Anthony Edward Stark, nicknamed Tony for short, was a famous billionaire industrialist, inventor, a founding member of the Avengers, and the former CEO of Stark Industries, a company originally started by his father, Howard Stark. Stark was self-described as a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. With his great wealth and exceptional technical knowledge, Stark was one of the world's most powerful men, and enjoyed the playboy lifestyle for many years until he was kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. With his life on the line, Stark created an armored suit which he used to escape his captors, returning home and becoming known as an Iron Man, battling against terrorists as well as Obadiah Stane. Stark enjoyed the fame that came with his new secret identity and decided to share it with the world, publicly announcing himself as Iron Man.
Fresh off from defeating enemies all over the world, Stark found himself dying due to his own Arc Reactor poisoning his body, all while he was challenged by Anton Vanko who attempted to destroy his legacy. Due to their assistance in both these battles, Stark reluctantly agreed to serve as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. where he used his position to upgrade their technology while he began a relationship with Pepper Potts. With the world yet again being threatened, Stark joined the Avengers and helped defeat the Chitauri and Loki. Due to the battle, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, leading him to create the Iron Legion to safeguard the world and help him retire.
Threats of the Mandarin forced Stark to come out of retirement to protect his country, inadvertently putting his loved ones at risk and leaving him defenseless when his home was destroyed. Stark continued his mission, finding Harmon Taylor was behind the attacks and that Trevor Slattery was a pretend Mandarin. Eventually, Tony defeated Harmon, almost losing Pepper Potts in the process. In the wake of the battle, Stark destroyed all of his armors with the Clean Slate Protocol. However, when the Avengers were officially demobilized due to the War on HYDRA, Stark built more armors and resumed his role as Iron Man, aiding them in the capture of Wolfgang von Strucker and acquiring Loki's Scepter.
Once the threat of HYDRA had been ended, at last, Tony Stark, influenced by Wanda Maximoff's mind games, built Ultron with the help of Bruce Banner as a new peace-keeping A.I. to protect the world and allow the Avengers to retire. However, Ultron believed that humanity threatened the world and thus, according to his program, decided to extinguish humanity. Through the work of the Avengers, Ultron was defeated, however not without massive civilian cost and many lives being lost. After the Ultron Offensive, Stark retired from active duty, still haunted by his role in the chaos the A.I. created. The guilt of creating Ultron and causing so much destruction and loss of life eventually convinced Stark to support the Sokovia Accords. However, Stark's own strong support of the Accords lead to a disagreement with his ally Captain America, who opposed the act and what it meant for the team.
When Rogers then proceeded to further break the law to protect the Bucky Barnes, Tony was forced to lead the manhunt for his old ally, igniting the Avengers Civil War. Eventually, Stark learned that Helmutt Zemo had manipulated them into conflict and rejoined his friend, only to have Zemo revealed that Barnes was responsible for the murder of his parents, causing Stark to seek revenge and fight both Rogers and Barnes. Rogers, aided by the interference of Barnes and Stark's subsequent distraction and mindless grief, managed to disable the armor and put an end to the fight. With Rogers on the run and Barnes in Wakanda, Stark returned to New York to become a mentor to Spider-Man and to guide him in order to make him a better hero than he ever was.
Stark proposed to Pepper Potts, and was recruited by Doctor Strange and Bruce Banner to defend Earth from Thanos Rex and the Black Order. Strange was captured, prompting Stark and Spider-Man to rescue him from captivity and travel to Titan to battle Thanos with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Stark later battled one-on-one with Thanos and made him bleed but was subsequently beaten to submission. He was ready to die in order to save the universe, but Doctor Strange interfered. Strange surrendered the Time Stone to Thanos in exchange for Stark's life. Stark remained on Titan with Nebula as they watched their allies disintegrate into ashes.
Stark and Nebula used the Benatar to escape Titan, but were stranded in space as the ship was damaged until they were rescued by Captain Marvel, who brought them to the New Avengers Facility. While Nebula joined the Avengers, Stark chose to retire, marrying Potts and having a daughter, Natasha Stark. Five years after the Snap, Stark rejoined the Avengers after discovering the key to travel through time, traveling back to 2012 to retrieve the Scepter and then to 1970 to regain the Tesseract. After gaining all of the six Infinity Stones, Stark used them to eliminate Thanos and his army once and for all, sacrificing his life in the process. At Stark’s funeral, his family, the other Avengers, and their allies honored his sacrifice.
Biography[]
Resurrected[]
In the aftermath of the battle of Earth, Nick Fury, on the behalf of Pepper Potts, believed that S.H.I.E.L.D. could have the certain technology would that would restore the life of a fallen Avengers. Unlike Project T.A.H.I.T.I., Fury decided to find a dfferent solution on how Tony Stark can be brought back, just as how he brought Phil Coulson back in the aftermath of the battle of New York. While Tony Stark's body was kept frozen in one of Maddy Cho's labs, Fury, Isabelle Hartley, Alexander Pierce, and Maria Hill had learned about the Extremis from one of Maya Hansen's files and how it designed to cause absolute chaos. Deciding to find someone that could help study the Extremis, Fury went on to contact Princess Shuri of Wakanda.
Upon being contacted, Shuri and her T'Challa were aware of the Extremis, but believed they could find a positive solution on how it has a potential. Shuri knew that Extremis was designed to help the human body heal and regenerate from deformities and other physical and psychological damages, but like most things, if not used correctly, it can turn it into a very dangerous weapon. As part of her quest to improve the future for all people, Shuri discusses her views on Extremis and how it can be repurposed. During her research, she explained to her brother and Agent Nick Fury that Extremis has potential as it "treats the human brain like the supercomputer that it is", tricking it into thinking that it has the abilities of cytokinin and auxin in plants and thus can.
To uncover more of this, Shuri points out that she understands the logic of Maya Hansen, the actual mastermind of the Extremis project, and whose purpose was to upgrade the human body and regrow cells with it. However, some of the test subjects rejected the Extremis treatment and exploded, and so she suggests examining a special flower and use Extremis with it. The flower is the "Selaginella Lepidophylla" or "resurrection flower", found in the Mexican desert. Shuri explains that if they could find the sequence of gene programming that allows this flower to bloom with just the addition of water after “long appearing dead”, they could be on their way to develop “at least a healing agent”. With it, the Extremis project would then become the key to eternal life, as it would allow the subject to heal and regenerate without any danger.
After receiving word from Shuri about the flower, Fury continued Project Regeneration and contacted Bruce Banner and Maddy Cho to be part of this project in hopes that it could bring Tony Stark back. With Tony Stark's body placed in a cradle that Doctor Cho designed, Shuri carefully injected the Selaginella Lepidophylla into the body and as it started to restore every part of the body, Tony Stark gasped for air and was brought back to life.
Personality[]
Many people in the media thought that Tony Stark was only just an egocentric playboy. As an adult, he was renowned for being casually arrogant, apathetic, callous, and a hedonist who enjoyed the finer things in life, namely drinking, gambling, partying and flirting. His wealth, power, and natural charm allowing him to get just about any woman he wants. But despite his rather carefree and overly confident personality, inside Stark's heart lay loneliness, as Wellington Yinsen aptly described him as: "A man that has everything, but has nothing." Even following his reformation and birth as "Iron Man", this stigma surrounding Stark persisted as many were quick to point fingers at him believing his arrogance and callous attitudes were the cause of many problems even if he would have only a tenuous connection to the issue at hand.
Before his kidnapping, Stark was a self-centered, arrogant person, caring for few people outside his closest friends. Even during this period of his life, he had a moral code believing the weapons he developed were being used exclusively by the United States and its allies for peaceful purposes, being appalled to discover that they were being sold on the black market. He also funded large humanitarian inventions and programs via his arms dealings, something he felt justified manufacturing weapons.
During the following years, however, Stark matured, gradually becoming more of a team player and less arrogant and cynical. He even began opening up and having a real relationship with Pepper Potts. Stark's exploits as Iron Man have lead him to reevaluate his life, thus he now strives to use his inventions in a more responsible and considerate way. A textbook example of a Byronic hero, he never fully let go of his character flaws, however, using them to push him forward as a reminder to do better and often making self-deprecating jokes or comments. Despite this attitude, Stark is an exceptionally brave and selfless individual as shown when he single-handedly faced a near-omnipotent Thanos Rex armed with nothing but a knife without hesitation, a trait that earned him the Titanian's genuine respect as a hero.
His experiences while imprisoned by the Ten Rings, especially his injury and seeing his weapons being used by terrorists, hardened Stark into a brave, determined, and somewhat ruthless fighter. Seeing first hand how innocent people were being harmed by his weapons and business while he remained ignorant greatly enraged him, resulting in him being uncaring in killing his foes, though he avoided doing so when he could. He was also willing to kill to protect his allies and friends, boldly saying he would kill Drax if Star-Lord killed Spider-Man. Despite this, he was not merciless, as he offered several of Harmon Taylor's men a chance to stand down, allowing the sole survivor to leave peacefully upon doing so. Even when confronted by Captain America's betrayal, he offered the man several chances to step aside.
Even after starting a new life as a superhero, Stark kept his sense of humor and his penchant for showmanship, the latter being demonstrated in his armor's red and gold color schemes, and in revealing his identity in public despite being told not to. Tony has also shown a strong liking towards heavy metal and rock music groups like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Queen. He also shows signs of being a gearhead owning and modifying several expensive cars, having a particular liking towards the Audi R8 model line.
Stark was also known for being exceptionally intelligent, innovative and resourceful, having built a miniaturized Arc Reactor from scratch in Afghanistan. His intellect earned him the "Da Vinci of Our Time" nickname, and his inventions of Stark Industries have revolutionized technology for mankind. His past as a businessman had turned him into a very pragmatic individual always taking the quickest, most efficient way out of a problem commenting to Captain America that he would simply "cut the wire" when given the scenario of laying on barbed wire to let others cross it. This behavior put him at odds with the majority of the Avengers during the Avengers Civil War, as they were unwilling to compromise and negotiate with the United Nations regarding the Sokovia Accords which Stark viewed as the easiest way to continue the Avengers' mission of saving people and appease the public's growing fear and unease regarding the team. As a result of this negotiator attitude, Tony was one of three Avengers to not become a fugitive by the end of the Civil War and allowed to continue saving people with the support of the United Nations. This pragmatism extended to his fighting style, as he was quick to shift over to weapons more suited to the situation or having F.R.I.D.A.Y. scan Captain America's fighting style for openings to predict and exploit. He further displayed his combative pragmatism during the Battle of Titan by first restraining the Infinity Gauntlet before unleashing an unrelenting barrage on Thanos.
Stark could also be a reliable friend, and occasionally showed affection toward his teammates. Hence, Stark was the only Avenger who encouraged Bruce Banner to embrace his identity of Hulk as a blessing rather than a curse, and trusted him to make good use of Hulk's powers. He has also adopted a mentor role towards Peter Parker, seeing himself in the young hero, and helping him become better by designing an advanced Spider-Man Suit and quietly teasing him about his aunt May Parker, whom Stark considers attractive, Tony was in fact the only Avenger who believed in Parker and sought out his aid. When Tony was caught up by the terrifying vision of Wanda Maximoff, he was possessed and haunted with great fear of losing all his fellow Avengers while he could have done something to save them, and having to live on after they had all been murdered, which was the primary motivator of him starting the Ultron Program. During the Avengers Civil War, however, Tony became distant and hardened towards his former teammates, especially Captain America, for their unwillingness to negotiate or hear the other side's arguments, though he still cared for them. When they fought in Siberia, Tony tried to avoid hurting Rogers, who aggressively protected Bucky Barnes, destroying Tony's arc reactor to do so. Both Stark and Rogers never fully lost their trust in each other, though when they reunited, Stark mercilessly held the rogue Avengers responsible for the schism that had divided the team and left Earth unprepared for Thanos, noting that they had ignored his warnings and obstructed his desire to prepare. Five years later however, Stark abandoned this attitude, noting that resentment was "corrosive" and not a feeling he enjoyed.
After the battle of New York, Stark developed a strong fear, that in this new world of "gods" and "aliens," he would be unable to protect the ones he loves, which induced him to become paranoid and full of anxiety, which, in turn, influenced Stark to build the first Iron Legion, and then the Ultron AI, so that the only threats against Earth were from Earth itself. His fear gave him something of a perfectionist personality and caused him to so intently focus on issues and problems that he unconsciously ignored other matters around him which led to a strain in his relationship with Pepper Potts and his somewhat negative reputation in the Avengers.
Compared to his fellow Avengers, however, Tony was very forward-thinking, always seeing a "big picture," willing to take risks, compromise his morals and dabble in shades of gray to achieve results. As seen with the Sokovia Accords, Stark was willing to endure hardships in the present to build a better future. He was also confident of his ability to negotiate, a belief supported by him negotiating a deal that would have made the Capture of Winter Soldier legal, though he knew that this talent had its limits, expressing regret that he could do nothing to free the rogue Avengers from the Raft. This more nuanced behavior often put him at odds with his fellow Avengers, especially Captain America, who were content with the status quo. Combined with his unpredictability, some people such as Scarlet Witch thought he was destructive, with her believing that Ultron's inability to distinguish between saving the world and destroying it comes from Tony.
During times of great stress and frustration, Stark could become very short-tempered and intolerant of those whom he considered his intellectual inferiors for delaying a solution to the problem either mocking/berating them or ignoring them entirely. This behavior extended to both allies and foes.
Stark was much closer to his mother, Maria Stark, than to his father Howard with whom he had mixed feelings for, as he thought he was "cold and distant," which Nick Fury, however, claimed to be false. He still cared for him a great deal as he wished he could've said goodbye. While he was researching a new element for his Arc Reactor, Tony came across a message left by Howard, telling his son that his “greatest creation” was him.
Though having learned more of Howard's flaws and shortcomings, Stark still retained lingering issues with his father using his parenting as an excuse for being such a strict mentor to Spider-Man. He was aware of this flaw, however, and consciously attempted to grow out of it. During the Time Heist, after talking with his alternate father Howard and realizing how difficult it was for Howard to raise him due to having an abusive father as well and having had experiences as a father, Tony finally came to reconcile with Howard and even shed his façade temporarily by hugging his father and saying that he loved him.
Following the Avengers Civil War, Stark adapted into a new role: that of a mentor to the inexperienced superhero, Spider-Man. He connected with Parker due to the similarities between that of him and Stark, such as their love of science, technology, and heroic deeds, yet Stark was not blind to Spider-Man sharing some of his flaws and does his best to stop him from making the same mistakes Iron Man himself has made in the past. Like most mentors, Stark encourages Parker to be more forward-thinking and imaginative with his abilities while also being conscious of Peter's limitations and wanting to keep him out of fights he felt were too dangerous. Though he could come off as somewhat aloof and detached in his dealings with Spider-Man, this was all done with the intent of making Parker a better superhero than Tony ever was, and after the defeat of Vulture, Stark believed he had succeeded even going so far as to offer the young hero a spot in the Avengers. Some months later, their relationship had strengthened to the point that Stark was openly saddened by Parker's death upon Thanos' completion of the Infinity Gauntlet.
Though considered a hobby, obsession or part of his itinerary, Stark considers the relationship between the Iron Man Suit and himself to be symbiotic, in that he and the suit himself are one. By the time of Aldrich Killian's terrorist attack, he had designed 42 variations of the armor as well as having stylized them with their own color designs, personalities, and names. He often referred to his suit as "he" when he was remotely controlling it with Potts and exclaimed when the suit's finger was pulled off, claiming it would hurt him. This is further supported during and after the Avengers Civil War whereupon the armors became incredibly streamlined and were designed to emulate a second skin. However, he does claim after the Clean Slate Protocol, that despite being without his suits he is still Iron Man.
In spite of his love of the spotlight, the idea of a normal life intrigued Tony greatly as he made attempts to extradite himself from the Iron Man persona and indeed, prior to his involvement in the Infinity War, pondered the possibility of he and Pepper having children together. After the disastrous outcome of the Infinity War, Tony indeed decided to retire and marry Pepper, having a daughter called Morgan Stark. His familial life allowed Tony to find a sense of peace and contentment as a husband and father and this was the primary reason of his refusal to return to being a superhero when presented with a potential chance to undo it all but in the end his guilt over Parker's death allowed him to overcome this and he showed the same amount of selflessness as he had before, willingly sacrificing himself to kill Thanos and his whole army. Despite the agonizing pain he was subjected to as he died, he had accepted his fate, refusing aid and instead finding comfort in the presence of his friends and loved ones, dying with no regrets.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[] |
Enemies[] |
External Links[]
Tony Stark on the Marvel Wiki
Iron Man on the Marvel Wiki