page_title: Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
section_title: Appearance and personality
hierarchical_section_title: Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) / Characterization / Appearance and personality
caption_attribution_description: Robert Downey, Jr. at Comic Con 2007.
context_page_description: Anthony Edward Stark is a fictional character portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly known by his alter ego, Iron Man. In the films, Stark is an industrialist, genius inventor, hero and former playboy who is CEO of Stark Industries. At the beginning of the series, he is a chief weapons manufacturer for the U.S. military, until 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.
  Stark has been one of the central figures of the MCU, having appeared in eleven films since his introduction in Iron Man. 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.
context_section_description: Downey had an office next to Favreau during pre-production, which allowed him greater involvement in the screenwriting process, especially adding humor to the film. 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." To prepare, Downey spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape, 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."
  In Iron Man 2, Stark struggles to keep his technology out of the government's hands. Downey and Favreau, who had been handed a script and worked from it on the first movie, conceived of the film's story themselves. 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."
  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." 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". 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.
  In Iron Man 3, Stark struggles to come to terms with his near-death experience in The Avengers, 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." 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?" 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."
  In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Stark has become the benefactor of the Avengers. 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'
caption: Robert Downey Jr. at Comic Con 2007, after being cast in Iron Man.
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