Iron Man (Earth-20080502)

"My armor was never a distraction or a hobby. It was a cocoon. And now I'm a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys. But one thing you can't take away... I am Iron Man."

- Tony Stark

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark is an eccentric self-described genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist and the former head of Stark Industries. Using his own great wealth and exceptional technical knowledge, Stark enjoyed the playboy lifestyle for many years until he was kidnapped by the Orange Dragons. With his life on the line, Stark created an armored suit which he used to escape his captors, returning home and becoming the armored superhero known as Iron Man, battling against terrorists as well as his own former business partner 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.

Troubled Childhood
"What do you remember about your dad?" "He was cold; calculating. Never told me he loved me, never even told me he liked me, so it's a bit hard for me to digest that he said the whole 'future is riding on me' thing, I don't get that! You're talking about a man whose happiest day of his life was shipping me off to boarding school."

- Nick Fury and Tony Stark Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born on Friday, May 29, 1970, in Manhattan, New York, to Howard and Maria Stark. Howard hired a butler named Edwin Jarvis before Tony was born. Jarvis became a good friend to Tony as he grew older. He watched over Tony throughout all of his childhood. Tony's early life was often dominated by the absence of his own father who he would later describe as both 'cold' and 'calculating'. Growing up Tony had issues with his father, who Tony has said never told his son that he loved him, or even that he liked him. Since Tony was so young, Howard never was able to tell him his plans for him.

Tony's father would constantly talk about his friend Captain America, so that he could inspire Tony to do great things in life, which highly annoyed young Tony Stark. When he was four years old, he made his first circuit board. When he was almost seven he built a V8 motorbike engine. At sixteen, he won the 4th Annual M.I.T. Robot Design Award. When Tony was seventeen he graduated at the top of his class. He also met James "Rhodey" Rhodes, and they became best friends.

Losing his Parents
"I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of man we remember."

- Tony Stark In December 1991, when Tony was just 21, Howard and Maria prepared to go away for a few days and leave him alone, although his father remained skeptical about how responsible Tony would be while they were gone. Sadly, they died in a car crash in Long Island. Stark became driven in grief for their deaths. For a few months, Howard's business partner Obadiah Stane took over as interim CEO of Stark Industries until Tony officially assumed the role shortly after. Sometime later, Tony's long-serving family butler, Edwin Jarvis, also died.

Rebuilding the Company
A few months later, Stark inherited Stark Industries, becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 Company in history. Having built himself a custom mansion, Stark made an A.I. system that helped out in the house. He named the system "Just a Rather Very Intelligent System", shortened J.A.R.V.I.S., in tribute to his late butler Edwin Jarvis whom he had often credited for helping to raise him. Eventually, James Rhodes joined the United States Air Force and became the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces, successfully earning Stark billions of dollars. Under Stark's leadership with the aid of Obadiah Stane, Stark Industries quickly thrived and became one of the most advanced companies in the world, creating new forms of weapons technology that seemed highly futuristic to most looking on at the weapons.

Presenting the Jericho


"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves. For your consideration, the Jericho."

- Tony Stark

Touching down in China, Stark was greeted by members of the military before he presented Stark Industries' newest weapon, the Jericho missile, to the military spectators and demonstrated its capability. Giving a speech, Stark explained that the missile was so powerful that it would only be needed to be fired once to defeat the enemy, noting that was how his father Howard Stark had worked and it was a successful method. The missile was fired and two explosions fired by Orange Dragons terrorists attacked the military.

Kidnapping by the Orange Dragons
"Why should I do anything, they're going to kill me, you, either way I'll probably be dead in a week." "Well then, this is a very important week for you isn't it?"

- Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen Stark ran to safety to a tank and began talking to the driver about the topic but stopped, believing it wasn't the time and the tank drove, but it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade with the soldier killed and with Stark wounded. He then was sitting in front of some various terrorists and could only look on in dismay with various guns aimed directly at him and they told him their leader would tell him what to do. The Mandarin, their leader, arrived and explained that he now wanted Stark to rebuild the Jericho missile for him, however Stark simply refused to help them. Mandarin threatened to kill him instead, and Tony pointed out he would be already working if he got an assistant. The Mandarin helped him with that and removed lone prisoner Ho Yinsen from his dark and empty cell, now being moved to the one where he would work with Tony Stark. While Stark sat by the fire and considered his new and terrible situation, Yinsen joined him and explained that what he had seen out there, with the Ten Rings holding his weapons, was the legacy of Tony Stark. When Yinsen called on him to do something, Stark simply questioned what the point was if he was likely going to be dead within a week regardless of anything, so Yinsen told him that this only meant it was an important week for him.

Building the First Armor


"This is our ticket out of here" "What is it?" "Flatten them out and look."

- Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen

Knowing that their captors would never keep up their end of the deal, Stark began the work asked from him with Ho Yinsen, however he had instead had begun to make a plan to escape. Stark recruited Abu Bakaar to bring in the supplies he needed into their cave, using Yinsen as his translator while he began breaking all of the various weapons apart. In order to improve Stark's condition, he and Yinsen then created a miniature Arc Reactor, a smaller version of the same power source previously invented by his father, Howard Stark, and Igor Vanko, which they would soon embed into his chest to supply energy to the electromagnet protecting his heart. Stark concentrated on his own technical work, all while Yinsen continued to tell Stark everything he knew of the Ten Rings and what their plans were for them. Having successfully built the Arc Reactor, Stark told Yinsen that he would not be using it to power his heart, but to power something larger for a brief time. With that Stark showed Yinsen his plans, hidden with multiple blueprints, to build a suit of armor which he would soon be using to finally break them out of the cave. Yinsen was both impressed and inspired by Stark's plan and then assisted him in installing the Arc Reactor inside his chest. During their down time, Stark and Yinsen played board games to keep themselves entertained. During one of their games, Stark asked Yinsen where he was from, as Yinsen explained he was from a small town call Gulmira where he had a family who he intended to see once he was free on the cave. When Yinsen then asked the same question, Stark admitted that he had no family waiting for him, with Yinsen noting he had everything but yet still nothing. Stark and Yinsen then returned to their work, pulling apart pieces of the various Stark Industries weapons that were supplied to them and tearing them apart. They then fused the pieces together and turned them into plates ready to be added to the armor once that was completed. However the pair ensured that their work was still kept random enough that the Ten Rings would be unable to figure out their deception until it was at last too late for them. Their work was one day interrupted by Manarin who told Stark to relax before admiring his Arc Reactor. Mandarin compared Stark's work to that of Genghis Khan who had almost conquered the world. Believing they were lying to him, Mandarin had Yinsen held down and threatened to put a red-hot coal in his mouth until Stark told him to stop. The Mandarin agreed and then ordered Stark to finally complete the Jericho missile by the next very day. Fearing for their lives if they did not get out as soon as possible, together Stark and Yinsen secretly began building the final stages of the armored suit to help them escape, with Stark focusing on the body of the armor while Yinsen wired up the final pieces of the mechanics. Fusing together the various large parts of steel to fit his own body, Stark then fitting the armor with various missiles and flame throwers, preparing himself for every eventuality as he knew Mandarin and the Orange Dragons would put all their strength into stopping their escape. Once it was almost complete, Stark placed the still steaming Iron Man helmet onto Yinsen's desk and they prepared to finally put their upcoming escape plan into action.

Escaping the Orange Dragons


"It's okay, I want this... I want this." "Thank you for saving me." "Don't waste it, don't waste your life."

- Ho Yinsen and Tony Stark

Soon the pair enacted their escape plan with Stark being slowly fitted into the armor while the power from the Arc Reactor was being downloaded into the suit. However, the booby-trapped door the pair had rigged with an explosive was set off, killing the men who had come to check on their progress. To his horror, Ho Yinsen realized that they now did not have enough time to power the suit before the Orange Dragons arrived and killed them. With no other choice Yinsen took a gun and held back the terrorists, while Stark's suit still continued to power up. Once the suit had power, Iron Man waited in the shadows as the Orange Dragons soldiers arrived in the room and searched for them, at which point he revealed himself and used all of his new incredible strength to punch them across the room, with the armor being unaffected by their bullets. Iron Man began making his way through the cave, killing any Ten Rings terrorist he came across by striking him with his armor. When Iron Man accidentally trapped his arm in a wall, a terrorist attempted to kill him by shooting him point blank in the head, only for the bullet to bounce off and kill the terrorist instead, with Iron Man freeing himself and continuing forward on his escape mission. Coming around a corner near the exit, Iron Man was mortified to find Yinsen flying mortally wounded having been shot multiple times during the escape attempt. However Yinsen was just able to warn Iron Man before the Mandarin fired a rocket launcher at his former hostage. Iron Man managed to dodge the shot and returned fire, shooting a missile at the Orange Dragons leader which caused him to be badly burnt and trapped underneath the heavy falling rubble. Iron Man rushed to Yinsen's side and urged him to get back onto his feet so he could go to Gulmira be reunited with his family, only for Yinsen to reveal that his family were already dead and he would see them at last in the afterlife. With his last words, Yinsen reassured Stark that it would be all right to leave him behind and urged him not to waste his life, while Stark thanked him for everything he had done for him in saving his life both physically and morally as well. Angered by Yinsen's death, Stark stepped outside to confront the rest of the terrorists who were waiting for him; the suit protected him from the onslaught of bullets, and he used the suit's flame-throwers to kill several terrorists, destroy their stockpile of Stark Industries produced weapons that had been stolen from him and used against the United States Armed Forces which he despised, causing several massive fireball explosions to erupt all around him. Due to the massive amount of bullets being fired at him, the Iron Man suit was eventually badly damaged by the gunfire, forcing Stark to escape using the jetpacks while the entire Orange Dragons Base erupted in a massive fireball. Iron Man soured above the blast, though his suit began to fall apart and was finally destroyed as he crashed in the desert, although it still saved Stark from the impact. With no other need for it, Stark left the original armor in the desert. Stark began making his way through the desert, using his jacket to protect himself from the intense heat until finally a helicopter flew overhead, causing Stark to yell out for help and collapse to his knees as he made a peace symbol in the air. James Rhodes then came out of the helicopter and hugged his friend before taking him back to safety. Upon being picked up by the Air Force Stark was then finally returned to the United States of America at long last.

No More Weapons


"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them, and I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

- Tony Stark

Having been rescued, Stark was brought back to the United States of America by the army where he was walked onto a military airport by James Rhodes. To Stark's disgust, there was a stretcher waiting to take him to hospital, which he rejected. Stark then met with Pepper Potts, who he noted had been crying, teasing her as he claimed she was crying for her long lost boss, while she claimed it was simply because she was glad not to have to find a new job. Stark then sat in Happy Hogan's car with Potts; who insisted that he go straight to the hospital to check himself over in the wake of his kidnapping. However Stark once again refused to get any medical treatment and instead asked to first be given a burger, then called a press meeting for Stark Industries. Potts argued that this was a very bad idea in the wake of his traumatic ordeal, but Stark still remained insistent, noting that he must get his cheese burger first. Upon arriving at Stark Industries Headquarters, Stark was then enthusiastically greeted by Obadiah Stane before making his way inside. During the press meeting, Stark finished his burger and compared his experiences to how he never said goodbye to his father. Stark finally declared that his company would now, for the foreseeable future, no longer manufacture military weapons, which Stane tried to slow down to the best of his own abilities. As their companies's stock market began to plummet, Stark had a meeting with Stane beside the giant Arc Reactor. Stane advised him to reconsider the decision as he feared it would ruin the company. Stark insisted that they should take another look at the Arc Reactor technology based on his work with Ho Yinsen, proving this theory by showing Stane the Arc Reactor on his chest that was now keeping him alive. Although Stane insisted that the Arc Reactor was designed by Howard Stark and Anton Vanko as a publicity stunt, he eventually agreed to help Stark provided Stark inform him of his next intentions before calling for sudden, unexpected press conferences. Stark went to meet with James Rhodes who was giving a speech to new members of the United States Air Force. Stark interrupted the talk and teased his friend who then ordered the men to leave them in peace. When Rhodes questioned what Stark was doing there, he was told that Stark was working on a big new project, which seemed to delight him until Stark revealed it was not military. Rhodes then recommended that Stark get his mind straight instead

Suit Upgrades


"You and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest." "I'm being responsible that's a new direction for me, for the company, I mean me on the company's behalf being responsible."

- Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark

In the months that followed, Stark retreated from public view and spent much of his time in the Mansion, focusing on improving the design of his new armored suit, refining its size, movement, and flight capability far beyond the original design. Stark was aiding in building the new suit by Dum-E and U who he had constantly mocked and insulted. Recalling how the Mark I armor had almost no flight control and had crashed upon escaping the Orange Dragons Base, Stark decided to create a more controlled flight capability for his suit. He arranged a test with U filming and Dum-E ready with the fire extinguisher in case anything went wrong. Stark proceeded with the test but quickly discovered it was vastly more powerful than he expected and he was launched straight up and painfully crashed into the ceiling. Making some redesigns to the new armor, Stark developed new stabilizers which would attach to his hands and give him a new level of control while in the air. While testing out the new designs, Stark was joined by Pepper Potts who mistakenly believed that Stark was designing new weapons for Stark Industries which he then denied, claiming that this design was not a weapon but it was completely harmless. However Stark had once again underestimated the power of the design and a single blast from the stabilizer sent him flying backwards, much to Potts' horror. Shocked by this, Stark noted that he was not expecting that and began making adjustments. Stepping upstairs, Stark found Obadiah Stane had joined Potts for pizza having returned from a meeting with Stark Industries' board of directors. Stane informed Stark that the board had decided to block Stark out of the company in the wake of his kidnapping, believing he was now suffering from. Stark furiously argued the decision but was told it was final, with Stane then requesting to take a look at the Arc Reactor technology, which Stark refused to do. Getting back to work, Stark had the second test of his new Mark II armor, with Dum-E and U assisting him once again while J.A.R.V.I.S. watched. Using a lot less power than his first test, Stark hovered around his basement, struggling to maintain any control and almost damaging some of his most expensive cars. Eventually Stark ended the test and landed, ordering Dum-E not to use the fire extinguisher on him before proudly declaring that he could now fly.

Stark eventually perfected the flight power after much trial and error, taking the blue Mark II suit for it's main capability: the Stealth Mode, which enables the wearer to become invisible. It worked so decided to take the Stealth Armor out for a flight test.

Test Flight
"Alright let's see what this thing can do, what's SR 71's range." "The SR's record for fixed wing flight is 8500 feet sir." "Records are made to be broken, come on!"

- Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S. Taking it out for a test flight, with great pride and excitement. Despite J.A.R.V.I.S.' warnings that there had not been enough tests to be safe, Stark insisted upon being allowed to fly outside and fully test its true capabilities.

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

Having gained all the information about the suit's capabilities that he needed, Iron Man flew back to Tony Stark's Mansion, where he then prepared to analyse the data to use in the next design. Stark hovered over the entrance of the mansion and prepared to land softly on the ground, however he did not account for the suit's extra weight and promptly fell though the ceiling, destroying his piano and sports car. Upon crash landing, Dum-E once again sprayed Stark with the fire extinguisher, believing him to have caught fire upon the impact while Stark leaned his head back in both pain and frustration. Exploring his lap, Stark soon found that Pepper Potts had left a gift for him on his desk. Opening the box, Stark found his original Arc Reactor had been framed with a message saying it proved he had a heart. Sometime afterwards, Stark detected someone trying to hack into his own home computer system, tracing the signal to a corporation satellite. Believing it to be business espionage, Stark then took the skies to successfully destroy the satellite.

Stane's Betrayal


"Have you seen this pictures? What's going on?" "Tony, you can't afford to be this naive." "I was naive before, when they here's the line, we don't cross it, this is how we do business."

- Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane

While giving J.A.R.V.I.S. his plans to improve the Mark III armor in order to fix the icing problems and improve the flight controls, Stark noticed a news report in which Zorianna Kit was reporting on a new charity event at the which Stark was now supposedly hosting. Stark questioned J.A.R.V.I.S. if he had been invited to the event to which J.A.R.V.I.S. then confirmed he had not, so Stark left his A.I. to complete the Mark III while he got himself ready to attend. During his first public appearance since his return back to the United States of America, Stark arrived at his own party to be greeted by the press, before complimenting another man who he had mistaken for Hugh Hefner. Stark had soon found Obadiah Stane talking to the press as Stane expressed his surprise to see that Stark had arrived, advising him not to draw too much unwanted attention to himself as Stane was still trying to get the board of directors on their side. Stark promised to do so as he stepped inside the building, but Stane was unconvinced.

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

Everhart expressed her disgust at Stark and showed him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of the Orange Dragons and other terrorist groups, including the Jericho missile he refused to build for them. Stark denied any involvement but Everhart noted that his company supplied the weapons.

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

Battle of Gulmira


"I'm sorry, it is me, you asked, what you asked about is me." "No see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war-zone! You understand that?" "It's not a piece of equipment, I'm in it, it's a suit! It's me!"

- Iron Man and James Rhodes

Faced with the realization of what his company had done behind his back and Obadiah Stane's part in the deception. Stark went back into his workshop and continued building his Iron Man armors, while watching a news report on how Mandarin and his Orange Dragons soldiers were using Stark's own weapons to attack innocent people. Disgusted by what he was seeing, Stark rose from his seat and used his flight stabilizers to smash the glass doors, realizing they could be used as weapons. Seeking to do something good with the technology he had created, Stark donned his new suit and flew to Afghanistan. Knowing where Mandarin's men were attacking, Iron Man headed for Gulmira, the home village of Ho Yinsen. Upon arriving, Iron Man discovered innocent women and children were being dragged out of their own homes to become slaves for the Ten Rings while the men were being lined up to be executed right in front of their own horrified children. Iron Man attacked and easily subdued all of the soldiers, using his advanced weapons systems to kill multiple terrorists with single strikes and saving the lives of the innocent people. Having found his former captor, Abu Bakaar, Iron Man ripped him through a wall and left him for the villagers to gain their own revenge. While Bakaar was being killed, Iron Man focused his efforts on destroying the Ten Rings entire stockpiles of the Stark Industries weapons. During the battle, Iron Man was shot out of the sky by one of the Orange Dragons' tanks, so Iron Man responded by shooting his own missile and destroying the tank with ease before he then targeted and destroyed all the Jericho missiles the Ten Rings had. The prolonged battle and massive explosions quickly drew the attention of the United States Air Force and his own friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes who investigated the true cause. Two F-22 Raptors were ordered by Rhodes to take out the unknown target, with Iron Man soon finding them directly behind him and attempting to lock on with their weapons, forcing Iron Man to use his new armor's upgraded flight systems to evade the attacks. As the jets continued targeting him, Iron Man found they had locked on with a missile so used flairs to destroy the missile before it could hit him, being blown forward by the force of the explosion. Having managed to use his superior manoeuvring systems to hide underneath of the jets itself without being seen, Stark called Rhodes and revealed his true identity to him in an attempt to have the attack called off, with Rhodes being horrified that he had sent some of his own equipment into an active war zone without informing him. While Rhodes tried to stop the attack, Major Allen however order the pilots to take the shot when they could get clear view of him. However, while trying to evade the attack, one of the Raptors lost its left wing when it accidentally collided with Iron Man during the chaos of the battle. The pilot ejected shortly afterwards, but his parachute jammed. Without hesitation, Iron Man dived down to help the pilot release his parachute before escaping. While heading back towards the United States of America, Stark spoke with Rhodes about what excuse he could then use to explain what had happened. Once back at Tony Stark's Mansion, Iron Man was then helped out of his armor by both Dum-E and U, finding the experience fairly painful as they struggled to find a way to get him back out. During this, Stark was soon discovered by Pepper Potts who had just walked into his workshop to find him still half in his armor. Stark joked that it was still not actually the worst thing that she had ever caught him doing while Potts was horrified to see bullet holes in the armor.

Next Mission


"There is nothing except this, there's no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign, there is the next mission, and nothing else."

- Tony Stark to Pepper Potts

With the mission to defeat the Orange Dragons a success, Stark went back to work in tweaking the Mark III armor in improving its performance. He was soon joined by Pepper Potts whom he requested go into his office in Stark Industries Headquarters to hack into the data base in order to find out where his weapons were being sold to the Orange Dragons so he could go in as Iron Man and destroy them. Potts however refused to help him on his mission as she feared that going into these active war-zones as Iron Man would result in him being killed but Stark furiously refused to listen. Stark furiously noted that for years Potts had stood by his side when he and Stark Industries had been creating the weapons and now she was planning on leaving once he finally began doing the right thing and protecting the people he had endangered like Ho Yinsen. Stark noted that since his kidnapping he had finally learned what he was meant to do with his life. Hearing how sincere Stark was about this mission, Potts took the hard-drive and agreed to help him.

While inside Tony Stark's Mansion, Stark attempted to answer a call from Potts when he found himself unable to move. To his horror he found Obadiah Stane looking down on him while using a Sonic Taser. Stane confessed that he had arranged Stark's kidnapping while he stole the Arc Reactor from Stark. Stane mocked Stark but comparing him to his father while promising to kill Potts before walking away. Having regained some control of his body, Stark desperately tried to make it to his workshop to regain his original Mark I Arc Reactor to save his life. However Stark collapsed inches away from it and was unable to move and minutes from death. But to save his life, Stark was aided by Dum-E and U who had managed to hand Stark the Arc Reactor just in time. Stark was then found by James Rhodes who he explained the situation to while being helped back up. Having been told Potts had recruited Phil Coulson and an entire team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrest Stane, Stark warned it would not be enough as Stane had his own Iron Monger Armor. To combat this, Stark put his Iron Man suit on and prepared to battle Stane. While Rhodes admired the suit which he called the coolest thing he had ever seen, Iron Man told him to keep the skies clear from the United States Armed Forces while he then flew out of his mansion.

Duel of Los Angeles


"You had a great idea, Tony, but my suit is more advanced in every way!" "How'd you solve the icing problem?" "Icing problem?" "Might want to look into it."

- Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark

Iron Man flew straight to the Stark Industries Headquarters where he discovered Iron Monger was attempting to execute Pepper Potts, so he charged down and knocked Iron Monger aside, crashing into the motorway and then through a Roxxon Oil Corporation lorry. Iron Monger responded by picking up a minivan holding a family and attempting to throw it at Iron Man, who put all his suit's power into the Arc Reactor to knock Iron Monger back. Having just caught the minivan and put it down, Iron Man was briefly run over by the family who were terrified by the experience. As Iron Man recovered, Iron Monger struck again, hitting him with a passing motorcycle and smashing him into a nearby bus. While he was striking him, Obadiah Stane still continued to mock Iron Man by claiming that he had built Stark Industries up from nothing back when Howard Stark had been killed. Iron Monger then fired a missile at the bus, as Iron Man was consumed inside the fireball but was still protected by his suit, despite being launched high into the air. While Iron Man hovered in the air, Iron Monger complimented him on his upgrades before noting that the Iron Monger Armor had upgrades of it's own before flying into the air to then chase him down. As they considered what to do J.A.R.V.I.S. had warned that the Mark III armor would not survive much longer while Iron Man decided to fly straight upwards, believing that Stane had not done enough tests on his own armor in order to solve all of it's own design issues. As they soared higher and higher above Los Angeles, Iron Man soon found that the Iron Monger's superior power allowed him to quickly catch up with him. However once Iron Monger had managed to grab ahold of Iron Man, claiming that his own armor was more advanced in every way, Iron Man revealed to him that he had not solved the icing issue the Mark II armor had encountered, causing Iron Monger to lose power and then proceeded to fall out of the sky. Losing his own power in the suit, Iron Man quickly returned to Stark Industries Headquarters where he attempted to get out of the suit, only to be immediately confronted by Iron Monger yet again. Without one of the gauntlets, Iron Man found himself at a disadvantage as Iron Monger got him in a bear hug and attempted to crush the suit with Stark still inside, until Iron Man managed to fire his own flairs to briefly blind Stane, allowing him to get away for a moment. While hiding from Iron Monger, Stark told Pepper Potts that all his current attempts to defeat the Iron Monger were not working so he decided to make a new plan. Stark ordered Potts to overload the main Arc Reactor inside the building and blast the roof with energy in an attempt to defeat Stane. While Potts made her way back into the building, Stark also told her to wait until he had gotten himself clear, promising to buy her some time by fighting Iron Monger. Iron Man proceeded to jump onto Iron Monger's back and ripped out important pieces of the Iron Monger Armor, taking out his targeting system and effectively blinding Stane. However Iron Monger soon managed to rip Iron Man off his back and then threw him across the rooftop, taking off his own helmet as a result. Iron Man was then left almost defenceless with barely any power left in his suit to fight back against Stane, who opened up armor and revealed himself. While he crushed Iron Man's helmet, Stane began mocking Stark by claiming that he had finally made his father proud before shooting at him, with Stark managed to block with his gauntlet despite the glass floor underneath him before destroyed. While Stark held on, Potts told him to get off the roof. Stane noted that by trying to rid Stark Industries of weapons, Stark had inadvertently created the greatest one ever while Stane would then use to finally kill him. While Stane struggled to aim his missiles at him, Stark ordered Potts to overload the Arc Reactor, which caused a burst of electricity which blasted Stark out of the way while frying the Iron Monger Armor, also killing Stane inside. Stane then fell inside the Arc Reactor causing a massive explosion while Stark fell unconscious from the ordeal. Stark almost died from the lack of power to his Arc Reactor, but J.A.R.V.I.S. managed to keep him alive long enough to be rescued.

"I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public." "Just stick to the cards, man." "Yeah, okay. The truth is... I am Iron Man."

- Tony Stark and James Rhodes

In the wake of the Duel of Los Angeles as well as his own near-death experience, Stark was aided by James Rhodes who tried to get Stark into an ambulance to see if he had any internal injuries. However the ambulance was a fake one sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to retrieve him. Now that they could finally get to talk to Stark. Phil Coulson talked to him after they had dropped him off at a small theater. Coulson viewed Stark's fighting strategy from his fight with Iron Monger on a projector screen. He told him he needed to become a real fighter and that he would be trained by skilled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The next morning, news had spread of Stark's new alter ego, dubbed "Iron Man" by the press. Stark then held a press conference where Agent Coulson gave him a detailed fabricated cover story about his and Obadiah Stane's whereabouts and advised him to state that Iron Man was his personal bodyguard. However, during the course of the conference, in a moment of self-clarity, Stark instead announced to the public that he himself was indeed the Iron Man.

Meeting Nick Fury
"You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet." "Who the hell are you?" "Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.."

- Nick Fury and Tony Stark That night, Stark arrived home and was greeted by a visitor who was standing by the window. He revealed himself as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and assured him that he was not the only 'superhero' in the world, intending to discuss the Avengers Initiative with Stark. However, Stark, uninterested in having the government offering him opportunities, ordered Fury out of the house.

Finding World Peace


"Back already? What're you listening to?" "Just a little recording I made in Yemen. Nick Fury wants to ask me out... he's just trying to be smooth about it. But who's the smoothest guy you know, Potts?"

- Pepper Potts and Tony Stark

Iron Man performed acts of heroism around the world. News outlets began crediting him as the man who stabilized East-West relations" and featured him as their new "Person of the Year". When blackmailed by the Ten Rings and Lina, Stark defeated all of the terrorists and also saved Lina's kidnapped son. When Nick Fury sent a team of United States Navy SEALs to board a ship controlled by the Ten Rings, Iron Man appeared and defeated the terrorists. Stark also helped Thaddeus Ross in saving the pilot of the Aerodynamic Marvel that crashed in the Congo. In Germany, Stark managed to recover stolen paintings without the use of his armor, all to gain Evetta Gorani's number.

Starting the Expo


"Oh, it is good to be back! Did you miss me? Blow something up, already did that... I'm not saying the world is enjoying it's longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me! I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified in human history!"

- Tony Stark at Stark Expo

Six months after revealing his own identity to the world and helping maintain world peace, Stark appeared as Iron Man at the grand opening of the Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows, New York City, continuing the legacy his father, Howard Stark, had started. Treating the crowd to a speech in which he boasted about giving the world it's longest running period of uninterrupted peace, Stark left the stage with a video of his father playing.

Personality
Tony Stark was a billionaire of expected personality, but despite this Tony believed he would do some good after he would be done with creating weapons, and ironically later on in the film did good as the superhero Iron Man, which was also the time Stark Industries stopped manufacturing weapons. After having shrapnel reach his heart due to the use of his own weapons by the Ten Rings, Stark's classy, "cool" personality changed to more caring and concerning over the use of his weapons which led him to becoming the hero he currently is.

Armor Capabilities
With the exception of the Mark I Iron Man armor, almost all of the Iron Man suits share a common design and capability set. The suit is a powered exoskeleton with armored plating, capable of enhancing the wearer's strength, speed, agility, and endurance. The suit is powered by a miniaturized Arc Reactor, either using the one surgically installed in Tony Stark's chest or else built into the chest-piece of the armor itself.

The original armor Tony Stark created, the Iron Man Mark I, while in captivity in China was crudely designed and bulky, but still had the necessary capacity to help him escape his captors. It was bullet-proof, had two built-in flame-throwers, a rocket launcher, as well as rocket boosters for short range flight, though their construction was faulty and they malfunctioned almost immediately after activation. Like all of Stark's armors, the Mark I enhanced Stark's physical strength beyond the capabilities of any human, allowing him to effortlessly overpower and kill multiple Orange Dragons insurgents, break through stone walls, bend metal, and exert many tons of force. The armor's durability and resilience allowed it to be unfazed by bullets, tank shells, explosions, and extreme amounts of impactive force, such as impact from falling at high altitudes. Due to its rudimentary design, and Stark's lack of more sophisticated resources, the Mark I did not have an onboard AI system or augmented-reality (AR) displays like the armors.

The helmet served only as a simple shield and was not fully sealed. Stark refashioned the special iron-copper-magnesium alloy from disassembled Stark mortar cannons into the Mark I armor, rendering it bulletproof. To power the thruster on the boots, Stark siphoned the propellant fuel from four S-class ballistic missiles into two M-class mortars, creating two homemade fuel tanks, welded shut except for the valves connecting fuel hoses that led down the armor's legs.

The later model armors' helmet features a retractable visor that projected a holographic AR displays to the wearer. The features of the helmet roughly resemble a human face, with eyepieces and a mouth slit showing the point where the faceplate meets the jaw.

The armor's primary weapon, as well as means of propulsion, are repulsors nodes built into the hands and feet. The repulsors in the boots provide the majority of the propulsion force while the nodes in the armor's gauntlets are used as flight stabilizers. Due to the intense heat and concussive pressure produced by the repulsors, the ones built into the gauntlets are also used as weapons, capable of neutralizing or killing enemies depending on their intensity. When needed, the primary repulsor built into the armor's breastplate can be charged to deliver a powerful, destructive unibeam blast.

The Mark II was built from basic titanium alloys, giving it a silver look. From the Mark III onward, Stark used a gold-titanium alloy to provide the necessary power-to-weight ratio coupled with the ability to resist icing at high altitudes. As the gold-colored suit seemed a bit ostentatious, Stark took to coloring certain segments of the armor hot-rod red to tone it down a bit without losing the flare he was known for. Later suits were given a variety of colors, from blue to black to green and even yellow and purple.

Armors

 * Mark I
 * Mark II
 * Mark III
 * Mark IV
 * Mark V
 * Mark VI
 * Mark VII

Appearances/Actors

 * Earth-20080502- 4 films


 * Iron Man- Robert Downey Jr.
 * The Incredible Hulk- Robert Downey Jr.
 * Iron Man 2- Robert Downey Jr.