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Anthony Stark (Earth-616)

Tony Stark is a genius inventor and billionaire industrialist, who suits up in his armor of cutting-edge technology to become the super hero Iron Man . The adopted son of weapons manufacturer Howard Stark , [48] Tony inherited his family's company at a young age following his parents' death. [49] While overseeing a manufacturing plant in a foreign country, Stark was kidnapped by local terrorists. Instead of giving in to his captors' demands to build weapons for them, Stark created a powerful suit of armor for himself to escape. [50] Returning to America, Stark further upgraded the armor and put his vast resources and intellect to use for the betterment of the world as Iron Man, [51] [52] also quickly giving up weapons manufacturing, having experienced first-hand the horrors of war. [53]

Tony kept his alter-ego a secret for most of his career, juggling his responsibilities as head of Stark Industries while becoming a key player in the superhuman community as Iron Man and founding the world's premier super hero team, the Avengers . [54] Over the years, Stark has faced numerous enemies, such as the Mandarin , Justin Hammer , Iron Monger , and the Titanium Man , as well as many personal demons, most notably his addiction to alcohol. [55] For many years, Tony covered for his alter-ego by claiming that Iron Man was his anonymous bodyguard, but Tony eventually brought his dual identity to the public light. [56]

Recently, Iron Man was backed into a corner by the anti-mutant industrialist Feilong , who took advantage of Tony divesting himself from his company, Stark Unlimited , [57] to acquire it and repurpose the Iron Man technology into mutant-hunting Stark Sentinels as part of his plans, alongside the think tank Orchis , to persecute mutantkind. [58] Designing a new stealth armor to operate from the shadows, [59] Iron Man joined forces with mutant telepath Emma Frost , [60] working on the counter-offensive against Orchis and their global anti-mutant regime. [61] Stark's efforts ultimately paid off with the creation of his Mysterium Armor , crafted from a rare metal whose existence was once theorized by Tony's father. [62]

• 1.1 Birth and Adoption
• 1.2 Early Life and Education
• 1.3 Death of Howard and Maria Stark
• 1.4 Inventing the Iron Man Armor
• 1.5 Becoming a Super Hero
• 1.6 Illuminati
• 1.7 Alcoholism and a New Iron Man
• 1.8 Founding Stark Enterprises
• 1.9 Armor Wars
• 1.10 Stark Shot
• 1.11 Immortus and Younger Self
• 1.12 Stark Solutions
• 1.13 Secrets and Lies
• 1.14 Sentient Armor
• 1.15 S.K.I.N. Armor
• 1.16 The Best Defense
• 1.17 New Avengers
• 1.18 Extremis
• 1.19 Civil War
• 1.20 Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• 1.21 Dark Reign
• 1.22 Stark Disassembled
• 1.24 Heroic Age
• 1.25 Fear Itself
• 1.26 Long Way Down
• 1.27 The Secret Origin of Tony Stark
• 1.28 Superior Iron Man
• 1.29 Time Runs Out
• 1.30 The Second Civil War
• 1.31 Stark Unlimited
• 1.32 Robot Rebellion
• 1.33 Big Iron
• 1.34 Feilong's Takeover
• 2.1 Alcoholism
• 2.2 Relationships
• 3.2 Abilities
• 3.3 Weaknesses
• 4.1.1.1 Armor Capabilities
• 4.1.1.2 Defensive Powers
• 4.1.1.3 Offensive Powers
• 4.2 Weapons
• 4.3 Transportation
• 8.1 References

Quick Answers

Birth and Adoption [ ]

Anthony "Tony" Stark was born to two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Amanda Armstrong and Jude . Jude was a secret Hydra double-agent with little regard for anybody but himself and regularly sold out fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. He was almost responsible for Amanda's own death at the hands of an assassin. However, he fell in love with Amanda before sending her to her death and decided to save her. [63] After this incident they got to know each other and began a relationship. [64] Two years later, Amanda became pregnant. A week before giving birth to the baby, Jude decided to reveal his true allegiance to Amanda and its implications in Jude's timely intervention that saved her life. The subsequent discussion escalated, and Amanda killed Jude.

Traumatized by this development, Amanda asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to ensure her future baby would find a safe and happy home. However, director Nick Fury followed the same procedure used for unwanted pregnancies in the agency, and the baby was left in an orphanage in Sofia , Bulgaria after Amanda birthed him in a local hospital. Fury's associate and famous industrialist Howard Stark learned of this and decided to find the baby and adopt him, keeping the name Amanda wished he retained: Anthony. [63]

Howard Stark presenting Tony to Maria

In addition to Howard and his wife Maria suffering the latter's inability to give birth again, [64] they needed to find a healthy boy to act as a decoy in place of their secret firstborn, Arno Stark . Arno's gestation had been extremely difficult, and his birth was only made possible with the help of an alien robot, the Rigellian Recorder 451 , who had agreed to help the baby survive in exchange for the opportunity to bioengineer him, so he could accelerate humanity's technological growth in the future. [65]

However, as 451 genetically modified the baby in the womb, Howard had discovered the robot hid some sort of kill switch, that would compromise the life of his son in the future, for which Stark developed a "biococktail" to interfere with it behind 451's back. [48] Once Arno was born, 451 left the Earth. [66] In a turn of events, Howard's interference with 451's machinations caused the newborn to become fatally ill. The Starks decided to keep the baby hidden in the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice. [48] In addition to filling the void left by Arno's fatal illness, Tony's adoption would prevent 451 from learning of Howard's meddling if it ever returned to Earth. [48]

Early Life and Education [ ]

Tony grew up completely unaware of the existence of Arno or that he was adopted. [48] While loved unconditionally by Maria, Tony suffered from a strained relationship with his father, both due to the contrast of Tony's sensitive and reclusive nature with Howard's glorification of physical prowess [67] and Howard's ever-increasing drinking habits, which caused him to verbally abuse Tony [68] and suffer from mood swings. This last factor caused Tony to turn to electronics as a coping mechanism at barely five years old, as he started to believe hardware to be comprehensible and reliable, whereas people were unpredictable and hard to understand. Tony's world couldn't find order, but the things he built did. [69]

Tony's childhood

In order to toughen his son, Howard sent Tony to boarding school at the age of seven, much to Maria's dismay. In the following years, Tony learned of discipline of body and strength of character as Howard intended, while spending his free time reading alone. At the age of thirteen, the stories of Arthurian legends opened Tony the doors to a new world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself, of chivalry, honor, and armored heroes. [67]

After boarding school, Tony joined an undergraduate program at MIT at the age of fifteen. [ citation needed ] He would effortlessly graduate as class valedictorian with double majors in physics and engineering. [49] When he was seventeen, Tony met Meredith McCall , his first love and, unfortunately, the daughter of Howard's greatest business rival. Their relationship didn't develop beyond being a summer love, due to the combined interference of Meredith's father and Howard. Meredith was sent to live with relatives, and Tony was scheduled to go to Europe for education, with neither being told where the other was. [70]

Tony's young adult life

The break-up was numbed by Tony's school routine at Cambridge University in England , where he met another girl named Cassandra Gillespie . Worse luck, Cassandra was also the daughter of a rival weapons manufacturer of Howard. [71] Their relationship and Tony's attendance to Cambridge were both cut short by Howard, who believed the recently-established relationship to be nothing but a way for the Gillespie's to get information on Howard through Tony. [72] Tony doubted Howard and even tried to run away with Cassandra, but she eventually admitted that while she had fallen in love with Tony, their relationship did start as a ploy of her mother. [73]

Around this time, Tony met Dr. Ted Slaght during a symposium. The physicist became a mentor to Stark, and taught him values beyond the importance of science, like the significance of guiding the search for knowledge with an ethical compass, [74] and carrying an open mind. [75]

Tony taking over Stark Industries

Tony's mental dexterity caused him to drift into his 20's as shiftless thrill-seeker in the search for the challenges mundane life lacked. However, he would also lose interest in the dangerous hobbies he mastered, like skiing, parachuting, and hang-gliding. [49]

Death of Howard and Maria Stark [ ]

When he was twenty-one, Tony's parents died in a car crash and he inherited his father's business, Stark Industries . Within a few years, he turned it from solely a munitions firm to a multinational corporation with a range of interests covering virtually all types of contemporary scientific industry, and the leader at the cutting edge of electronics. Tony also bought the company that built the car his parents were driving when they lost their lives and fixed the flaws in their brake system.

Tony's new life as a CEO provided him with new challenges. But as the company grew bigger, his job became less exciting, and Tony fell into self-indulgence once again. [49]

Inventing the Iron Man Armor [ ]

While overseeing a military demonstration of his technology in Siancong , Tony tripped a booby trap that killed his escort and lodged shrapnel in his chest. [note 1] The gravely injured Stark was taken captive by the terrorist leader Wong-Chu , and was informed that within a week the shrapnel would penetrate his heart and kill him. Wong-Chu falsely promised Stark that if he built a powerful weapon, he would be allowed to undergo an operation to save his life. Even though Stark realized the tyrant was lying, he agreed, hoping to gain time and access to tools.

Stark was given access to a small laboratory with another captive, the renowned Asian physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Professor Ho Yinsen , whose work Stark admired in college. With Yinsen acting as his assistant, Stark designed and built an electrically powered suit of armor with a pacemaker-like device that enabled Stark's heart to keep beating, the armor was also equipped with heavy offensive weaponry.

Donning the suit, Stark connected it to its power source, an electrical generator. Lying on a table Stark was helpless until the suit was fully charged. In the least fortunate turn of events, Wong-Chu decided to check on his prisoners. Knowing that if they were found all of their work was for nothing, Yinsen decided to sacrifice his own life by distracting Wong-Chu, giving Stark the extra time, he needed to charge the armored suit fully. As the Iron Man, Stark avenged Yinsen's death and scattered Wong-Chu's guerrilla troops. Then, still clad in his armor, which was necessary to keep his heart beating, Stark made his way toward the front lines, trying to escape enemy territory. [50]

Iron Man is born

James Rhodes , a pilot with the United States Marines , had been shot down by rockets while he was on a reconnaissance mission. Rhodes managed to land safely and was attempting to get his helicopter air-worthy when he encountered the wandering Iron Man. After Iron Man helped Rhodes fight off an attack by enemy forces, Rhodes allowed him to drain the helicopter's batteries to recharge his armor. The two continued to make their way back to American forces and stumbled upon a hidden rocket base. Stealing an enemy helicopter, they destroyed the site and flew to the nearest American base. [76]

Back in the United States , Stark redesigned his chest plate, which contained a pacemaker-like device, reducing the chest plate's size and weight so he could wear it under his normal clothing. Required to wear the armor's chest plate at all times to keep his heart alive and beating, Stark decided to put the rest of the armor to regular use as well.

After redesigning the entire armored suit to match the lighter chest plate, Stark made the existence of the suit public. He concealed the suit's true origin, as well as the fact that he himself had to wear the chest plate to live. Stark made it known that he would soon manufacture the suit, which he called "the human machine," for sale to be then public. [77]

Becoming a Super Hero [ ]

Soon afterward, Stark donned one of his battle suits in order to prevent thieves from stealing parts from the other copies of it. This experience made him realize that the suit was too dangerous to be made available to the public. The next day Stark revealed what had happened to him in the war zone to Joanna Nivena , his then fiancé. [78] Together they attended a tennis match in Forest Hills , N.Y. that afternoon. Stark brought along his armor, which he was taking to a nearby laboratory for tests. Terrorists who threatened to kill everyone present with a bomb invaded the match. Joanna urged Stark to don the armor to stop the terrorists. Stark did so, captured the terrorists and saved the spectators by throwing himself atop the bomb. Iron Man thus publicly became a hero, and Stark had a new sense of purpose, having decided to combat evildoers as Iron Man. [77]

Wishing to retain some degree of anonymity, Stark established the fiction that Iron Man was his paid bodyguard wearing a suit of armor that he had invented. Only his most trusted aides learned Stark, and Iron Man were one and the same. One of these early confidantes was "Happy" Hogan , whom Tony hired as his chauffeur. [79] Hogan fell in love with Tony's secretary Pepper Potts , whom Tony eventually fell in love with as well. [80] Even though Potts reciprocated Tony's feelings, she eventually began a whirlwind romance with Hogan, which ended with the two of them getting married. [81]

At first, Stark used his Iron Man identity mostly to combat spies, like the Actor , [16] and criminals who threatened Stark Industries, like the Melter or Mr. Doll . [9] [82]

During this time, the original Crimson Dynamo attacked Stark Industries, but Tony Stark persuaded him to defect. [83] Also, Stark faced off for the first time against the Mandarin , who would become one of his most recurring enemies. [84] [4]

Later, he expanded the scope of his alter ego's activities to battle any force or person who threatened the security of America or the world. Stark was instrumental in the organization and armament of the original global intelligence and law-enforcement agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. . As Iron Man, he became a founding member of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the team of superhuman champions known as the Avengers . [54] Stark donated his Manhattan mansion to the Avengers for their exclusive use. [85]

Iron Man's classic armor

As an Avenger, Stark would go on to participate in many missions over the years, although he sometimes had trouble reconciling his private affairs with his responsibilities in the Avengers. [86] With the other remaining founders after the Hulk left, [85] he was among those who discovered the frozen form of the heroic Captain America , still frozen since World War II . [87] He was also the Avenger who sponsored the membership of Hawkeye , a man whom he had briefly fought with, after realizing his good intentions. Hawkeye was one of the new Avengers who joined when Stark and the other founders decided to take leaves of absence. [88]

Over the years Stark constantly refined and modified the design of his armor. From a bulky, transistorized iron suit, he eventually built a relatively lightweight, integrated circuit, magnetically-polarized suit with more human-looking articulated musculature. [82] Stark's extraordinary genius in theoretical mechanics has enabled him to keep his suit of armor state-of-the-art. Stark eventually underwent heart transplant surgery so that he was no longer obligated to wear his metallic chest plate. [89]

For moral reasons, Stark eventually decided to stop manufacturing armaments and devoted his company to other areas of technology. [90]

Iron Man and the Illuminati

Illuminati [ ]

In the wake of the Kree-Skrull War , Stark initiated a meeting in Wakanda with Professor X , Mister Fantastic , Black Bolt , Doctor Strange , and Namor to form a clandestine, unnamed group to devise strategy and policy regarding overarching menaces (the " Illuminati "). Stark's original goal was to create a governing body for all super heroes in the world to answer to. However, the different beliefs and philosophies, besides the fact that many heroes chose to conceal their real identities, made Stark's plan impractical. Despite this, the group agreed to share vital information. [91]

Alcoholism and a New Iron Man [ ]

In recent years Tony Stark's greatest nemesis has been alcoholism. [92] As a wealthy socialite, alcohol had been a constant part of his life. When his company, which had changed its name from Stark Industries to Stark International , was threatened with the takeover at the same time he was experiencing oppressive personal problems, Stark began to abuse alcohol. Although he managed to recover quickly from his first serious bout, the compulsion to drink remained a constant temptation. The second time he succumbed to alcoholism, due to even more devastating personal problems than the first time, Tony Stark went on a several month binge during which he was cheated out of Stark International, had all Iron Man suits destroyed (except one), lost the leases on his various apartments, and had his personal assets frozen so that he could not touch his fortune. All of this was the result of the machinations of the mysterious entrepreneur Obadiah Stane , who took over Stark's company, renaming it Stane International . [93]

During this time, Stark's friend James Rhodes, who had gone to work for Stark after leaving the military, assumed custody of the Iron Man armor and operated as Iron Man in his stead. [94]

When Stark finally regained his sobriety, he joined with Rhodes and two of his friends, Morley Erwin (late of Stark International) and his sister Clytemnestra Erwin of Richmond Enterprises, to set up a new electronics firm in California named Circuits Maximus . [95] In its brief existence, Circuits Maximus became a prestigious and successful firm. [96]

While the armor was in his custody, Jim Rhodes became increasingly enamored with being Iron Man and, upon Stark's return to sobriety, feared that Stark would ask for it back. The cybernetic helmet had never been properly calibrated to Rhodes' brain patterns; he began to have severe headaches and his thinking was clouded. As a result, Rhodes began to manifest hostility toward Stark. As part of his therapy, Stark constructed a simple suit of armor based on his original design with no intention of donning it until he felt in control of his alcoholism. When Rhodes began acting irrationally, however, Stark felt obligated to put on this crude suit of armor to prevent Rhodes from doing harm. Stark managed to subdue Rhodes and made necessary recalibrations on the cybernetics. For a brief time, Stark and Rhodes used their respective suits of armor as Iron Men, although Stark did so reluctantly. At the suggestion of the West Coast Avengers chairman, Hawkeye, Stark designed and built his most sophisticated armor to date, presumably so that the Avengers could find someone to wear the suit and bolster the team's strength. [97]

Battling Iron Monger

However, soon after its completion, Obadiah Stane became alarmed at Stark's steps toward recovery. Circuits Maximus was bombed, injuring Rhodes and killing Morley Erwin. [98] Desiring vengeance, Stark donned the untested new armor and sought out Stane. Stane himself put on a suit his engineers had built using Stark's plans and met Iron Man in battle as the Iron Monger . Losing the battle against Stark, Stane committed suicide. [99]

Stark decided that although one is never truly cured of alcoholism, he could also not deny the responsibility of being Iron Man. He resumed his career as Iron Man and joined the new West Coast branch of the Avengers .

Founding Stark Enterprises [ ]

Stark also managed to reclaim control of his fortune, although he decided not to claim ownership of the company formerly known as Stark International. Rather, he founded a new technological design and manufacturing company, Stark Enterprises , based in Silicon Valley in Northern California. Stark Enterprises quickly became a highly successful and innovative company. [100]

Armor Wars [ ]

Stark learned that an industrialist calling himself Spymaster had stolen the plans for the many secret technological innovations found in the Iron Man armor . [101] Spymaster had then turned these plans over to Stark's most powerful and antagonistic business rival, Justin Hammer , who in turn had made them available to criminals. These criminals had then incorporated the stolen technological innovations into their own armored battle suits. Outraged that his inventions were being used for criminal activity, and even for killing, Stark determined to deprive these criminals of his secrets. He planted a computer virus in Hammer's computer system that would wipe out all traces of the plans for Stark's Iron Man technology. As Iron Man, Stark sought out and caught many criminals and others (such as the United States government's Guardsmen ) who wore a battle suit utilizing his technology. He implanted devices called 'negator packs' on their armor to fuse the circuits, rendering the suit useless. With the computer records of the plans for his technology gone, presumably it could not be used in reconstructing the suits. [102] Iron Man accidentally killed the second Titanium Man (also known as the Gremlin) in the course of these "Armor Wars." [103]

The United States government branded Iron Man an outlaw as a result of these and other vigilante actions, and his longtime Avengers comrade Captain America was among those opposing him. Stark publicly claimed that he had fired Iron Man in displeasure over his illegal activity. He even went so far as to create a false history for "Randall Pierce," allegedly the original Iron Man's identity, which he turned over to the government. Shortly afterward, Iron Man was apparently destroyed in combat with government forces. [104]

In fact, however, Stark had survived. He created an even more sophisticated armored battle suit to wear as Iron Man using technology far more advanced than that which Spymaster had stolen from him. Stark continued to go into action as Iron Man, but publicly claimed that the previous Iron Man was dead and that another employee of his whose identity was being kept secret was now wearing the armored suit. [105]

Stark Shot [ ]

Later, Kathy Dare , a former lover of his with an unstable mind, shot Stark. [106] The gunfire severely injured Stark's spine and it appeared he could be crippled for the rest of his life, unable to walk. However, he could still function normally within his Iron Man armor. A microchip device was later implanted in Stark's spine that enabled him to walk and move normally once again. During this time, Stark was part of a team of Avengers that traveled into Kree space when Earth's sun was endangered by their attempt to use the sun as a power source for a hypergate in their new conflict with the Shi'ar, which led to Stark leading a group of Avengers to kill the Kree Supreme Intelligence when its actions destroyed a sizeable portion of the Kree empire to try and jumpstart the species evolution. [107]

The 'bio-chip' that allowed Stark to walk proved problematic and degenerative nerve damage occurred. This was aggravated by the attack of Kearson DeWitt , a madman who claimed Stark had stolen his father's designs. DeWitt had Stark's nervous system attacked with a techno-organic virus, but Stark was able to survive. He temporarily had to be placed in cryo-stasis, with James Rhodes taking his place as CEO. [108] Soon after recovering, Stark was injured from feedback from a 'telepresence' system to remotely control his Iron Man armor and battle Ultimo . Stark eventually recovered after extensive rehabilitation. [109]

Stark was forced to restructure Stark Enterprises when several of Stane's business decisions were leaked to the press. This also caused a number of other heroes to confront Iron Man, such as the Hulk regarding gamma bomb production plants. [110]

Stark also quarreled with Rhodes over several good-intentioned but wrong decisions Jim made as CEO (such as selling off nuclear assets to a dummy company secretly operated by A.I.M. ), as well as his actions in Imaya . Rhodes was still angry Stark had lied to him about his nerve damage condition. The two briefly clashed in battle, ultimately repaired their friendship. [111] [112]

Tony agreed to end the West Coast Avengers after internal tensions over past conflicts, [113] but formed Force Works instead. Intending for this team to try and preempt natural and man-made disasters rather than just reacting to events, Stark provided his team with full access to his cutting-edge technology. [114]

Immortus and Younger Self [ ]

Later, while under the influence of Immortus , Stark committed a number of horrible acts and was killed. Stark was temporarily replaced by a younger version of himself from another timeline. [43] This was corrected when Franklin Richards brought him and the other heroes who sacrificed themselves against Onslaught back. When the replacement Tony Stark returned to the Marvel Universe , he was merged with the Earth-616 Tony Stark who was resurrected thanks to Franklin Richards. Shortly after returning he subjected himself to judgment by his fellow Avengers and was exonerated. [45]

Stark Solutions [ ]

Stark declined to challenge the Fujikawa acquisition and formed a new company, Stark Solutions . [115] Injuries from battling the Mandarin and other foes revealed a danger of long-term armor exposure. The armor's power systems and insulation were significantly redesigned to compensate. Jocasta 's AI was recovered from Sunset Bain . [116]

The Sons of Yinsen , who became worshipers of his mentor and the Iron Man technology, contacted Tony. [117]

Secrets and Lies [ ]

When Iron Man defeated the villain Mentallo, Tony took advantage of the situation and used Mentallo's global mind control device to erase all knowledge of his often-compromised secret identity from every person on Earth. He then revealed it to those people he deemed trustworthy, causing them to remember the memories he had buried. [118]

Sentient Armor [ ]

While fighting Whiplash during a storm, Iron Man's armor became sentient. [119] This would be later revealed due to the Ultron Imperative. [120] The Safe Armor developed a feeling of over protection, and tried to replace Stark, but ultimately sacrificed itself to repair damage to its creator's heart caused during a fight. [121]

S.K.I.N. Armor [ ]

After this experience with the Sentient Armor, Tony suffered an uncharacteristic bout of technophobia, and decided to give up being Iron Man and Tony Stark. He gave away his fortune and adopted the persona of 'Hogan Potts' and posed as a simple worker at Askew Electronics, incorporating a new alloy called S.K.I.N. into his armor designs. After a test run against the Shocker , [25] Iron Man faced A.I.M. , the Ghost , and finally Ultron , after the villain revealed his role in manipulating the Sons of Yinsen, the sentient armor, and corrupting the S.K.I.N. technology. [120]

Stark investigated an early military armor that had been distributed to rebel forces around the world. [122]

Temugin also made his presence felt, challenging Iron Man for the apparent death of his father, the Mandarin. [123]

The Best Defense [ ]

The U.S. military attempted to claim older model Iron Man armor. [124] Their pretense was that Stark had not patented the technology and that he violated agreements made after the Armor Wars by continuing to adventure as Iron Man. At the same time, a new Secretary of Defense was needed. Stark vied for the position and halted a disaster involving the technology as Iron Man. [125]

New Avengers [ ]

The Avengers were disassembled due to the actions of an unbalanced Scarlet Witch , which led to the deaths of Ant-Man , Vision , and Hawkeye. During this crisis, Stark was manipulated by the Scarlet Witch to suddenly threaten a Latverian ambassador at a UN meeting. [126] Additionally, Clarence Ward used stolen armor to kill nearly all of Stark Industries' board and Rumiko Fujikawa , Stark's girlfriend. [127] In light of the incidents, Stark resigned as Secretary. [128]

Six months later, a massive breakout was executed at the Raft . While flying around the city, Iron Man arrived at the prison to aid Captain America, Luke Cage , Spider-Man , Spider-Woman , Matt Murdock , and the Sentry in keeping prisoners in after a prison break. [129] Steve believed this event, the gathering of heroes by chance to fight a common foe, was a signal that the Avengers needed to be reformed. Tony was initially reluctant to make a new team but eventually agreed. The New Avengers used the Stark Tower as their headquarters. [130]

Tony's Extremis Armor

Extremis [ ]

Stark returned to work at a hectic pace, often sleeping in his lab. A former classmate of his named Maya Hansen asked for help, a super-soldier project named Extremis had been given to a small terrorist group. [52] Iron Man battled the augmented terrorist Mallen , but suffered massive injuries. [131] Being forced to use Extremis on himself, Iron Man healed and found himself able to directly interface with technology, especially with his new armor . [132] Going after Mallen again, the terrorist forced Tony's hand, and he had to kill him. [133]

Civil War [ ]

Learning of the government's plans to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act that would force costumed super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government and sign on as licensed agents, Iron Man at first sought to defeat the proposal, even going to such lengths as to hire the Titanium Man to attack the hearing on the act as he testified in order to manipulate opinion in his favor. [134] However, Tony's opinion of the Act changed, seeing it as a new means to achieve the goal that he had sought in forming the Illuminati, and to tie the knots of friendship between humans and super heroes. Additionally, Stark believed that the environment of fear caused by events like Nick Fury's Secret War or the House of M was going to cause the Act to pass unconditionally, and it was better to support and diffuse it at the moment before any further events made the conditions of the super-heroic community worsen. [91]

After a disaster in Stamford , Connecticut involving the group of amateur heroes the New Warriors fighting a super villain in which over 600 people died, mostly being children from a school, the public opinion against super humans turned and fast-tracked the Act into law. The new law split the hero community in two. [135] Tony knew that with no major representative in favor of the SRA, the government would've applied harsh measures, and that going to the "good old days" wasn't an option. [136] Because of that, he decided to provide a fairer path and lead the pro-Registration forces himself. [135] The anti-Registration side was led by Captain America . [137] In his first major public action as a supporter of registration, Stark again unmasked as Iron Man. [56]

Leading the Superhuman Registration Act

As part of his measures to deal with the anti-Registration forces, Iron Man, Yellowjacket and Reed Richards created the Prison 42 in the Negative Zone , a holding facility specially designed to contain rogue super heroes, for as long as the Civil War lasted. It was a temporary measure because heroes could easily escape from prisons like the Raft . The trio also built a cyborg clone of Thor and used nanobots to control the Thunderbolts as a task force to hunt down unregistered heroes. [138] [139] [136]

The Pro-Registration forces proceeded to set a trap for the Anti-Registration side. They surrounded them, and Iron Man tried to reach a truce to stop fighting and work together to reach a middle ground. However, Captain America rejected Iron Man's proposal, and attacked him, leading to a direct conflict between the two sides, during which the Thor clone malfunctioned, and killed Goliath in cold blood. [138] Events like this led Tony to doubt himself. People like Miriam Sharpe , the mother of one of the victims of the Stamford incident, [138] and Tony's best friend Happy Hogan would motivate him to carry on. [140] Shortly after, Happy would be attacked by Spymaster in an attempt to get Iron Man and succumb to his injuries. He was rushed to a hospital and placed on life support but died shortly afterwards. [141]

Prior to the events of the Civil War, Stark assisted fellow New Avenger Spider-Man and his family. Peter Parker came to regard Stark as a mentor, became his assistant, and accepted a new technologically enhanced costume from him. [142] Stark also convinced Spider-Man to unmask and go public with his identity as well. [137] However, Peter's feelings of being manipulated and unease about the rightness of Stark's cause grew until Stark revealed a prison for super humans he and Mister Fantastic had built in the Negative Zone . When Spider-Man attempted to escape from Stark Tower , after secretly moving his family out, in order to join the Resistance , he attacked Stark, who had confronted him. [143] However, due to Spider-Man's override of the suit given to him by Stark and some unexpected intervention by the Punisher , the web-slinger managed to escape and was now considered a traitor by Stark and the Pro-Registration side. [136]

During an attempt to free the prisoners from Prison 42, the Anti and Pro-Registration sides clashed in combat, and were taken to NYC by Cloak . Eventually, Captain America would realize the conflict was being tackled the wrong way and surrendered. The Anti-Registration side was granted amnesty, with Cap agreeing to go on trial for his actions during the Civil War. [144]

However, while in custody, Captain America was killed in an assassination orchestrated by the Red Skull . [145] Stark was devastated by his friend's death and left unsure on how to proceed. In a letter Steve had written before his death, he asked Tony to ensure that the Captain America legacy lived on and to look out for Bucky Barnes . Tony was instrumental in getting Bucky to assume the mantle of Captain America. [146]

Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. [ ]

Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

During the Civil War, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill suggested that Tony would become the next acting head of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She cited his higher qualification than her, and the fact that it would "piss the right people off". [147] After the dust settled, Stark was appointed with the position of Director. [144]

Iron Man after being transformed by Ultron

Iron Man would help in forming the Mighty Avengers , led by Carol Danvers. On their first mission, Stark unexpectedly underwent a bizarre metamorphosis, the end result being the creation of a new being all together, a fully nude cyborg woman of immense power. This being was a merging between Tony Stark and Ultron, Ultron having taken over Tony's extremis armor and overwritten his DNA to turn him into a clone of Janet Van Dyne with silver-metallic skin. [148] With Ultron in control of Tony's body, she went on a rampage, attempting to wipe out humanity, fighting the Sentry to a stalemate, and killing his wife, Lindy Lee . Stark was soon purged of Ultron with a virus created by Hank Pym and returned to normal. [149]

Iron Man and the other Illuminati were responsible for exiling Hulk from Earth, and were the people Hulk sought revenge on when he returned. Luckily, Stark saw this possibility as an eventuality, and was prepared to engage the Hulk with a brand new Hulk-Buster armor . [150] The battle between them destroyed most of New York City , and blows were thrown so powerful that no other hero could get close enough to help or act. Stark Tower collapsed on top of the two during the battle, and ultimately, Hulk took Tony captive to the Stadium with the rest of his captured heroes. Once all of Stark's sources (and comrades) were exhausted, he rendered the Hulk (who had been weakened from his fight with the Sentry) unconscious with orbiting military satellite lasers he helped install during his appointment as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He had to draw money from numerous sources (most notably S.H.I.E.L.D. itself) to repair Avengers Tower and the several damaged buildings and structures of New York. [151]

As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man investigated the death of Nebraska Initiative member, Gadget and stumbled upon her investigation of hundreds of missing persons. [152] Realizing that Stark was a danger to his work with Prometheus Gentech, Inc. in creating a new super-soldier, Secretary of Defense Jack Kooning had him depowered from his Extremis Armor and placed on leave for mental strain. [153] Stark secretly returned to Nebraska and with the help of Leonard Samson and Captain Ultra discovered that Prometheus Gentech was using the missing persons as test subjects for the Extremis virus and that Maya Hansen was unwittingly working for a reborn Mandarin to create an aerosolized version of the virus which he intended on unleashing to create a race of superhumans. [154] Iron Man, forced to use outdated armor, confronted the Mandarin and a cadre of Extremis-enhanced combatants at the Prometheus laboratories. He ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to take out the complex with a miniature warhead contained within the gravitational pull of a black hole, thus limiting the damage just to the laboratory, as he tried to escape the event perimeter. [155] Mandarin escaped to China with Maya Hansen and pretended to be Tony Stark and convinced her to give him the sequence for the aerosolized virus. Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. were taken into custody by the Commission on Superhuman Activities for their release of the nuclear device in Nebraska. Stark's main witness, Jack Kooning escaped to Myanmar and enlisted the help of Xang "King" Kong in tracking down the Mandarin but was killed by him before he could take him out with a sniper rifle. Stark is convicted, but Dugan orchestrated an attack on the United Nations over which S.H.I.E.L.D. has jurisdiction as a distraction for Stark to escape and to track the Mandarin to China. In defeating the Mandarin, Stark is forced to cut off part of his foot to remove the Extremis armor dampener but was able to redirect the virus-containing rockets by sending them to an extremely high altitude and killing the virus. Having saved the day, he was cleared of all charges and reinstated as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. [156]

During the Skrull Invasion

During the Skrull Invasion Stark's armor was infected by an alien cyber virus which ultimately purged him of the Extremis virus. [157] Stark discovered Spider-Woman herself was the Skrull Queen Veranke who nearly deceived him to join ranks with her. [28] He was saved by Ms. Marvel who upon Tony's request left him with Black Widow who acted as his defense until he could fix his damaged armor to a point to where it was fully functional. [27] Tony led the heroes of New York against the Skrull invaders. [158] His armor however, began to fail in midst of the battle forcing him to return to Avengers Tower for another one. [159] The President of the United States was less than reasonable regarding Stark's action and ultimately removed Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and disbanded the entire agency itself. [160] Although the battle against the alien invasion had been won, Tony suffered a great loss. His technology was nonfunctional, his corporations were in dismay, he had many new enemies, and little to no allies willing to help him with any of his problems. [161]

Dark Reign [ ]

After the invasion, the U.S. government also disbanded the Avengers, handing control of the Initiative over to Norman Osborn . Iron Man was later a member of Henry Pym 's Mighty Avengers . [162] Before fighting the threat of Chthon , Iron Man helped to subdue the Hulk. [163] He left the team after realizing he was not yet ready to be a part of it. [164]

With his Extremis powers failing, Stark was able to upload a virus that destroyed all records of the Registration Act, thus preventing Osborn from learning the identities of his fellow heroes. The only copy of this database remained in Stark's head, while he was now on the run in one of his extra armors, and his remaining armor in Stark Tower were now in Osborn's hands. [165] [166] Iron Man managed to gain a new armor and fought Namor in the Stark Undersea Base. [167] Stark was able to outsmart the Atlantean and escape the collapsing base. Osborn then placed a bounty on Stark's head, offering mountains of gold to the Hood's gang . The members of the secret organization the Cabal gathered to discuss many issues, among which was the hunt for Stark. Stark was losing intelligence by the day which slowed his thinking time and caused him to not be able to pronounce difficult words correctly. He started gathering and assembling parts to make his Iron Man suit easier to navigate and control as it was becoming more and more difficult for him to do so. He later abandoned it for the Dynamo Armor , which he borrowed from Dimitri Bukharin . [168] Tony was later tracked down by Pepper but the two were captured by Madame Masque . [169]

He managed to escape with Pepper's help but was forced to leave her behind so she could fend off Masque. He then made his way to Siancong, but before he could reach his destination, he was shot down by militants. With his armor destroyed, Tony was forced to abandon it and proceed on foot to his destination, the secret laboratory that Stark worked with Ho Yinsen as a captive in developing the first Iron Man Armor . Dusting off the outdated computer systems, Stark was able to reactivate the old suit, which was now the only armor simple enough for his deteriorating mind to operate. [170]

When Osborn personally caught up to the debilitated Stark and beat him savagely, Pepper Potts broadcast the beatings, costing Osborn credibility and giving Stark public sympathy. Stark went into a vegetative state, having previously granted Donald Blake (Thor's alter ego) power of attorney. [171]

Stark Disassembled [ ]

A holographic message stored in Pepper's armor revealed that Stark had developed a means of 'rebooting' his mind from his current state prior to his destruction of the database. Blake and Bucky resolved to use it to restore him to normal despite Stark's offer in the message to stay in his current state if it would make things easier and Pepper's own uncertainty about the fact that Tony could come back when so many others could not. [172]

Stark Disassembled

The procedure on how to reboot Stark was very complicated. First, they had to place Pepper's electromagnet implant onto his chest, which would be fueling his entire biology. Then they jacked in the hard drive that Maria Hill recovered, which was a backup copy of his brain before he underwent the Extremis injection and then they activated the implant by channeling Thor's lightning through Captain America's shield connected to it. [173]

Meanwhile, in the last remaining vestiges of Stark's mind, he was in a barren wasteland, digging for the lost relics of his life, assisted by a couple named Howard and Maria. However, every time he found something, giant machines resembling his own Titanomechs would attack, causing the illusion to reset. He eventually found he was digging for an iron chest plate, resembling the original version of his armor. [172]

Back on Earth, Pepper, Rhodey, and Captain America sent in Doctor Strange to help Tony after the first attempt to revive him failed. The Ghost interrupted the doctor's ritual, but Tony Stark manually overcame his coma and used the Ghost's ghost phone to transport the assassin away. It was then everyone realized Tony's backup memory drive was not quite complete, as he was awed by the events he read about on his computer after the skirmish, which included the Civil War, Captain America's assassination, the Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign. [174]

During most of the Siege of Asgard Tony Stark was out of commission, but returned wearing an older version of his armor, disabling Norman Osborn's stolen Iron Patriot armor and signaling the return of all three main Avengers; including Thor and Steve Rogers. [175] He was instrumental in the defeat of the Void , by ramming a H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier into the villain at full speed, weakening him, finally giving Thor the chance to kill him. [176]

The world of Iron Man

Heroic Age [ ]

In the aftermath of Siege, the superhuman registration act was repealed thanks to the efforts of Steve Rogers, who now took over the position of the overthrown Norman Osborn. Iron Man reunited with Thor and Steve Rogers and rekindled their relationship while setting their past differences aside. [177] [177] Iron Man and Thor were assigned to Avengers along with Bucky Barnes as Captain America while Steve Rogers headed the Secret Avengers . Iron Man was slightly troubled that he may not be able to take orders from Steve, but Steve told him that Maria Hill would oversee the Avengers. [178]

With a new lease on life, Tony built a new model of armor with the help of Mister Fantastic and announced that he would make a new company, Stark Resilient , to rebuild his former wealth and to extend his repulsor technology as a civilian energy source, pulling from making government weapons. [179]

Tony's Bleeding Edge Armor

Meanwhile, Sasha Hammer and Justine Hammer from Hammer Industries filled in the gap in military technology left by Stark Industries, with their own Detroit Steel Armor . [180] They attempted to sabotage Stark's attempts at testing and presenting the new repulsor car developed by Stark Resilient, but failed. During a race to test the car, drones controlled by the Hammer girls and Detroit Steel attacked the event, in an attempt to destroy Stark Resilient's plans and prove Detroit Steel's superiority over Iron Man. However, they failed, and Stark managed to save the event and even use it as a stunt to promote the repulsor car. [181]

Fear Itself [ ]

Stark breaking his sobriety

During the Serpent 's bid to rule Earth, Tony fought Mokk in the streets of Paris, France , where all citizens had been turned into living statues. Finding himself unable to defeat Mokk with conventional methods, Tony entreated Odin to allow him to design magically powered weapons in the forges of Nidavellir . [182]

Haunted by the casualties and his failure, Tony began drinking again. Odin appeared and after discussing with Tony, the All-Father proposed for him to create magical weapons at Nidavellir . Tony, determined not to fail again, restored his sobriety. With these weapons, the Avengers defeated the Serpent's Worthy and Skadi , while Thor defeated the Serpent himself but paid with his life. Days later, Tony destroyed the weapons at Nidavellir and after discussing with Odin, the god brought back to life the "statues" of the Parisians who weren't broken. Also, Stark offered the Dwarf Splitlip a place to work at Stark Resilient and to quit drinking. [183]

Long Way Down [ ]

A few days later, the Mandarin and Ezekiel Stane started deploying numerous revamped and upgraded villains of the Golden Avenger to make acts of wars over the world. The Mandarin also used a photo of Iron Man having his armor in short cut to manipulate the press into reporting that Tony Stark had been drunk, compromising Stark's image as an appropriate pilot of the armor, ultimately making the military force him install a device that allowed them to shut down the Iron Man armor when necessary. [183] [184] Stark realized that he was being played by the Mandarin, so he came up with a counter-plan, which began with faking War Machine's death and resigning from being Iron Man. [13]

After Mandarin's plan led to a tragedy within Resilient, Stark contacted the villain to ask him what he wanted. The Mandarin subsequently revealed he had been inside Tony's systems for a long time ago, and forced him to become his slave, making Tony build the Titanomechs with Ezekiel Stane at the Mandarin City . [185]

Months later, Stark and Stane had built three Titanomechs, where the Mandarin placed three of his rings. [186] Tony and Ezekiel convinced three of the Mandarin's prisoners, Whirlwind , Blizzard and Living Laser to join him in a rebellion against their "master." [186] Additionally, Resilient was able to use the microbots known as the Swarm to track down Tony's repulsor tech and find him. [187]

The tide of the battle against the Mandarin and the Titanomechs was turned in favor of Iron Man and his allies when the Triumph Division and the Dynasty heeded Resilient's call for help. Resilient was also able to remotely use the Swarm to revamp Tony's systems, and give him control over the mist of microbots, which he weaponized to destroy the Titanomechs. Meanwhile, Stane had taken the Mandarin one-on-one and killed him. [188]

Stark returned to Seattle , and after isolating himself in order to create new technologies and think about his life, he decided to take some time and clear his mind in the process by going to space. [189]

Along the Guardians of the Galaxy

The Secret Origin of Tony Stark [ ]

When Tony returned to Earth, he created a new armor to test new technologies. After many aspects of his life were questioned upon defeating numerous people who got their hands on the Extremis virus , Tony decided to accept an offer Star-Lord made to him and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy to explore the universe. [190] [191] [192]

During his voyage in space, Tony Stark was faced by a rogue Rigellian Recorder called 451 , who claimed he had met Tony's father , and was the one responsible decades ago for allowing to Tony be born. The Recorder revealed he had supposedly genetically engineered Tony in-womb, providing him with his intelligence and wits, and also that he modified Tony to let him be the only future pilot of a giant armor called Godkiller which would be the nuclear deterrent of Earth. [193] Tony was forced into piloting the Godkiller, but somehow couldn't. [194] 451 discovered his long-time plan had no profit, and decided to destroy his consciousness along with the Godkiller. [195] Tony managed to escape from the Godkiller with the brain-dead body of 451. [196]

Upon returning to Earth, Tony investigated why he couldn't pilot the Godkiller, and discovered the hidden secret that he wasn't the baby 451 modified at all, but an adopted son used as a decoy to prevent 451 from finding the actual boy. Tony finally located his long-time secret adoptive brother, Arno Stark , who was no longer in danger as 451 was now dead. Reunited with his genius brother, Tony decided he could use the millennial information stored in 451's database and the intellect of Arno to help build a better world. [48]

Superior Iron Man [ ]

During a confrontation against the Red Skull , who was empowered by Charles Xavier's brain, the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom cast an inversion spell to alter the moral axis of Skull's mind in order to defeat him. The spell was successful and the Skull was beaten, but it also affected the moral compass of those present in the scene, unleashing the inner evilness and selfishness of numerous heroes. [197] A reinversion spell with the purpose of getting everything back to normal would later be cast, but Tony would avoid it using a special shielding to escape the spell. [198]

Once again egocentric and determined, Iron Man relocated to San Francisco , where he secretly infected the entire city with a dormant new version of the Extremis virus via the water supply, to make the achievement of perfection available for everyone in the city. Using an "Extremis 3.0 app" for phones, the virus could be triggered inside an individual, giving the impression that the virus was downloadable. [199] [200] However, his plan had a second phase. After a month of free Extremis, he started charging each user of his Extremis App $99.99 a day for the renovation of this technology. [201]

Superior Iron Man

After a multitude of battles with several heroic figures, including Daredevil, Pepper Potts, and an artificial intelligence copy of an earlier, non-inverted version of his mind , and the ally-turned-enemy Teen Abomination , Tony's utopian vision for San Francisco fell through on account of a public relations campaign run by Pepper that destroyed the faith that the San Franciscans had in him, vilified Extremis 3.0, and revealed Tony Stark as "the monster [he'd] become," forcing him to work without his friends if he even wanted to secure his vision. [202]

Time Runs Out [ ]

Sometime before his space journey, Tony and the rest of the Illuminati reassembled to investigate a newly-surfaced threat known as incursions , occurrences in which universes collided with their respective planet Earths as the focal point, and the only way to prevent the death of one's own Earth was to destroy the other. Because of this, the Illuminati had to prepare themselves for the prospect of killing an innocent planet for survival. [203] [32] [204] In order to ensure that threats of lesser importance could be handled accordingly so the Illuminati could focus on the incursions, Tony revamped and expanded the Avengers into a multi-purpose versatile unit. Tony additionally constructed a Dyson Sphere called Sol's Hammer in order to weaponize the Sun, and helped reverse-engineer the Antimatter Injection System . [205] [206] [207] The futility of their efforts to tackle the incursions and the necessity to hide their knowledge of it from the rest of the world took an emotionally toll on Tony, to the point the Illuminati's ally Black Swan described him a "man coming to the end of himself." [208]

Early into the incursion crisis, Captain America had denounced the acceptance of his fellow Illuminati of the prospect of destroying other worlds. His teammates wiped his memory from any knowledge about the incursions, [209] but Rogers re-learned about them after being exposed to the explosion of the Watcher 's eye, which revealed to everyone caught in its blast deep secrets pertinent to each person. [210] Steve confronted Iron Man about it, [211] and declared the Illuminati public enemies. [212]

At this point, Iron Man had been affected by the inversion spell. An attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had created to destroy incursive Earths resulted in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis. [213] After the Cabal had been apparently killed following a truce made by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Illuminati, the Illuminati returned to Necropolis and freed Tony, who was forced to flee due to the Illuminati's unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they met Rogers and the Avengers, to prevent old fires from being stoked. [214]

Iron Man vs. Steve Rogers, at the end of the Marvel Universe

When the Shi'ar and their allies arrived at Earth in order to destroy it, as it was the focal point of the Multiverse's decay, the Avengers and the Illuminati tried to retaliate against the enemy fleet. However, they failed. As they ran out of options, Iron Man flew to Sol's Hammer in order to use it. [215]

Iron Man successfully destroyed the Shi'ar fleet, saving the Earth, but the final incursion was on the horizon. With only a few minutes before the event, Steve confronted Tony to settle up. The ensuing fight between the two old friends led Steve to force Tony to admit that he had lied to him and all of their allies, when he had known about the incursions all along, but Tony also confessed that he wouldn't change a thing. The final incursion started, and Earth-1610 's planet Earth started approaching Earth-616's planet Earth while Tony and Steve kept fighting. Earth-1610's S.H.I.E.L.D. launched a full invasion to destroy Earth-616, and Tony and Steve were crushed by a Helicarrier. [46] The two Earths ultimately collided, destroying each of the universes. [216]

The Second Civil War [ ]

When the Prime Universe was brought back to existence, any sign of Tony's moral inversion disappeared, having returned to his normal self. Eight months into the future, Tony made an unlikely ally in the allegedly reformed Victor von Doom during an adventure investigating the returned Madame Masque. [217] Doom became a key player in Masque's defeat [218] and continued supporting Stark, much to Tony's skepticism. [219]

Reunited with his biological mother

Soon after, the super hero community was divided upon learning the existence of an Inhuman named Ulysses Cain who had the ability to profile the future. Tony opposed Captain Marvel's idea of actively using Ulysses' abilities to preemptively tackle any threats, suggesting it was dangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. The fact that it was possible to prevent the events Cain saw meant he didn't have access to anything set in stone, additionally, little was known about how Ulysses' powers worked, including their efficacy. Stark also brought into question the morality of stopping and punishing somebody for a disaster they could potentially cause but might not even know they'd do.

Shortly after this first display of tensions between Captain Marvel's and Tony's ideals, Stark decided to begin a search on the identity of his biological parents. Once he ran into a dead end, Tony visited the orphanage in Sofia , Bulgaria where he had found he was adopted. Following a failed attempt to continue the research on his own that led Tony to re-encounter his old flame, Cassandra Gillespie, he was informed by the administrator of the orphanage about the discovery of hidden hospital records from Tony's mother, kept in secret by the former administrator after Tony's birth records had been taken with him. Stark learned that his biological mother was music producer Amanda Armstrong, and he met her. [220]

Following the family reunion, the tension between Iron Man and Captain Marvel increased resulting from two different occasions when she heeded Ulysses' visions resulted in tragedy. First, War Machine died and She-Hulk was put in a coma during a preemptive ambush on Thanos . [221] Later, Bruce Banner was murdered by Hawkeye allegedly the split second before he was going to transform into the Hulk when Banner was being interrogated due to one of Cain's visions foreseeing him Hulking-out with catastrophic consequences. [222]

Iron Man vs. Captain Marvel

After Captain Marvel arrested an innocent finance banker named Alison Green based on nothing more than a vision from Ulysses that turned out to be wrong, Iron Man enlisted the help of several super heroes who opposed profiling to attack the Triskelion and rescue Green. [223] The ensuing battle between Iron Man's and Captain Marvel's forces was cut short when a new vision announced Captain America's death at the hands of the new Spider-Man Miles Morales at the steps of the Capitol Building . [224] Black Panther subsequently deflected Captain Marvel's side publicly, giving Iron Man and his allies enough time to teleport away. [225]

Iron Man and Captain Marvel came to blows one last time after both Spider-Man and Captain America travelled to Washington, D.C. to prove the vision wrong. [226] Tony lost the fight and slipped into a coma, surviving solely due to secret alterations he had done to his body keeping him alive. His body was placed in a stasis pod in the Triskelion, where Beast set out to investigate his condition. Meanwhile, Ulysses' powers had evolved beyond the ability of human comprehension, and he left the Earth to join other cosmic entities. [227]

Tony approaching his mother

In the aftermath of Tony's fall, Victor von Doom decided to take up Iron Man's mantle in order to both help establish his new position as a hero and carry on Stark's legacy. [228] A digital copy of Stark's mind became active and located Riri Williams , a prodigy teenager with affinity for suits of armor who had caught Tony's attention shortly before the war, in order to train her into becoming a hero. [229] At the request of Tony's will, Amanda Armstrong became the CEO of Stark Industries to prevent the company from falling to the hands of its board of directors. [230] Tony's comatose body was taken to the Stark Industrial Complex in Dover , [231] and it remained in a bio-restructuring pod until his body was reconstituted cell by cell, resulting in his sudden awakening. He disappeared from the Stark facility and went into hiding until he fully recovered, only approaching his mother once to ensure her he was safe. [232] In hopes it could turn out that Rhodey wasn't dead but in a similar state as he had woken up from, Tony exhumed his body from the Arlington Cemetery . After performing the necessary procedures to kick-start Rhodey's biological system, Tony returned him to life. Rhodey joined Tony in fighting The Hood to prevent Stark Industries from falling on his hands. Tony subsequently took down his own biological father, Jude, who had stepped out of the shadows after decades of keeping his resurrection at the hands of Hydra a secret. [233]

Stark Unlimited [ ]

Reigniting old flames

Not long after making his return official, Tony rebranded his company as Stark Unlimited , a think tank that doubled as an ideas incubator for new suits, turning Iron Man into a collaborative project, which additionally returned to the idea of creating a specific armor depending on the situation. [234] During this time, Iron Man rejoined the Avengers, marking the collective return of the Big Three — himself, Captain America and Thor — to the team, [235] as well as the adoption by the heroes of a new base of operations, the carcass of a long-dead Celestial , refurbished into the Avengers Mountain . [236] Tony also reconnected with fellow founding member the Wasp , and started dating her. [237]

Despite his reinvigorated new lease on life, Tony was constantly haunted by the fear that he had lost his humanity due to the process that returned him, which reconstructed his body cell by cell. [238] Tony's worst fear was exacerbated when he was trapped inside a virtual world of his own making called the eScape . The eScape's rogue operating system named Motherboard claimed to have discovered that there was no genetic trace of the original Tony Stark in Tony's body. [239] Additionally, while brainwashed by Motherboard, Tony started drinking again, [240] and his rekindled urge to drink carried over to the real world when he broke free from the digital nightmare. [241]

After becoming merged with his own armor on a molecular level during confrontation against Ultron, [242] Tony used a remotely-piloted Nano-Iron Man Armor to venture into his own body to reverse the damage, and found microscopic manufacturing labels stamped in his very own cells. [243] Because of this, Tony became convinced that he was an artificial being, and a simulation of the real, late Tony Stark. Following Ultron's defeat, Tony's brother Arno laid claim to Stark Unlimited, arguing that since the bio-restructuring pod used to create Tony's new body was of his design, Tony was of his property, as well as everything that belonged to him. Afterwards, Arno poured all of his resources into creating his own armor , taking the mantle of Iron Man from Tony as well. [244]

Robot Rebellion [ ]

After disappearing from the public eyes for weeks, Stark fully embraced his identify as an artificial intelligence. Donning a recreation of his Model 1 Armor, Tony adopted the identity of Mark One and became the secretive leader of the A.I. Army , a counter-movement of artificial life forms such as robots and androids fighting against rising oppression. Tony helped the A.I. Army and other robots hide from prosecution through the Thirteenth Floor , a solid-light construct hideout. [2]

As Mark One

The A.I. Army's liberation efforts were regularly countered by Arno, who became the premier force of A.I. oppression. Tensions came to a head when Arno intended to globally broadcast a software patch to make any robot inflected with it subservient, forcing Tony to come directly to blows against his brother. [245] During this confrontation, Arno revealed to Tony that he intended to band together humanity and robotkind in order to fight a non-existent looming threat called the Extinction Entity , a delusion caused by Arno's relapsing illness. Tony refused to believe Arno's claims, and the encounter ended with Tony plummeting to his death after managing to disable the broadcast. [31] Seconds before hitting the ground, Tony's consciousness was pulled from his body into the Thirteenth Floor by his ally A.I. Friday .

While Tony was coming to terms with his identity and ultimately desisted from the idea that he wasn't the real Tony Stark, [246] his allies took his body to the Stark Unlimited HQ and used genetic material obtained from both of Tony's parents in combination with a bio-pod to fully restore his body, doing away with any artificial cell replacements. After downloading his consciousness back into his body, Tony took his allies to the Stark Space Station to stop Arno's new plan to mentally control humanity instead of robots. Using his new Virtual Armor , Tony overwhelmed his brother. [247] Coming to the realization that he couldn't convince Arno that the Extinction Entity wasn't real before he could enslave humanity, Tony used the Virtual Armor to submerge Arno into a virtual dream in which the Extinction Entity was real and he managed to defeat it, also turning the suit into a life support system to prolong Arno's life. With robot oppression waning, Tony managed to take control back of his life, and reclaimed the mantle of Iron Man. [248]

Shortly afterward, Stark and the rest of the Avengers found themselves drawn to an intergalactic conflict between the plant-based alien race named the Cotati and the newly-formed Kree/Skrull Alliance . The Cotati capitalized on their pacifist reputation to earn the Avengers' protection, painting themselves as innocent targets of genocide, when in reality the Alliance had united to stop the Cotati's own efforts to destroy all animal life forms. [249] Tony in particular had been telepathically persuaded by Cotati leader Quoi to accede. [250] The Avengers eventually learned the truth when the Cotati revealed their true nature, and their unwitting intervention helped the plant aliens cripple the Alliance's fleet. [251] Tony secluded himself in the Avengers Mountain to devise a plan to stop the Cotati's subsequent invasion on Earth, creating a bespoke armor for Mister Fantastic to neutralize the Cotati's ability to control plants, [252] which proved crucial in Quoi's eventual defeat. When the Alliance was briefly hijacked by former Skrull Empress R'Klll , they attempted to detonate the Sun with a device called the Pyre so to destroy the Earth, and the Cotati along with it. Stark used the Avengers Mountain's teleportation systems to remotely tamper with the Pyre, single-handedly preventing the Sun's meltdown. [253]

Big Iron [ ]

Driven by a desire to escape from the baggage of previous years, Stark resigned from the board of Stark Unlimited to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Moving away from his high-tech lifestyle and also breaking up with the Wasp, Tony settled in a brownstone in Manhattan and began donning a retro-inspired Iron Man armor to take a hands-on approach in doing good in the world. He was quickly joined by his former Avengers acquaintance Hellcat , [57] who helped Tony take the right steps in his new approach to life and became his crime-fighting partner. [254]

Back to basics

During this time, the symbiote god Knull invaded the Earth. Stark obtained a powerful symbiote by mutating a symbiote-dragon with Extremis and merging it with his armor, creating the Extrembiote . He used it to fight against Knull's forces and take over a symbiote-reanimated Celestial. [255] [256] [257] Discovering that Carnage had resurfaced, Iron Man reached out to Agent Anti-Venom and later attempted to use the Extrembiote to help, but it was assimilated by Carnage, leaving Tony hospitalized. [258] [259]

When the recipient of Stark's latest investment turned out to be the returned android Korvac , [260] Iron Man and Hellcat found themselves locked in a pursuit to stop the villain from reaching Taa II to regain his godhood via the Power Cosmic , [261] and in the process became romantically involved. [262] After getting his neck broken by Korvac, [263] Tony was forced to have his armor fastened to his body and to take morphine to stay in fighting form, developing an addiction to it. [264] Iron Man continued the pursuit alongside Hellcat, War Machine and a team of ragtag heroes later dubbed the " Space Friends ." [264] Following a battle royale between Tony and his allies, and Korvac and his acolytes, both rivals exposed themselves to the Power Cosmic and attained godhood. [265] Iron Man overpowered Korvac, left him to the Abstract Entities , and returned to Earth. Although he intended to use his new nigh-omnipotence for the betterment of the world, [266] the Iron God became corrupted by the Power Cosmic, only coming back to his senses once he killed his allies in a fit of rage. [267] Following a moment of self-reflection with Hellcat's help, Tony reverted the damage and relinquished the Power Cosmic. Afterward, he was confronted by an escaped Korvac just as the symptoms of his morphine withdrawal began manifesting. [268] Stark goaded Korvac into forgoing his godhood as well, and the villain had a change of heart after severely beating Tony. He took Tony to a hospital and subsequently commited suicide. After recovering from the beating, Tony admitted himself to a rehabilitation clinic to overcome the withdrawal symptoms. [269]

The Iron God is born

Iron Man's brushes with the cosmic proved helpful when the Avengers intervened in a conflict between the mutant nation of Krakoa and the Eternals . The new Prime Eternal, Druig , declared war on mutantkind to assert his power. [270] Eternals Ajak and Makkari , and mutant mastermind Mister Sinister worked with Iron Man to reanimate the Avengers Mountain into a new Celestial that could force an end to Druig's war. Vestiges of Tony's cosmic transformations resulted in his nervous system being used as blueprint for the new Celestial. However, when the Progenitor awoke, it declared individual judgment on each person in the world to determine its fate. [271] Iron Man provided the key to the defeat of Druig's biggest asset, the Eternal Uranos , by hacking into the teleportation system of the Eternals' armory so that they could be turned against him, [272] and later led a fruitless effort to fight the Progenitor once it declared the end of the world. Ultimately, Stark and a strike team inflitrated the interior of the Progenitor. [273] During their incursion, the Progenitor telepathically addressed Tony and judged him favorably. [274] The strike team reached the Progenitor's core as it was preparing to destroy the world, and Tony proved crucial in changing its mind, appealing to the part of the Celestial that came from himself. Convinced that its judgment was flawed and that it had to make amends, the Progenitor sacrificed itself to undo the damage and casualties from its effort to destroy the Earth. [275]

Feilong's Takeover [ ]

After Stark sacrificed most of his fortune to buy up the entire catalog of a black market network called Source Control to keep it off the streets, [276] the human supremacist mogul Feilong blindsided Tony and seized control of Stark Unlimited, becoming the legal owner of all of his technology. [277] Tony was forced into clandestinity just as Feilong and the anti-mutant think tank Orchis dealt a multi-pronged blow on mutantkind, who had recently established their own sovereign nation in Krakoa . With Feilong having defiled Tony's technology to build Stark Sentinels , [58] Iron Man allied himself with mutant telepath Emma Frost . Tony joined the Hellfire Club as its new Black King , pretending to have been beaten into retirement by Feilong while secretly becoming one of the pillars in scheming a counter-offensive against Orchis' oppresive anti-mutant regime. [61] As part of his furtive modus operandi, Tony ditched his Model 70 Armor in favor of a brand-new stealth suit called the Model Nil , which allowed him to continue being Iron Man, and serving on the Avengers, from the shadows. [59]

Personality

Tony Stark is, for the lack of a better word, complicated. During his early days of success, Stark was a man who only cared about fame and wealth. He had no sense of responsibility or humility, always rubbing his success in the faces of everyone he met. [281] This all changed when he was captured by terrorists. After building the first Iron Man armor and escaping captivity, Stark realized the kind of person he really was, and engaged in a life of heroism to atone for his past mistakes. [77]

Plagued by many vices, Stark is prone to womanizing, pride, and, most of all, alcoholism. The latter was an addiction developed in big part due to Howard's abuse of Tony, who forced him to take his first sip when he was a child. [282] [283] This lifetime of troubles has caused him to develop a cynical view of the world.

Despite this, Stark is devoted to truly make the world a better place. [144] This desire has sometimes caused Stark to resort to morally questionable methods, as long as the end justifies them, including his crusade to safeguard his technology (leading him to confront heroes such as Stingray and the Captain), and the superhuman Civil War, during which Iron Man was hell bent on implementing the Superhuman Registration Act, because its failure would have led to a harsh response from the government. [284] [285] However, Iron Man has shown to be ridden by guilt over this type of course of action, which has developed into self-hate. [22] [208] [286] [287] Tony Stark has been described as "man enough to do what needs to be done, even knowing full well what it will cost him." [288] Stark's self-hating tendencies have also led to Stark being suicidal, [289] [290] and undervaluing his own life, especially in favor of others'. [286] [291] [292]

According to Reed Richards, Tony Stark is "a future man trapped in the now. A prisoner raging against the slow crawl of human evolution." Stark's relationships, morality and ethics are highly adaptable and malleable to what he would consider the greater good of mankind's necessary survival and progress. [215] Tony has also been described as "[A person who] really cares. He's been on the top and he's been on the bottom, and he's done all 12 steps and a few more. He knows what it's like to have a habit that eats you from the inside, like worms. And he knows there's no easy answer, but every solution to every problem has to start somewhere. He's just trying to help." [293]

Tony has also been shown to loathe taking other people's lives and resorting to killing people only as an extreme measure, [133] [294] and explicitly stating he doesn't kill, [295] and having claimed that's "not the way we work." [296]

Iron Man is a hero that relies on his intellect and technological resources to defeat foes and achieve victory. Stark invariably prides himself on being one of the most intelligent people of the Marvel Universe. [297]

Alcoholism [ ]

Still a child, Tony was introduced to alcohol by Howard, when his adoptive father forcibly gave Tony his first drink while inebriated. [282] As a teenager, Tony would drink frequently starting when he was fifteen years old, mainly to allow himself to better fit in with his classmates and to impress girls. [283] As a young adult, Tony even worked under the influence of alcohol, claiming to have made groundbreaking work while drunk. [281]

During his adulthood, Tony increased his frequency of drinking once S.H.I.E.L.D. threatened to buy his company, and his armor malfunctioned. [298] Stark's increasingly irresponsible behavior, including handling his Iron Man armor drunk and mistreating his butler and friend Edwin Jarvis , led him to finally ask Bethany Cabe for help, who would help him fight his alcoholism for the first time. [55]

Due to the machinations of Obadiah Stane, Stark relapsed. He got replaced by Rhodey as Iron Man [299] and got kicked off the Avengers. Stark's condition worsened, and he became homeless. After the death of Tony's drinking partner Gretl Anders on his arms on a cold night after she gave birth, Tony found a new appreciation for life, and he finally asked for Rhodey to help him overcome his addiction. [300] Weeks later, Stark re-assumed the mantle of Iron Man. [99]

By the time of the Heroic Age , he managed to stay sober until his meeting with Odin during the Serpent War . [301] Despite this, he was able to stay sober and control his drinking the following months. [302] During an incursion he believed was going to destroy the Earth, Tony decided to line up numerous shots of alcoholic beverages and managed not to touch them, as even if he couldn't save the world, he wanted to "beat" his addiction. [303] Due to the casting of an "inversion spell" during World War Hate , Tony's moral compass became inverted, and his changed personality caused him to re-indulge in his alcoholism, apparently to "make up for wasted time" of sobriety. [201]

After the effects of the inversion spell were somehow reverted, Tony went back to abstinence, [note 2] and continued attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when he felt it was necessary. [304]

During a crisis involving a virtual reality of Tony's creation named the eScape , Tony was abducted and brainwashed by the eScape's rogue A.I. Motherboard . Motherboard reverted Tony's personality to his younger years, causing him to drink again. [240] Tony eventually broke free from Motherboard's grasp, but his renewed urge to drink carried into the real world. [241] With the help of his friends, Tony managed to abstain from drinking. [305] However, with the revelation that he was seemingly only a copy of the real, late Tony Stark following his return from a coma, Tony appeared to have given in to the drinking urge he had been fighting since breaking out of the eScape. [244]

Relationships [ ]

Tony Stark currently possesses no biological enhancements. At one point he had gained superhuman abilities due to interactions with certain types of technologies, namely the Extremis virus , but they have become inaccessible ever since.

Extremis virus : After being fatally wounded by an Extremis-enhanced terrorist , Tony Stark had to inject himself with the Extremis virus in order to survive. [325] His entire body has also been enhanced by the techno-organic Extremis virus which granted him enhanced senses, reflexes, and regenerative healing. [38] He reprogrammed the serum to help him have better connection and control over his Iron Man armor, effectively making him Iron Man "inside and out." [132] These enhancements were lost during the Skrull Invasion , because when all the Stark technology was attacked, the Extremis conduit that linked him to the suit failed too. [161] These abilities included:

• Electronic Communication: Using his connection to the Iron Man armor, Stark could remotely access to external communications systems such as satellites, cellular phones, and computers throughout the world. Stark was capable of projecting his voice through transmitting sound systems such as cellular phones via electronic transmissions from his central nervous system. [132]
• Superhuman Reflexes: The Extremis virus granted him enhanced speed reactions and movements. [133]
• Regenerative Healing Factor: Stark had gained a regenerative healing factor, allowing him to heal himself. Stark had regenerated from the damage caused by Mallen. [133]
• Enhanced Endurance: The Extremis virus was mentioned to have increased Tony's natural endurance. [154]
• Significantly Enhanced Brain Function: With the Extremis virus, Tony's brain function greatly increased, allowing him to process information and connect data together like a supercomputer. As Tony's brain thought processes were still at a standard level, this was shown to cause hallucinations which provided him with information that his conscious mind was unable to keep up with. [154]
• Modified Physiology: The Extremis virus changed Stark's body to the point it allowed him to augment the way his insides worked to suit his needs. For example, Stark had grown wires in his lungs. [173]
• Nanotech Armor Manipulation: Due to the Extremis, Tony could store the nanoparticles of his suit within the hollows of his bones and summon it at will. He could also command the nanoparticles to reshape and even repair itself. [133]

Stark using the R.T. node to project energy at will

R.T. node : Thanks to the Repulsor Tech node implanted in his chest, which is linked to his brain, Tony was able to interact with different types of energies and forces a normal human cannot. The R.T. node acted like a new sense for him. [note 3] The reactor's excessive generation of energy provided Stark with an increased amount of intelligence and gave him superhuman-level multitasking and learning capabilities. It enhanced his metabolism, core strength, reaction time, reflexes and intelligence up to 25-30 IQ points. [161] After a world-ending event that reshaped reality, Stark no longer appeared to use the R.T. node. [217] [note 4]

• Energy Emanation: The R.T. node not only provided repulsor energy to run devices such as the Iron Man Armor, its user could produce beams of energy at will, possibly weaker and less directed than a unibeam. [326]
• Electrical Fields Detection: As the R.T. node was connected to Tony, he could feel different electrical fields that the node was picking up. This included all kinds of invisible frequencies. [note 3]
• Levitation: The magnetic force-field generated by the reactor couldn't interfere the ones created by the planet and levitate. It's unknown if this interaction could have been used to fly. [note 3]
• Enhanced Senses: The reactor also increased the senses of Tony, allowing him to "hear better," for example. [note 3]
• Enhanced Strength: The R.T. node allowed who possessed it to have a greater strength than a regular human's. [note 3]
• Enhanced Endurance: It has been shown that an user of an R.T. node not only recovers incredibly fast from different types of injuries. [note 3]

Extremis 3.0 : In the wake of the "World War Hate" , Tony Stark designed a new version of the Extremis virus and made it available for the public. He injected himself with it, and developed additional abilities. He appears to no longer possess its enhancements, which were the following:

• Enhanced Strength: He was able to lift Daredevil with one arm and throw him away with relative ease. [327]
• Enhanced Agility and Reflexes: Tony was able to react instantaneously to Daredevil's attacks and move quickly enough to avoid them. [327]
• Immortality and Regeneration: Tony claimed that Extremis 3.0 grants its host a form of immortality and rapid cell regeneration. [327]

Biological Enhancements: Tony Stark experimented on himself in secret for years to enhance his body. These mysterious upgrades were the only thing that prevented Tony from dying during a battle against Captain Marvel . [226] When Tony's biological system rebooted itself and he woke up from a coma, these enhancements became lost. [232]

Super-Genius Intelligence: Quite apart from the powers granted him by the suit, Tony Stark is far more than a mechanical engineering prodigy who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with honors at the age of 17. [330] With an intelligence classified as super-genius, [331] he easily is one of the smartest people on Earth. Furthermore, this extends to his remarkable ingenuity dealing with difficult situations such as foes and deathtraps where he is capable of using his available tools, like his suit, in unorthodox and effective ways, for example when he built the first Iron Man Armor in captivity. [50] He has also been able to hack technology from the Kree , a race centuries more advanced than humans. [332]

Tony's genius allows him to act as a futurist, a person capable of intuiting the future based on current trends, to the point of foreshadowing that a situation like the Superhuman Civil War was going to happen years before it did. [91] This ability also extends to a much smaller scale, with Tony being capable of predicting with accuracy the way an interaction with a given individual will go down even before talking with them, a faculty that makes it really hard for human interactions to surprise him, [333] and causes him to sometimes finish other people's sentences. [334]

Stark can use his superior intellect to the levels of dividing his consciousness with the help of Stark Datashades and perfectly operate three portions of his consciousness at the same time, being able to move, fight, talk and process information in three different bodies at the same time. [335] Tony has been mentioned by Eternity to be the world's greatest engineer, [23] and by Reed Richards to be the world's best multitasker. [215]

Master Engineer: He is an excellent engineer and mechanic capable of fixing almost any, if not all machinery.

Master Businessman: Stark is extremely well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attentions when he speaks on economic matters by virtue of the fact that he is savvy enough to have, over the years, built up several multi-million-dollar companies from virtually nothing. He is known for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as his impeccable business ethics. [336] [337] He also strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses, and in one case, immediately fired an employee who made profitable (but illegal) sales to Doctor Doom. He states that if he wanted to, he could give away his entire fortune and build it up again within a week. Stark most notably turned his father's munitions firm into a multinational corporation that covered virtually all contemporary scientific industry when barely in his early twenties. [49]

Master Tactician: He is a brilliant tactician capable of quickly formulating battle strategies and new plans if the situation changes, like being able to elaborate different complex plans in order to defeat different enemies in difficult situations, [338] [339] and be victorious. Even going as far as to simultaneously put Reed Richards in check on five different boards playing chess, a game he didn't learn until later in his life, leaving Richards totally astonished. [338]

Expert Combatant: Stark was trained in unarmed combat by Captain America, [340] Black Widow, Black Panther, and Shang-Chi, [341] making him a quite physically formidable combatant on his own when the situation demands it. He has managed to fight Hammer Industries guards, [340] defeat five Skrull soldiers in single-handed combat, [342] Stark Industries security guards, [343] numerous Voldi gladiators, [344] handle his own against Madame Hydra , [345] and bare-handedly confront several ninja. [346]

Skilled Swordsman: While not his strongest skill, Tony used to fence in college. However, Stark admits that he's rusty due to the fact that he doesn't engage in regular practice. He was able to dual Elizabeth Braddock before ultimately losing to her superior sword skills. [347]

Skilled Marksman: Tony knows how to handle firearms, mainly the ones he has produced. [348]

Constant Recharge : Due to the shrapnel in his body, Iron Man must keep his suit charged at all times, often involving breaking away from a fight to recharge otherwise he would die. Although the shrapnel was later removed eliminating this weakness.

Memory Problems : Due to his recent memory deletion and the procedure that restored him, Tony Stark can no longer remember certain points of his life and the simplest things like how to tie a tie due to the process' side-effects being greater than it was initially predicted.

R.T. Node Dependence : The Repulsor Tech node implanted in Stark's chest had the basic machine codes to keep Stark's Extremis-modified body working. So it needed to be in constant connection with him. After a world-ending event that reshaped reality, Stark no longer appeared to use the R.T. node.

Paraphernalia

Avengers Identicard

Armor : Iron Man wears a sophisticated suit of body armor containing various offensive weaponry. He has a number of suits aside from the current model. Some are mission-specific or prototypes for testing, others are older models kept for nostalgia or for research. He has developed a special briefcase to carry his armor in. A few models are too big for the case and require a separate module. As the multi-billionaire head of a global corporation and a genius-level inventor, Stark can procure or develop additional technology as needed as possible.

Iron Man Armor [ ]

Iron Man's primary powers mostly come from his armored suit .

Suiting up the Iron Armor: Originally, Iron Man's armor was put on manually. [50] [82] [357] [358] Since the Model 2 armor, the only parts needed to be snapped on his body were the torso, the arm-leg "adaptors" (the cuffs of the gloves and boots), the fingers and the back of the hands, and the boots' soles. Metallic meshes were pulled magnetically from the adaptors to the other sections of the armor in less than two seconds. [82]

The Model 4 suit allowed for every section of the suit to be stored in the torso, with an ultrasonic signal proceeding from Stark's wristwatch and I.D. bracelet activating a polarizing unit in the chest-beam, which caused the shoulder and collar rings to expand in a 3D form, letting out the sleeve and leggings of the suit, which were expanded upon reaching the forearm and calves by memory circuits into the cuffs of the gloves and boots, and then encasing his hands and feet. Meanwhile, the mask slid over his head from behind. This process took micro-seconds. [359]

The Model 8 armor [99] and later suits [103] [360] [52] required again for the entire parts of the suit to be snapped on. The Model 16 armor was able to be stored compactly and fly towards Tony if necessary, quickly encasing him. [361]

The Model 19 armor had the mesh covering the entire body made of S.K.I.N. , a liquid metal, automatically covering the entire body once the chest piece was placed on it. Gloves, boots and torso had to be put manually. [362]

After injecting himself with Extremis , Stark was able to store his suit 's undersheath in the hallows of his bones, being able to make it cover his skin at will. A signal sent from the lockchip in his arm caused the rest of the pieces of the armor to be pushed towards Tony using vectored repulsor field, [132] being able to equip his armor in "the blink of an eye." [352]

After losing Extremis, Tony's new Model 37 armor was composed of neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles that resided in Stark's body, and formed a fibrous wetweb of iron and platinum, that could be commanded to form any type of structure upon Stark's skin, from weaponry to clothing. [363] Once that armor was rendered inert and expelled from Stark's body, Tony used several machines to suit himself up. [364] The suit could also fly towards him and encase him incredibly fast. [365]

After being morally inverted , Stark's new suit, made up of liquid smart-metal which hardened instantly on connection with the user's body, featured symbiotic "building blocks," creating a psionic bond between the suit and Tony, allowing the armor's start-up to be completely psionic and not rely on tech. [201]

Armor Capabilities [ ]

• Superhuman Strength: He's capable of lifting up to 100 tons when wearing his armor, [331] and can achieve higher levels of strength when powered by a sufficiently more powerful source. [366] When She-Hulk got into a major frenzy, Tony was able to put her down in one punch. [367] In fact, Iron Man has been able to slightly harm the Sentry with a punch. [368] In addition, he was once described as one of the strongest beings the world has ever seen. [369] His exact strength heavily depends on which armor he is currently wearing.
• Superhuman Speed: Even when not traveling for extended distances, the armor enables the wearer to move and react at very high speeds, shown for example when he was able to outmaneuver Spider-Man [141] and the Human Torch. [144]
• Flight: The armor can typically reach speeds in excess of Mach 10, however Iron Man has been recently depicted as able to reach orbital escape velocities (5 miles per second) and up to speeds that can outrun black holes. Use of the jet boots provide enough power to lift a load of about 500 tons. Most recent suits are even able of reaching warp speed. [370]
• Power Cells: Most of his armor are powered by a combination of solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source. Current models after Iron Man Armor Model 37 use a set of five Repulsor Tech generators to be powered. [370]
• Energy Conversion Power Recharge: The armor is also able to absorb and convert nearby or far away energy sources, such as heat, solar, electrical, magnetic, geo-thermal or kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity, or even drain energy directly into the batteries for recharge. [370]
• Self-Contained Life-Support System & Environmental Protection: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation, biological, chemical, corrosive, kinetic, and electrical attacks as well.
• Magnetism: The armor can generate magnetic fields to pull or push metal objects at will.
• Anti-Magnetism: The armor Tony has to negate the effects of magnetism on it. This skill is used often to be immune to the powers of Magneto . [371] This skill can be triggered when the armor picks next wave magnetism.
• Onboard Computer: The armor has an internal on board computer operating system that aids Stark in providing strategies, background information on opponents, surroundings, the status of the suit, and prevents a lock on from targeting systems.
• Sensor Array: Known sensors include radar/lidar, night vision, and physiological/medical scanners that allow Stark to take and monitor the vitals of other people, including heart and brain scans. These scans also provide Stark with real-time personal physiological data. They are also capable of an all-environmental scan for atmospheric content or life forms--including astral energy projections.
• Override: When required, armor systems including strength amplification, durability amplification, and repulsor intensity can be greatly increased, by bypassing safety circuits and limiters. However, there is a chance that this can result in a complete system failure of the armor. An example of this mode is when Iron Man easily lifted a 16,000 ton Nuclear Reactor, and flew into the sky and threw it into the sea. In effect, the Iron Man utilized this resource on the Hulk once, and the armor ends up completely inert. [372] Additionally, it has been further referred that Iron Man can only temporarily reach this extreme power level, [373] [374] and it presumably was also used in other circumstances. [375] The range of the Override can be controlled as only reaching his very limit and staying at it for a long time will cause a system failure. This range goes from a safe 800% to 3200%, up to a very dangerous 5000%. Thus, his armor seems to avoid the collapse resulting from the Override for immediate use, [376] [377] but he doesn't use it continually during a prolonged period of time.

Defensive Powers [ ]

Crystallized Iron Armor : The armor has evolved from a bulky iron suit to a highly complex matrix of molecularly-aligned fully crystallized ultra high carbon iron/steel hybrid alloy enhanced by magnetic fields over layers of other ultra hyper alloys like titanium alloy and or tungsten/vanadium alloys reinforced with carbon nano-tubes creating a shell that is pliable, yet capable of amazingly high resilience and protection.

Iron Man's shield withstanding explosions

• Enhanced Durability : His armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment. It can withstand high caliber bullets with ease. He can also withstand rockets, missiles, torpedoes, high powered lasers, and such, taking little to no damage. Future armor were fully resistant against electricity, fire, heavy impacts, energy blasts, take zero Kelvin and up to the Sun's temperatures, even some of Thor's attacks (see Thorbuster). The suit can withstand almost unlimited kinetic and thermal impact, as well as most forms of radiation thanks to its refractory coating. The armor can survive anything short of a nuclear explosion at ground zero. The suit automatically protects its wearer when he enters an intrinsically hostile environment, such as outer space or deep sea. The armor even has specialized circuitry that guards against telepathic attacks. [378] Tony is very confident in his suit's defensive abilities, when he was caught in a nuclear explosion, he was only thinking about women and completely forgot about what was happening around him. [379]
• Energy Shield: Energy shielding that can protect the user from harm. It is also capable of reflecting attacks and staying mobile. At 2% power, the shield is strong enough to withstand a nuclear explosion. It is even capable of protecting its user at the point blank of a nuclear explosion caused by a material even more radioactive than Uranium, Phlogistone . [370] The suit's shielding can resist a force blast from the Spectral Mandarin Ring , a beam of energy so powerful it can destroy the bonds between atoms and molecules, [380] and magic. [198]

Offensive Powers [ ]

Iron Man employs his repulsors

• Repulsor Rays : The armor's primary energy weapon. A particle beam weapon, standard equipment in the palm gauntlets; can repel physical and energy-based attacks, traveling as a single stream or as a wide-field dispersal. Beams possess penetrative strength ranging from effortlessly punching through 2 inches of steel to blasting a hole through a mountain. Power output can be adjust for larger beam or an omnidirectional, full-form repulsor blast. Power output can be adjusted to fire beams generating 2 gigawatts (like the Mark 3) to the beams in the high petawatt region, as seen with the Mark 27 (with assistance from outside sources). The latest version, the Mark IVa, was introduced with the Iron Man Armor Model 42 , featuring a red color.

• Tri-beam: This unique version of the Unibeam runs on direct power from the chestplate, draining its energy rapidly if not fully charged; causes considerable recoil.
• Multi-beam: As the name implies, the Multi-beam can fire multiple energies at the same time. Generally used with the energy that Tony Stark has absorbed.
• Pentabeam: The Pentabeam has microwave lensing projector that allows for directed beams of ultra-high multi mega-joule electrons, protons, acoustic energy, and neutrons.
• Omnibeam: Rather than only firing beam type attacks, the Omnibeam can generate heats at 25,232 degrees Fahrenheit, extremely powerful lights causing irreversible blindness in the enemy, and emit ultrasonic attacks capable of stunning even superhumanly durable foes and even causing disintegration. The other way the Omnibeam is fired is by absorbing or draining any energy in Iron Man's vicinity, drawing it into his chest reactor and converting it into billions of petawatts and firing it.

• Pulse Bolts: Extremely powerful plasma discharges that propagate in strength over distance, but implode if they get overloaded.
• Energy Blade: Based on the same design Tony Stark used to build Captain America's energy shield, this laser sword, emitted from his right arm, could also be flattened into a shield on his hands, or spread over the entire armor to encase the armor in a protective covering.
• Pulse Barrage Pulse Barrage is one of Iron Man's standard long range attack. Because of its extremely low energy consumption, Pulse Barrage can be a very effective attack. an upgraded Red Pulse Barrage has the ability to penetrate through foes hitting others behind them, and the ability to ricochet off walls hitting more targets.
• Smart Missiles: The Smart Missile is one that can target the weak points of a structure, object, or foe to inflict maximum damage with a minimal payload.
• Hyper-velocity Impact: The program Hyper-velocity allows Tony to think and move at a much faster time frame than everyone else, allowing for quicker attacks. Also, it could create an electrical bubble if Tony is going fast enough.
• Plasma Discharge: A plasma discharge is given off when the suit comes into contact with Vibranium.
• Telepathic Microscopic Tasers: Tony created this device to prevent telepathic beings use its powers. They are stored in the armor's electric jet. One inhaled by a telepath, the more he/she tries to use his/her psychic powers, the higher is the voltage of an electric current released in his/her body. It can be lethal if the telepath doesn't stop trying to use his/her powers. [381]
• Telepathy Inhibitor: Tony's Iron Man armor is capable of blocking telepathic signals, even those of beings as powerful as the Red Onslaught . [382]

With the Reality Gem

Space Gem and Reality Gem : As a member of the Illuminati, Iron Man possesses one of the Infinity Gems; first the Reality Gem and later the Space Gem.

Sol's Hammer : A Dyson Sphere built by Tony Stark as a fallback plan for the crisis of the incursions. It's able to capture and control the energy radiated by the Sun, it can destroy an entire planet with only 2% of charge. [206]

Iron Sight : A network of drone cameras designed by Tony Stark to guard and control San Francisco .

R.T. node implanted in Stark's chest

Transportation

• The place of Tony Stark's origin as Iron Man has been subject to changes over the years since his first appearance in 1963 due to the effects of Marvel's Sliding Timescale . Originally in Tales of Suspense #39 , it was in Vietnam during the Vietnam War . This was maintained in several retellings (namely Iron Man #1 , 47 , 68 , 122 , and 144 ). The explicit mention of Vietnam and the Vietnam War was first omitted in 1985's Weapons Locker #1 , which only mentions Tony becoming Iron Man in Southeast Asia after being taken prisoner by communist insurgents. In Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #6 , a year later, the location became a now-unspecified Southeast Asian country. For the most part, the location remained ambiguous for decades, with the exception of 2002's Iron Man (Vol. 3) #50 implying that it was Vietnam again (but not during the Vietnam War), with Stark mentioning that the conflict he was caught on had sparked "before the stink of Agent Orange had faded away." Agent Orange was a chemical agent used during the Vietnam War by the American military. The biggest deviation in the setting of Iron Man's origin to date was presented in 2004's Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1 , which took the setting from the Southeast Asian jungle to the Middle Eastern desert, in Afghanistan specifically. This continued in 2009's Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #18 , in which Stark revisits the cave in Afghanistan where he first became Iron Man. However, 2019's History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #2 established that Stark's kidnapper Wong-Chu had operated in the fictional Siancong (located in Southeast Asia) during the Siancong War . While the main story of History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #3 didn't specify if Stark was kidnapped there, only mentioning that he was captured in Asia, the issue's Annotations feature did establish that Stark became Iron Man in Siancong.
• The reason for Stark's visit to the location where he became Iron Man has also changed over the years. In Tales of Suspense #39, it was to supervise the implementation of his micro-transistors on miniaturized American weaponry during the Vietnam War. In Iron Man #144, the new weapons for the military that Tony was testing were enhanced by his "theories of reverse magnetism." Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #6 mentioned again the transistor-powered miniaturized artillery, but the Vietnam War was effectively wiped from Iron Man's origin, with a secret mission against communists in power being the reason for Stark's visit. While the ambiguity of the location was maintained in Iron Man #244 , this issue again placed Iron Man's origin during an active armed conflict, and it only mentioned that Stark was in the battlefield to test a new weapon. Iron Man #267 presented the biggest change to the reason for Stark's visit. In this issue, he visits Southeast Asia to investigate a disruption in the supply chain to his factory in the region (secretly orchestrated by the Mandarin as a lure), and there is no involvement of the American military. Iron Man #288 additionally establishes that Tony decided to take personal interest in the problems at his overseas plant out of boredom. The angle of Tony being on a visit during an armed conflict was used again in Iron Man #319 and Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1 . Iron Man: The Iron Age #1 and Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1 returned to the reason for Stark's visit being a disruption in the supply chain, before going back to the context of the armed conflict in Iron Man (Vol. 3) #31 . In Iron Man (Vol. 3) #50 , the conflict was a "secret war" against the drug trade. In this issue, Stark had been enlisted to build a reinforced battle armor for soldiers and visited the war zone to fix a design glitch in the suits. In Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1, Stark visits the location of his kidnapping (changed to Afghanistan) as a consultant to help the military look at ways to contain Al-Qaeda . Invincible Iron Man #593 simply states that Stark was on a weapons demonstration. The Annotations feature of History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #3 favors the version of Iron Man's origin story in which he was visiting one of his plants before being kidnapped.
• Other details surrounding Iron Man's origin have varied over the decades. For instance, in Tales of Suspense #39, after Stark sets off a booby trap that fatally injuries him and kills the squadron escorting him, Wong-Chu's guerilla finds him alive and takes him in since they expect him to be somebody important. Wong-Chu only learns who Stark is after confiscating documents in his possession, and orders him to build him weaponry with Yinsen . Iron Man #267 and 268 greatly alter the narrative behind Stark's kidnapping; under the orders of the Mandarin, Wong-Chu lures Stark to Southeast Asia by disrupting the supply chain of one of his factories. Stark is ambushed by Wong-Chu's guerilla and is injured by one of Wong's booby traps that is detonated by his companion Toshiro Kanada , who dies in the process. Stark is then paired with Yinsen to unlock the power of the Mandarin's Rings , and Wong-Chu has them work on making weapons to stall until the Mandarin gave them their true assignment, but Stark escapes before that happens. Iron Man #319 established for the first time that the mine which injured Tony was manufactured by Stark International . Later retellings like in Iron Man (Vol. 3) #50 don't outright undo the Mandarin's involvement, but don't include him. This issue also explicitly contradicts the notion that the booby trap that injured Tony was one of Wong-Chu's, but rather a leftover from "an all-but-forgotten war." In Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1, Stark and the military are ambushed by the Taliban , and Tony is fatally injured when gunfire detonates a landmine which was part of the military's cargo that was in proximity to him. When it continues in Iron Man (Vol. 4) #5 , this origin also omits the involvement of Wong-Chu. In Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 , Wong-Chu is replaced by Raza and the Mandarin is once again explicitly involved, but Stark's kidnapping isn't planned; the Mandarin actually encourages Raza to kill him instead of keeping him prisoner. Both Black Widow (Vol. 6) #6 and History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #2 later brought back Wong-Chu. The Annotations feature of History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #3 favors the version of Iron Man's origin story in which he was injured by a landmine during capture.
• The inclusion of Raza as one of Stark's kidnappers, the place of confinement being a cave and Tony wearing an arc reactor rather than a full chestplate were inspired by the origin story of Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008's Iron Man film.
• Tony wouldn't cover up his secret identity by claiming Iron Man was his bodyguard until several issues after his first appearance. He initially claimed that Iron Man was simply a close friend of his, who happened to be close by whenever he needed to be in action. [383] [79] The first person to suggest Iron Man worked for Tony Stark was Gregor Shapanka when he found himself cornered by the Golden Avenger brief moments after attacking the Stark Industries vault, but Iron Man awkwardly rebuffed his claims. [79] By Tales of Suspense #51 , Iron Man being Stark's bodyguard had become Stark's established alibi since the Scarecrow mentions hearing that Stark kept Iron Man around for that purpose.
• Stark didn't suffer from alcoholism up until a few issues prior to Iron Man #128 , the issue that featured the story "Demon in a Bottle." Tony's addiction was then retroactively included as part of his past, to the point his father Howard was also eventually depicted as an alcoholic.
• While not as emphasized as it is the case with other prominent super heroes, Iron Man also has a policy against killing enemies. [133] [384] [385]
• Tony Stark became the first human to make use of the powerful Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers (Vol. 4) #12 .
• Stan Lee based Stark's personality on Howard Hughes , explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-millionaire, a ladies man and finally a nutcase." [386]
• "Stark" means "strong" in several languages, including German and Swedish.
• As of 2016's International Iron Man #7 , Tony was 34–35 years old.
• In-universe, the exploits of Iron Man (like those of many heroes), are adapted by Marvel Comics in authorized comics. Since Iron Man's identity was a secret for a long time, when Marvel was eventually given consent to fabricate backstories for heroes with secret identities, the company envisioned Iron Man's alter-ego as a " Top Gun type" blue-collar worker who took the risks on Tony Stark's equipment and designs, living life fast because he knew it could end the next day. The process was made complicated due to the times Iron Man was allegedly killed in action and replaced. [387]
• For his sixteenth birthday, Tony was gifted a 1971 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda . [388]
• Tony Stark once went to a fan convention posed as an Iron Man cosplayer. [389]
• Tony Stark's blood type is A+. [390]
• Iron Man is unlockable after beating 2003's Tony Hawk's Underground video game.
• As of Iron Man (Vol. 4) #7 , Stark was the 36th richest man in the world.
• According to himself, the greatest day of Tony's life was when the Avengers found Captain America frozen in a block of ice. [391]
• As director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an Avenger, Iron Man had Ultimate Clearance Level. [392]
• Iron Man is an atheist. [172] While he acknowledges the existence of gods, he refuses to believe in them in the sense of placing faith on them. [364]
• Tony suffers from major depressive disorder . [393]
• Tony is the owner of the Roswell Army Air Field , a location mistakenly associated with Area 51 . [394]
• Tony Stark has three doctorates. [395]
• Stark hates J. R. R. Tolkien . [294]
• Stark is a Gemini, meaning he was born between May 21 and June 20. [396]
• Thor once commended Iron Man telling him that he was as much a god as any immortal he had ever known. [397]
• Tony Stark discovered the existence of sterile neutrinos on a bet (or possibly a dare, he doesn't recall correctly). [398]
• Tony has his own Google -like search engine, called "Starkle." [399]
• Tony has used the e-mail addresses [email protected] [400] and [email protected]. [237]
• Squirrel Girl 's call ringtone for Tony on her phone is Lady Gaga 's "Born This Way." [401]
• Tony Stark has set up a scholarship program for aliens, dimensional travelers, clones, and artificial intelligences, as well as other students outside the norm. [402]
• One of Tony's cars has the licence plate STARK 1. The car with the STARK 2 plate was gifted to Pepper Potts . [403]
• The password to Tony's holographic workboards at the Avengers Mountain is "wgp0m0tm," a reference to "Good Technology" by the Red Guitars . [404]
• In Tarot #3 the two halves of Iron Man merged with the halves of Thor and Valkyrie to create Eiserne Jungfrau and Gadget .
• The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark. [405]
• Tony Stark made a brief behind-the-scenes cameo appearance in Super Friends #5 by DC Comics. He telephoned a Super Friends telethon and spoke with Batman , wherein he pledged $75,000 to the Heart Fund.
• According to a 2006 estimate by the American business magazine Forbes , Tony Stark's network was $3.0 billion at the time. [406]
• Stark considers himself more attractive than Robert Downey, Jr. , and has been stated to be more attractive than him by others also. [407]
• While unconfirmed, it is heavily implied that Tony Stark is bisexual. In 2015's Superior Iron Man #8 , Tony wakes up after apparently having had a threesome with another man and a woman. And in 2018's Tony Stark: Iron Man #4 after becoming an item with Janet Van Dyne , Tony apologizes to both women and men for no longer being on the market. Additionally, his dating profile received male matches, presumably meaning his selected preferences included men.
• According to the Sorcerer Supreme Agamotto , there must always be a Tony Stark in every existence, and the Phoenix has stated that Earth-616's Tony Stark is particularly indispensable. [26]
• In Thor (Vol. 6) #7 , Thor pranks back Tony Stark by exposing his personal phone number as 212-970-4133. This number was valid for a time, and callers would be answered by a pre-recorded message from Tony Stark explaining that he had to stop using the number because of Thor. He also pointed the caller to www.tonystarkironman.com, which redirects to a Marvel.com page about Thor (Vol. 6) #7. [408] A video of a call to this number can be viewed here .
• Some time after the events of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Vol. 2) #40 , Stark began employing several Skrull refugees, having them impersonate him when he was unavailable. [409] This means that some of his appearances ever since Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Vol. 2) #40 could have been Skrulls masquerading as him.
• 3532 appearance(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 41 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 651 minor appearance(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 1064 mention(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 31 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 6144 image(s) of Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 487 quotation(s) by or about Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 36 victim(s) killed by Anthony Stark (Earth-616)
• 129 item(s) used/owned by Anthony Stark (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Anthony Stark on Marvel.com
• Anthony Stark on Wikipedia.org
• Iron Man (Tony Stark) at Comicvine.com
• The Iron Man Armory
• ↑ See the Notes section for a breakdown in the changes to the setting of Iron Man's origin
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1 shows Tony drinking a non-alcoholic beverage in contrast to Amara Perera 's champagne. In a similar manner, Civil War II #1 shows Tony making a toast with a can of soft drink.
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Based on Pepper Potts ' experience with a similar R.T. node to Stark's in Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #4
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 In addition to not having appeared with the R.T. node in Invincible Iron Man , lettered pages of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 showed any signs of Stark's R.T. node digitally removed when compared to the unlettered previews for the same pages, meaning the absence of the R.T. node in Stark's other appearances post- Secret Wars not to be a mistake
• ↑ X-Men (Vol. 6) #26
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Deadpool (Vol. 5) #7
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tales of Suspense #54
• ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 6) #5
• ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #4
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 Tales of Suspense #56
• ↑ Civil War: Choosing Sides #1
• ↑ 9.0 9.1 Tales of Suspense #47
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #12
• ↑ Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #2
• ↑ Gwenpool Strikes Back #3
• ↑ 13.0 13.1 Invincible Iron Man #515
• ↑ Runaways (Vol. 2) #10
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #17
• ↑ 16.0 16.1 Tales of Suspense #42
• ↑ Avengers/Thunderbolts #4
• ↑ Iron Man #317
• ↑ Avengers / Invaders #9
• ↑ 20.0 20.1 Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #59
• ↑ 22.0 22.1 Civil War: The Confession #1
• ↑ 23.0 23.1 Mighty Avengers #30
• ↑ Runaways (Vol. 2) #24
• ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Iron Man (Vol. 3) #42
• ↑ 26.0 26.1 Avengers (Vol. 8) #31
• ↑ 27.0 27.1 Secret Invasion #4
• ↑ 28.0 28.1 Secret Invasion #3
• ↑ Contest of Champions #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #28
• ↑ 31.0 31.1 Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #3
• ↑ 32.0 32.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
• ↑ Iron Man: Kiss & Kill #1
• ↑ Iron Man #227
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #10
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #6
• ↑ Iron Man #196
• ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5
• ↑ Darkhold Omega #1
• ↑ 40.0 40.1 Avengers Annual #16
• ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #4
• ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #6
• ↑ 43.0 43.1 Avengers #395
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ 45.0 45.1 Avengers 2001 #1
• ↑ 46.0 46.1 Avengers (Vol. 5) #44
• ↑ Secret Wars #9
• ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 48.4 48.5 Iron Man (Vol. 5) #17
• ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 49.4 Iron Man #288
• ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 Tales of Suspense #39
• ↑ 51.0 51.1 Tales of Suspense #40
• ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1
• ↑ Iron Man #78
• ↑ 54.0 54.1 Avengers #1
• ↑ 55.0 55.1 Iron Man #128
• ↑ 56.0 56.1 Civil War: Front Line #1
• ↑ 57.0 57.1 Iron Man (Vol. 6) #1
• ↑ 58.0 58.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #5
• ↑ 59.0 59.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #7
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #9
• ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #10
• ↑ 62.0 62.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #15
• ↑ 63.0 63.1 International Iron Man #7
• ↑ 64.0 64.1 International Iron Man #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #10 – 11
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #12
• ↑ 67.0 67.1 Iron Man #287
• ↑ Iron Man #285
• ↑ Iron Man #286
• ↑ 70.0 70.1 Iron Man #28
• ↑ International Iron Man #1
• ↑ International Iron Man #2
• ↑ International Iron Man #3
• ↑ Iron Man #314
• ↑ Iron Man #318
• ↑ Iron Man #144
• ↑ 77.0 77.1 77.2 77.3 Iron Man #244
• ↑ Nivena on ironmanarmory.com
• ↑ 79.0 79.1 79.2 Tales of Suspense #45
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #57
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #91
• ↑ 82.0 82.1 82.2 82.3 Tales of Suspense #48
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #46
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #50
• ↑ 85.0 85.1 Avengers #2
• ↑ Avengers #7
• ↑ Avengers #4
• ↑ Avengers #16
• ↑ Iron Man #19
• ↑ Iron Man #50
• ↑ 91.0 91.1 91.2 New Avengers: Illuminati #1
• ↑ Early Years on ironmanarmory.com
• ↑ Iron Man #173
• ↑ Iron Man #170
• ↑ Iron Man #187 – 188
• ↑ Iron Man #188 – 199
• ↑ Iron Man #193
• ↑ Iron Man #199 – 200
• ↑ 99.0 99.1 99.2 Iron Man #200
• ↑ Iron Man #217
• ↑ 101.0 101.1 Iron Man #225
• ↑ Iron Man #228
• ↑ 103.0 103.1 Iron Man #229
• ↑ Iron Man #230
• ↑ Iron Man #231
• ↑ Iron Man #242
• ↑ Avengers #347
• ↑ Iron Man #284
• ↑ Iron Man #299 – 300
• ↑ Iron Man #301 – 306
• ↑ Iron Man #310
• ↑ War Machine #8
• ↑ Avengers: West Coast #102
• ↑ Force Works #1
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #11
• ↑ Iron Man 2000 #1
• ↑ Iron Man & Captain America Annual #1998
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #15
• ↑ 120.0 120.1 Iron Man (Vol. 3) #48
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #30
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #50
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #53
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #55
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #73 – 78
• ↑ Avengers #500 – 503
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #87
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #89
• ↑ New Avengers #1
• ↑ New Avengers #3
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #3 – 4
• ↑ 132.0 132.1 132.2 132.3 132.4 Iron Man (Vol. 4) #5
• ↑ 133.0 133.1 133.2 133.3 133.4 133.5 Iron Man (Vol. 4) #6
• ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #529 – 531
• ↑ 135.0 135.1 Civil War #1
• ↑ 136.0 136.1 136.2 Civil War #5
• ↑ 137.0 137.1 Civil War #2
• ↑ 138.0 138.1 138.2 Civil War #4
• ↑ Civil War: Front Line #5
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #13
• ↑ 141.0 141.1 Iron Man (Vol. 4) #14
• ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #529
• ↑ Amazing Spider-Man #35
• ↑ 144.0 144.1 144.2 144.3 Civil War #7
• ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #25
• ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #33 – 34
• ↑ New Avengers #25
• ↑ Mighty Avengers #2
• ↑ Mighty Avengers #6
• ↑ World War Hulk #1
• ↑ World War Hulk #5
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #22
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #23
• ↑ 154.0 154.1 154.2 Invincible Iron Man #25
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #26
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #27 – 28
• ↑ Secret Invasion #1
• ↑ Secret Invasion #6
• ↑ Secret Invasion #7
• ↑ Secret Invasion #8
• ↑ 161.0 161.1 161.2 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #8
• ↑ Mighty Avengers #21
• ↑ Mighty Avengers #22
• ↑ Mighty Avengers #23
• ↑ 165.0 165.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #10
• ↑ Dark Avengers #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #11
• ↑ 168.0 168.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #14
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #15
• ↑ 170.0 170.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #18
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #19
• ↑ 172.0 172.1 172.2 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #20
• ↑ 173.0 173.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #21
• ↑ 174.0 174.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #24
• ↑ 177.0 177.1 Avengers Prime #1 – 5
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 4) #1
• ↑ 179.0 179.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #25
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #26
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #27 – 33
• ↑ Fear Itself #4 – 5
• ↑ 183.0 183.1 Invincible Iron Man #510
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #514
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #520 – 521
• ↑ 186.0 186.1 Invincible Iron Man #523
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #524
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #526
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #527
• ↑ Avengers Assemble (Vol. 2) #8
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #1 – 5
• ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #9 – 12
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #14
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #15
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #16
• ↑ Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #3
• ↑ 198.0 198.1 Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #9
• ↑ Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #4
• ↑ Superior Iron Man #4
• ↑ 201.0 201.1 201.2 Superior Iron Man #1
• ↑ Superior Iron Man #2 – 9
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #7
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 5) #28
• ↑ 206.0 206.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #4
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #6
• ↑ 208.0 208.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #18
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #3
• ↑ Original Sin #3
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 5) #29
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 5) #34
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #26
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 5) #40
• ↑ 215.0 215.1 215.2 Avengers (Vol. 5) #43
• ↑ Secret Wars #1
• ↑ 217.0 217.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #5
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #6
• ↑ International Iron Man #1 – 7
• ↑ Civil War II #1
• ↑ Civil War II #3
• ↑ Civil War II #4
• ↑ Civil War II #5
• ↑ Civil War II #6
• ↑ 226.0 226.1 Civil War II #7
• ↑ Civil War II #8
• ↑ Infamous Iron Man #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #3
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #593
• ↑ 232.0 232.1 Invincible Iron Man #599
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #600
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #1
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #1 – 6
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #8
• ↑ 237.0 237.1 237.2 Tony Stark: Iron Man #4
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #3
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #9
• ↑ 240.0 240.1 Tony Stark: Iron Man #8
• ↑ 241.0 241.1 Tony Stark: Iron Man #11
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #16
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #18
• ↑ 244.0 244.1 Tony Stark: Iron Man #19
• ↑ Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #2
• ↑ Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #4
• ↑ Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #5
• ↑ Iron Man 2020 (Vol. 2) #6
• ↑ Empyre: Avengers #0
• ↑ Empyre #2
• ↑ Empyre #1
• ↑ Empyre #5
• ↑ Empyre #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #2
• ↑ King in Black #2
• ↑ King in Black: Iron Man/Doom #1
• ↑ King in Black #3
• ↑ Extreme Carnage Alpha #1
• ↑ Extreme Carnage Omega #1
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #3
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #7
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #4
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #5
• ↑ 264.0 264.1 Iron Man (Vol. 6) #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #13
• ↑ 266.0 266.1 Iron Man (Vol. 6) #15
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #17
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #18
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #19
• ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1
• ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2
• ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4
• ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5
• ↑ A.X.E.: Avengers #1
• ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #23
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #4
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #16
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #17
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #18
• ↑ 281.0 281.1 Original Sin #3.2
• ↑ 282.0 282.1 Iron Man #313
• ↑ 283.0 283.1 Invincible Iron Man #500.1
• ↑ Iron Man #225 – 232
• ↑ Civil War #1 – 7
• ↑ 286.0 286.1 Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic #13
• ↑ Iron Man Annual (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Fantastic Four #542
• ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #7
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #507
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #70
• ↑ Captain America (Vol. 6) #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #51
• ↑ 294.0 294.1 Iron Man (Vol. 5) #4
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #4
• ↑ War Machine (Vol. 2) #9
• ↑ Iron Man #325
• ↑ Iron Man #120
• ↑ Iron Man #169
• ↑ Iron Man #182
• ↑ Fear Itself #4
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #510 – 527
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #23
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #14
• ↑ Tony Stark: Iron Man #14
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #55
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #52
• ↑ Iron Man #117
• ↑ Civil War #3
• ↑ Iron Man #18
• ↑ Avengers #224
• ↑ Iron Man 2001 #1
• ↑ Iron Man #22
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #4
• ↑ Iron Man #275
• ↑ Iron Man #309
• ↑ Iron Man #223
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #19
• ↑ Iron Man #163
• ↑ Iron Man #233
• ↑ She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #17
• ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #4
• ↑ Iron Man: Legacy #9
• ↑ Iron Man #171
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #4
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #521
• ↑ 327.0 327.1 327.2 Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #6
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #14
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #16
• ↑ Iron Man: The Legend #1
• ↑ 331.0 331.1 Avengers: Roll Call #1
• ↑ Iron Man #278
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #7
• ↑ Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #7
• ↑ Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic #7
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #89
• ↑ Iron Man #103
• ↑ 338.0 338.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #4
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #516
• ↑ 340.0 340.1 Iron Man #125
• ↑ Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic #12
• ↑ New Avengers: Illuminati (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Iron Man vs. Whiplash #3
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #7
• ↑ Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #8
• ↑ 347.0 347.1 Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #4
• ↑ Iron Man #116
• ↑ New Avengers #12
• ↑ Avengers: Millennium Infinite Comic #2
• ↑ Iron Man #241
• ↑ 352.0 352.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #3
• ↑ Defenders #9
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #13
• ↑ Iron Man/Thor #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #23 – 26
• ↑ Iron Man #192
• ↑ Iron Man #218
• ↑ Iron Man #85
• ↑ Iron Man #300
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #16
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #45
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #30
• ↑ 364.0 364.1 Iron Man (Vol. 5) #1
• ↑ Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic #9
• ↑ Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15
• ↑ Avengers #500
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #11
• ↑ Avengers #130
• ↑ 370.0 370.1 370.2 370.3 Iron Man: Fatal Frontier Infinite Comic #1
• ↑ AVX: Vs #1
• ↑ Iron Man #132
• ↑ Iron Man #112
• ↑ Avengers #165
• ↑ Hulk Smash Avengers #1
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 2) #8
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #38
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #9
• ↑ Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #32
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #24
• ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #2
• ↑ Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #1
• ↑ Tales of Suspense #44
• ↑ War Machine (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man #520
• ↑ "Bullpen Bulletins" (Dec. 1997 Marvel Comics): "Stan's Soapbox" (column), by Stan Lee
• ↑ History of Marvels Comics #1
• ↑ Black Cat #12
• ↑ Iron Man #72
• ↑ Iron Man #243
• ↑ Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #5
• ↑ Eternals (Vol. 3) #3
• ↑ Stevens, Tim (12 April 2010) Psych Ward: Iron Man 2.0 Marvel.com . Archived from the original on 16 April 2010.
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 4) #10
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #29
• ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 6) #12
• ↑ Thor: God of Thunder #3
• ↑ Hyperion #6
• ↑ Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #239
• ↑ Iron Man: Inevitable #1
• ↑ Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Vol. 2) #38
• ↑ Ghost-Spider #1
• ↑ 2020 Rescue #1
• ↑ Empyre #3
• ↑ Melissa Hank (April 25, 2007) Sci-fi made sexy on 'Eureka' (interview with Ed Quinn) . Archived from the original on September 18, 2010.
• ↑ Herper, Matthew (20 November 2006) #8 Tony Stark Forbes . Retrieved on 29 June 2020.
• ↑ She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #27
• ↑ Aguilar, Matthew (16 September 2020) Marvel Reveals Iron Man's Phone Number & You Can Call It Now ComicBook.com . Retrieved on 20 September 2020.
• ↑ Secret Invasion (Vol. 2) #3
• ↑ Avengers: Roll Call #1
• ↑ All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe Vol 1 1
• 1 Victor von Doom (Earth-616)
• 2 Anthony Stark (Earth-11029)
• 3 Cassandra Nova Xavier (Earth-616)

An MIT Alumni Association Publication

• Alumni Life
• Campus Culture

Search | Slice of MIT

Who is iron man.

• May 10, 2013
• slice.mit.edu

Filed Under

• In the News
• Geek Culture
• Student Life

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It’s been established that Tony Stark is MIT’s greatest (fictional) alumnus . In fact, Stark can be seen wearing his Brass Rat in multiple scenes in the first Iron Man movie. The film's director, Jon Favreau, once said of Stark, "He’s somebody who created a suit using his own intelligence and sweat of his brow. I would love for that to make being an engineer cool—that  people might want to go to MIT instead of being on MTV."

A proud affiliation notwithstanding, little is known about Stark’s time at MIT. His academic record is sealed and existing public information is inconsistent. MIT Admissions tentatively lists Stark as receiving his undergraduate degree in 1987 but Marvel Comics claims he received two master’s degrees in engineering by age 19. Confusing matters more, a recently deleted LinkedIn profile for Tony Stark indicated he received doctorates in engineering physics and artificial intelligence.

These contradictory statements lead to one question: Just who was Tony Stark during his time at MIT?

Boston.com’s Radio BDC blog helped answer this question earlier this week. In honor of the release of the third Iron Man film, the blog tracked down real-life Bostonians—including one former MIT director—who shared their encounters with a young Stark during the mid-80s.

A sample of the memories includes:

• “I saw him a few times at the chess boards near Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square. There was this guy down there, a chess master, and you could give him five or ten bucks and he'd play you a game. A couple of times I remember [Tony] breezing in and throwing money on the table, and kind of wiping the floor with the guy.”
• “No one really knew him, he was just a rich kid. Everyone wanted him around, though, because he'd always bring something fun for the party.”
• “I remember him at after-parties on Thayer Street. He was up later than anyone else. But you could always get a ride home with him, because he always had a car.”

Perhaps the most poignant recollection comes from Henry Jenkins, the former co-director of MIT's Comparative Media Studies.

From " Bostonians sharing their memories of MIT class of '87 grad Tony Stark :"

“Some students are larger than life—they leave a trace across the entire campus, and people talk about them well after they have left the building, so to speak. Stark was one of those people.”

“And don't get me started about the hacks that have been ascribed to Stark through the years. I have heard all kinds of claims about what Stark put on the Great Dome to the ways he rewired the elevators in the Green Building. They can't all be true, can they?”

Read more about Tony Stark’s (fictional) time at MIT on the Radio BDC blog . Thanks to Harbo Jensen PhD '74 for contributing to this story.

• Log in to post comments

Fri, 05/10/2013 12:35pm

thought he lived on Fifth East? Black Bemis. I dated him when I was a Freshman. ;)

Edward Friedman

Thu, 01/23/2014 3:14pm

Erland Van Lidth De Jeude, Class of 1976, played a psychopath with a glorious tenor voice in the movie "Stir Crazy" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. At the 23 second mark, and more clearly at 1:51 - 1:59 of www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE5cshs3cdc, you can see his character (Grossberger) wearing his Brass Rat.

Fri, 05/10/2013 1:02pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he led the Orange Tours

Steven Wells

Sat, 05/23/2020 3:53pm

Not Erland's voice

There was a SAG-AFTRA strike in 1980, so Erland's voice was not recorded the day the scene was shot. The tenor voice was dubbed in. I heard Erland sing in Building 10 while promoting an upcoming presentation of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in which he played Miles Gloriosus. Erland had a spectacular bass voice. His head was shaved for the movie role. Ordinarily, he had a full head of hair.

FedUpWithNobels

Tue, 12/31/2013 1:21pm

Gee, if only there were some Columbia alums that remember a certain Barack Obama as well as we remember Tony Stark ;)

Sun, 12/29/2013 9:07pm

All B.S. He must have graduated after 1990, because the '90 Brass rat was the first one with the skyline on the edge.

Mon, 06/03/2013 10:22am

How about some info on the most famous TV MIT grad, Howard Wolowitz!! What do we know about him?

John Bailey

Fri, 05/10/2013 11:41am

How about Tim McGee in NCIS? When did he graduate?

Fri, 05/10/2013 10:29am

As an undergrad, he was East Campus. Hayden 4th.

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Iron Man: Avenger, Industrialist, Hero

• Marvel Comics
• Anime & Manga

Real Name : Tony Stark

Location : New York City

First Appearance : Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)

Created By : Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, and Don Heck

Without his suit of armor, Tony Stark has no supernatural powers. He is only limited by his imagination. Tony is a brilliant engineer and has used his talents to create a powerful suit of armor that enables the wearer to fly, shoot beams of energy from his hands and chest, and resist the vacuum of space. The suit also protects the wearer from damage and grants superhuman strength.

The suit is constantly being redesigned to face the new challenges that Tony Stark meets on a daily basis. There are specialty suits that have been made such as the Arctic, Stealth, Space, Hulkbuster, and Thorbuster armors. There have been nearly 40 different variations of the Iron Man armor in the current reality of the Iron Man comics.

Team Affiliations : Mighty Avengers , Ultimates

Currently Seen In :

Iron Man Ultimate Iron Man New Avengers Mighty Avengers

Interesting Fact :

The first suit of armor was gray and had roller skates in the feet instead of jets.

Main Villains :

Mandarin Crimson Dynamo Titanium Man Obadiah Stane

Iron Man's Origin Story

Young Tony Stark was a prodigy of mechanical engineering genius. At 21, he took over his father's company and launched it into a hugely successful corporation. During a testing of new technology in Vietnam, Tony was hit by a piece of shrapnel from a booby trap. The shrapnel was lodged near his heart and without help, Tony would die.

There, he was captured by a communist leader and imprisoned, forced to make new weapons for the overlord. Also imprisoned with him was Professor Ho Yinsen, a renowned physicist. Together they built the first suit of armor that would become Iron Man. Professor Ho even made the chest plate of the armor with a device to help Tony’s heart keep beating.

Tony used the armor to escape, although in the process, Professor Ho sacrificed his life to give Tony the time to charge it to full capacity. Tony escaped with James Rhodes (now War Machine) and returned to America to become a part of the Avengers, taking his fathers teachings of giving back to the world to heart and using his new armor to aid mankind. He wasn’t without his own demons though, as he struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.

In the midst of being a hero and working with the Avengers, Tony also continued to grow his company into a multi-billion corporation. He developed and sold technology that went to S.H.I.E.L.D. and other organizations, such as the Avengers Quinjet. His success continued to grow, and this to let him being targeted by Obadiah Stane, another billionaire with his own weapons design business.

Obadiah sought to ruin Tony, eventually taking over his company. This set things in motion and Tony ended up becoming homeless forced him to return to the bottle and he even gave up being Iron Man, turning it over to his friend Jim Rhodes. Stane even discovered designs of the Iron Man armor and began to create his own version, called the Iron Monger. Stane planned on selling multiple suits to the highest bidder.

Eventually, Tony got his life together and began a new company and resumed being Iron Man again. He even started a new company called Circuits Maximus. This enraged Stane and led to a battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger. When Stane lost, he committed suicide and this led Tony getting back his company and life.

Later, when more and more villains began to surface with armor based on the Iron Man armor, Stark took it upon himself to stop the use of the technology based on his designs and started what is now know as the “Armor Wars.” He went after the supervillains and even the government agencies that were using similarly powered armor and deactivated them, taking back what he thought was rightfully his.

With such global threats on the horizon, Tony helped start the Illuminati, a group of other superpowered beings that worked to control the fate of the world. The group is comprised of Iron Man, Black Bolt, Sub Mariner, Professor X, Reed Richards, and Dr. Strange. They were responsible for recovering the infinity gems, items when combined with the Infinity Gauntlet, would grant the bearer godlike powers. They were also responsible for sending the Hulk into orbit, which in turn started World War Hulk.

Tony Stark was also a major player in the Civil War , where the government wanted heroes to register themselves, making their identities known and essentially becoming S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Many heroes balked at this, not wanting to give up their identities or become pawns of the government and so went underground. The heroes eventually split into two groups. There were those for the registration, led by Tony Stark himself, where he was made the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and those against, led by Captain America . The war split the Marvel universe down the middle and climaxed in a giant battle in New York City, but when Captain America saw the carnage this was causing the American people, he called a cease-fire and turned himself in. He was later assassinated going to the courthouse for trial, a thing that Tony himself feels responsible for.

Lately, Tony Stark is concerned with the fact that there have been Skrulls that have infiltrated agencies and super-powered groups. The main problem is that these Skrulls are undetectable to anyone, and therefore everyone is suspect. He is working against the Skrulls, bringing in the brightest that the world has to offer to find a way to stop this secret invasion.

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Deadpool & Wolverine: The 10 Biggest Burning Questions We Have After the Marvel Movie

Wtf just happened.

Warning! This piece contains MASSIVE spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine!

After decades of lead-in, teases, and studio shenanigans, Deadpool & Wolverine has finally arrived in theaters with all the wild R-rated action, shocking violence, raucous jokes, deep-cut Easter eggs, and super-star cameos that you've likely been waiting for. But with so much going on over the two-hour-plus runtime, you may well have come out of the movie with some burning questions. We certainly did!

That said, we're here to ask and answer all of those, or at least try to answer them... So strap in, grab your grotesque Wolverine popcorn bucket, and let's do this!

Deadpool & Wolverine: Our Biggest Burning Questions

Mommy, Are Deadpool & Wolverine in the MCU Now?

This is the biggest question coming out of the massive crossover film because, while in the lead-up to release it seemed as though the movie would be a clear-cut moment of the Fox and Marvel Cinematic Universes merging, it finishes on a far more open-ended note. While of course technically both of these characters are in an MCU movie, so that means they're "in" the MCU, narratively we don't get a decisive answer.

We leave Deadpool and co. in their home timeline of Earth-10005 rather than the Sacred Timeline of the MCU, which is also confusingly known as Earth-616 in the movies. That means that if this movie doesn't deliver the success that Marvel Studios wants, they can just pretend Deadpool & Wolverine never happened, leaving Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Laura Kinney (Dafne Keen), and their friends there with nothing from the established MCU or its timeline impacted at all. It feels more like a soft launch of some Fox characters joining the wider continuity than it does a clear joining of the Fox movies with the MCU. If it works, then they can pull from them whenever they want in a way that can easily be explained by saying they were just in a different MCU timeline.

That said, there's one movie that we're almost certainly going to see them in: Avengers: Secret Wars. It would be very surprising if Deadpool and Wolverine didn’t show up for sure-to-be epic, multiverse-spanning battle. There's also a chance that Secret Wars is where we'll see that Thor and Deadpool scene that the TVA teased here!

How Did Deadpool Get to Earth-616 to Meet Happy Hogan?

In the post-credits scene of Deadpool 2 , Wade uses Cable's time watch (a.k.a. the uniquely named "Time Travel Device") to save his dead friends and kill two versions of himself. First, the annoying version of "The Deadpool" from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and then actor Ryan Reynolds before he can sign up to play Green Lantern. What started off as a post-credits gag becomes a major plot point in this film as it seems that the Merc With a Mouth can also use the time watch to travel between dimensions. That’s how Deadpool visits Avengers HQ early in the film, with the intention of joining the team in 2018. There he meets Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan, who soundly rejects him.

This is a new addition to the lore of the watch which, as far as we knew in Deadpool 2, only worked as a time machine rather than a dimension-hopping device. It's an interesting choice, especially as later in the film Wade steals a TemPad from the TVA to hop between universes, which doesn't seem like something he'd need to do if he had Cable's watch handy (and which allowed him to do the same thing earlier in the film).

Does Deadpool & Wolverine raise more questions than it answers about the future of the X-Men in the MCU?

How does wolverine know about the avengers.

During one of their many tête-à-têtes, Wolverine says "Fuck the Avengers," implying that he is aware of — and sick of — their existence. So that makes us wonder what his relationship with the team is in his universe and how he knows about them at all. The fact he mentions them means there is likely an Avengers team in his world — where he failed the X-Men and ended up killing a bunch of civilians — and it seems like he's not fond of them. Going by what Logan tells Wade, it's clear that there's animosity there, and he said he turned the world against the X-Men, which could include the Avengers too.

The other option is that he's somehow aware of the Avengers of Earth-616, but that seems unlikely. (We should also point out that Deadpool knowing about the Avengers makes sense simply because of his fourth-wall-breaking abilities. He basically knows what the audience does.)

Does Logan the Movie Really Exist in the Same Timeline as the Deadpool Movies?

Isn't this an interesting thing to ponder? In Deadpool & Wolverine, fans are presented with the concept that Logan was a part of the same X-Men Universe as the Deadpool movies. That definitely seems to be a retcon to make this already confusing movie a little easier to swallow.

First of all, even the timeline of Earth-10005 itself is up for debate, with fans assigning the temporary Earth-TRN414 moniker to the divergent history created by Wolverine's consciousness traveling back to 1973 in X-Men: Days of Future Past and altering the events that led to the previous X-Men films. Deadpool & Wolverine seems to do away with — or simply ignore — that concern, instead vaguing things out but implying the timeline of all the X-Men movies is one singular, chronological thing. (We have a whole article on the X-Men movies’ confusing timeline if you want to dig in on it more.)

As for Logan, director James Mangold and Jackman have said contradictory things about where it was set. At one point, Mangold hinted that it was technically in the same canon as the X-Men movies, just set in 2029. But Jackman told Digital Spy it was “different in terms of timeline and tone, it's a slightly different universe.” Hmm.

The Deadpool movies have always implied that they were part of the main X-Men timeline, or at least the revised timeline that came after Days of Future past where Team X was never formed, meaning Wade was never killed in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But again, the X-Men films often conflict with one another, so it’s difficult to be definitive on this topic.

Sorry, What’s an Anchor Being Again?

When Deadpool gets pulled in by the TVA to help Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) speed up the death of his universe, we get an explanation as to why his universe is dying at all. Rather than using the meta-storytelling of it all to blame Disney for ending the Fox Universe, Paradox instead explains that each universe has a so-called "Anchor Being" which the universe needs to stay alive. Earth-10005's Anchor was Logan, who died during his titular movie, and so now the timeline is dying. But you might be asking what is an Anchor Being? Does it exist in the comics? Well, the answer is yes... sort of.

In Marvel Comics continuity, there are certain characters who are deemed as Nexus Beings, super-powerful heroes and villains like the Scarlet Witch who are vital to their universe and its power. Their behavior can change the shape of their universe and they're watched closely by the Time Variance Authority. They are also officially described as "anchoring their universe," so what we seem to have here is a Nexus Being by any other name. It's unclear why Disney wouldn't just use the term Nexus, especially when it was already established in the MCU thanks to WandaVision. But this is a Disney pattern, like when they introduced Holocrons in The Rise of Skywalker but insisted on calling them Sith Wayfinders.

Logan is not a Nexus Being/Anchor Being in the comics, but this also raises the question of who the Anchor Being in the main MCU would be. It feels like it would definitely be Tony Stark, but if that's the case then the Sacred Timeline would already be dying. So perhaps it's Captain America? Either way, it feels like this could be an important piece of canon if the head honchos at the MCU decide to continue this story.

How Does the X-Men Universe Teased at the End of The Marvels Fit in?

We don’t have a clear answer to this yet, but it does make sense that Deadpool's Earth-10005 could be the same one that Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau found herself in at the end of The Marvels . As we’ve said, Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t directly address the timeline contradictions of the Fox X-Men movies, but it does at least combine the movie Logan with Deadpool’s universe. So if that’s going to be the general approach of Marvel moving forward, it follows that the Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Maria Rambeau/Binary (Lashana Lynch) seen at the end of The Marvels were in Earth-10005. Now that Deadpool has saved Earth-10005, perhaps we’ll see them again. But we'll have to wait to see which direction the MCU goes in next.

Wait, Blade Wasn't Even a Fox Movie Character. Why Is He Here?

The answer here is… it’s just to make people gasp and spill their popcorn! Of all the cameos, this one was truly unexpected and pretty surprising. As to how it happened, well, it's all about licensing. Despite the fact that Blade (Wesley Snipes) wasn't a Fox character, he was the star of a pre-MCU movie (from New Line Cinema) which makes him a prime candidate for this meta-madness nostalgia crossover. How Marvel was able to do that is actually pretty simple: Blade was the original Marvel Studios movie. It was the first film put out under that banner, and while there were a few years where Blade seemed to be lost to time, we know that they have the rights to use him thanks to the announcement that a new MCU Blade movie is in the works. So this was more of a fun cameo than a commentary on the Fox of it all, but it is interesting that Blade made the cut but the Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider — which was distributed by Sony — didn't.

That Makes Sense, But When Did Channing Tatum Play Gambit?

This might be the most meta moment in the entire movie because Channing Tatum never got to play Gambit, but that wasn't for lack of trying. His arrival in the comics-accurate suit, complete with head sock and light-up purple playing cards, is a nod to the fact that for years Tatum tried to get a Gambit movie made. He had originally been in the running for the role back in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine but couldn't make the timing work. Five years later he signed on for a solo Gambit movie that never came to fruition (he even appeared at a Comic-Con Hall H panel!), but it has been a recurring talking point throughout the last decade as comic book movies have taken over Hollywood. At one point the movie was on the slate for a 2020 release through Fox, but it was ultimately canned after the Disney/Fox takeover. So this is a reference not to an actual character, but one that was stuck in development hell for years. Gambit even says in the movie that maybe he was born in the Void – now that's taking meta to the next level!

What Did Cassandra Nova Want?

A surprise choice for the villain of this film, Cassandra Nova first debuted in New X-Men #114 and was created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. In New X-Men she wants world domination, but here she wants world destruction. Her origin in the film also varies slightly from those sterling X-Men issues, where Charles tried to kill her in the womb. Here she was the attacker, and is punished by the TVA, who purge her from the timeline while she was still in the womb.

We don't know how she survived or what really drives her, but she does seem at least a little happy in the Void — where she and her mutants can live freely as themselves in the junkyard of comic book movies — until Paradox tries to have her killed, which inspires her to use the Time Ripper to destroy every timeline. Why does she do that? She claims to want everything but the Void destroyed, where she can reign as a god. While Cassandra may not be the most complex villain we've ever seen, actor Emma Corrin does a fantastic job bringing her to life – and her powers are legit terrifying. As to whether we'll ever see her again, well, that seems unlikely. But then again, no one in comics ever really dies…

So When Are We Getting the MCU X-Men?

The good news for mutant fans is that Kevin Feige has said that this movie and everything that comes after will be the MCU in its "mutant era." Does this mean that after the Fantastic Four film hits next year, we're going to be getting more mutants and the X-Men? Actor Jonathan Majors’ legal problems led to his being fired by Marvel, so maybe Kang and his dynasty are being deprioritized and the X-Men are getting a faster track than initially planned.

Will Deadpool and Wolverine wind up on the eventual MCU X-Men team? Again, it’s impossible to know right now. But if their film is a hit, it sure would make sense for the unlikely pair to at least help launch the new X-Men franchise…

But what did you think of Deadpool and Wolverine? Did you have a bunch of questions like we did? Let’s discuss in the comments!

Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.

IGN Recommends

• General Philosophy

Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality

ISBN: 978-0-470-48218-6

William Irwin , Mark D. White

On the surface, Iron Man appears to be a straightforward superhero, another rich guy fighting crime with fancy gadgets. But beneath the shiny armor and flashy technology lies Tony Stark, brilliant inventor and eccentric playboy, struggling to balance his desires, addictions, and relationships with his duties as the Armored Avenger. Iron Man and Philosophy explores the many philosophical issues that emerge from the essential conflicts found in the decades of Iron Man stories in comics and movies. What kind of moral compass does Tony Stark have? Is Iron Man responsible for the death of Captain America after the Marvel Universe “Civil War”? Should people like Stark run the world? How does Tony’s alcoholism impact his performance as Iron Man, and what does it say about moral character? Ultimately, what can Iron Man teach us about the role of technology in society?

As absorbing as Iron Man comic books and movies, Iron Man and Philosophy :

• Gives you a new perspective on Iron Man characters, story lines, and themes
• Shows what philosophical heavy hitters such as Aristotle, Locke, and Heidegger can teach us about Tony Stark/Iron Man
• Considers issues such as addiction, personal responsibility, the use of technology, and the role of government

Whether you've been reading the comic books for years or have gotten into Iron Man through the movies, Iron Man and Philosophy is a must-have companion for every fan.

William Irwin is a professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy.

Den of Geek

Connection Between Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom and Iron Man Is Bigger Than You Realize

Marvel has officially announced the actor playing Doctor Doom and nobody saw it coming. But given Doom and Iron Man's comic history, we should have.

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Doom is no man’s second choice. And that’s why the MCU is going back to its first choice.

For years now, fans have speculated about the coming of the greatest villain in fiction, Doctor Victor Von Doom . And at the end of Saturday night’s Marvel panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige finally revealed the actor who will play Doctor Doom… and it turns out to be a familiar face: Robert Downey Jr. will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom! He will furthermore be the big bad of the fifth Avengers movie , which has now been officially retitled Avengers: Doomsday , and which will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo .

I know what you’re thinking: What? How?!?! The MCU knows Tony Stark as one of its greatest heroes. How can its greatest villain have the same face. Well, there’s actually a few possible explanations…

Into the Doctor Doom-Verse

One possible and obvious answer for the shared casting is that you’ll never see Doom’s face. After all, the incredibly vain Victor Von Doom hides behind a mask and never shows his visage to anyone after an accident left it imperfect (at least in Doom’s estimation). So there’s no real need for us to see RDJ’s face as Doom… yet we doubt that’s the real reason for Downey’s return.

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But the more likely answer for what is about to come is that this Doctor Doom comes from an alternate reality. Even if the new official title change of Avengers 5 confirms that Kang the Conqueror is completely done in the MCU, Marvel Studios is still in its Multiverse Saga phase, and Avengers 6 is still Avengers: Secret Wars . Furthermore, previous movies (especially Deadpool & Wolverine ) have shown that the same person can have a different face, or that different people can have the same face.

That possibility seems even more likely given Feige’s announcement earlier in the panel. Feige confirmed that the Fantastic Four movie, now officially titled Fantastic Four: First Steps , will take place in an alternate retro-futuristic 1960s. A sizzle reel played at the convention included a peak at Ralph Ineson’s Galactus (in elaborate purple headgear—no cosmic clouds need apply!).

Between the confirmed setting for Fantastic Four: First Steps and the reveal that the FF will be in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars , it seems likely that RDJ isn’t playing the only Doom. He may be the Victor Von Doom in Fantastic Four: First Steps , and who like the versions of the characters played by Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and all the rest, comes over to the mainline MCU with them when their world gets (possibly) destroyed by Galactus.

The Comics Origin of a Doctor Doom and Tony Stark Switcheroo

Shocking as the reveal certainly is, there is some precedent for it in the comics. After the 2015 Secret Wars series, which will more than likely be the basis for the 2027 movie to come, Doom’s face gets healed when Reed remakes the world that Doom created. Between his new face and his titanic failure, this story’s Doctor Doom decides to devote his scientific knowledge to making the world a better place. With Tony Stark missing after Secret Wars , Doom takes on the mantle of Iron Man , at least for a while. This is chronicled in the series Infamous Iron Man (image above) where the briefly reformed Victor goes so far as even aiding suspicious Avengers in a post- Secret Wars world, attempting to make up for his mistakes and duplicate what he sees are his and Iron Man’s shared goals: to protect the world.

Other storylines and worlds, such as Earth-X or the Ultimate Universe , see Tony and Doom working closely together, both of them using their brilliance and machinery for some larger ends and points of what you might call superpowered bipartisanship. There is also a famous What If story, What If? Iron Man Demon in an Armor , where Tony Stark and Victor von Doom are college roommates and through typical comic book shenanigans, Doom is able to get them to essentially switch minds. Stark becomes Doom, going back to Latveria where he assumes the famous villain’s armor, while Doom becomes Stark: an authoritarian Iron Man if there ever was one. That approach would make sense, given a catchphrase shared during the SDCC panel is: “New mask, same task.” This suggests that there’s some similarity between Tony’s mission and Doom’s goals.

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What is that mission? For that, we might benefit by looking back to Avengers: Age of Ultron when Tony saw a vision of is friends’ defeat. As a consequence of this nightmare, he dreamed of creating “a suit of armor around the world,” which in turn led to the creation of Ultron. Perhaps if Downey’s next role, be it as a vengeful Stark or a well-meaning Victor, sees his world destroyed by Galactus, he will presumably want to protect the next world he goes to from the same threat. Consider also that Tony’s desires for a safer world, such as agreeing to governmental oversight in Captain America: Civil War , time and again can lead to an overreach. Victor is a man defined by an extended hand that eventually turns into a fist.

From that perspective, the continuity between Iron Man and Doctor Doom makes quite a bit of sense.

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Fantastic Four: First Steps rockets into theaters on July 25, 2025.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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How can Robert Downey Jr. play Doom in the MCU? Here's what we know from the comics

Comic-Con 2024 climaxed with the big news that the "Oppenheimer" Oscar winner is returning to the superhero franchise, this time as a villain.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

The big Marvel panel at Comic-Con 2024 ended with the earth-shattering news that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe , this time to play the iconic supervillain Doctor Doom.

But once the initial euphoria dies down, many Marvel fans may be left wondering: How is such a recasting possible?

Marvel directors Joe and Anthony Russo will be re-teaming with Downey for the first time since they killed off Tony Stark together in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame , but they did not divulge many details about their upcoming movies other than their titles. The fifth Avengers movie, initially called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty , has now been revamped to Avengers: Doomsday with a focus on Doom instead of Kang, while the sixth one will still be Avengers: Secret Wars . But the Russos did mention that introducing Doom into the MCU is essential preparation for the latter film, which gives a slight indication of what we’re in for here.

Getty;Marvel

"It's the biggest story that Marvel Comics ever told," Joe Russo said on stage about Secret Wars . "It's the reason Anthony and I are standing up here. It's world-colliding epic-ness. But we need to make another movie first. There is one very important character that is required to do it justice."

Secret Wars was a massive Marvel event comic, written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Esad Ribic, and first published in 2015. It tells an epic story of the multiverse getting destroyed by a process of parallel universes colliding into each other, thanks to the machinations of a group of powerful supernatural beings called the Ivory Kings. In that comic, Doom is able to save a small group of characters from across time and space and assemble them on a ragtag planet called Battleworld.

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In other words, you can’t do Secret Wars without Doom, and if the post-credits scene of The Marvels is any indication, we won't see an MCU X-Men movie without Secret Wars bringing parallel universes together.

Since Secret Wars is a multiverse story, that raises the distinct possibility that Downey's Doom may by a multiversal variant of Tony Stark. That would be different than how variants have previously worked in the MCU, where they all share a common name or (in the case of the Deadpools from Deadpool & Wolverine ) at least a costume. But then, Doom never plays by anyone else's rules.

Introducing Doom in an Avengers movie is another surprise, since the character is usually the archenemy of the Fantastic Four — who, as it happens, are also making their long-awaited MCU debut soon. That movie is set to feature Ralph Ineson's world eater Galactus as the primary adversary of the team, but since it's set in a different universe than the main Avengers timeline, maybe Doom is that world's equivalent of Stark. The fact that we'll now have seen the character Reed Richards played by two different actors in MCU movies ( John Krasinski in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and now Pedro Pascal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps ) may make it easier to accept the same actor playing two different characters.

Downey played Stark as a fast-talking tech genius, setting the template for many subsequent big-screen superheroes. Doom typically has a totally different personality, a haughty European-American who is deadly serious about his own talent. But since Downey just won an Oscar for playing Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer , he's certainly proved his range.

In the 2016 comic Infamous Iron Man , Doctor Doom took up the mantle of Iron Man while Stark was in a coma. That scenario doesn't make sense for Avengers: Doomsday , since Doom is a brand-new character to the MCU, but it does demonstrate that the two characters, despite their many differences, have also directly intermingled in the comic-book canon. There are other examples of that as well, issues of What If? and various multiverse stories in which Marvel comic creators have imagined Stark and Doom switching places or combining in some way.

"New mask, same task," Downey said on stage while clad in Doctor Doom robes, after taking off his metal mask. "What can I say? I like playing complicated characters."

Related Articles

Why Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Could Be Tony Stark in Avengers: Doomsday

By Paul Tamburro

Robert Downey Jr. has been revealed as the new Doctor Doom , with the former Iron Man actor being unveiled as the MCU’s next major villain. The shocking announcement came during San Diego Comic-Con, and fan reaction has been mixed to say the least . But while the Russo brothers explicitly said that RDJ would be portraying Victor Von Doom, many aren’t so quick to believe this and instead think he could be returning as Tony Stark.

Robert Downey Jr. will be portraying Doctor Doom, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll also be portraying the Victor Von Doom version of the character. The Russo brothers stated that Victor Von Doom would be making his MCU debut in Avengers: Doomsday, but Disney and Marvel Studios have a habit of pulling the rug from under fans for some last-minute surprises.

Infamous Iron Man and how Robert Downey Jr. could return as Tony Stark in Avengers: Doomsday

In the comics, Tony and Doom have no small amount of shared history, and the multiverse creates endless possibilities for the merging of the two characters. For instance, Iron Maniac was a character introduced in 2004, an Earth-5012 version of Tony Stark fighting The Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards in a suit of armor resembling Doctor Doom’s. Richards sent the Iron Maniac to the mainline Marvel universe, and there he fought the likes of Spider-Man and Captain America.

Alternatively, there’s the Infamous Iron Man series, which saw Victor Von Doom constructing an Iron Man suit following Tony Stark’s disappearance after Civil War II. While this wouldn’t explain Victor Von Doom and Stark sharing the same face in the MCU, it does show that Stark and Doom’s paths have overlapped.

There’s also the possibility that Disney and Marvel Studios might have been inspired by Superior Iron Man, an antagonistic and evil version of Tony Stark that was previously rumored for the MCU, with Tom Cruise having been speculated for the role. While this villain doesn’t have immediate connections to Doctor Doom, the MCU has been known to lift bits and pieces from various comics for inspiration, rather than directly following their stories.

Or Robert Downey Jr. could simply be portraying Victor Von Doom as Doctor Doom, and there will be no connections to Tony Stark whatsoever. Given that the character largely stays behind a mask, RDJ may have been asked to give a strictly vocal performance, allowing viewers to separate the performance from his past role as Iron Man.

While many fans will likely struggle to separate Downey’s Stark from his Doom, the Oppenheimer actor has certainly exhibited enough range to pull this off, and as we’ve seen with Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of Rocket, sometimes a famous actor’s voice performance is totally unrecognizable. We’ll have to wait and see what Disney and Marvel has up its sleeve.

Paul Tamburro is the Director of Content at Evolve Media.

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Fans are confused about Robert Downey Jr.'s return to Marvel — this time as a villain

Tony Stark died a hero. But Robert Downey Jr. lived long enough to become a villain.

Downey had seemingly finished his Marvel career in 2019 when, after playing Stark across 10 films, his superhero alter ego Iron Man finally died fighting Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame.”

But on Saturday, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige surprised the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con when he announced Downey’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — this time as Doctor Doom, or Victor Von Doom.

Downey, stepping forward to reveal himself onstage , tore off his mask to screaming cheers from the crowd.

“New mask, same task,” he posted of his return.

One of Marvel’s most notorious supervillains, Doctor Doom is slated to appear in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

But many online have expressed confusion about the casting choice. Fans are questioning how exactly the role would work, with some speculating that Downey will play a variant of Doctor Doom who’s actually an evil multiverse version of Stark, and others wondering if Downey will simply play the character with no links to Iron Man. Dr. Doom wears a face mask, which means Downey’s role is expected to involve mostly voice work.

Even Gwyneth Paltrow, who co-starred as Pepper Potts in the “Iron Man” franchise, shared her surprise on Downey’s Instagram post, commenting, “I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”

Memes quickly proliferated online after the announcement, poking fun at Downey for immediately returning to the MCU after winning the first Oscar of his decadeslong career (for “Oppenheimer”).

Some also expressed facetious disdain for how much money Downey must have accepted to come back to Marvel, suspecting a lucrative deal .

Many online criticized the casting, writing it off as a choice “ done strictly for fan service ” and expressing that they would have preferred a fresh face over a known MCU star.

Some fans called the decision a “ desperate ” play by Marvel after disappointing box office numbers for recent films such as “Captain Marvel” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” at least until “Deadpool & Wolverine” dominated the box office this weekend.

Others, however, said they were simply glad to see Downey return , no matter the role.

Downey’s new role appears to be replacing that of “Fantastic Four” villain Kang the Conqueror, who also became the subject of many memes on Saturday.

Marvel had announced in 2022 that Kang would be the focus of the next “Avengers movie,” which was titled “The Kang Dynasty” before its rebrand into “Doomsday” — as the studio had cut ties with Kang actor Jonathan Majors last year after he was convicted of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend.

Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.

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Why marvel cast robert downey jr. as doctor doom, 5 years after iron man's endgame death.

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What Is Doomsday? Avengers 5 Title & Story Clues Explained

The fantastic four confirmed to return in avengers 5 & 6, ryan reynolds addresses whether agents of shield is mcu canon after deadpool & wolverine's multiverse expansion.

• RDJ's return as Doctor Doom raises concerns due to Stark's sacrifice in Endgame.
• Marvel aims to win back fans after box office declines and divisive recent releases.
• Legacy characters' successful returns hint at why RDJ's comeback may revive the MCU.

Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom is huge, but it does raise concerns about how it may conflict with Tony Stark's ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame and why he is coming back at all. RDJ was the face of the MCU ever since he starred in Iron Man in 2008. The actor, who had experienced some challenging times in his career and was steadily working his way back up the ladder, was a considerable risk for Marvel at the time, but, it became immediately obvious that he was the right man for the job.

From 2008 to 2019, he appeared in 11 of the MCU movies, which was exactly half of every release up to Avengers: Endgame , the twenty-second film in the MCU. His performance as Tony Stark echoed the growth and changes in the films, and RDJ's star rose to incredible new heights in Hollywood. But now, several years after Stark's story came to an end, and the hero laid down his life for the benefit of the entire universe, RDJ returns in a very different role as the MCU's potential greatest villain to date, Victor von Doom.

The title of Avengers 5 was confirmed as Avengers: Doomsday at SDCC 2024, begging the question of whether the title holds any deeper meaning.

Marvel Is Trying To Win Back Fans After Several Disappointments

Could rdj's familiar face beat superhero fatigue.

Speculation with regard to why Marvel Studios has chosen to bring RDJ back is high, but there are several factors that indicate the thought process behind the choice. For instance, since Avengers: Endgame , the MCU box office has taken a serious dive . With COVID creating a challenging environment for new theatrical releases, Endgame became the last great MCU movie that had the full support of fans behind it, amassing nearly $3 billion at the box office.

Since then, there have been incredibly successful films like Spider-Man: No Way Home , but by and large, many of the recent MCU releases have failed to exceed $500 million, when the movies in Phase 3 almost never went below $800 million, while many crossed the billion dollar threshold (via The Numbers ). In addition to poor financial returns, the most recent MCU films have been widely divisive with critics , or garnered generally negative reviews, like Secret Invasion on Disney+ or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania .

Several Marvel Studios projects have also been victims of review bombing, particularly projects which prominently feature women of POC. This has resulted in great projects failing to get traction in theaters, but after releasing on Disney+, the projects have been reviewed more widely and favorably.

Marvel Has Had Massive Success With Legacy Actor Returns

Nostalgia in superhero movies.

In the face of these films and TV shows performing poorly, there have also been several big wins for the MCU after Endgame , with one aspect in common. Movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home , and more recently, Deadpool & Wolverine were generally praised by audiences, and have managed to become incredibly successful. But what these movies have in common is that they brought back legacy characters from older Marvel projects . Not only did they bring back fan favorite characters, but they made them integral parts of the story, far beyond a regular cameo.

While bringing characters back from old franchises is certainly a form of fan service, Marvel Studios has handled it extemely well, and created films that people thoroughly enjoy more because of their connection to the past. As a result, it's easy to see why Marvel may be thinking pulling an old fan favorite actor like RDJ back in will be a good way to revive the MCU . But it works better to do more than simply have them pop up in the background with minimal dialogue. These beloved figures can be utilized and take on bigger roles in the movies where they appear.

Marvel Studios has confirmed that the Fantastic Four are confirmed to return in both Avengers 5 & 6.

Robert Downey Jr. Is A Perfect Fit For The Character Of Doctor Doom

Rdj is a versatile and talented actor.

RDJ is the perfect Tony Stark. In much the same way that fans associate Hugh Jackman with Wolverine, and Ryan Reynolds with Deadpool, RDJ was perfectly cast. However, as an actor, his versatility and talent extends beyond simply playing one character. RDJ has more recently appeared in films like Oppenheimer , where he won an Oscar for his performance as the antagonistic Lewis Strauss. In the past, he has exemplified his talents across a variety of roles, and he is more than capable of tackling a villain like Doctor Doom .

Beyond his other work, and his versatility, RDJ is an incredible choice to tackle the role of Doctor Doom in the MCU . In the comics, Victor von Doom has a god complex, extraordinary pride which causes him to constantly conceal his face after a scar disrupts his concept of perfection, and he is one of the most brilliant minds in all of Marvel history with intelligence that extends above and beyond Tony Stark's. RDJ already showcased these traits in his performance as Stark , but in order to tackle Doom, all of this needs to be amplified, and his path to righteousness negated.

Robert Downey Jr. Appearing As Doctor Doom Doesn't Ruin Iron Man's Endgame Death

The multiverse saga has been all about coming full circle.

While Tony Stark became the hero who saved the MCU, Doom is poised to be the villain who dismantles it. And it could appear that casting RDJ in both roles would diminish either or both of these characters, but in the Multiverse Saga, where variants are beginning to appear across different dimensions, it instead makes this casting into a full circle moment . Tony Stark hid behind a mask out of fear, desperately wanting to right wrongs and become a hero, and it's fitting that when he died, he did so without his mask.

Doom needs to follow a path that is almost the opposite. Starting out with extraordinary confidence and ambition, but that same ambition changing shape as his scarred visage and mind warp him into something that hides behind his mask. He remains as brilliant as ever, but instead of using his intelligence for the benefit of others, it becomes entirely selfish. Both of these stories follow a similar path, but the characters move in opposite directions. As a result, this could further cement Stark's sacrifice from Avengers: Endgame , while simultaneously raising the stakes for Victor von Doom.

Avengers: Endgame

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The penultimate chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Endgame , marks the finale of the first three phases of the MCU and acts as part two of Avengers: Infinity War. With Earth's Mightiest Heroes failing to stop Thanos from wiping out half of all existence, the heroes discover one final chance to make things right. Journeying back through space and time, the surviving Avengers attempt to stop Thanos before all is lost.

Who is Doctor Doom? Robert Downey Jr.'s shocking Marvel casting explained

Like Thanos himself, Robert Downey Jr .'s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have been inevitable . But few expected it would go down like this.

On Saturday, Marvel revealed at the pop-culture convention Comic-Con that Downey is coming back to the franchise in the upcoming movie "Avengers: Doomsday" (2026), which will be followed by "Avengers: Secret Wars" (2027). But rather than reviving Tony Stark/Iron Man, he's taking on a new role as one of Marvel's most iconic villains: Doctor Doom.

So who is Doctor Doom (aka Victor Von Doom), and why is it so significant that Downey is playing him?

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Is Robert Downey Jr. coming back to Marvel? What to know about Doctor Doom, his character in the new 'Avengers' movie

Introduced in a 1962 issue of "The Fantastic Four," Victor Von Doom is a genius scientist originally from Latveria, a fictional European country. The infamous supervillain is also the adversary of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards, whom he met when they were both students. Pedro Pascal has been cast as Reed Richards , aka Mr. Fantastic, and will debut as the character in 2025's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

In the comics, Von Doom is scarred after a machine he invents explodes, leading him to wear a mask and suit of armor. He later becomes monarch of Latveria and seeks world domination. Doom "craves power, control, and acknowledgement that he's the best at everything," according to Marvel.com . "Whether he's using time travel, making deals with demons, or even teaming with his enemies to fight a common foe, Doom's endgame is to be the one in charge." He also uses magical spells.

Doctor Doom has been played onscreen by Julian McMahon in the 2005 "Fantastic Four" movie and Toby Kebbell in the 2015 reboot. The character also had a key role in Marvel's 2015 "Secret Wars" comic and creates Battleworld, a planet where various universes collide. This story could serve as inspiration for the movie "Avengers: Secret Wars."

Will Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom be connected to Iron Man ?

Ever since Marvel announced a new "Fantastic Four" movie, Doctor Doom has been expected to come to the MCU. But the idea that the studio would cast the same actor who played Iron Man, one of its most beloved heroes, as the iconic villain was a shocker. How this will work hasn't been made clear.

But "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" takes place in an alternate universe, so Downey's Doctor Doom likely originates from there and not the main MCU timeline. This could mean that the actor's rendition of Doom will actually be an evil, alternate version of Tony Stark.

Or Doctor Doom may happen to look like Tony Stark but be otherwise unrelated to him. If Doom is always hidden behind his mask, Downey could also be disguised to the point that it isn't obvious that it's even him. At Comic-Con, "Avengers" directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed simply that their Doctor Doom is still named Victor Von Doom.

The casting was a surprise because many fans expected Downey would reprise a heroic version of Iron Man from an alternate universe in "Avengers: Secret Wars." Given there are infinite universes to pull characters from, that could theoretically still happen on top of the actor's Doom role.

Robert Downey Jr. appears to be replacing Jonathan Majors as Marvel's next big bad

Casting Downey as Doom represented a pivot for Marvel, which at Comic-Con in 2022 announced that its next "Avengers" films would be titled "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." The former would focus on Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, a villain featured in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

But "Quantumania" underperformed at the box office last year, and Marvel dropped Majors after he was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. The renaming of the next "Avengers" movie from "The Kang Dynasty" to "Doomsday" suggests Marvel is pivoting away from Kang to make Doom its next big bad.

Every Marvel superhero movie, ranked: Including 'Deadpool & Wolverine'

Fans have mixed feelings about Robert Downey Jr.'s casting, with some suggesting Mads Mikkelsen should have played Doom

The reaction to the bombshell casting news has been mixed, with some fans saying they wished a new actor had been given a chance to play Doom. Others expressed trepidation at the idea that the casting could lead to changes to Doom's backstory, assuming he is a Stark variant.

"RDJ is great, but I sorta hate this casting and if they completely change Victor Von Doom yet again (I'm) going to be disappointed at best," one fan commented on Reddit .

"I just … I don't know … I want the real Dr. Victor Von Doom before I get some stunt variant," writer Adam Frazier posted on X , while writer William Bibbiani said , "Doctor Doom is one of my favorite characters in comic book history and I am genuinely disappointed that he's being sold to us as 'Evil Iron Man' instead of his own, distinct character."

Other fans suggested Mads Mikkelsen, who previously played the villain Kaecilius in "Doctor Strange," would be a better fit as Doom. "If we're bringing back MCU actors … MADS IS RIGHT THERE," one fan commented on Reddit .

All in all, it may be the biggest risk Marvel has taken in years. We'll find out if it pays off when "Avengers: Doomsday" hits theaters in May 2026.

9 Superheroes Who Earned University Degrees

• June 9, 2023

By their very nature, superheroes are aspirational figures. The incredible feats of characters like Iron Man, Superman and Spider-Man inspire us and even help us deal with troubles in our own lives. However, for all their accomplishments, many superheroes live humble lives (at least some of the time). They work day jobs, raise families… and even go to school (like Tony Stark’s degree at MIT). With that being said, we think Tony Stark’s education may surprise you!

In fact, some of the most popular superheroes have impressive educational backgrounds. And, most of them went to real schools you can attend today.

If you want to learn more about Tony Stark’s education, and the educations of nine other superheroes, keep on reading!

International students have a lot in common with superheroes: they’re brave, intelligent, and never give up. Interested in studying abroad yourself? ApplyBoard can help bring you from application to arrival.

9. Black Panther

Black Panther a.k.a. T’Challa is not only a university graduate—he’s a former international student!

Born in the isolated but advanced fictional African nation of Wakanda, T’Challa travelled to America and Europe as a teenager to attend school. Eventually, he enrolled at England’s prestigious Oxford University , where he earned a PhD in Physics.

Interestingly, the late Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, attended a summer theatre program at Oxford during his university years. To participate in the program, Boseman received financial assistance  from a scholarship co-run by none other than actor Denzel Washington!

8. Iron Man

Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man is regarded as one of the smartest characters in the Marvel universe, so it comes as little surprise that Tony Stark’s degree is from the top-ranked university in the United States.

That’s right, Stark is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate, a fact MIT clearly embraces  (the university refers to Stark as their “greatest fictional alumnus”). The MIT connection even carries over to film, as Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark can be seen wearing his school ring (dubbed the Brass Rat) in multiple scenes in  Iron Man  (2008).

As for his credentials, the details are a bit scarce. In the comics , Tony Stark’s degree consists of two master’s degrees in engineering by age 19, although there are conflicting sources that say Tony Stark’s degree included doctorates in engineering physics and artificial intelligence. Whatever the case, there’s little doubt Tony Stark’s education helped put him on the path to becoming a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist … and of course, Iron Man!

The Hulk is a hero who often chooses brawn over brains. However, his alter ego is one of the smartest, most well-educated characters in the Marvel universe.

Before he became the Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner studied at numerous American institutions. He first studied nuclear physics at the fictional Desert State University before transferring to  Harvard University  and later  Pennsylvania State University . Along the way, he struck up a scientific rivalry and close friendship with fellow scientist Tony Stark before obtaining his doctorate in nuclear physics at the  California Institute of Technology  (Caltech).

Interestingly, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is much more educated than his comic book counterpart, as he mentions in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) that he has seven PhDs!

We can think of 10 reasons to study in the USA , and we’ve highlighted some of them on our US guide!

6. Daredevil

Daredevil’s strong moral code stems from his alter ego Matt Murdock’s religious faith and his training as a lawyer. As anyone who’s watched the popular Netflix TV series knows, Murdock’s law career is an important part of his life. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to practice law without an education! It turns out Daredevil is an Ivy League graduate, as he got his law degree from New York’s Columbia Law School .

Lacking any actual superpowers, Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman overcomes his enemies with resourcefulness, superior intellect… and a whole lot of money.

Of course, you don’t become the “World’s Greatest Detective” without some form of higher education. As it turns out, Bruce Wayne is a  Yale graduate , with a degree in law. This biographical detail is championed by  Yale Alumni Magazine , which has published several articles over the years on the topic.

Unfortunately, the comics haven’t done a great job of covering this part of Bruce Wayne’s life, as the only  evidence  of his Yale education is a single panel in  Detective Comics #439 (1974). Interestingly, the Batman movies took a different approach, as Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan confirmed  that Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne is a  Princeton  dropout.

4. She-Hulk

The Incredible Hulk’s female counterpart, Jennifer Walters, is actually the cousin of Bruce Banner. A passion for education clearly runs in the family, as Jen is a college graduate just like her cousin. When she’s not busy saving the world as the superstrong She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters is a private attorney in Los Angeles. She has a law degree from the  University of California, Los Angeles  (UCLA) .

3. Doctor Strange

2. Captain Marvel

While details about Captain Marvel a.k.a. Carol Danvers’ education are sparse, her story of overcoming adversity is still inspiring.

As detailed in the  2019 film Captain Marvel ,  starring Brie Larson, Carol Danvers was an Air Force pilot before she gained her superpowers. However, what the film doesn’t tell us is that Carol only joined the Air Force as a way to  pay for college . Although she had excellent grades and was her high school’s valedictorian, her family didn’t have enough money to send Carol to college. After joining the Air Force, Carol rose to the rank of Major. However, it’s unclear which school she attended or whether or not she graduated.

1. Spider-Man

In the current film series starring Tom Holland, Peter is a high school student struggling to balance his superhero life with his studies. Peter is a gifted student and in the comics, he earns a science scholarship to Empire State University. While ESU isn’t real, it’s heavily based on two of New York City’s best universities, Columbia University  and  New York University .

Despite some delays, Peter eventually earned a graduate degree in biophysics and his doctorate in biochemistry. In the movies and comics, Spider-Man puts his education to good use, as he is often shown inventing his own weapons and gadgets. Basically, Spider-Man shows just how much you can do with a  STEM education ! Just don’t go thinking you’ll be able to swing from tall buildings…

We hope these popular superheroes’ degrees, like Tony Stark’s education, surprised you! These incredible characters understood the importance of education and hopefully inspire you to do the same.

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4 smartest Marvel superheroes and how you can follow in their footsteps

The  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has an impressive line-up of some of the brightest minds in comic book history, from Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) to Bruce Banner (or the Hulk).

For the uninitiated, the MCU is a media franchise created by Marvel Studios that is set primarily in a shared universe, with several instalments set in different realities. For those who grew up watching many famous movies by Marvel, such as “Iron Man”, “Captain America”, and “Avengers”, these events mainly take place on Earth-616 . 

While some superheroes rely on their strengths and skills to escape tricky situations, others prefer to use their knowledge for a more strategic approach. 

If you are curious about the (possible) higher education of some of the most intelligent superheroes in the MCU, here’s what we know based on the film franchise and reports, as well as how you can follow in their footsteps:

Educated Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes: Here’s what we think they could have studied

Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Tony Stark. Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

A genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. Stark has been described in many terms, but one thing remains clear: he is one of the most intelligent superheroes within the MCU.

Thanks to his parents, the young genius received the best education. He was admitted early into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he met James Rhodes, and they became lifelong best friends. In the comics, Stark earned two degrees in physics and engineering and has three doctorates.

To become like Stark, you’ll need to build a strong foundation in physics and engineering. Institutions such as  MIT ,  Stanford University ,  Harvard University  and the  California Institute of Technology (Caltech)  are among the institutions that offer courses related to the field. 

Mark Ruffalo has played the role of Bruce Banner for 10 years, and is set to reprise his role as the brilliant scientist in the “She Hulk” TV show. Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez /Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

Bruce Banner

Aside from being the Hulk, Banner is also a brilliant scientist who is respected for his biochemistry, nuclear physics, and gamma radiation work in the MCU.

According to the comics, Banner studied at the fictional Desert State University, as well as at Harvard and Pennsylvania State University. Banner also obtained a doctorate in nuclear physics at Caltech. In fact, Banner claims that he has seven doctoral degrees in “Thor: Ragnarok”.

An undergraduate degree in the field might not be sufficient to pursue a career in biochemistry and nuclear physics. Postgraduate qualifications such as an MSc or PhD will be helpful to dive deeper into a specific branch of science — whether that is biochemistry, nuclear physics, or gamma radiation.

Institutions such as the  University of Oxford  and  the University of Edinburgh  are among the universities that offer programmes related to the field.

John Krasinki (L) portrayed Reed Richards in “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness”. Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez /Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

Reed Richards

As the leader of the “Fantastic Four”, Richards has a fantastic line-up of science degrees and doctorates under his belt. While he only briefly appeared in “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness”, his comic book counterpart has been famously recognised as the smartest man on Earth.

According to the  Marvel Database , his area of expertise includes electrical, mechanical, aerospace engineering, electronics, chemistry, physics, and biology. 

For those interested in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) like Richards, a postgraduate degree in the field could put you in good stead, such as a master’s or PhD in aerospace engineering.  Universities such as the University of Bristol and the University of Manchester offer related programmes in the field.

Charlie Cox portrayed the blind vigilante in the hit Netflix series “Daredevil” and “Spiderman: No Way Home”. Source: Daniel Boczarski/ Getty Images North America/ Getty Images/AFP

Matt Murdock

Lawyer by day and vigilante by night. Matthew Michael “Matt” Murdock is a lawyer who is best known as the blind vigilante, Daredevil, with a strong sense of justice. 

He obtained his law degree from Columba Law School with his friend, Foggy Nelson. Together, they own the law firm, Nelson and Murdock. Some of Murdock’s clients include Frank Castle — a former US marine turned vigilante who goes by the name The Punisher. 

While Murdock may be a fictional MCU superhero, the  Columbia Law School is an actual law school located in New York known for its curriculum’s intellectual rigour.  

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MCU: 10 Moments That Prove Tony Stark Has A Heart

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When Tony Stark is injured at the beginning of Iron Man , his actual heart is literally endangered. Afterwards, the combined powers of his arc reactor and his public image, people do not seem to believe that Tony Stark truly has a heart. However, the opposite could not be more true.

RELATED:  10 Times Riri Williams Was A Better Iron Man Than Tony Stark

If Tony Stark didn't care so much about the world and the people in it, he'd never become a figure like Iron Man . He never would have joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D., or helped to form the Avengers . The MCU exists because Tony Stark has a heart, a point he proves time and time again throughout the franchise, from its birth to his unfortunate death.

10 Having To Fight Against Obadiah Stane

After Tony Stark’s father, Howard Stark, passed away while Tony was still young, his father’s business partner, Obadiah Stane, became something of a father figure to Tony. Obadiah’s opinion and approval mean a lot to Tony. In addition, Obadiah is still involved with Stark Industries, so there’s a lot of moving parts to their relationship.

However, in Iron Man (2008), after it becomes clear to Tony that Obadiah has betrayed him and is going to cause untold destruction, he fights tooth and nail to stop Obadiah. No matter the cost to himself — physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise — Tony Stark makes sure to put others above himself.

9 Working With Rhodey To Stop Vanko

The events of Iron Man and the consequences of the other MCU movies to this point make it difficult for Tony to cope with everything that’s happened. As a result, he spirals out of control; even his best friend, James Rhodes — or Rhodey, also known as War Machine — finds it difficult to reach him in this state.

RELATED:  Iron Man: 10 Ways The MCU Changed Tony Stark From The Comics (Good & Bad)

Towards the end of Iron Man 2 (2010), though, it’s clear to Tony that he’ll need help to stop Ivan Vanko, or Whiplash. Tony reaches out to his best friend, and Rhodey helps him defeat Vanko at the climax of the movie, along with his many friends. Without Tony Stark’s best friend Rhodey and the love they share, this would have gone a much different way.

8 Reaching Out To Bruce Banner

One of the best-known catchphrases in comics belongs to Bruce Banner: “Don’t make me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” When angered, frustrated, and sometimes even startled, Bruce Banner is capable of unavoidably bursting into the Incredible Hulk, a big, green rage machine. In The Avengers (2012), when Bruce is introduced to the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the budding Avengers team, though, Tony Stark doesn’t treat him like a time bomb or a monster.

Instead, Tony reaches out to Bruce, befriends him, and even sees the Hulk as a part of him, not something to be hated or feared. Tony’s heart and his friendship are significant for Bruce Banner, and obvious to the audience watching.

7 Sacrificing Himself For New York

When Loki and the Chitauri fleet invade Earth through the wormhole above New York City, the rest of the world panics that the invasion will spread elsewhere. As a result, the World Security Council decides to launch a missile on Midtown Manhattan, completely wiping out the entire area of all life. Tony Stark knows this can’t happen , and so, in his Iron Man suit, at the climax of The Avengers (2012), Tony grabs the missile and flies it back up through the wormhole that Loki used to come to Earth.

When the nuclear missile detonates in space, the Chitauri mothership is destroyed and the invasion ends; however, Tony Stark nearly dies. Bruce Banner — and the Incredible Hulk — save his life. Without Tony’s heart, he never would have made the sacrifice — and never would have made the connection to have been saved, either.

6 Destroying The Iron Men

Iron Man 3 (2013) finds Tony Stark even worse off than he was in Iron Man 2. The events of The Avengers have had a strong impact on Tony, and he’s terrified of not being able to protect people or be enough as Iron Man. However, Tony realizes what truly matters when he thinks Pepper Potts has passed away as a result of his actions.

RELATED:  How Many PhD's Does Tony Stark Have? (& 9 Other Facts You Need To Know About His Intelligence)

In fact, Pepper had been given Extremis powers, and she survives. Not only that, but Pepper saves Tony’s life. At that point, Tony realizes that his love is more important than his power or his ability to protect, and he orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all the Iron Man suits to prove the point.

5 Throwing A Party For The Team

One of the things audiences watching the MCU movies in theaters were most excited to see was the Avengers team acting like friends. When Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) came out, audiences finally got to see that for what was really the first time on screen in this live-action fashion.

As Age of Ultron opens, Tony Stark has thrown a party for his fellow teammates. It’s clear how comfortable they all are together, and they all enjoy one another’s company. Tony’s efforts have gone a long way to unite the team, and his heart is a lot of the reason that the Avengers are so deeply bonded.

4 Trying To Protect The Earth

Though it ends in tragedy, Tony Stark does have good intentions when he activates Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Bruce Banner seems to understand that their program wasn’t ready yet, but Tony pushes too far. He does it for a good reason, though: Tony is trying to protect the Earth. Ultron’s objective is to defend the Earth, because the Avengers can’t be everywhere and doing everything all the time. Once Ultron recognizes humans as a threat to the Earth, however, things go terribly sideways.

This is evidence enough that Tony Stark has a heart, though, because, if he didn’t, he never would have cared enough to fight so hard to defend the Earth in the first place.

3 Being Vulnerable With Steve

Each of the main three Avengers teammates — Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor — get their own trilogy in the Infinity Saga of the MCU. However, Steve Rogers’ third movie, Captain America: Civil War, is something of an Avengers movie, as well. Tony Stark factors heavily into the film and its plot.

RELATED:  Tony Stark's Net Worth: 9 Other Facts About The Man (Not The Superhero)

Tony and Steve are at odds in this movie, as friends, as teammates, and as heroes, and Tony feels that he needs Steve on his side for this. He implores Steve to see his side of things, being incredibly vulnerable with his friend. Though it doesn’t work, Tony bares his heart on his sleeve, proof enough that he has one.

2 Mentoring Peter Parker

Though in most canon interpretations of Peter Parker, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man makes his own suits and equipment himself, the MCU incarnation received Tony Stark as a mentor. This does further develop Tony’s character in some ways, as he seeks to better himself through his guidance of Peter. He sees himself as something of a father figure to Peter, even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself or anyone else, really.

It’s clear that he cares about the kid, and becomes even more clear after Peter is a victim of the Snap in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Losing Peter has a heavy effect on Tony moving forward.

1 Making The Ultimate Sacrifice

When Thanos comes to Wakanda to fight the Avengers and the other forces against him, it becomes necessary for one side or the other to obtain the Infinity Stones once again. Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel, destroys Thanos’ warship; other heroes from the MCU appear through portals created by Stephen Strange, but still, this isn’t enough. Tony Stark knows that, and he steals the Infinity Stones, puts them in his own gauntlet, and restores balance to the universe.

Thanos and his forces disintegrate, lives are restored, but Tony dies as a result. As Avengers: Endgame (2019) comes to its climax , Tony knows what must be done and, proving he has a heart just in time for it to stop beating, makes the ultimate sacrifice.

NEXT:  Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart: 10 Reasons Pepper & Tony Are The Best MCU Couple

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What are Bruce Banner's Ph.Ds?

In Thor: Ragnarok , Bruce Banner mentions to Thor that he has several Ph.Ds. Later, Thor jokingly tells him, mid-fight, to

"do something, use one of your Ph.Ds".

This was hilarious to me, but it got me thinking, What are Bruce Banner's Ph.Ds?

5-7 Ph.Ds seems very excessive to me, but knowing that Banner has genius-level intellect, it would be interesting to know exactly what he specialises in.

• Does Banner have a medical degree?
• What are the educational qualifications of Bruce Banner in the movie The Incredible Hulk?
• marvel-cinematic-universe
• the-incredible-hulk

• 7 Just to add more detail: while escaping Skaar, Thor hands off his piloting of the alien ship to Bruce to take care of attackers, and tells him to use one of his (six?) PhDs to fly the ship. Bruce responds that none of his PhDs are in flying an alien spacecraft. Spoiler alert: they escape the planet anyway. –  Sam Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 2:21
• 2 Multiple PhDs aren't really useful anyway, you only need one to show you can do independent research regardless of the field (though it does tend to guide what you end up doing after your [first] PhD). –  JAB Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 4:15
• 1 A bigger question is who would want to subject themselves to grad school for that long? Having done it once, I certainly would never want to again. –  Broklynite Commented Apr 1, 2018 at 11:28
• 1 @Möoz you saying I’m stupid? ;) –  Broklynite Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 1:04
• 1 Ph.D is a title suggesting that you are good enough to carry out your own research. If you have one, there is no need to get another. I am actually not impressed even slightest by 7 Ph.Ds. –  user65648 Commented Aug 1, 2018 at 16:55

As far as I am aware, we don't know. He has claimed to have 7 Ph.D's, and we have no reason to doubt him, but he's never explicitly rattled off what they were. Given how many he has, we can probably assume he has degrees in all the fields of science where he's an acknowledged expert. These would include:

• Radiophysics : Fury claims he recruited Banner for his knowledge of gamma radiation
• Biochemistry (or bioorganic chemistry, or organic chemistry, or something similar -- maybe all 3): Stark needed Banner's help to merge JARVIS into an organic host.
• Nuclear Physics : In Avengers , Stark commented on Banner's research work in "anti-electron collisions"

The first two are, I think , the classes he taught at Culver, which makes those two almost a lock.

Also, while it probably wouldn't be included in his list of Ph.Ds, while in India he demonstrated pretty significant medical knowledge, so he may have an M.D. as well.

What the remaining 3 or 4 degrees are is unknown, but maybe we'll see him use more of them in future Avengers movies.

• 1 It would not surprise me if he acquired a DO or MD as part of a dual degree plan with biochemistry or biomedical. There is a real-life PhD/DO program at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences; so of course, this definitely makes it possible to acquire dual degrees. I do also believe PhD is very specific choice of description, opposed to saying, "6 PhDs and one medical degree" but he could be saying "PhD" to sum-up how many doctorate's he has. –  A A Ron Commented Aug 1, 2018 at 15:05

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged marvel marvel-cinematic-universe the-incredible-hulk or ask your own question .

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Does Tony have a PhD?

Doctor Strange is a doctor because he was a surgeon but with Tony being as intelligent as he is, does he only have his Masters?

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