Ziran, a Celestial, and realizes it can be controlled by thoughts. Stark takes control of the armor and connects it to the Negative Zone, allowing him to call on all the power of that reality. Despite this, he is defeated by Thanos. Stark’s sacrifice allows Wolverine to trick Thanos into a position where the Gauntlet could be removed. Spider-Man subsequently uses the Gauntlet to undo the damage Thanos had caused.^[231]

Iron Man: Demon in an Armor

In What If: Iron Man: Demon in an Armor, Tony Stark is Doom’s college roommate rather than Reed Richards, inspiring Doom to develop a machine that allows him to transfer his mind into Stark’s body while leaving Stark trapped in Doom’s body with no memory of his past. While Doom uses Stark’s connections and company to establish himself, the amnesic Stark- believing himself to be Doom- works to rebuild his life, creating his own company and forming his own reputation from the ground up. This culminates in a confrontation between the two wearing early versions of their respective armors- Doom having developed a green-and-silver Iron Man armor while Stark has created Doom’s costume with gold and a red cloak-, during which Doom reveals the truth about their switch, only for Stark to reject the offer to switch back because Doom has destroyed the name of Tony Stark while Doctor von Doom has developed an honorable reputation.^{[volume & issue needed]}

X-Men Forever

In this alternative universe of X-Men Forever, Tony Stark, while still publicly the super-hero Iron Man, is also the head of the shadowy organization known as The Consortium. The scientific wing of the organization is headed by the Trask family, who turn out to be his relatives. They create newer versions of the Sentinels and kidnap mutants to use in experimentation to find the cause of the so-called «Burnout» syndrome that causes mutants to die early.^[232] However, as part of his efforts to undermine the Consortium’s anti-mutant agenda, he becomes Nick Fury’s insider and eventually sacrifices his life along with Beast.^[233] He assists Storm- who has been split into an amnesic child version of herself and an energy form with full memory and no body- by providing her energy self with a suit based on the now-deceased Black Panther so that her energy can maintain corporeal form, although he is subsequently killed by a twisted clone of Storm before he can reveal her existence to anyone else.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In other media

In 1966, Iron Man was featured in a series of cartoons.^[234] In 1981, Iron Man guest appeared in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, but only as Tony Stark.^[235] He went on to feature again in his own series in the 1990s as part of the Marvel Action Hour with the Fantastic Four; Robert Hays provided his voice in these animated cartoons. Iron Man makes an appearance in the episode «Shell Games» of Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes. Apart from comic books, Iron Man appears in Capcom’s «Vs.» video games, including Marvel Super Heroes,  Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Iron Man is a playable character in the 1992 arcade game Captain America and the Avengers, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, as well as being featured as an unlockable character in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Tony Hawk’s Underground.^[236] Iron man was also featured in an independent video game based upon the first movie called Iron Man that was playable on the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Wii, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows.^[237] He is also seen in Iron Man VR made for the PlayStation 4,^[238] and is featured in the 2020 Marvel’s Avengers (video game) that is payable on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X and Series S.^[239] Set for the end of 2023, there will also be a new single-player Iron Man game released.^[240] In the 2009 animated series, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, most of the characters, including Tony Stark, are teenagers. An anime adaptation aired in Japan in late 2010 as part of a collaboration between Marvel Animation and Madhouse, in which Stark, voiced by Keiji Fujiwara, travels to Japan where he ends up facing off against the Zodiac, a terrorist organization that is aligned with A.I.M in order to produce several mechanic suits embodying astrological star signs.^[241][242]

In 2008, a film adaptation titled Iron Man was released, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and directed by Jon Favreau. Iron Man was met with positive reviews from film critics,^[243] grossing $318 million domestically and $585 million worldwide, and became the first in a series of over 20 films, later becoming known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.^[244] The character of Tony Stark, again played by Robert Downey Jr., appeared at the end of the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk. Downey reprised his role in Iron Man 2 (2010), Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In 2009, Playtech released an online casino slot machine game called Iron Man. After that they created two more games, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.^[245]

In October 2016, Eoin Colfer released a young adult novel called Iron Man: The Gauntlet.^[246]

See also

• List of Iron Man enemies
• Jetpack man

References

Further reading

• Will Cooley and Mark C. Rogers, «Ike’s Nightmare: Iron Man and the Military-Industrial Complex,» in Ages of Iron Man, Joseph Dorowski, ed., 2015. ISBN 978-0-7864-7842-2
• Tom DeFalco, Avengers: The Ultimate Guide, Dorling Kindersley, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7566-1461-4
• Mark D. White (ed.), Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. ISBN 978-0-4704-8218-6

External links

• Iron Man at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Iron Man (Tony Stark) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• «Stark Reality: A Different Hero for Different Times» by Ian Chant — PopMatters.com
• Advanced Iron (fanzine)
• Iron Man Library Archived 2018-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Tony Stark on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki

Anthony Edward Stark, Or Tony Stark for short is known as Iron Man. Tony is a billionaire, genius, former playboy, philantropist and is also well-known as famous superhero Iron Man, owns Stark Industries — formerly acting as its CEO — lives in his house in Malibu, and is one of the founding and lead members of The Avengers.

Appearance

Tony is a middle-aged man of average height. He is American, has Caucasian skin, and brown eyes. He has black hair, which is mostly kept in a rough-edged manner on some occasions, especially when he works.

He is very well groomed when it comes to special occasions, and he usually wears either very formal or simple clothing in a way that matches his wealth. Tony has a mustache that runs all the way down to his cheeks, then straight to his chin making an enclosed form, with a small goatee as well on his upper chin.

In the films, Tony has been seen wearing many types of clothing, one of which is his famous Black Sabbath shirt, which is a black shirt with the name of the famous old band called Black Sabbath, a band in the Real World.

Other clothing he has worn include a black tuxedo, a white tuxedo, and other clothing.

Special Suit

In Iron Man 3, Tony makes a special type of shirt to go with the all the new suits that he has created. It is presumed to be made out of drifit, and other strong materials, as it could withstand heat and blasts and was very durable as seen in the movie.

This shirt, was mainly colored dark blue, with grey on the sleeves and the collar portion of the shirt. As seen in the film, it was thin enough to allow the light of his Vibranium Arc Reactor to pass through, allowing it to be connected to his armor more easily.

So far, this clothing has been the signature clothing for Tony, and has been the best one yet seen as far as the films go.

Personality

While initially a carefree playboy, throughout the series, Tony’s personality changes through the actions of Iron Man, becoming a more serious and caring character, though remaining charismatic.

Tony has a problem when being handed «things». As seen in the films, whenever he is being handed something, he asks to have the item placed somewhere or handed to a trusted person, as he does not like being handed things.

He is also loves to drink Vegetable Juice every morning as seen in the first two Iron Man films.

Powers and Abilities

Without Armor

Captain America: Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?

Tony: Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.

Tony Stark and Captain America arguing in The Avengers.

Tony has very high-level intellect. He attended MIT and graduated summa cum laude (with the highest honors) at age 17. During his undergraduate education he worked on robotics and developed the clumsy armed robot seen in his garage throughout the films, and won a robotics competition at MIT with it. He knows almost everything when it comes to science and technology. He is a professional engineer, and can create, fix or tinker with any kind of mechanical device. Tony also likes to describe himself as a «Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist» when Cap questions what he «is» without his armor.

As Iron Man

As the armored superhero, Iron Man, Tony gains several abilities while wearing the armor, all of which have a wide range and variety for any situation he is present in.

• Superhuman Strength: When using his Iron Man suits, Tony gains incredible amounts of strength. Able to lift up cars, trucks, heavy objects and debris, as well as destroy a lot of things.
• Superhuman Speed: Tony can fly at very extreme speeds, with the highest known recorded speed being over the excess of Mach 5, using the Mark 40.
• Flight: Tony has proprietory repulsors on his hand gauntlets, his boots and occasionally other parts of his armor, which allows him to achieve flight and venture to any place he desires, including higher parts of the atmosphere.
• Heavy Firepower: When in his armor, Tony has access to a variety of weapons and other firepower that he can use at his own will.

Equipment

Tony has a wide range and variety of equipment, especially with technology, in which he holds and creates the most advanced technological weapons and devices available on earth from his own multi-billion dollar company, Stark Industries. (Note: Marks 51-84 are missing)

Iron Man Suits

• Mark I (1)
• Mark II (2)
• Mark III (3)
• Mark IV (4)
• Mark V (5)
• Mark VI (6)
• Mark VII (7)
• Mark VIII (8)
• Mark IX (9)
• Mark X (10)
• Mark XI (11)
• Mark XII (12)
• Mark XIII (13)
• Mark XIV (14)
• Mark XV (15)
• Mark XVI (16)
• Mark XVII (17)
• Mark XVIII (18)
• Mark XIX (19)
• Mark XX (20)
• Mark XXI (21)
• Mark XXII (22)
• Mark XXIII (23)
• Mark XXIV (24)
• Mark XXV (25)
• Mark XXVI (26)
• Mark XXVII (27)
• Mark XXVIII (28)
• Mark XXIX (29)
• Mark XXX (30)
• Mark XXXI (31)
• Mark XXXII (32)
• Mark XXXIII (33)
• Mark XXXIV (34)
• Mark XXXV (35)
• Mark XXXVI (36)
• Mark XXXVII (37)
• Mark XXXVIII (38)
• Mark XXXIX (39)
• Mark XL (40)
• Mark XLI (41)
• Mark XLII (42)
• Mark XLIII (43)
• Mark XLIV (44)
• Mark XLV (45)
• Mark XLVI (46)
• Mark XLVII (47)
• Mark XLVIII (48)
• Mark XLIX (49)
• Mark L (50)
• Mark LXXXV (85)

Weapons

• Makeshift Bombs: In Iron Man, Tony and Ho Yinsen created a makeshift bomb to buy them time to bring the Mark I armor online. They set it on the door of their cell and it killed two terrorists when they opened the door. In Iron Man 3, Tony created another makeshift bomb to kill Ellen Brandt out of a microwave, dog tags, and a gas valve.
• Hand Mounted Repulsor: After the events of The Avengers, Tony created a hand mounted repulsor powered by his Arc Reactor to use against enemies when he had no Iron Man suit. Tony uses it against Eric Savin, but the repulsor withered away after one use.
• Ornament Bombs: After advice from Harley Keener, Tony made bombs out of ornaments to use in his infiltration of The Mandarin’s house. He used them all getting in.
• Nail Gun: After advice from Harley Keener, Tony created a powerful nail gun to infiltrate the Mandarin’s house and used up all of the nails along the way.
• Taser: After advice from Harley Keener, Tony created a makeshift taser to infiltrate the Mandarin’s house.
• Guns: In Iron Man 3 when he has no access to armor such as when he’s held captive and infiltrating the Roxoo Norcon oil rig, Tony uses a variety of guns, but proves to be a lousy shot unless his target is right in front of him.

Personal life

As a billionaire and a former playboy, Tony has a very high profile regarding his personal life. Tony owns fourteen cars, most of which are sports and old fashioned types. He also has two unnamed bikes, and also lives in his large mansion in Malibu, California, which is commonly referred to as the Malibu Mansion. Tony owns a company called Stark Industries, directly inherited from his father. 

Occupations

Tony has several occupations as well in his life. His main one is being the super hero known as Iron Man. Other than saving the world from crimes and evil, Tony has a very famous and well known occupation as his normal self. Tony is famous for his industrial work, and as an Industrial Business man and Entrepreneur.

• Iron Man: As Iron Man, Tony is known as a famous and powerful super hero.
• Industrial Businessman and Entrepreneur: Tony’s main occupation is being an industrial business man and entrepreneur.
• Weapons Supplier: Tony was formerly the main weapons supplier to the United States Military. He would supply them with powerful weapons and advanced technology. An example of which was the Jericho Missile. However he quit being a weapons supplier following the severe heart injury he had in Iron Man.

Cars Owned

Tony owns about 14 cars throughout the course of the movie series. Below are the list of cars he’s owned so far in the film series.

• Audi R8 (2008)
• Saleen S7
• Tesla Roadster
• Ford Flathead Roadster (1932)
• Shelby Cobra (1967)
• Audi R8 Spyder
• Rolls Royce Phantom
• Ghia Cadillac (1953)
• Mercury Coupe (1949)
• Wolf WR Ford Replica (1978)
• Acura NSX
• White Audi R8 e-tron
• Red Audi R8 e-tron
• Bugatti Veyron SS

Stark Industries

Tony owns the multi-billion dollar company, inherited directly from his father. Tony was formerly the CEO of his company and headed everything the company does, before relinquishing his position to Pepper Potts (he still maintains a high level of authority within the company, however). He creates designs for the products of the company and is the president of the board.

Below lists all of the products Tony designed and created for Stark Industries.

• Products Designed and Created:
  • Jericho Missile
  • Beretta 92FS INOX
  • Stark Medical Scanner

Relationships

Tony has a vast amount of relationships with a lot of people, ranging from all those closest to him — such as his family and friends — up to the famous celebrities in the world.

All of Tony’s important and known relationships are listed below.

James Rhodes

Rhodey is Tony’s best friend. The two met a long time before the events of the first Iron Man film. Rhodey is protective of Tony and he serves as the liaison between Tony and the US Military, who want Tony’s armor for their own use and purpose.

Pepper Potts

Pepper was formerly Tony’s assistant until they started a relationship. Tony found a love for Pepper, since she was one of the few people in his life. Over the course of the film franchise, the relationship between Tony and Pepper grew but were sometimes strained because of some of the actions Tony did being Iron Man. In Iron Man 3, Pepper finally becomes Tony’s girlfriend and she moves in with Tony in his house. Prior to the events of Captain America: Civil War, however, they broke up due to Tony’s obsession with his Iron Man persona. They would eventually reconcile prior to the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, with Tony proposing (off-screen) during a press conference, and they later married and had a daughter, Morgan, during the events of Avengers: Endgame.

Howard Stark

Tony’s relationship with his father was cold and strained. Tony did not talk much with his father, as he was busy and always working. Howard was presumed to have never spent any time with his son and always made sure that Tony stayed away from his work. Tony would describe his father as «cold and calculating» and that he never said he loved him, and he never said he cared about him. Tony later discovered a video in which his father had admitted to loving him greatly and left him a clue to a new element derived from the Space Stone which managed to save Tony’s life. Following this, Tony’s opinion of his father improved somewhat, to the point that, when he went back in time to 1970 and ended up accidentally bumping into Howard during his mission, he hugged and thanked the man.

Maria Stark

Maria is Tony’s mother.

Although little was seen of Tony and Maria’s relationship, they had a very good one. Upon discovering that James «Bucky» Barnes had murdered his mother, he attempted to attack and likely kill the super soldier out of revenge, despite knowing Barnes was not in control of his actions during the event. This shows he was blinded by rage at the news that the man before him had been the one to kill Maria.

Obadiah Stane

Obadiah was jealous of Tony, being the heir to lead Stark Industries. He had long planned to overthrown Tony and claim the company as his own. Acting as Tony’s guide and mentoring him, Tony had no clue Obadiah was the mastermind behind his ambush and terrorist capture. Obadiah’s true side was revealed when he took Tony’s Arc Reactor and left him to die.

Aldrich Killian

A man who Tony met on New Year’s Eve 1999. Tony promised to meet him on the roof to discuss his plans but blew him off, leading to Killian’s desperation and villainy. Killian attempted to kill him several times, kidnapping and nearly killing Pepper in the process before she ultimately killed him instead.

Maya Hansen

Tony had only met Maya during the Science Conference in Switzerland, and he already grew a relationship with her. The two quickly liked each other, after Maya showed Tony her research. Tony had sex with her overnight after New Year’s Eve of 1999. He later accused her of losing her soul to help Killian and she attempted to save him from Killian as a result. It resulted in her death.

Ivan Vanko

Ivan Vanko hated Tony for what Howard Stark did to his family. He repeatedly tried to kill Tony but was defeated by Tony and James Rhodes.

Ho Yinsen

Yinsen was the man who saved Tony’s life when he was near-death after shrapnel from a bomb was lodged in his chest. Yinsen removed some of the shrapnel and installed an electromagnet that Tony used until he managed to get the rest of the shrapnel removed. Yinsen became his friend and assistant in building the first Arc Reactor and the Mark I suit. Yinsen sacrificed himself to allow Tony to escape and asked Tony not to waste his life. Tony took his words to heart, stopping selling weapons, becoming Iron Man and even saving Yinsen’s village from the Ten Rings.

Happy Hogan

Happy Hogan was a close friend and employee of Tony’s, acting first as his personal bodyguard and later as his personal chauffeur and head of security at Stark Industries. Tony was deeply shaken when Happy was severely injured after he was caught in the explosion of Jack Taggart (an Extremis user). While Happy was very proud of his position as Head of Security, Tony often teased him about it. Tony later trusted Happy to keep tabs on Peter Parker, and had also entrusted him with an engagement ring he planned to eventually propose to Pepper with, which Happy stated he had been carrying around for years.

Trevor Slattery

Slattery was an actor who posed as the Mandarin during the events of Iron Man 3. His job was to take credit for the explosions caused by Extremis users, passing them off as terrorist attacks by the Ten Rings. After Tony and Colonel James Rhodes broke into the supposed Mandarin’s home and held Slattery at gunpoint, the man conceded out of fear that he was just an actor and immediately gave up important information about Killian’s plans, and Tony and Rhodes displayed disdain at his blatant cowardice.

Peter Parker

Deducing the young man was secretly Spider-Man in his spare time, Tony went to meet with him. They bonded over their scientific backgrounds, with Tony becoming something of a father figure/mentor to Peter. He recruited the teenager to help with the airport battle in Berlin, fashioning a newer, better suit for him, and cared enough about him to save his life on more than one occasion. He was distraught after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, having held the boy who was as good as a son to him as he died and turned to dust; it was ultimately the thought of bringing Peter back that convinced Tony to try to bring everyone back via time travel, as suggested by Scott Lang, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers. Peter was shown to be just as distraught as Tony following the death of his mentor.

Morgan Stark

Morgan was the daughter of Pepper Potts and Tony. Born sometime during the time jump in Avengers: Endgame, she and her father seemed very close and liked to joke around together, e.g. when Tony joked about selling Morgan’s toys if she didn’t stay in bed. Tony showed faux-pride when bragging to Pepper that Morgan loved him «3000» («you were somewhere in the low 600-900 range»), and went on to use this line during his recorded message for Morgan following his death.

History

Early life

Anthony «Tony» Stark was born in 1970 to Howard and Maria Stark. As his father was the founder of Stark Industries, the main weapons supplier to the United States Military, Tony was the sole heir to the legacy of the company.

When he was four years old, Tony built his first Circuit Board. Three years later, when he was seven, he built his very first Engine. Years after, when he was seventeen, Tony graduated at MIT at the top of his class.

Tony was an engineering prodigy. His relationship with his father was strained and estranged. In 1991, Tony’s parents died in a car crash, and his father’s partner, Obadiah Stane, took temporary control of Stark Industries.

At the age of 21, Tony returned to inherit his father’s company, and became both famous for his professional life, and infamous for his partying, alcoholic, and playboy-like personal life.

New Years Eve of 1999

In December 31, 1999, Tony attended a Science Conference in Bern, Switzerland, during which he met a scientist paramour named Maya Hansen, and quickly developed a relationship with her. After the conference, he also met Afghan physicist Ho Yinsen, along with a Cardiologist named Dr. Wu.

When Tony arrived in the Hotel Lobby with Maya, he met a crippled scientist named Aldrich Killian, who invited Tony to join his «Privately Funded Think Tank» called A.I.M.. Tony ignored the offer, instead enjoying his New Year and spending it with Maya, humiliating Killian.

Iron Man

Present life

Years later in 2008, a presentation about Tony plays on-screen to wide audience of celebrities. Meanwhile, Tony plays in a Casino while he misses out his awarding ceremony. As Rhodey presents Tony’s award, he fails to show up. Obadiah Stane then takes his place and gives a speech. He ends with, «You know the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He’s always working.» After this, Tony can be seen throwing dice as he scores another win in his game.

Ambush

36 hours later, somewhere within a deserted place in Afghanistan, three Military convoys are headed back to their base. One of the trucks carry the famous billionaire and industrialist, Tony Stark. Within his truck, Tony tries to talk to the other soldiers to try and break the silence. Suddenly the convoy comes under attack and the soldiers are killed while Tony is seriously wounded by shrapnel from an RPG. His attackers take him captive and then make a broadcast about the event to Obadiah Stane.

Captured and wounded

Tony is captured by a terrorist group named the Ten Rings. Shrapnel from a bomb is embedded in his heart. The only thing keeping him alive is a car battery attached to a electromagnet. Incarcerated, Tony learns that many of his weapons are somehow in the hands of these terrorists and that they want him to provide them with the devastating Jericho Missile.

Initially despondent at the idea that he will soon die whether or not he builds the missile, fellow captive Ho Yinsen convinces Tony not to give up and he starts working to escape. He first builds a Minature Arc Reactor to power his electromagnet and then works on creating the Mark I armor. The Ten Rings’ leader Raza realizes he’s up to something and gives him only a day to complete the missile.

Escaping from captivity

Having less than 24 hours to build the Jericho Missile, Tony wastes no time trying to finish building his powerful Mark I armor. Together with the help of Yinsen, Tony works overnight building the armor’s metal platings and systems, starting with the armor’s face mask, and ending with the attachment of the body armor and systems. Together, they succeed in finishing the Mark I armor, but run out of time to power it up, so Yinsen distracts the guards. This buys Tony enough time to finish putting the armor on and he fights his way through the cave, killing many of the Ten Rings and finding a mortally wounded Yinsen who asks Tony not to waste his life before dying. Tony makes his way out of the cave and, under heavy fire, destroys the Ten Rings’ weapons stockpile before flying off. He soon crashes and his armor is destroyed, but Rhodey finds and rescues him in the desert.

Return to America

After being escorted back to America, Tony calls a press conference in which he declares that as a result of his experience, Stark Industries will no longer make and sell weapons. This causes great outrage and stock prices drop. Obadiah Stane convinces Tony to stay out of the spotlight while he handles things with the company. Tony considers using Arc Reactor technology to replace weapons for the company’s production and with the help of Pepper, he installs a new, more powerful Arc Reactor to power his electromagnet.

Refining the Iron Man Armor

Taking Yinsen’s last request to not let his life go to waste to heart, Tony decides to continue designing armors. Deciding that in the right hands, specifically his own, his new armor technology could do great good in the world, Tony tries and fails to entice Rhodey into joining him and sets to work on upgrading his Mark I design to become the new Mark II armor. While working on repulsors to act as flight stabilizers, Tony discovers that they can also be used as a weapon.

As Tony works, Obadiah Stane informs him that the Board of Directors has filed an injunction to lock him out in order to keep working on weapons. Tony brushes this off and goes back to work on his armor. After several successful tests with just his new flight systems, Tony takes the Mark II armor on a full-scale test and besides icing up when he gets too high and accidentally crashing through two floors of his own house when landing, it is a success.

Tony then designs the Mark III armor to deal with the glitches in the Mark II and as J.A.R.V.I.S. works on building the Mark III, Tony learns from a news report that he’s not been invited to his annual fireman’s charity ball and goes.

Becoming Iron Man

At the ball, Tony dances with and nearly kisses Pepper but, while getting them drinks, is approached by Christine Everhart, who reveals that his weapons are still being sold and shows him pictures of Yinsen’s village Gulmira with boxes of weapons clearly marked Stark Industries.

Tony confronts Obadiah Stane who not only admits to selling weapons to terrorists, but that he was the one that locked Tony out of his company. Later, watching a news report on the situation in Gulmira and recognizing the terrorists as his captors, the Ten Rings, Tony decides to take action and after testing out the weapons properties of his repulsors, he dons the Mark III suit and travels to Gulmira.

There, he takes out the terrorists terrorizing the villagers and leaves their leader, Abu Bakaar, at the villagers’ mercy. Tony then goes after the weapons stockpiles and destroys them and a tank. His presence and actions are detected by the Air Force and they dispatch two F-22s to stop him. After a brief confrontation with the jets, Tony calls Rhodey to get him to call off the fighters but accidentally destroys one in the process, forcing the pilot to eject. While the other jet is still ordered to engage despite Rhodey’s efforts to stop them, when Tony saves the ejected pilot from death, the attack is called off.

Confronting Stane

Feeling the need to make up for the damage his weapons do, Tony asks Pepper to hack into the company servers and find out where else they shipped weapons to so he can destroy those too. Pepper initially refuses and quits, but Tony explains his motives and how he feels its the right thing to do, Pepper agrees, telling him that he’s all she has too. Later that night, Stane paralyzes Tony with a sonic device as Pepper calls him and reveals that he was the one that hired the Ten Rings to kill him.

Stane tells Tony he was using him all the time for his ideas and that when he tried to have him killed, he worried that he was getting rid of his idea source, but that Tony came up with one final thing that will perfect weapons technology and allow them to reign supreme: the Arc Reactor. Stane, needing the Arc Reactor to power his Iron Monger suit as his scientists couldn’t duplicate the technology, steals it from Tony’s chest and leaves a helpless Tony to die.

Weak, Tony makes his way to his lab where he tries to reach his Mark I Reactor which Pepper has put into a display. Though he fails, DUM-E gives it to him and he is able to install it. Found soon afterwards by Rhodey, Tony dons the Mark III once more to stop Stane and orders Rhodey to keep fighters out of his way. Calling Pepper, she tells him Stane has gone insane and is then attacked by Stane in his Iron Monger suit which he donned after Pepper brought Phil Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to stop him. Tony, warned by J.A.R.V.I.S. that with the Mark I Reactor he has less than 50% power, arrives just in time to save Pepper and engages Iron Monger in battle.

With Stane’s superior suit and his dwindling power supply, Tony has a hard time against Stane. After saving a family in a van from being killed in Stane’s efforts to take him out, Tony leads the fight high into the atmosphere where Stane’s suit ices up as he didn’t know about or correct for the problem Tony discovered with the Mark II suit. Tony knocks Stane from the air, but runs out of power and barely manages to land on the roof of Stark Industries on back-up power.

Realizing that he can’t defeat Stane, Tony calls Pepper and orders her to overload the factory’s Arc Reactor and blast the roof with energy on his order once he’s off of it. Stane attacks Tony while he’s distracted, attempting to crush him, but Tony breaks free by distracting him with flares. Tony then rips out Stane’s HUD and weapon’s targeting systems while he’s distracted, but Stane throws him onto the skylight then repeatedly tries to blast him with machine guns and missiles, getting closer each time. With no other choice, Tony orders Pepper to activate the blast even though he is in the way.

The blast throws Tony to safety on another part of the roof while the Iron Monger suit is fried and Stane knocked unconscious. Stane and the Iron Monger suit fall into the Arc Reactor which explodes, destroying the suit and killing Stane. Tony is knocked out and his Arc Reactor temporarily knocked off-line, but he recovers.

Accepting his role

Tony builds himself a new Mark III Miniature Arc Reactor to replace the one destroyed with the Iron Monger suit and is prepared for a press conference by Pepper and Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Coulson gives him a cover story that he was on his yacht far away with many witnesses while Stane was on vacation and died in a plane crash while what the press have dubbed Iron Man was a bodyguard of his.

Tony flirts with Pepper, reminding her of the night they danced at the ball until she reminds him that he left her waiting for him on the roof. As Tony starts to address the press, Christine Everhart questions the story about Iron Man being a bodyguard. Tony at first defends that he is not the hero type, but ultimately admits that he is Iron Man to the shock of the press.

Returning home, Tony finds Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who tells him that he is not the only super hero in the world and that he wants to discuss «The Avengers Initiative.»

Iron Man 2

Stark Expo Opening

Six months after he revealed himself as Iron Man, Tony’s actions as a super hero have caused peace to break out across the world. Wanting to fulfill his father Howard’s legacy, Tony reopens the Stark Expo for the first time since 1974 to bring scientists from around the world together to share ideas all year. Tony arrives at the Expo by dropping in from a plane in his Mark IV suit and gives a speech about the Expo before playing a video recorded by his father before the last Stark Expo. Having discovered that his Palladium Arc Reactor is slowly poisoning him, Tony checks his blood toxicity levels to discover that it has reached 19%. After the speech, Tony leaves, signing autographs only to be met by a process server named Marsha at his car who has a subpoena for him to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Attending the senate meeting

Following the subpoena, Tony attends the Senate hearing where Senator Stern demands he hand over the Iron Man technology, which he refers to as a weapon, to the government. Tony refuses, stating that it is not a weapon and calling it a prosthesis. Senator Stern brings in Tony’s rival Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries to testify on how they need the technology. Hammer claims that Tony is not a shield which they should hide behind. Stern then calls in Rhodey to testify how in his report he claimed that Tony as Iron Man is dangerous as he has no national allegiances which his technology falls under. Rhodey goes on to testify — against Stern’s wishes — that he had also stated that he saw Iron Man as an asset that should be utilized and worked with, not taken. Stern tries to use images of attempts to create Iron Man suits by other people, but Tony hacks into the system and shows how the efforts by Iran, North Korea and even Hammer Industries are dismal failures. After Tony tells the committee that everyone else is years away from copying his technology, Stern, humiliated, calls an end to the proceedings.

Returning home

At home, Tony is greeted by J.A.R.V.I.S. who reveals that his use of the Iron Man armor is increasing his Palladium poisoning. Tony’s blood toxicity levels are now up to 24% and his Arc Reactor core has burned out. Tony replaces with it a new core, commenting that he is burning through them fast while J.A.R.V.I.S. tells him that he has tested every known element to replace Palladium as his power source, but none are viable. As a result, the very thing that is keeping Tony alive is slowly killing him as well. As Tony is drinking an organic drink to alleviate the symptoms of the poisoning, Pepper arrives to berate Tony for donating their entire collection of modern art to the Boy Scouts and for reopening the Stark Expo which she sees as him stroking his own ego. As Pepper tries to demand his attention for things that the company needs done, Tony tells Pepper to handle it and makes her CEO so that he’ll have a successor that he can trust when he dies, though he doesn’t tell her that, simply saying that she’s the best choice he could think of to succeed him and that the company is now boring to him. Pepper is left clearly touched by his actions. The next day, while Tony is boxing with Happy, Pepper arrives with Natalie Rushman from Legal for him to officially sign the company over to her. Tony is attracted to Natalie, especially after she easily beats Happy in the ring and considers her as his new assistant to replace Pepper.

Monaco

Tony travels to Monaco on vacation to visit the Grand Prix there and while at the hotel, he reveals to an annoyed Pepper that he has hired Natalie Rushman as his new assistant. He meets up with Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart and reveals his previous relationship with Christine to Justin who tries to flaunt the fact that she is doing a news article on him to Tony. Tony further embarrasses Hammer by publicly revealing that his contract with the government has been revoked before going to the bathroom to check his blood toxicity levels. Discovering that it has now reached 53%, Tony enters the Grand Prix as a driver to the shock of everyone, especially Pepper. During the race, Tony encounters Ivan Vanko who destroys his car and repeatedly attacks him with electro-whips. Tony dodges the attacks until Pepper and Happy rescue him by ramming Vanko with their car. Despite Vanko’s repeated attacks, Tony manages to retrieve the Mark V suit from Pepper and don it. However, Vanko’s electro-whips prove powerful enough to damage the armor and deflect his repulsor blasts. Vanko snares Tony in his whips, but Tony uses them to reel in and throw down Vanko. Tony then removes Vanko’s power supply, defeating him and he is arrested yelling to Tony «you lose.» Tony is shocked to discover that the power source, which he quickly destroys, is another Arc Reactor.

Visiting Vanko

Wanting answers, Tony visits Vanko in prison. Vanko calls Tony a thief from a family of thieves and tells him that the Arc Reactor technology he used came from his father Anton Vanko who Vanko claims is the reason Tony is still alive. Tony points out that he’s still alive because Vanko missed his chance to kill him, but Vanko tells him he did that on purpose to show the world that Tony is not invincible. He plans to sit back and watch as Tony’s enemies descend on him and destroy him. As Tony leaves, Vanko reveals his knowledge of Tony’s condition, telling him that «Palladium in the chest is a painful way to die.»

On the way home, Tony cooks Pepper dinner and mutes an interview with Senator Stern who uses Vanko’s actions as proof that the Iron Man technology is out there despite Tony’s assurances and furthers his demands that Tony turn it over to the government. Wanting to enjoy the time he has left, Tony tries to convince Pepper to go to Venice instead of home and to his birthday party so he can enjoy himself, dodging her questions about what’s wrong. However, Pepper refuses, citing her new position as having too many responsibilities to do it.

Investigating Vanko and meeting with Rhodey

Returning home, Tony has J.A.R.V.I.S. investigate Anton Vanko and learns that he is a Soviet physicist who defected in 1963 only to be deported in 1967 after accusations of espionage. J.A.R.V.I.S. identifies Ivan Vanko as his son and also a physicist who sold Soviet plutonium and spent 15 years in prison for it though J.A.R.V.I.S. is unable to find anything more on them. As Tony contemplates this, Rhodey arrives, demanding answers from Tony as people are panicking over the revelation that someone else has Iron Man technology and he had to stop the National Guard from coming and taking the armors. Tony has Rhodey, who notices the infected veins on his neck from his Palladium poisoning, help him install a new core in his Arc Reactor. Tony asks Rhodey to trust him to handle it.

Tony’s Birthday

Learning that his blood toxicity levels have reached 89% and he now has a week to live, Tony takes Natalie’s suggestion of enjoying the time he has left and gets drunk at his birthday party while wearing the Mark IV suit. Pepper tries to stop the party as Tony is out of control, but he refuses and after he starts blasting objects out of the air and endangering people’s lives, Rhodey dons the Mark II to stop him. Tony doesn’t take his friend seriously and they end up fighting through Tony’s house, damaging it and scaring off the guests. Finally, Tony and Rhodey end up in a stalemate when they fire their repulsors at each other, creating a massive explosion. A disgusted Rhodey then flies off in the Mark II to deliver it to the military as Tony is no longer fit to protect the world.

Meeting with Nick Fury

The next morning, Tony is eating donuts in the giant donut of a donut shop when Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and has a meeting with him in the shop. Fury reveals that «Natalie Rushman» is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Natasha Romanoff who has been following him since he got sick. Fury has Romanoff inject Tony with lithium dioxide which deals with some of his symptoms, though it isn’t a cure for Tony’s condition. When Tony insists that there is no element in existence that can work instead of Palladium and insists that he has tried everything, Fury tells him there is something he hasn’t tried.

Moving the meeting to the Stark Mansion, Fury tells Tony that the Arc Reactor technology is incomplete and his father discovered something that would make the energy race outstrip the arms race and make nuclear energy look insignificant. Fury explains that Anton Vanko was his father’s partner in developing the Arc Reactor but when he tried to make profit off of it, Howard had him deported. When Vanko couldn’t give the Russians the technology, they sent him to Siberia where he spent the rest of his life in a vodka-fueled rage which was bad to raise his son in. Fury tells Stark that Howard told him that Tony was the only one with the knowledge and resources to create this new energy source which Tony finds hard to believe as his father was very distant to him. Fury reveals that he knew Howard well as he was a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and leaves, leaving Tony with a case of his father’s stuff and Agent Phil Coulson to ensure he keeps on track.

Rediscovering Vibranium

Tony starts to work on trying to figure out what his father discovered, going through his notes and old videos from the crate Nick Fury gave him but has no luck in figuring things out. To his surprise, the videos contain a message from his father who tells him that the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo represents more than just the inventions being displayed of other inventors, but the key to his life’s work. Howard tells Tony that he created it for Tony but is limited in his ability to use his discoveries by the technology of his time but that Tony will be able to pick up where he left off and change the world. Howard ends his message by telling Tony that he is Howard’s greatest creation, something that stuns and touches Tony as he didn’t believe Howard cared about him at all.

Escaping from his house, Tony travels to Stark Industries, picking up strawberries for Pepper along the way. Tony tries to make up with Pepper but she is not interested and he is surprised to find her and Agent Romanoff getting along well. As Tony starts to leave, he notices something about the 1974 Stark Expo diorama which is in the office and entitled «the key to the future is here» and takes it home with him.

Studying a holographic projection of the diorama with the help of J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony realizes that part of it resembles an atom. Tony realizes what his father’s discovery is: a new element. Assembling the protons and neutrons based off of the pavilions of the Expo, Tony successfully rediscovers the element Vibranium which J.A.R.V.I.S. determines is a viable alternative for Palladium but believes is impossible to synthesize. Tony however is determined and begins building a miniature particle accelerator to try. As he works, Agent Phil Coulson approaches him to demand answers about him leaving. Tony is annoyed that Coulson is after him about that so long after it happened and is pleased to learn that Coulson is being reassigned to New Mexico. Tony has Coulson help him balance the accelerator with Captain America’s Vibranium Shield. After Coulson leaves, Tony is able to use the particle accelerator to successfully synthesize Vibranium and builds the new Mark VI suit to go with it.

Confrontation at the expo

As Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. run tests on the new Vibranium Arc Reactor, Tony gets a call from Ivan Vanko which surprises Tony as Vanko is supposed to be dead. Tony has J.A.R.V.I.S. trace the call and Vanko promises to ruin the Stark family like Howard Stark ruined his family before hanging up. The call is only traced to Manhattan and seeing an article about Justin Hammer’s demonstration at the Stark Expo, Tony realizes what Vanko is up to and puts in his new Arc Reactor which clears up his Palladium poisoning and dons the new Mark VI armor to stop Vanko.

Tony flies to the Expo where he tries to warn Rhodey wearing the War Machine armor about Vanko, but Rhodey believes him too late and Vanko takes control of the War Machine and the Hammer Drones remotely and uses them to attack Tony. Tony quickly takes to the air to lead the drones and War Machine away while J.A.R.V.I.S. unsuccessfully tries to restore control to Rhodey. Tony works to keep the fight away from civilians, saving a young boy wearing an Iron Man mask from a drone along the way. The drones and War Machine continue to chase Tony, but he manages to destroy the drones by tricking them into crashing into a giant metal globe. However, War Machine survives and forces Tony to crash in a dome.

Tony and War Machine battle with the Mark VI getting the worst of the fight until Natasha Romanoff makes her way to Hammer Industries and reboots the War Machine suit, restoring control to Rhodey. Romanoff also detects that Tony is no longer dying which shocks Pepper who hears the conversation. Tony and Pepper argue until Romanoff warns Tony of a massive amount of drones that are on their way. Tony quickly gets Rhodey up and warns him. The two make up then prepare to fight the drones together. However, while they are figuring out their positions, the drones arrive and Tony and Rhodey fight together, destroying many but end up surrounded. Realizing they’re in danger, Tony orders Rhodey to duck then uses the Mark VI’s one-time use lasers to destroy the remaining drones. Romanoff then warns them that something bigger is coming their way and Vanko arrives in a powerful suit. Even working together, Tony and Rhodey are unable to defeat Vanko so Tony has Rhodey fire his repulsor at Tony at the same time that Tony fires at him with Vanko in the middle creating a massive explosion that destroys Vanko’s suit and defeats him. Vanko declares they lose and activates a self-destruct in his suit and all his drones. Realizing Pepper’s in danger, Tony flies off to save her as Rhodey flies off to safety. Tony reaches Pepper in time to rescue her from the explosions and flies her to a nearby roof.

Aftermath

On the roof, Pepper decides she has had enough and resigns but Tony kisses her. She is pleased and they kiss again until Rhodey interrupts them. Rhodey makes fun of them and then flies off, telling Tony he needs to keep the War Machine for awhile longer as his car got destroyed. Tony refuses, but Rhodey flies off anyway. Tony and Pepper start a relationship afterwards.

Sometime later, Tony meets with Nick Fury about his participation in the Avengers Initiative. Fury has Tony read a file that states that while they want Iron Man, they don’t want Tony because of the destructive tendencies he displayed while he thought he was dying. Tony contends that that was due to his physical and mental state at the time and he is trying to turn his life around now. Fury offers to hire Tony as a consultant but he refuses until he tells Fury he needs someone to present medals to him and Rhodey at an upcoming ceremony. Knowing who Tony has in mind, Fury promises to take care of it.

Tony and Rhodey are presented medals for their bravery by a reluctant Senator Stern who pointedly stabs Tony with the award, telling him how annoying «a little prick» can be.

Before the Avengers

After the incident at the Stark Expo, Tony immediately decides to close it, realizing that it was just a waste of time, and that he needed to focus more on other important matters such as managing his company, in which he resumed his position as CEO.

A few weeks later, he works on various projects such as improving the Mark VI’s capabilities, by adding more weapons to it and heavily modifying the armor to have the ability to go on sub-aqueous journeys.

Not long after, he begins to work on the next version of his Iron Man armor, in which he directs his attention to a suit with more firepower, which leads to the creation of the Mark VII. An armor equipped with a variety of deadly weapons, such as Heat-Seeking Missiles, Air-to-Air Missiles and Ground-to-Ground Missiles, as well as a perfected Laser Weapon, based on the Mark VI’s older «Turn and Burn» Laser Weapon, which can fire a concentrated laser beam at a target, but drains more power from the suit’s Arc Reactor.

Although it’s near completion, the Mark VII was still in it’s prototype stage. It was still awaiting more upgrades, such as the «Spinning Rims», and had not yet been tested. Along with its unique deployment system that Tony developed himself.

While working on the Mark VII, Tony also planned to replace the energy used by the Stark Tower with «clean» Vibranium energy that he used, incorporate it into an Arc Reactor, and connect it to the building’s electrical circuits, for it to be able to run on clean, reliable energy.

The Avengers (film)

Fixing the Stark Tower

Tony builds the Stark Tower and joins the Avengers in defending the world from Loki and the Chitauri army. He briefly battles Thor using the Mark VI and defends the Helicarrier from an attack by Loki and his minions. Tony saves the Helicarrier by restarting one of its engines, but the Mark VI is badly damaged in the process. After Phil Coulson is killed by Loki, Tony becomes determined to save the world and Phil finally earns his respect. Realizing Loki will launch his attack from Stark Tower, Tony travels there and confronts Loki, swearing that if they can’t save the world, the Avengers will avenge it.

As the Mark VI is too badly damaged to do much battle, Tony dons the new Mark VII which is incomplete. Tony does battle with the Chitauri army and is able to help hold them off, but more keep coming through a wormhole Loki creates with the Tesseract. Nick Fury’s desperate superiors launch a nuclear missile at Manhattan in a desperate attempt to stop the invasion.

Seizing the chance to both stop the invasion and save Manhattan, Tony flies the nuclear missile through the wormhole and into the Chitauri flagship, destroying it and disabling the forces on Earth. The Mark VII runs out of power and falls through the closing wormhole to Earth, but Tony is saved by the Hulk. Tony later repairs Stark Tower with Pepper and builds rooms for the rest of the Avengers.

Before Iron Man 3

Panic attacks

After the Battle of New York, Tony starts to have panic attacks and no longer believes that the world is safe, now knowing there are Gods and Aliens out there, and that threat is imminent.

Creating the Iron Legion

In response to this, he builds more Iron Man suits to help in every kind of situation, in case another invasion on earth ensues. This causes friction with his now girlfriend, and current Head-Chief of Stark Industries.

Iron Man 3

Recalling the Past

Tony narrates about his story and explains how his personal life was destroyed. In the background the Mark VII, Mark VI and Mark V slowly explode one by one and Tony starts by recalling an event that happened way back in Berlin, Switzerland 1999.

In a flashback in the New Year’s Eve of 1999, Tony attends a Science Conference in Berlin Switzerland and spends his New Year there. He books himself with his bodyguard Happy Hogan, in a hotel and later on meets a scientist paramour named Maya Hansen during the conference, whom he quickly develops a relationship with.

After the conference, he goes with Maya through the crowd together with his bodyguard, Happy Hogan as the people celebrate the incoming New Year. Happy tells him that it was only half an hour before New Year as Tony talks with Maya regarding the conference and her research. While passing by to go the hotel, he meets up with Physicist Ho Yinsen and Cardiologist Dr. Wu.

The two are honored to meet him, and Tony introduces himself to them while joking around. Yinsen tries to ask Tony if he could spend some time helping them with their research, but Tony holds the offer and ignores it after. When he leaves with Maya, Yinsen asks Tony if they could do it another time but Tony doesn’t reply, and continues to go through the crowd into the hotel.

Upon arriving in the hotel lobby, he meets crippled scientist Aldrich Killian, who works for a privately funded think-tank called Advanced Idea Mechanics or A.I.M. for short, and is it’s CEO and founder. Aldrich introduces himself to them as Tony and Maya enter the elevator. Aldrich is able to make the cut to the elevator despite it being nearly full, and Happy asks him where he would like to go. Aldrich replies to him with the «Ground Floor».

After, he tries to offer Tony a job in his think-tank and gives both Tony and Maya his contact cards. When Tony reaches his floor, he tells the others to go and then tells Aldrich that he’s heard of his think-tank and is interested. He tells Aldrcih to meet him up on the roof later on, and Aldrich agrees.

Tony leaves the elevator and goes to his room. When there, he spends time with Maya and looks at her research. Happy then touches a sample plant injected with Extremis and breaks off some off the plants leaves. Maya immediately tells him to stop touching it and Tony tells Happy not to touch it as well. Happy questions why, and Maya just answers that she doesn’t like it, and Tony agrees.

When they go into the bedroom, Maya tells Tony about her research. Tony is amazed at what she’s created — «a biological virus called Extremis, which hacks the brain’s DNA center and is able to recode it. Allowing regrowth of limbs, increased strength and instant healing of any living organism».

Tony, who is amazed by Maya’s Research, tells her that she’s «The best woman he’s ever met. In Switzerland.» Maya is surprised, and then agrees to Tony when he said that she was the best woman in Switzerland. Maya then takes off Tony’s glasses and wears it herself. Tony laughs and looks at her, and the two share a kiss.

With Happy closing the room door, Maya’s sample plant suddenly explodes and after, Maya explains to Tony that, the resulting explosion was a glitch in her work. Tony is surprised with the effect and asks here of she’s tried using an incentive to her Extremis, to which Maya questions what Tony just said.

Happy, unbeknownst to him that it was simply a glitch, runs to Tony and jumps on him. Protecting Tony, as he thought that there was bomb or an attack from the explosion. Tony reassures Happy that it was nothing and tells Happy to get off of him. Happy asks what just happened, and Maya tells him that it was just a glitch from her work. Happy helps Tony up and then the fireworks start exploding, with everybody celebrating New Year outside. The three then greet each other Happy New Year and Happy leaves the room saying Goodnight to Tony.

Tony and Maya then spend the rest of their time in the room, and later have sex over night. In the morning, Tony writes down the formula for an incentive on a piece of card taken from the conference, and leaves it on his table. He then leaves Maya in the room without saying any goodbye.

The present and Iron Man

Thirteen years later Tony has long forgotten the events in Switzerland, and now lives with his girlfriend Pepper Potts, who has moved in into his house in Malibu, California.

In the present Tony works in his workshop as he plants 47 Microchips into his arm, that will attach to his nervous system. He is about to test the newly built Mark 42 and it’s new prehensile technology. Tony asks Dummy how he got a hat with «Dunce» written on it, on him, in which Tony was the one who placed it there. He later karate chops a wooden stand then tells Dummy to clean up the blood on his floor mat and handle it.

Tony builds many more suits to fit the several situations that he feels might arise, with his latest suit being the Mark 42. He experiences panic attacks stemming from what he has learned is out there. This and his obsession with being Iron Man strain his relationship with Pepper.

A severe anxiety attack

Tony is contacted by Happy who is taking his job as the new Head of Security for Stark Industries too seriously. Tony is jealous when he learns that Pepper is meeting with Aldrich Killian. He meets with Rhodey, who he has built a new suit, the Iron Patriot, for. Tony panics and flees in the Mark VII after New York is brought up.

After Happy is badly injured in an apparent attack by «The Mandarin,» Tony issues a threat to «the Mandarin» and gives him his address to try to draw him out.

Mandarin Strikes

After a fight with Pepper about leaving and having Maya Hansen shows up, Tony’s house comes under attack by three helicopters sent by «the Mandarin.» Tony helps Pepper escape then dons the Mark 42 to try to save his house.

Though Tony manages to take out two helicopters, the Mark 42’s status as a prototype that was just being brought online limits his abilities and his house and first seven armors are destroyed as he is sent to the bottom of the ocean and believed dead. Tony survives and flies to Rose Hill, Tennessee which he had earlier determined was the location of an explosion similar to the one that nearly killed Happy. The Mark 42 runs out of power. After leaving a message for Pepper, Tony makes his way to a workshop to recharge the suit and befriends Harley Keener.

Finding the Mandarin

With Harley’s help, Tony starts repairing the suit and investigates the explosion, coming under attack by Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin, who are enhanced by Extremis. Tony manages to kill Brandt and disable Savin even without his armor and heads off to locate «the Mandarin» with the help of a file given to him by the mother of the man who exploded. Realizing that A.I.M. is behind this, Tony calls Rhodey to get his log-in to the military and hacks into the organization to learn about Extremis. Harley and J.A.R.V.I.S. locate «the Mandarin» in Miami, but Tony panics when he learns that the armor might not be ready for him in the time limit he set.

Following advice by Harley, Tony builds makeshift weapons and makes his way into «the Mandarin’s» home. The weapons are Ornament Bombs, Nail Gun, Electric glove, Tazor, and a Grappling Hook. Where he learns that «the Mandarin» is actually an actor named Trevor Slattery hired by Killian to create a cover for the explosions that his Extremis Soldiers create when their bodies reject Extremis. Tony is captured by Savin and taken to Killian who reveals he has captured Pepper and injected her with Extremis to force Tony to help him perfect it.

Tony is able to convince Maya to turn on Killian, but he simply kills her rather than release Tony. While being guarded, Tony’s borrowed watch goes off and he tries to summon the Mark 42 and gets frustrated when it doesn’t come. Finally, the right arm and left leg arrive and Tony is able to use its repulsors and guns from the guards to fight his way free before the rest of the armor arrives. Discovering Savin heading off in Iron Patriot, Tony tries to follow but discovers that the armor isn’t charged enough. Meeting up with Rhodey, he helps take out two guards and confronts Slattery about where Pepper is.

Rescuing Air Force One

Slattery reveals what he knows including that the Vice President is involved somehow and where Killian’s base is. As they have no way to get there, Tony and Rhodey take Slattery’s speedboat and Tony calls the Vice President to warn him he may be in danger. Realizing from the Vice President’s comment that Iron Patriot is with the President that the President is in danger, Tony charges the Mark 42 to 92% and then dispatches it, controlled by remote, to try to save the President.

Savin manages to destroy Air Force One and send the President to Killian in the Iron Patriot armor, but Tony kills Savin and saves thirteen people from falling to their deaths before the Mark 42 is broken into its component pieces by getting hit by a truck. Arriving at the location Slattery gave them, Tony orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to activate the «House Party Protocol»‘ and infiltrates the base with a nervous Rhodey who doesn’t like the idea of Tony with a gun without armor.

Battle at the oil rig

The two end up pinned down, but the rest of Tony’s Iron Man armors, now the Iron Legion arrive to help, taking on the Extremis Soldiers. Donning an armor, Tony goes to rescue Pepper while Rhodey heads off to rescue the President. Tony battles Killian in several armors, but each is destroyed and Pepper apparently falls to her death. Finally, the repaired Mark 42 arrives and Tony tries to put it on, but fails as it falls to pieces after hitting a pole.

Desperate, Tony puts the armor on Killian and orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to cause it to self-destruct, apparently killing Killian while Tony escapes to the ground. Killian survives the blast and attacks, but Tony is saved by Pepper who survived due to her Extremis powers. The Mark VIII arrives and attacks Pepper due to her Extremis powers and Tony fails to stop the attack as he lost his earpiece, however, Pepper destroys the suit’s Arc reactor, disabling it to Tony’s shock.

New beginnings

As Tony watches, Pepper kills Killian with a missile and a repulsor from the suit. Tony promises to help deal with Pepper’s Extremis and orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to self-destruct the surviving Iron Man suits as a sign of his devotion to Pepper. Tony is able to stabilize Pepper’s Extremis and as part of the new life he is building, undergoes surgery to have the shrapnel removed from his chest and as thanks to Harley, upgrades his workshop to match his own. Afterwards, Tony pitches his now-obsolete arc reactor into the ocean, but muses that he will always be Iron Man even without the suits.

Ending the story

Later, it was revealed that Tony was telling the story to Bruce Banner, who fell asleep at the beginning of the story. Bruce wakes up and apologizes, Tony understands, but starts to tell a new story instead to Bruce.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Raiding the HYDRA base

This section is under development. Information will be placed here soon.

Tony’s «dark vision»

This section is under development. Information will be placed here soon.

Completing the mission

This section is under development. Information will be placed here soon.

Battle of Sokovia

This section is under development. Information will be placed here soon.

Captain America: Civil War

Break up

Following the creation and destruction of Ultron which lead to the destruction of Sokovia after becoming Iron Man to combat HYDRA and Ultron despite previously retiring as an Avenger in the aftermath of the defeat of Ultron. Sometime after Pepper Potts left Tony due to the fact that he was still Iron Man despite his promise to stop.

Consequences

When the Sokovia Accords were due to be signed, Tony was in favour of them still haunted by his creation of Ultron and the loss of life that had occurred while noting that if the Avengers did not sign, they would be viewed as villains for continually defying international law. While Steve Rogers disagreed, Rhodes, Romanoff and Vision saw Tony’s logic and signed.

When Rogers, Wilson and Barnes were all arrested and brought to the JTCT headquarters, Tony managed to work out a deal with the United Nations to legalize their actions on the condition that they sign the Accords and obey the law. Much to Tony’s frustration, Rogers refused to compromise and stormed off leaving Tony as the leader of the Avengers.

Clash of the Avengers

After Rogers and Wilson had helped Barnes escape the JTCT, Ross informed Tony that lethal force would be used to disable them. Tony managed to persuade Ross to delay the kill order for at least 36 hours to give Tony a chance to peacefully diffuse the situation. Romanoff pointed out to Tony that they were outnumbered by the renegade Avengers, Tony assured her they plenty of time to recruit people before flying off to the borough of Queens in New York City.

Having deduced that the «Spider-Man» was in fact Peter Parker, Tony went to his apartment to wait for him to return from school where he passed the time by flirting with May Parker. When Peter arrived, Stark persuaded him to trick his aunt into thinking that Peter had applied for a scholarship Stark was offering. Retreating to the young man’s room, Stark was impressed by Peter’s mechanical aptitude before finding his suit. Offering Peter a new one (and joking to tell Aunt May about Peter’s hobby), Tony convinced the young man to aid him in Germany.

Donning the Mark 46, Tony and his team confronted Rogers once again offering him a final chance to surrender peacefully lest lethal force be employed against his party for aiding a wanted criminal. Rogers refused to surrender, sparking the Clash of the Avengers. Assigning targets to his team, Tony flew off to confront Maximoff and Barton stopping them in their tracks before Maximoff managed to pin him under several cars.

Freeing himself, he caught up with his team after Ant-Man had nearly killed them. Recognizing the single mindedness that drove Rogers, Tony was forced to call in Vision in the hope that the android’s Mind Stone and logic could persuade the renegades to surrender. Stark’s gambit failed when Rogers again chose to fight.

Tony briefly engaged Captain America in melee combat before Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow at his suit, doing no damage.

Later engaged Falcon before Hawkeye fired a scatter arrow at the Avenger leader. Easily destroying the projectiles, Tony prepared to stun Clint before the left repulsor failed. Discovering Ant-Man had infiltrated his suit, he ejected him with the suit’s fire extinguisher from hundreds of feet in the air.

When it became clear that Tony would win the fight, Ant-Man became Giant-Man to buy Rogers and Barnes time to steal the Quinjet. Lang attacked Stark with an airplane wing, an attack the Mark 46 easily dodged, before Wilson fired the Redwing drone at Stark only for it to shatter on impact against the Mark 46.

Working with Spider-Man and War Machine, Stark managed to fell Lang but as the giant fell, Parker was sent falling to the ground. Quickly checking on the youth, Tony told him to go home or he would call his aunt before flying off to catch the hijacked Quinjet backed up by War Machine. The two armoured Avengers were pursued by Falcon and Rhodes ordered Vision to destroy Falcon’s flight gear. The android miscalculated however and knocked out Rhodes’ power source. Rhodes began falling from a great height and Tony was unable to catch him in time. Rhodes survived the crash and FRIDAY had already contacted the medics. Tony vented his anger on Sam blasting him in the face with a repulsor and ending the fight.

Assisting Rhodes

At Avengers’ Compound, Stark turned Rhodes over to the doctors before revealing to Romanoff he blamed her for Rhodes’ accident by letting Rogers go and that T’Challa had informed the United Nations of her betrayal. When she insisted Stark was wrong, he scoffed at her biases towards Rogers before commenting that betraying people was the only thing Natasha was good at.

Learning the truth

En route to the Raft prison, F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed Stark that she’d found proof of Helmut Zemo being behind everything. Annoyed that Rogers was correct, Stark sent the information to Ross before deciding to interrogate Sam Wilson. Although Ross did not believe Tony he allowed him to speak to the former Avenger.

While in the cells, Tony was mocked by Clint Barton who claimed everything was Tony’s fault. Tony had zero patience for the man casually stating he should have thought his actions through before he did them, leaving the archer to stew in his cell. Scott Lang then attempted to insult Tony only for the billionaire to have no idea who Lang was or what he was talking about. Stark then managed to convince Wilson to tell him where Rogers had gone before he left for Siberia, withholding the information to annoy Ross.

Arriving at Siberian HYDRA base, Tony found the two super soldiers and agreed to a temporary truce to complete their mutual goal. Discovering that the five other Winter Soldiers were all dead, Zemo revealed himself stating that he had managed to lure Stark to the base after a year of planning as revenge against the Avengers for what happened in Sokovia. Here Zemo showed Stark that Howard and Maria Stark had not perished in a car crash but had in fact been assassinated by Barnes. Already enraged by the fallout of Rogers’ actions, Tony snapped and attempted to murder Barnes.

Tony tried to force Rogers into submission but the captain refused to stay down managing to damage the suit’s left boot and its targeting system. Trapping Rogers on a lower level, Tony attempted to target Barnes with a forearm missile. As he could not lock on, he opted to instead trap Barnes within the bunker. Overpowering the Winter Soldier in seconds, Tony tried to crush him under the Mark 46’s weight before Rogers intervened sending the Avenger leader and his former teammate to main floor. Stating in no uncertain terms that he was done listening to Rogers he proceeded to overpower his former friend before Barnes intervened with Rogers’ shield. Faced with uneven odds, Tony blasted Rogers at point blank range leaving him convulsing him pain for two minutes before Barnes forced him up against a wall.

Barnes tried to remove the Mark 46’s main Arc Reactor only for Tony to simply unleash the Unibeam disintegrating Barnes’ metallic limb before seemingly killing the man. A recovered and enraged Rogers stormed Tony unleashing a relentless assault of melee attacks. Fed up with Rogers, Tony ordered FRIDAY to scan Rogers’ fighting style for patterns and weakness. Once she had done so, Tony caught and blew away Rogers’ shield before brutally beating him down. Defeated, Rogers tried to appeal to Stark only for the Avenger to declare they were now enemies as a result of Steve’s decisions. Giving his former teammate one last chance to stand down, which was refused, Tony prepared to kill him. A barely alive Barnes, grabbed the armor’s boot only for Tony to break his nose. The distraction allowed Rogers to turn the tide of the battle, breaking off the Mark 46’s helmet and damaging its main Arc Reactor. Reduced to the backups, Tony was unable to continue combat. As Rogers left, Tony mocked him that he’d succumbed to his darker aspects and the shield was Howard Stark’s property. Heeding Tony’s point, Rogers abandoned the shield and the identity of Captain America.

Picking up the pieces

Returning to the Compound, Tony developed technology that would allow Rhodes to walk again after his accident. While doing this, Rhodes assured Tony that he’d done the right thing in following the law before a mailman arrived with a package from Rogers. Within was a letter in which Rogers apologized for hiding the truth behind Tony’s parents and assuring him that if he ever needed help, the other Avengers were but a phone call away. Ross then called Tony informing him of a situation at the raft, but Tony pretended to be busy and put the man on hold revealing his hate for the evil general.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Training Spider-Man

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Avengers: Infinity War

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Avengers: Endgame

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Quotes

Other Media

Marvel’s The Avengers: Iron Man — Mark VII

In Marvel’s The Avengers: Iron Man — Mark VII, Tony appears as an interactive character that portrays and narrates the events that occured before and during each film in the Iron Man Franchise of the Marvel Cinematics Universe.

He first appears to make a log on how his Iron Man Armor was created. Tony begins with the Mark I.

Iron Man 3 — The Official Game

In Iron Man 3 — The Official Game, Tony appears as the main character, in which he uses the armors the player has to play. Tony plays a role in narrating the story as the game progresses, while the player advances to the harder parts of the game.

He helps the player get through missions and levels while giving them rewards and objectives as the story goes on. Tony was voiced by Adrian Pasdar.

Notes

• Robert Downey Jr. played the character’s role throughout the whole franchise, including The Avengers.
• Tony Stark is based on the character of the same name in the comics, which is set in the Mainstream Marvel Universe, also known as Earth-616.

Trivia

• Tony Stark is the first character to take place in the Marvel Cinematics Universe.
• Before Robert Downey Jr. was officially cast as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Tom Cruise almost landed on the role.
• Tom doesn’t like being handed things; as it is his biggest pet peeve.

Gallery

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References

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External links

• Tony Stark on Wikipedia.
• Tony Stark on the Marvel Comics Database.
• Tony Stark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki.
• Tony Stark on the Marvel Movies Wiki.
• Tony Stark at 101 Soundboards.

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