Iron Man

> "*My armor was never a distraction or a hobby, it was a cocoon, and now I'm a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks, and toys, one thing you can't take away - I am Iron Man.*"
> ― Tony Stark
>
>

**Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark** (born May 29, 1970, in Manhattan, New York, USA), also known as **Iron Man**, is the overall protagonist of the *Infinity Saga* of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was a genius, billionaire, former playboy and philanthropist who not only invented the Iron Man Armor, but wore the suit himself. He was the co-leader and one of the founding members of the Avengers. He was CEO of Stark Industries, which once sold highly sophisticated weapons systems technologies to the government defense organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D. who uses them to maintain peace and order, but has pulled out his company away from weapons business. He was the eponymous ultimate main protagonist of the *Iron Man*trilogy and the *Avengers* quadrilogy. He is also a minor character in *The Incredible Hulk*, the central antagonist of *Captain America: Civil War*, the deuteragonist of *Spider-Man: Homecoming*, and a posthumous character in *Spider-Man: Far From Home*. Iron Man also had a friendly rivalry and friendship with Captain America and was a mentor and father figure to Spider-Man.

He was portrayed by legendary actor Robert Downey, Jr.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### Troubled Childhood

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born on Friday, May 29, 1970, in Manhattan, New York City, to Howard and Maria Stark. Stark had become good friends with Edwin Jarvis, the butler of the Stark family, who watched over him throughout all of his childhood. Stark's early life was often dominated by the absence of his father, who he would later describe as both 'cold' and 'calculating'. Growing up, Stark had issues with Howard, who never told his son that he loved, or even liked him. Since Stark was so young, Howard couldn't tell his son his plans for him. Howard would constantly talk about his admiration for Captain America, which caused Stark to develop hatred and resentment towards the super soldier. However, Stark had a loving relationship with his mother, who was more gentle and nurturing; he enjoyed hearing Maria play the piano.

Tony's early life was often dominated by the absence of his father who he would later describe as 'cold' and 'calculating'. Growing up Tony had issues with his father, who Tony has said never told his son that he loved him, or even that he liked him. Since Tony was so young, Howard never was able to tell him his plans for him.

At a young age, Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. When he was four years old, he designed his first circuit board. When he was almost seven, he built a V8 motorbike engine. One thing about Stark's childhood that annoyed him was the nanny who cared for him until he was fourteen. Stark attended Phillips Academy in Andover from 1977 to 1984. While, he was in high school, Stark hacked into the Pentagon on a dare by some friends. He was admitted early into Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he met James Rhodes and they became lifelong best friends. At sixteen, Stark won the 4th Annual MIT Robot Design Award. When he was seventeen, Stark graduated *summa cum laude* from MIT.

#### Losing his Parents

At the age of twenty-one, his parents, Howard and Maria, died in a car crash secretly orchestrated by HYDRA. For a few months Obadiah Stane, a family friend, took over the company since Tony was too young to be CEO of the family's company, Stark Industries. Around this time, Tony's family butler, Edwin Jarvis, died. A few months later, he inherited Stark Industries, becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 Company in history. After building a custom mansion, Tony made an A.I. system that helped out in the house. He named the system "Just a Rather Very Intelligent System", shortened J.A.R.V.I.S., after his butler.

Eventually, James Rhodes joined the United States Air Force and became the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces.

On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, attended a Science Conference in Bern, Switzerland, there he met a scientist named Ho Yinsen and he arrogantly avoided a gifted but crippled scientist, Aldrich Killian, who wanted Stark's backing in his endeavor Advanced Idea Mechanics. Stark purposely told Killian to meet him on the rooftop of the building with the intention of not turning up. This lead Killian to wait all night while Stark slept with Maya in her room.

In December 1991, when Stark was just twenty-one, Howard and Maria prepared to go away to the Bahamas for a few days over the Christmas holiday and leave him home alone, although his father remained skeptical about how responsible Tony would be while they were gone. Sadly, the couple died in a car crash in Long Island, leaving Stark in grief and struggling to process this tragedy. For a few months, Obadiah Stane took over as interim CEO of Stark Industries. Sometime later, Tony's long-serving family butler, Edwin Jarvis, also died.

### CEO of Stark Industries

#### Rebuilding the Company

A few months later, at age 21, Stark inherited Stark Industries and took over from Obadiah Stane, becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company in history. Having built himself a custom mansion, Stark created an A.I. system that helped out in the house. He named the system "Just a Rather Very Intelligent System," shortened J.A.R.V.I.S., in tribute to Edwin Jarvis, whom Stark had often credited for helping to raise him.

Eventually, James Rhodes joined the United States Air Force and became the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces, successfully earning Stark billions of dollars with military contracts. Under Stark's leadership with the aid of Stane, Stark Industries quickly thrived and became one of the most advanced companies in the world, creating new forms of weapons technology that seemed highly futuristic to most looking on at the weapons.

#### Creating Demons

On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, attended a science conference in Bern, Switzerland. There, Stark got so drunk he could barely give his speech on integrated circuits and rejoined the party as soon as possible. While celebrating, he met a scientist named Ho Yinsen who introduced Stark to Doctor Wu, although he swiftly dismissed them both.

While moving through the hotel with Happy Hogan, Hansen, and a group of female attendees, Stark then arrogantly avoided a gifted but crippled scientist, Aldrich Killian, who wanted his financial backing for a scientific think tank, Advanced Idea Mechanics. Once they were alone in an elevator together, Stark then purposely told the excited Killian to meet him on the rooftop of the building to discuss him working with Stark Industries with the intention of never turning up, wanting to continue spending time with Hansen.

Back in Hansen's hotel room, Stark looked at her new research into a project known as Extremis, which had the potential to regrow human limbs if she could get enough funding. Stark was amazed by the concept, although Hogan was less impressed and played with a nearby plant despite being told not to. Stark and Hansen then went to her bedroom where they continued flirting with each other before then leaning towards one another for a passionate kiss.

However, Hogan inadvertently caused a small explosion by breaking a plant stem, causing a brief moment of panic. Stark sent Hogan away and then slept with Hansen, leaving Killian freezing and humiliated on the rooftop. Stark was unaware of Killian's suffering and woke up the next morning while Hansen was working. He completed her formula for her to fix the combustible glitch in Extremis, before discreetly walking out and returning home, leaving Hansen behind.

#### Testing Weapons in Arizona

On January 30, 2009, Stark and James Rhodes went to a weapons demonstration at the Yuma Proving Ground, where Stark showed off his product’s accelerated wave explosion capability. Pepper Potts then gave the weapon's specifics to the generals while Stark and Rhodes went to a nightclub. Stark enjoyed the company of two girls, Celeste and Eloise, while Rhodes tried to convince him not to go to Afghanistan for the demonstration of Jericho. While dancing, Stark was attacked by a man whose girlfriend he had previously seduced, but Rhodes was able to defeat the attacker, prompting Stark to declare that he would be alright in Afghanistan thanks to his friend having his back. Stark, Rhodes and the girls then went to his mansion in order to continue their party.

#### Final Day of Freedom

After a presentation of Stark's successful past, James Rhodes was given the honor of presenting the Apogee Award to him at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After Obadiah Stane gave Rhodes a signal saying that Stark was not there to receive it, he accepted the award in Stark's honor. Shortly after the award ceremony, Rhodes brought Stark the award while he was gambling in the casino inside of Caesars Palace. Rhodes got angry at him for not being present. Stark arrogantly accepted the award, but then handed it off to a man masquerading as Julius Caesar.

Right when Stark was about to leave the hotel with his entourage, Christine Everhart ran up and tried to get an interview with him for Vanity Fair Magazine. Having been told by his bodyguard, Happy Hogan, that Everhart was attractive, Stark agreed to her interview. He deflected her questions on the ethics of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing with some swift quips. Upon being morally questioned, Stark defended his actions by bringing up his father's achievements in World War II and how the company's deals with the military funded much of its scientific breakthroughs. He then turned to seducing Everhart and the two ended up at Stark's Mansion, where they slept together.

Early in the morning, Stark left Everhart in his bed to be greeted by J.A.R.V.I.S. and escorted home while he began working on one of his cars. Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, later arrived in the workshop and reminded him about his trip to Afghanistan. Stark remained complacent, unfazed about being late as it was his own plane and therefore would wait for him. Potts then discussed matters which required his attention; a Jackson Pollock he bid on, the MIT commencement speech he was scheduled to give, and a form he needed to sign. When Stark complained about being rushed out, Potts revealed it was her birthday and she had already used his money to buy a present for herself from him, much to Stark's amusement.

Finishing his coffee, Stark then finally left his mansion and drove to the Stark Industries Aviation Division followed by his bodyguard Happy Hogan, who struggled to keep up with his boss who drove exceptionally fast. He got to the plane three hours late and found Colonel James Rhodes was still there waiting for him to finally turn up, incredibly annoyed to have been left waiting for so long, although Stark was not bothered at all. He then got onto the plane and sat down along with Rhodes who tried to discuss business between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces while Stark all wanted to do just drink and then relax, much to Rhodes' continued great annoyance.

Despite wanting to discuss his work, Stark managed to convince Rhodes to have a drink with him and before long, he and Rhodes had gotten completely drunk and held a small party on the plane. While Rhodes reminisced on his time in the United States Air Force, Stark completely ignored his friend and focused his attention on the air hostesses, who had begun undressing and dancing around a pole in the middle of the plane for both of their entertainment.

#### Presenting the Jericho

Touching down in Afghanistan, Stark was greeted by members of the military before he presented Stark Industries' newest weapon, the Jericho missile, to the military spectators and demonstrated its capability. Giving a speech, Stark explained that the missile was so powerful that it would only be needed to be fired once to defeat the enemy, noting that was how his father, Howard Stark, had worked and it was a successful method for all of America. The missile was fired and Stark received a round of applause from everyone.

After the successful presentation, Stark had a drink, noting that the whiskey came with every order of the Jericho missile. While all of the various members of the United States Armed Forces celebrated the new deal, Obadiah Stane called Stark to ask how it had gone, with Stark explaining that they would be getting an early Christmas. Stark got into a convoy vehicle to leave, sending James Rhodes to another humvee to then go and return to their military base.

As they drove down the road towards the military base, Stark sat with his whiskey as three soldiers sat with him in awkward silence and attempted to make small talk. Stark teased them, noting that he would have never guessed that the driver was a woman as he was asked all about sleeping with various supermodels before he was asked to take a selfie. Posing for the picture, Stark muttered about loving peace while asking the soldier not to make gang signs.

### Becoming Iron Man

#### Kidnapped by the Ten Rings

As Stark's convoy drove through Afghanistan to return to the United States Armed Forces base, they were suddenly attacked by insurgents who blew up the vehicle in front, trapping them. Stark watched in utter horror as the soldiers stepped out only to be gunned down right in front of his own eyes, leaving his ears ringing from the many explosions. While soldiers were dying around him, Stark rushed outside and attempted to find some cover and call for help.

While Stark was using his phone in his attempt to contact someone for assistance, one of Stark Industries' own bombs suddenly landed right by him, Stark saw this and desperately attempted to get away, however, he was too slow and the bomb exploded right beside him. The resulting blast caused Stark to be thrown backward and lose consciousness and embedded several pieces of shrapnel into his chest, several fragments dangerously close to his heart.

While falling in and out of consciousness, Stark felt incredible pain as an operation was performed on his chest in an attempt to remove the pieces of shrapnel and save his life. Eventually, Stark dazed away to find himself in front of a camera as some various terrorists were now reading out a ransom note to an unknown viewer while Stark could only look on in dismay with various guns aimed directly at him. The shock of seeing this made Stark lose consciousness again.

He woke up sometime later to find Ho Yinsen in his cell with him and an electromagnet attached to his chest. Hooked up to a car battery, Yinsen explained that the electromagnet kept the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Yinsen went on to explain how they had once met in Bern during the 1999 although Stark had been too drunk to remember. Just as Stark questioned where they were, someone banged on the door from the other side.

As Yinsen ordered Stark to get onto his feet, they were greeted by Abu Bakaar, who had Yinsen translate as he welcomed Stark as the greatest mass murderer in the entire history of the United States of America. Bakaar explained that he now wanted Stark to rebuild the Jericho missile for him, however, Stark simply refused to help them. As a direct result of refusing to help the Ten Rings, Bakaar had Stark tortured by waterboarding him repeatedly.

Stark was then taken outside of the cave where Bakaar showed him how the Ten Rings had an incredible supply of his Stark Industries weapons, including guns and missiles which were being used against the United States Armed Forces, which clearly horrified Stark. As Bakaar continued his earlier conversation, he told Stark that they had all the materials needed for him to build a Jericho missile, promising that if he began immediately then once he was done, he would be returned home. Stark agreed to the job, although he noted to Yinsen that Bakaar would never actually allow him to get away, with Yinsen confirming that this was true while Bakaar smile at them.

While Stark sat by the fire and considered his new and terrible situation, Yinsen joined him and explained that what he had seen out there, with the Ten Rings holding his weapons, was the legacy of Tony Stark. When Yinsen called on him to do something, Stark simply questioned what the point was if he was likely going to be dead within a week regardless of anything, so Yinsen told him that this only meant it was an important week for him.

#### Building the First Armor

Knowing that their captors would never keep up their end of the deal, Stark began the work asked from him with Ho Yinsen, however, he had instead had begun to make a plan to escape. Stark recruited Abu Bakaar to bring in the supplies he needed into their cave, using Yinsen as his translator while he began breaking all of the various weapons apart.

In order to improve Stark's condition, he and Yinsen then created a miniature Arc Reactor, a smaller version of the same power source previously invented by his father, Howard Stark, and Anton Vanko, which they would soon embed into his chest to supply energy to the electromagnet protecting his heart. Stark concentrated on his own technical work, all while Yinsen continued to tell Stark everything he knew of the Ten Rings and what their plans were for them.

Having successfully built the Arc Reactor, Stark told Yinsen that he would not be using it to power his heart, but to power something larger for a brief time. With that Stark showed Yinsen his plans, hidden with multiple blueprints, to build a suit of armor which he would soon be using to finally break them out of the cave. Yinsen was both impressed and inspired by Stark's plan and then assisted him in installing the Arc Reactor inside his chest.

During their downtime, Stark and Yinsen played board games to keep themselves entertained. During one of their games, Stark asked Yinsen where he was from, as Yinsen explained he was from a small town call Gulmira where he had a family who he intended to see once he was free on the cave. When Yinsen then asked the same question, Stark admitted that he had no family waiting for him, with Yinsen noting he had everything but yet still nothing.

Stark and Yinsen then returned to their work, pulling apart pieces of the various Stark Industries weapons that were supplied to them and tearing them apart. They then fused the pieces together and turned them into plates ready to be added to the armor once that was completed. However, the pair ensured that their work was still kept random enough that the Ten Rings would be unable to figure out their deception until it was at last too late for them.

Their work was one day interrupted by Raza, the leader of this Ten Rings group who told Stark to relax before admiring his Arc Reactor. Raza compared Stark's work to that of Genghis Khan who had almost conquered the world. Believing they were lying to him, Raza had Yinsen held down and threatened to put a red-hot coal in his mouth until Stark told him to stop. Raza agreed and then ordered Stark to finally complete the Jericho missile by the next very day.

Fearing for their lives if they did not get out as soon as possible, together, Stark and Yinsen secretly began building the final stages of the armored suit to help them escape, with Stark focusing on the body of the armor while Yinsen wired up the final pieces of the mechanics. Fusing together the various large parts of steel to fit his own body, Stark then fitting the armor with various missiles and flame throwers, preparing himself for every eventuality as he knew Raza and the Ten Rings would put all their strength into stopping their escape. Once it was almost complete, Stark placed the still steaming Iron Man helmet onto Yinsen's desk and they prepared to finally put their upcoming escape plan into action.

#### Escaping the Ten Rings

Soon, the pair enacted their escape plan with Stark being slowly fitted into the armor while the power from the new Arc Reactor was being downloaded into the suit. However, the booby-trapped door the pair had rigged with an explosive was set off, killing all the men who had come to check on their progress. To his horror, Ho Yinsen realized that they now did not have enough time to power the suit before the Ten Rings arrived and killed them. With no other choice, Yinsen took a gun and held back the terrorists, while Stark's suit still continued to power up.

Once the suit had power, Iron Man waited in the shadows as the Ten Rings soldiers arrived in the room and searched for them, at which point he revealed himself and used all of his new incredible strength to punch them across the room, with the armor being unaffected by their bullets. Iron Man began making his way through the cave, killing any Ten Rings terrorist he came across by striking him with his armor. When Iron Man accidentally trapped his arm in a wall, a terrorist attempted to kill him by shooting him point-blank in the head, only for the bullet to bounce off and kill the terrorist instead, with Iron Man freeing himself and continuing forward on his escape mission.

Coming around a corner near the exit, Iron Man was mortified to find Yinsen lying mortally wounded having been shot multiple times during the escape attempt. However, Yinsen was just able to warn Iron Man before Raza fired a rocket launcher at his former hostage. Iron Man managed to dodge the shot and returned fire, shooting a missile at the Ten Rings leader which caused him to be badly burnt and trapped underneath the heavy falling rubble.

Iron Man rushed to Yinsen's side and urged him to get back onto his feet so he could go to Gulmira be reunited with his family. However, Yinsen revealed that his family was already dead and he would see them at last in the afterlife. Forced to accept the inevitable, Stark thanked Yinsen for everything he had done for him in saving his life, both physically and morally. With his last words, Yinsen reassured Stark that it would be alright to leave him behind and urged him not to waste his life.

Angered by Yinsen's death, Stark stepped outside to confront the rest of the terrorists who were waiting for him; the suit protected him from the onslaught of bullets, and he used the suit's flame-throwers to kill several terrorists, destroy their stockpile of Stark Industries produced weapons that had been stolen from him and used against the United States Armed Forces which he despised, causing several massive fireball explosions to erupt all around him.

Due to the massive amount of bullets being fired at him, the Iron Man suit was eventually badly damaged by the gunfire, forcing Stark to escape using the jetpacks while the entire Ten Rings Base erupted in a massive fireball. Iron Man soured above the blast, though his suit began to fall apart and was finally destroyed as he crashed in the desert, although it still saved Stark from the impact. With no other need for it, Stark left the original armor in the desert.

Stark began making his way through the desert, using his jacket to protect himself from the intense heat until finally, a helicopter flew overhead. Stark yelled out for help and collapsed to his knees, wearily making a peace symbol in the air. James Rhodes then rushed out of the helicopter with the military and the two friends embraced each other. Rhodes urged Stark to ride with him next time before taking him to safety. Upon being picked up by the Air Force, Stark was then finally returned to the United States of America at long last.

#### No More Weapons

Having been rescued, Stark was brought back to the United States of America by the army where he was walked onto a military airport by James Rhodes. To Stark's disgust, there was a stretcher waiting to take him to the hospital, which he rejected. Stark then met with Pepper Potts, who he noted had been crying, teasing her as he claimed she was crying for her long lost boss, while she claimed it was simply because she was glad not to have to find a new job.

Stark then sat in Happy Hogan's car with Potts; who insisted that he go straight to the hospital to check himself over in the wake of his kidnapping. However, Stark once again refused to get any medical treatment and instead asked to first be given a burger, then called a press meeting for Stark Industries. Potts argued that this was a very bad idea in the wake of his traumatic ordeal, but Stark still remained insistent, noting that he must get his cheeseburger first.

Upon arriving at Stark Industries Headquarters, Stark was then enthusiastically greeted by Obadiah Stane before making his way inside. During the press meeting, Stark finished his burger and compared his experiences to how he never said goodbye to his father. Stark finally declared that his company would now, for the foreseeable future, no longer manufacture military weapons, which Stane tried to slow down to the best of his own abilities.

As their companies' stock market began to plummet, Stark had a meeting with Stane beside the giant Arc Reactor. Stane advised him to reconsider the decision as he feared it would ruin the company. Stark insisted that they should take another look at the Arc Reactor technology based on his work with Ho Yinsen, proving this theory by showing Stane the Arc Reactor on his chest that was now keeping him alive. Although Stane insisted that the Arc Reactor was designed by Howard Stark and Anton Vanko as a publicity stunt, he eventually agreed to help Stark provided Stark inform him of his next intentions before calling for sudden, unexpected press conferences.

While back inside his Malibu Mansion, Stark called upon the help of Potts to get rid of the expired Arc Reactor in his chest, as Dum-E and U were unable to assist him. Although Potts was initially skeptical about the idea, she helped him at removing the Arc Reactor, although she accidentally put him through cardiac arrest briefly. Once they were finished, Stark told Potts he only had her to help and told her to bin the Reactor as he no longer had any more use for it.

Stark went to meet with James Rhodes who was giving a speech to new members of the United States Air Force. Stark interrupted the talk and teased his friend who then ordered the men to leave them in peace. When Rhodes questioned what Stark was doing there, he was told that Stark was working on a big new project, which seemed to delight him until Stark revealed it was not military. Rhodes then recommended that Stark get his mind straight instead.

In the months that followed, Stark retreated from public view and spent much of his time in the Mansion, focusing on improving the design of his new armored suit, refining its size, movement, and flight capability far beyond the original design. Stark was aiding in building the new suit by Dum-E and U who he had constantly mocked and insulted.

Recalling how the Mark I armor had almost no flight control and had crashed upon escaping the Ten Rings Base, Stark decided to create a more controlled flight capability for his suit. He arranged a test with U filming and Dum-E ready with the fire extinguisher in case anything went wrong. Stark proceeded with the test, although Stark was only on 5 to 10% power, he quickly discovered it was vastly more powerful than he expected and he was launched straight up and painfully crashed into the ceiling.

Making some redesigns to the new armor, Stark developed new stabilizers that would attach to his hands and give him a new level of control while in the air. While testing out the new designs, Stark was joined by Pepper Potts who mistakenly believed that Stark was designing new weapons for Stark Industries which he then denied, claiming that this design was not a weapon but it was completely harmless. However, Stark had once again underestimated the power of the design and a single blast from the stabilizer sent him flying backward, much to Potts' horror. Shocked by this, Stark noted that he was not expecting that and began making adjustments.

Stepping upstairs, Stark found Obadiah Stane had joined Potts for pizza having returned from a meeting with Stark Industries' board of directors. Stane informed Stark that the board had decided to block Stark out of the company in the wake of his kidnapping, believing he was now suffering from PTSD. Stark argued the decision but was told it was final, with Stane then requesting to take a look at the Arc Reactor technology, which Stark refused to do.

Getting back to work, Stark had the second test of his new Mark II armor, with Dum-E and U assisting him once again while J.A.R.V.I.S. watched. Using a lot less power than his first test, Stark hovered around his basement, struggling to maintain any control and almost damaging some of his most expensive cars. Eventually, Stark ended the test and landed, ordering Dum-E not to use the fire extinguisher on him before proudly declaring that he could now fly.

#### Test Flight

Stark eventually perfected the flight power after much trial and error, taking the silver Mark II suit for its first test flight as Stark put on the armor for the first time with great pride and excitement. Despite J.A.R.V.I.S.' warnings that there had not been enough tests to be safe, Stark insisted upon being allowed to fly outside and fully test its true capabilities.

Iron Man cheered in utter delight as he soared high across the sky over California and shouted out in delight at his success, using the mask's system to zoom into the city where a young boy looked on in amazement upon seeing Iron Man. However, when he pushed the suit to see how high he could fly in an attempt to beat the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird's record, he learned the suit would freeze at such a high altitude, which disabled its power. Stark fell from the sky and was just able to restart the suit moments before he would have hit the ground, with Stark delighting at avoiding such a near miss.

Having gained all the information about the suit's capabilities that he needed, Iron Man flew back to Tony Stark's Mansion, where he then prepared to analyze the data to use in the next design. Stark hovered over the entrance of the mansion and prepared to land softly on the ground; however, he did not account for the suit's extra weight and promptly fell through the ceiling, destroying his piano and sports car. Upon crash landing, Dum-E once again sprayed Stark with the fire extinguisher, believing him to have caught fire upon the impact while Stark leaned his head back in both pain and frustration.

Exploring his lap, Stark soon found that Pepper Potts had left a gift for him on his desk. Opening the box, Stark found his original Arc Reactor had been framed with a message saying it proved he had a heart. Some time afterward, Stark detected someone trying to hack into his own home computer system, tracing the signal to a corporation satellite. Believing it to be business espionage, Stark then took the skies to successfully destroy the satellite.

#### Obadiah Stane's Betrayal

While giving J.A.R.V.I.S. his plans to improve the Mark III armor in order to fix the icing problems and improve the flight controls, Stark noticed a news report in which Zorianna Kit was reporting on a new charity event at the Walt Disney Concert Hall which Stark was now supposedly hosting. Stark questioned J.A.R.V.I.S. if he had been invited to the event to which J.A.R.V.I.S. then confirmed he had not, so Stark left his A.I. to complete the Mark III while he got himself ready to attend.

During his first public appearance since his return back to the United States of America, Stark arrived at his own party to be greeted by the press, having an attractive woman trying to speak to him who Stark quickly dismissed as he did not remember her before complimenting another man who he had mistaken for Hugh Hefner. Stark had soon found Obadiah Stane talking to the press as Stane expressed his surprise to see that Stark had arrived, advising him not to draw too much unwanted attention to himself as Stane was still trying to get the board of directors on their side. Stark promised to do so as he stepped inside the building, but Stane was unconvinced.

Once inside, Stark met Phil Coulson, who introduced himself as an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; with Stark noting that the name of the organization was far too long while Coulson noted that they were now planning on shortening it. The pair soon arranged to have a meeting to discuss all the events of his kidnapping, but Stark was still not paying very much attention to him and told him to arrange it through his own team.

Stark, however, was too distracted by seeing Pepper Potts, who he saw in the center of the room wearing a blue dress. Having said goodbye to Coulson, Stark went up to Potts and complimented her on her dress, which she noted she had bought as a present from Stark using his money. Despite Potts' protests, Stark took her onto the dance floor and danced with her, as Potts worried about being seen dancing with her boss. They joked about Stark firing her to make it less uncomfortable, but Potts noted that Stark wouldn't be able to survive without her assistance, questioning if he knew his own social security number which admitted he did not.

Stepping outside, Potts confronted Stark about pushing her to dance with her while in front of all her coworkers due to Stark's reputation with women and fearing that her intentions with the dance would be misinterpreted by any who had watched them while Stark continued to argue that it was not really a big deal. As they spoke, the pair then almost kissed one another before Stark decided to go and get them both a drink, with Potts requesting a heavy drink.

While ordering all the drinks for himself and Potts, Stark was then accosted by Christine Everhart, whose name he briefly forgot despite them having slept together. Everhart expressed her disgust at Stark for claiming to halt the weapons development only to sell weapons to the Ten Rings. When Stark revealed he did not approve any shipments, Everhart informed him that his company did.

Disgusted by this, Stark confronted Obadiah Stane and demanded to know if he was making deals with Raza as well as the United States Armed Forces. Stane refused to answer the question; however, he called Stark naive for not considering that this sort of thing could possibly be happening. Stane also revealed that he was the one to shut Stark out of the board while he recovered. Stane then left the party, leaving Stark in a state of utter shock and horror.

#### Battle of Gulmira

Faced with the realization of what his company had done behind his back and Obadiah Stane's part in the deception, Stark went back into his workshop and continued building his Iron Man armors, while watching a FBX news report on how Raza and his Ten Rings soldiers were using Stark's own weapons to attack innocent people. Angered by what he was seeing, Stark rose from his seat and used his flight stabilizers to smash the glass doors, realizing they could be used as weapons.

Seeking to do something good with the technology he had created, Stark weaponized his new suit and flew to Afghanistan. Knowing where Raza's men were attacking, Iron Man headed for Gulmira, the home village of Ho Yinsen. Upon arriving, Iron Man discovered innocent women and children were being dragged out of their own homes to become slaves for the Ten Rings while the men were being lined up to be executed right in front of their own horrified children.

Iron Man attacked and easily subdued all of the soldiers, using his advanced weapons systems to kill multiple terrorists with single strikes and saving the lives of innocent people. Having found his former captor, Abu Bakaar, Iron Man ripped him through a wall and left him for the villagers to gain their own revenge. While Bakaar was being killed, Iron Man focused his efforts on destroying the Ten Rings entire stockpiles of the Stark Industries weapons.

During the battle, Iron Man was shot out of the sky by one of the Ten Rings' tanks, so Iron Man responded by shooting his own missile and destroying the tank with ease before he then targeted and destroyed all the Jericho missiles the Ten Rings had. The prolonged battle and massive explosions quickly drew the attention of the United States Air Force and his own friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes who investigated the true cause.

Two F-22 Raptors were ordered by Rhodes to take out the unknown target, with Iron Man soon finding them directly behind him and attempting to lock on with their weapons, forcing Iron Man to use his new armor's upgraded flight systems to evade the attacks. As the jets continued targeting him, Iron Man found they had locked on with a missile so used flairs to destroy the missile before it could hit him, being blown forward by the force of the explosion.

Having managed to use his superior maneuvering systems to hide underneath of the jets itself without being seen, Stark called Rhodes and revealed his true identity to him in an attempt to have the attack called off, with Rhodes being horrified that he had sent some of his own equipment into an active war zone without informing him. While Rhodes tried to stop the attack, Major Allen, however, order the pilots to take the shot wheclearey could get clear view of him.

However, while trying to evade the attack, one of the Raptors lost its left wing when it accidentally collided with Iron Man during the chaos of the battle. The pilot ejected shortly afterwards, but his parachute jammed. Without hesitation, Iron Man dived down to help the pilot release his parachute before escaping. While heading back towards the United States of America, Stark spoke with Rhodes about what excuse he could then use to explain what happened.

Once back at Tony Stark's Mansion, Iron Man was then helped out of his armor by both Dum-E and U, finding the experience fairly painful as they struggled to find a way to get him back out. During this, Stark was soon discovered by Pepper Potts who had just walked into his workshop to find him still half in his armor. Stark joked that it was still not actually the worst thing that she had ever caught him doing while Potts was horrified to see bullet holes in the armor.

happened.

Once back at Tony Stark's Mansion, Iron Man was then helped out of his armor by both Dum-E and U, finding the experience fairly painful as they struggled to find a way to get him back out. During this, Stark was soon discovered by Pepper Potts who had just walked into his workshop to find him still half in his armor. Stark joked that it was still not actually the worst thing that she had ever caught him doing while Potts was horrified to see bullet holes in the armor.[1]

h childre

> "*You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it.*"
> ― Tony Stark to Loki
>
>

> "*And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil.*"
> ― Iron Man to Loki
>
>

> "*My armor was never a distraction or a hobby, it was a cocoon, and now I'm a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks, and toys, One thing you can't take away - I am Iron Man.*"
> ― Tony Stark
>
>

> "*That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it! My father made that shield!*"
> ― Iron Man to Captain America
>
>

> "*I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here.*"
> ― Tony Stark to Ebony Maw
>
>

> "*And I... Am... Iron Man!*"
> ― Iron Man to Thanos
>
>

> "*I love you three thousand.*"
> ― Tony Stark to his daughter Morgan
>
>

Tony StarkMark IMark IIIMark IVMark VIMark LXIIMark XLIVMark LXVMark LMark LXXXV
## Equipment

* **ark XLVI**: Tony's suit from Captain America: Civil War. This was the first suit to appear in Movie Wars.
* **Mark XLVII**: From Spider-Man: Homecoming. It appears in Movie Wars Season 1, though for a ve
* n
* eohis sui n Avengers: Endars Season 3 onwards.

## Relationships

* Howard Stark † - Father
* Maria Stark † - Mother
* Pepper Potts - Wife
* Morgan Stark - Daughter

### Allies

* Avengers - Teammates and Friends
	+ Steve Rogers/Captain America - Leader and Temporary Enemy
	+ James Rhodes/War Machine - Best Friend and Temporary Enemy
	+ Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow † - Former Assistant and Temporary Enemy
	+ Thor - Former Enemy
	+ Bruce Banner/Hulk - Temporary Enemy
	+ Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Temporary Enemy
	+ Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch - Former Enthraller
	+ Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver - Former Enemy
	+ Sam Wilson/Falcon - Temporary Enemy
	+ Vision† - Creation
	+ Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Protégé
	+ Scott Lang/Ant-Man - Temporary Enemy
	+ Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel - Savior

* Justice League - Former Rivals
	+ Bruce Wayne/Batman
	+ Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
	+ Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
	+ Arthur Curry/Aquaman
	+ Barry Allen/Flash
	+ Victor Stone/Cyborg
* Resistance
	+ Rey
	+ Finn
	+ Poe Dameron
	+ Chewbacca
	+ R2-D2 - Former Assistant
	+ C-3PO - Former Assistant
* Masters of the Mystic Arts
	+ Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange - Former Rival
* Guardians of the Galaxy
	+ Peter Quill/Star-Lord - Temporary Enemy
	+ Drax the Destroyer - Former Attempted Victim
	+ Mantis - Temporary Enemy
	+ Nebula
	+ Rocket Raccoon
	+ Groot

### Enemies

* Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger † - Former Friend and Attempted Killer
* Ivan Vanko/Whiplash † - Attempted Killer
* Loki †- Attempted Killer
* Aldrich Killian † - Former Admirer, Attempted Killer and Attempted Victim
* Ultron † - Creation and Attempted Killer
* Helmut Zemo
* Quentin Beck/Mysterio † - Former Employee
* Thanos † - Attempted Victim and Attempted Killer
* Black Order
	+ Ebony Maw †
	+ Cull Obsidian †
	+ Corvus Glaive †
	+ Proxima Midnight †

## Trivia

* In the comics, Tony Stark is a member of the Illuminati, a group made of the smartest and most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, including Doctor Strange, Hulk, Ant-Man (Hank Pym) and Black Panther.
* Robert Downey, Jr. practices the "Wing Chun" martial arts style, which Tony Stark also demonstrates in-universe as seen on a training dummy in *Iron Man 3* and in Stark's **unarmored** fight against The Winter Soldier in *Captain America: Civil War*.
* Starting with the Mark IV (with the sole exception of the Mark V), the armors no longer use the Arc Reactor within Stark's chest as a power source. Instead, the suits each have their own individual Arc Reactor as seen when Killian damaged the one powering the Silver Centurion armor and Stark's own Reactor remained unscathed.
* Stark's de-aged appearance in *Captain America: Civil War* is based on Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance in the 1987 film *Less Than Zero*.

* When Tony Stark calls Rhodes, the ringtone is the original *Iron Man* theme song from the 1966 TV series.
* The reason why Tony's arc reactor changes from an inverted pyramid back to a circular shape in *The Avengers* is because Director Joss Whedon personally disliked it, so most likely it was only kept in future films to honor continuity (although the inverted pyramid remains *within* the circular arc reactor if one simply looks close).
* Tony Stark bookends the Battle of New York. He was the first to shoot back when the Chitauri began streaming through the portal and ended the battle by hitting the Chitauri Command Center with a nuclear missile.

## External Links

* **Iron Man** on **Wikipedia**.
* **Iron Man** on the **Marvel Comics Database**.
* **Iron Man** on the **Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki**.
* **Iron Man** on the **Marvel Movies Wiki**.
* **Iron Man** on the **Iron Man Wiki**.