Iron Man

History

Iron Man's Original Armor

Anthony Edward Stark, was born in Long Island, New York, to Howard Anthony Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark. In his youth, Tony Stark was a precociously intelligent young boy. When Tony was 7 he was sent to a boarding school and during this experience he found people difficult to relate to. This was when he became fascinated by machines.  By the age of 15 Tony had enrolled in MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated at the top of his class at age 19 with double masters in physics and engineering. 

Stark Industries

Tony Stark

At the age of 21 his parents were tragically killed in a car accident. Afterwards Tony inherited Stark Industries, an unparalleled mega-corporation that mostly dealt with weapons for the United States military. One of his first projects as the new CEO was to purchase the manufacturer who designed his parents car and have the faulty break system, which was seemingly the cause of their deaths, redesigned in order to prevent further incidents and to save lives. Unknown to Stark, the true architect of his parents' deaths was a business move by Republic Oil (later changed to Roxxon Oil). Lacking in business skills, Tony promoted secretary Pepper Potts to be his executive assistant and left the majority of his workload on her so that he could avoid what he saw as a burden. 

During the Vietnam War (later retconned as the Gulf War, then later still as the war in Afghanistan), Stark was at one of his munitions plants testing new technology for the military when he was injured by an explosion that lodged shrapnel near his heart. Tony was then captured by a local warlord named Wong-Chu (a lackey of the Mandarin) and forced under threat of death to create a doomsday weapon for him with another captive, the famed Nobel award-winning physicist, Yin Sen. The shrapnel was working its way towards Stark's heart and slowly killing him, but he and the physicist created an iron suit in secret that would save Tony's life. The suit contained and iron chest plate with magnetic fields that halted the shrapnel in its place. Yin Sen then created a diversion, sacrificing himself so that Stark could put on the power armor in time and escape captivity. In the suit, Stark took on the warlord and his men and avenged Yin Sen's death, thus Iron Man was born.  

Iron Man

Birth of Iron Man

After fleeing from enemy territory Tony met and befriended the pilot James Rhodes who had been shot down in his helicopter by the enemy. Upon arriving back in the United States, Tony decided to continue being Iron Man in order to fight injustice. He believed that he had a limited amount of time left to live due to his injury, and therefore wanted to make the most of it. Therefore, he began making vast improvements on the technology of his power armor.  

Secret Identity

When Tony finally admitted his double identity to his fiancee Joanna Nivena she encouraged him to use the armor to become a super hero and save lives. Iron Man began to establish himself as one of the U.S.'s most eminent super heroes, but while halting a breakout of lions and tigers from a circus, Tony saw how his armor frightened the people he was defending. Asking his date Marion what she would do if she were Iron Man, Tony painted his armor in stainless gold.Tony Stark allowed the public at large to believe that he was no more than a rich playboy while his identity as Iron Man would remain a secret. Since Iron Man was often seen at Stark Industries, Tony circulated the idea that Iron Man was his bodyguard. Stark, of course, still had his heart condition which meant that any day could potentially be his last. Luckily for him, his heart condition became publicly known and he was eventually healed by way of an artificial heart transplant. 

When testing his "Stark Special" race car, Tony wound up in a wreck, but was saved at the last minute by ex-boxer Harry "Happy" Hogan . To repay Happy, Tony hired him as a chauffeur, although Happy became more like a bodyguard, resenting Iron Man. At the same time, former Stark Industries scientist Jack Shapanka menaced Tony as Jack Frost (later renamed Blizzard), a villain who could generate ice. Happy would often try to play for Pepper's affection, but she was more interested in Tony. However, as Tony's heart could fail at any time, he didn't want to start a serious relationship since he could die unexpectedly. Happy remained extremely faithful to Tony, telling Iron Man straight out that if he had harmed Tony he would regret it during a period in which Iron Man was thought to have killed Tony, and even almost died when delivering a device to Iron Man that would stop Titanium Man.  

With The Avengers

When Loki framed the Hulk for wrecking a train in the hope that Thor would battle him, the Hulk's friend Rick Jones sent a message to the Fantastic Four asking for their help.  Loki then diverted the message to Thor. What he didn't realize was that Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp had also intercepted it. After Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp and Iron Man all defeated Loki together, Ant-Man suggested that the five of them stayed together as a team, and the Wasp dubbed them the Avengers. Shortly after wards, after a fight with the Space Phantom, the Hulk decided to quit since he thought no one trusted him. Whilst in pursuit of the Hulk and Namor (whom he had teamed up with), the Avengers came upon the body of Captain America, a legendary World War II fighter. The Avengers accepted him into their ranks, and he became close friends with Iron Man. Iron Man even gave Captain America transistors to control the flight of his shield, although Captain America later discarded them since they upset the balance of the shield. After a fight with the original Masters of Evil which ended with Baron Helmut Zemo being killed, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp and Thor all decided to quit for a while since they needed a break. Captain America stayed on, and became the new leader of the Avengers, which now consisted of Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

When Tony was targeted by the mysterious villain Mr. Doll who was forcing millionaires to give their funds to him, he was completely powerless against Mr. Doll's power to cause pain using a mystic doll (similar to voodoo). In order to defeat Mr. Doll, Tony completely redesigned his armor, into light fitting armor rather than his previously heavy and bulky Armor. With this new Armour, he was able to defeat Mr. Doll in a rematch. 

Iron Man initially fought primarily against enemies that were a threat to him or his company, such as The Mandarin, The Melter, The Ghost, and Spymaster. He also fought against communist enemies (the 1960's, when Iron Man first debuted, it was a time of unparalleled anti-communism) such as The Crimson Dynamo, (the first of who would defect to the U.S.A. and later gave up his life to stop the second Crimson Dynamo)  Black Widow (who would later defect to the US), Hawkeye (who would reform and join the Avengers), The Titanium Man, and others. Iron Man was also one of the founding members of the Avengers and, with Tony’s fortune, he was able to fund the team through the Maria Stark Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization named after his late mother. He also donated the use of his boyhood manor which became Avengers Mansion, staffed by Edwin Jarvis.

Over time, Tony evolved into a more complex and vulnerable individual as his dual life as a superhero caused him numerous personal problems. He became the victim of corporate take-overs and would loose and rebuild his fortune multiple times. Tony would also eventually be led to a dependency on alcohol when he discovered that SHIELD, who he had previously supported, was seeking to buy controlling stocks in his company, thus ensuring his continued weapons development for them.

Later, Tony would become bankrupt and homeless when he lost his company to his rival, Obadiah Stane, who had been manipulating him for some time. During this event, his friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes even took on the mantle of Iron Man. Stark would begin rebuilding his fortune when he created a company named Circuits Maximus, which specialized in computer technology. While this was happening, Rhodes was slowly going mad while using the Iron Man armor since its unique interface was designed for Stark's nervous system, and not his own. He eventually succumbs and goes on a rampage. This caused Tony to use a prototype armor that was not yet finished in order to stop Rhodey from causing any more destruction. Stane would now try to take over Stark’s new company, but Tony finished developing the brand new armor and confronted Stane face to face. Stane used one of Tony’s old armors to battle him and Stane’s inexperience would be his downfall. Tony won and regained control of his family's company. After wards, Stane committed suicide.

With so many people gaining access to his armor designs, Tony had to figure out a way to stop all the misuse of his armor technology. Tony would develop a way to disable the armors of everyone else who used technology based on his designs. Tony even disabled SHIELD armors known as the Mandroids that he had designed for their use, which causes the US Government to go after Iron Man as public enemy number one, and a threat to society. Tony eluded capture by fooling them into believing that Iron Man had gone rogue. He then faked the death of Iron Man and claimed that a new person was now using the Iron Man armor.

Tony's Destiny.

While Stark is continuing to use the Iron Man armor he discovers that its interface design was causing severe damage to his nervous system. He began remotely controlling the Iron Man armors, but after a failed mission against the Masters of Silence, he realizes that controlling the Iron Man armor is not as effective as being inside it. This leads to Tony designing the War Machine Armor, previously dubbed as the “Variable Threat Response Battle Suit.” His nervous system would continue to deteriorate however, even to the point where it was life-threatening. Tony had to fake his own death and be put into suspended animation in order to survive. Even close friends like James Rhodes was unaware of his faked death, and when he would later reveal the deception it would cause a serious rift in their relationship. Also during this time, James Rhodes would watch over the company and continue Iron Man’s career by using the “Variable Threat Response Battle Suit.”

Of course Tony would eventually awaken and survive with a chip he programmed and implanted in himself. An enraged Rhodes takes the “Variable Threat Response Battle Suit” and begins his own career as the hero known as War Machine. Tony continues his super hero career and eventually gets into a feud with the Avengers after the Kree- Shi'ar War, resulting in him quitting the team. Tony would create a new group called Force Works, but eventually left that team as well because of another falling out. In time, Iron Man would decide to reconcile with the Avengers, and he rejoins them. 

Death and Rebirth

Tony Stark was later revealed as an unwitting traitor to the Avengers while under the control of Kang the Conqueror, who had been using Stark as an unwilling sleeper agent for several years (later retconned into Immortus impersonating Kang and that Tony was under control for just a few months). Kang used Iron Man to kill many innocent lives and other heroes, such as Rita DeMara, and other Avenger teammates. The Avengers traveled back in time to recruit a teenage Tony Stark to fight the present-day Tony, and Kang. The teen Tony was able to steal an Iron Man armor from his older self and used it in battle against him. During the battle, the present-day Tony Stark would regain his memories and realize what he had been forced to do. As a result, he ended up sacrificing himself in order to kill Kang. The teenage Tony Stark would stay in the present time line following Iron Man's death, and continued his life as the new Iron Man. As for Stark’s company, it was sold to a Japanese rival named Fujikawa Industries.

Unfortunately for the teenage Tony, Onslaught arrived soon after, preventing him from gaining greater control over his life. In the final battle, many of the heroes of the Marvel Universe, including the teenage Tony, sacrificed themselves in order to defeat Onslaught. Luckily for them, Franklin Richards had created a pocket universe with all the heroes in it, and eventually restored everything back to normal, with Tony Stark restored to his normal adult age, but still retaining the teenage Tony’s memories. Tony also gained the help of Daredevil as his law firm, Nelson & Murdock, helped him to regain ownership of his company and assets. Next, Tony reconciled with the Avengers and rejoined the team.

While trying to save an android by downloading its program into his power suit, the Iron Man armor was influenced by Ultron who had embedded himself in the androids systems without the android knowing. Ultron used the armor to cause Tony to go into a cardiac arrest after a shock from villain Whiplash. That shock awoke the suit and gave it a mind of its own. It knew that Tony was in cardiac arrest and saved him. Tony welcomed the live armor until it committed murder, and until it began wanting to merge itself with Tony, making him a human machine. Tony decided to battle the armor that had gained a mind of its own. During the battle however, Tony suffered another heart attack. The armor, which still cared about its creator, decided to save him and gave Tony its own cybernetic heart, replacing his own. This worked effectively but meant that Tony had to constantly recharge the battery power in order to keep his new heart functioning. After this incident, Tony decided to return to his original armor

Life As Iron Man

Tony would fall in love with a woman named Rumiko Fujikawa, the daughter of the man who had previously taken over his company. She only began dating him to rebel against her father however, and did not truly share his feelings for her. Due to the lack of any real intimacy between the two, their relationship soon became tumultuous, with Rumiko even cheating on Tony with one of his business rivals because she thought he had become boring. Strangely, Rumiko was murdered by an Iron Man impostor.

Stark would later reveal his identity to the world when saving a puppy from a speeding car since he was unable to completely mask himself in time. Afterwards, Tony discovered that the Government was once again using his technology, and was able to do so legally due to a copyright loophole that Tony exposed himself to by revealing his secret identity. Tony decided to accept a Presidential appointment to serve as the President's new Secretary of Defense so that he could monitor and direct the use of his technology by the Government.

During the Avengers Disassembled story, in which the Scarlet Witch goes insane and kills many of the Avengers members, she made Tony Stark confront the Ambassador of Latveria while drunk at the United Nations. After this incident, Tony was forced to resign his duties as Secretary of Defense. Later, Stark claimed to be stepping down as Iron Man as well while someone else was stepping into the role, thus allowing him to continue operating as Iron Man in secret. Also during this event, Avengers Mansion was destroyed. It had been Tony's boyhood manor up until he donated it to the Avengers to be the teams base of operations. After its destruction, Tony built a new operational headquarters for the group which is now located in Stark Tower.

After being seriously injured during a battle with an extremis-enhanced adversary, Stark injects his nervous system with a modified version of the extremis enhancile (a techno-organic virus) in order to save his life. Extremis allows Stark to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones, and to control the armor through direct brain impulses. Extremis also integrates Stark's existing lockchip (a personal networking implement implanted in his forearm) directly into his nervous system. After this, Tony's abilities as Iron Man are significantly increased. He now has the ability to communicate with his suit faster than any human reaction time would normally be, making him much more powerful than before. 

Civil War

Iron Man vs Captain America

Tony would later discover that the Government was pushing forward with the idea of a Super Human Registration Act. At first, Stark is very much against the idea, even going so far as to hire the Titanium Man to attack him in order to manipulate public opinion in his favor. Tony also tries to talk the government out of Registration but his appeal is ignored after the tragedy at Stamford, Connecticut, in which members of the New Warriors confronted a villain in a residential neighborhood, setting off an explosion that killed many innocent lives. After this and another incident in which Tony's armors are hacked and used to attack innocent people, Stark reconsiders his position and the morality of super human registration. He then purposely reveals his identity to the world in order to show support for the Super-human Registration Act. Support among the super hero community is mixed however, and the conflict leads to the Civil War in the Marvel Universe.

Stark was able to convince many heroes including Spider-Man to join the pro-registration side. Tony also convinced Spider-Man to show the whole world his identity. They begin to hunt down heroes who on the anti-registration side who have gone rogue, led by Captain America. Tony also worked with Mr. Fantastic to build a prison in the The Negative Zone to hold rogue superhumans. Tony creates a brand new armored suit for Spider-Man after Peter was reborn, but many heroes begin to question the methods of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic when a Thor clone they created kills Bill Foster, the second Goliath, a friend on the anti-registration side. Further questions about their motives arise when it is discovered that they are using former villains to hunt down anti-registration forces. When the anti-registration heroes decide to attack the Negative Zone, it triggers the final battle of the Civil War. While Iron Man is facing off against Captain America his armor is shut down by Vision. Captain America begins savagely beating Iron Man until he realizes the damage that the war has caused. Captain America then decides to surrender. Afterwards, Tony Stark is appointed the new Director of SHIELD in Nick Fury's absence. When Spider-Man was a traitor to Stark, he was angry about Peter's trick. 

World War Hulk

As stated, before the start of the Civil War, Iron Man and several other members of the secret group of heroes known as the Illuminati deemed the Hulk a threat to Earth due to the destruction which accompanies his many rampages. The Illuminati lure the Hulk into a space-faring vessel and launch him into outer space in order to send him to a world where his power would not be a threat to the sanctity of innocent lives. The World War Hulk story occurs upon his return as the Hulk seeks revenge on Iron Man and the other Illuminati members.

Tony Stark is the first hero to confront the Hulk upon his return, hoping to prevent any further loss of life on Earth. Donning a modified "Hulkbuster" armor, Iron Man engages the Hulk in combat in Manhattan (whose population was previously evacuated to safety by S.H.I.E.L.D. upon Stark's orders). Iron Man makes an attempt to use specially designed nanobots to deactivate the Hulk's powers, but this proves unsuccessful due to the nanobots being sabotaged beforehand by a member of the Initiative. His new Hulkbuster armor and Stark Tower are destroyed in the battle that ensues. While being held in Madison Square Garden arena, Tony Stark manages to contact Dum Dum Dugan via his extremis enhanced powers and informs Dugan of a last resort plan to prevent the Hulk from attacking the rest of the world. The plan is to send the entirety of Manhattan into the Negative Zone. The plan would have the affect of killing himself, the Hulk, the Warbound, and all heroes and agents on the island. He trusts Dugan to know if and when he should execute the plan. Stark is later seen fighting with his fellow Illuminati members in the arena, defeating a gigantic tentacle monster. After the battle, the Hulk forces Tony and Mr. Fantastic to face off in combat via the obedience disks implanted into each of them. Mr. Fantastic defeats Tony, and the Hulk orders him to kill Stark. It was in that instant that the Sentry came in the arena and begin to battle the Hulk and after Hulk goes on a berserker rampage over the wounding of his friend, Rick Jones, by his fellow Warbound, Miek, Stark orders his satellite to fire a gamma inducing energy onto the Hulk, thus knocking him unconscious.
 

The Five Nightmares 

Tony was briefed of the event by Dum Dum Dugan and Maria Hill a full 5 hours after it actually occurred, since he had been in space repairing a satellite at the time.  Informing him that a splinter group named Advanced Genocide Mechanics had some connection  with what happened in Tabora, and after producing a piece of equipment which SHIELD labs could not account for, Tony became even more alarmed, as he begun outlining his own fears, while shield was on route for AGM’s headquarters, in Congo. 

 The Second Nightmare:  Someone else, other than himself would pilot the Iron Man.

No evil shall escape his sight

Immediately, he contacted the only other man that had access to an armor of his own devising: Jim Rhodes, the trustworthy War Machine, in order to ask him his opinion about the incident. Rhodey was absolute that the bombing could have been nothing other but the result of someone in a suit of armor – Tony thought otherwise, but could not make himself any clearer: he did not intend for War Machine to know, that after the Armor Wars, he had been keeping files on everyone that was wearing, or that ever wore a suit of armor, all around the globe: much to his disappointment, no candidates existed in proximity to Africa, where Tanzania is located, and as such, Tony deduced that the man responsible for the massacre must have been a new player.  

The Third Nightmare:  The Iron Man would become disposable, common, and no different than a cell phone.

Noticing some flaws that may, or may not have been the long term result of his exposure to the Extremis procedure, Tony decided to entrust Pepper Potts to process the feedback from his armor while he was out running the operation against AGM. He also informed, and asked her to give some thought on the Tabora incident, to try and find what he had overlooked.

All the while Iron Man was trying to contain the rebel army, Pepper actually found the much desired solution to the problem: scanning for the use of any form of Starktech in proximity to the bombing, she discovered that a teenage girl took a picture and tried to send it, simultaneously to the time of the explosion, but it had been unable to resolve, hanging to the mailserv ever since. 

The Fourth Nightmare:  That the person who would make the Iron Man easily replicable and disposable, would not be Tony Stark.

Routing the image through Tony’s helmet, Iron Man came to the realization that the last nightmare, the one he dreaded of the most, had just come true. The picture he saw, was one of three suicide terrorists that had repulsor technology fused in their internal organs. 

Murder Inc.

Mayhem in Philippines

Swiftly dealing with the entirety of the members of AGM, Iron Man faced their leader, MODOK, and had little

trouble into dispatching him to space, and shutting down their operation. Concerned that all the members of AGM lacked passion, and zealotry, he was certain that they were not the ones behind the massacre.

The prediction proved accurate once again, when, during an honorary ceremony in , another set of repulsor technology infused suicide terrorists, this time disguised as monks, caused mass destruction, and killed all the members of the country’s heroic squad. 
 

Evaluation

Once there to investigate, Iron Man, War Machine and Pepper confirmed Tony’s suspicions, with more clues that the technology was repulsor based, but also improving and growing at a significant rate.

The man behind it all was none other than Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane, the teenage son of Tony’s old adversary, Obadiah Stane (a.k.a. the Iron Monger). Who, with the use of cheap Stark based technology equipment he acquired from black market exchanges, was methodically trying to destroy Tony’s operations from the root, and most importantly, end his Tony’s life.

Putting the investigation for the culprit of the two suicide bombings aside for a while, Tony and Pepper attended a charity gala at Tony’s penthouse in. After a small argument, Pepper stepped outside the building, with Tony coming after her. He was then stopped by Zeke Stane himself, who had managed to sneak in the building. Distracting Tony for a while, he achieved his true goal: another set of suicide bombers entered the building, and everyone inside was caught up in a huge explosion. 

Pepper Pots At The End Of The World

Man on Fire

Managing to activate the Extremis undersheath, and call his armor from the other room in virtually no time, Tony not only managed to escape, but also see the figure of Zeke Stane, sarcastically smirking at him, at the exact point of the detonation. Searching for Pepper, he located her through her Stark ID badge, buried under the debris. As he watched the ambulance carrying Pepper away from the scene, Tony was stunned to see another survivor: Zeke Stane himself.

Tony was certain that Stane was the man behind the attacks, but had no substantial proof of  it. Stane on the other hand, escaped the medical facility he was kept in after causing significant mayhem. It was revealed that Stane had undergone a procedure enabling him to store far greater amounts of energy to his body, and channeling the energy as a weapon through his hands, but the intense amounts of heat, caused his skin to burn out. As a solution, Zeke decided it was time to create a uniform in order to absorb and redirect the energy from his body.

Uneasy solutions

In the meantime, Tony was informed that Pepper’s condition was critical – a shrapnel penetrated her chest cavity, and was closing into her heart. Adding the other injuries she sustained during the explosion, made an operation about the removal of the shrapnel, impossible. Determined to save Pepper, Tony awaited for her to regain consciousness in order to explain the situation, and offer her a solution: adding a derivation of the repulsor that kept him alive after his own accident years go, to her chest, to prevent the shrapnel from reaching her heart, while she was recuperating.

 Later on, Tony went to , where another explosion took place. At that time, and while giving Maria Hill insight about his past with Zeke’s father, Obadiah, Tony started to suspect that Zeke had been using parts from his own original technology to achieve what he had done. Scanning the site for Starkteck, he found one more damaged repulsor, what came to be Zeke’s trademark, until that point.

Stane is ready

Tony’s search came to an abrupt end after he was attacked by remote controlled androids, commanded by Chinese agents, while accused of unauthorized access. Defeating them without much trouble, Tony headed back to Pepper’s side, where the doctor informed him that all went well.

Little did Tony know that Zeke Stane had managed to complete his suit by that point, and was setting up the final pieces in order to retract his revenge against him. 

Neutron Bomb Heart 

It's all part of the plan.

Tony then asked for confirmation that the various pieces of equipment found on land sites were originally created by him before being modified, and repurposed, from Reed Richards: Reed confirmed it, while the duo was playing chess on multiple boards at once. Tony knew then that his suspicion was correct all along: Zeke Stane needed him to complete his plans – he did not invent something for himself, he merely build upon Tony’s tech. While continuing their game, Tony explained that he started learning chess in order to understand better Obadiah Stane, and eventually beat him in his own game. When Reed questioned him on how he intended to beat Zeke, a younger, dangerous and quite possibly smarter, opponent than him, Tony responded that Zeke was not smarter than he is: his attachment to original Stark was proof of that. His attacks in various sites had been escalating, just distractions and tests of his true cause. Before Reed could shape one final question, he came to realize that Tony had checkmated him on every single table, simultaneously. After doing so, Tony cryptically said that that is how he intended to beat Stane, before leaving the room.

Intending to bail out Stane, and certain that he would, sooner, or later, be in need of his technology once again, Tony gave a piece of his original armor to a friend, a collector of superhero related items, with the instruction to immediately sell it on the black market. Tony had placed a tracer on the armor.

Once contact was made, and Zeke did buy the spare part of the armor, the tracer-tech went online, and was located by SHIELD. Noticing that the tracers pointed out to four different sites – Long Island, Valencia, Tokyo and Los Angeles, it became clear that Zeke Stane did not only intend to kill Tony, but also destroy the most crucial Stark facilities and cripple Tony’s company, all in one blow. 

Code Black

Zeke triumphant?

personnel from each company. The one in occurred too late, though. Stane ordered the hit to commence earlier than anticipated, costing the life to fifty-eight people. Intending to put an end to Stane’s actions, Tony entered the field while trying to pass unnoticed by Stane – only to find himself failing. A brutal fight commenced, with Stane slowly gaining the upper hand. Realizing that his opponent could very well be superior to him, Iron Man fought valiantly, nonetheless, only to find himself in the losing end, with Zeke decapitating him. Or did he?

Irrational Actors

Painful Price

In the meanwhile, Stane, realizing he had been played, and gave the OK for the hits to start, while fighting off multiple older armors. It was at that point that Tony finally arrived at the scene, landing on top of Stane himself, and bracing for the final fight. Quickly immobilizing him, Tony asked him to cal off the hits, but Zeke refused. Holding yet another ace up his sleeve, Tony had planted devices in each location,   to unleash electromagnetic pulses, and thus shutting down every piece of Stark equipment, from regular computers and advanced suits of armor, to even the suicide bombers. The fight continued without armors, neither for Tony, nor for Stane, with Iron Man finally putting Zeke down, mano a mano.

With the entire crisis avoided, Iron Man could not help but think that Stane actually provided him with a fifth nightmare: what kind of a man he had to become, in order to stop his four nightmares from coming true, and the price with which those actions came to pass. 

Secret Invasion 

Who do you trust?

Tony Stark survives but is later confronted while in the hospital by Spider-Woman who reveals a dead Skrull that had been impersonating Elektra. Tony has Spider-Woman join his Avengers squad, and gathers the Illuminati in order to inform them of the impending invasion. Fellow Illuminati member, Black Bolt, is also revealed to be a Skrull, but is killed by Namor. Afterwards a squadron of Skrulls attack. The Illuminati are forced to kill the Skrulls during the ensuing battle. In the aftermath, the Illuminati members realize they can no longer trust each other since they cannot tell who is real and who is a Skrull importer. They go their separate ways, hoping to defeat the Skrulls on their own terms. This story is ongoing..to find out what happened to Stark during this event read the Secret Invasion page.

Dark Reign

Iron Man: Criminal

Stark Disassembled

Powers & Skills

Tony Stark's intellect allows him to constantly upgrade his armor designs. Stark recently had to inject himself with the Extremis techno-organic virus to save his life. The effects are that now the inner layers of the Iron Man suit can be stored in the hollows of his bones, and he can control the suit with his mind through direct brain impulses. He can also remotely connect to just about any communication device, including satellites and computers, across the world. Stark can even regenerate organs due to the enhancement. Extremis also allows Stark to interface with his armor in a faster and more efficient manner as well, thus dramatically increasing his response time.

Iron Man's abilities are constantly changing because of his constant technological upgrades on the armors. In general terms, he has super strength due to the build of his armor. The exact amount of strength is unknown, but it seems that he can lift and press nearly 100 tons at maximum.

The armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment. Tony Stark's armor has a muscularly aligned matrix of crystallized iron enhanced by magnetic fields over layers of other metals like titanium, which grants him endurance capable of withstanding high caliber bullets with ease. He can withstand rockets, torpedoes and such, although he does take damage. The armor also enables Iron Man to fly at high speeds, exceeding the speed of a jet airplane, due to the rocket propelled boots that are placed on the bottom of the armor's boots.

Iron Man's suit has many power sources, such as solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source. The suit is also able to convert nearby energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy into electricity, or even drain electrical energy directly into the batteries for recharge. Although the suit has some open holes to allow the wearer to breathe normal air, it can be sealed off, allowing the pilot of the suit to go underwater or into space by granting its own life support and limited air supply systems.

As mentioned, Tony Stark controls the suit mostly by movement as if the armor is his skin and through the Extremis upgrade(before it started to fail), essentially making the suit an extension of his own body. In addition to this however is an internal artificial intelligence operating system that provides strategies, background information on opponents, and on surroundings and the current status of the suit.
 
The Extremis upgrade gave him a healing factor and enhanced abilities and could expel the inner-most armo layer in his body then "will" the rest of the Extremis armor to attach to him

Stark also has equipped the suit with numerous weapons over the years, making the suit more powerful each time. The most often used weapons are the repulsor rays (magnetically channeled beams of super-heated plasma)  that are fired from Iron Man's palms or gauntlets. Other weapons that are built into the armor include the uni-beam projector in its chest (controlling the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum from blinding searchlights to cutting lasers), pulse bolts that pick up kinetic energy along the way, so that they hit harder the further they have to travel, an electromagnetic pulse generator and energy shield, the generation of ultra-freons, the creating and manipulating of magnetic fields, sonic blasts, and a holographic generator to create decoys.

Tony Stark has also created many specialized models of the armor. Other models that are in his possession include a model for deep-sea diving, for stealth, space travel, etc. He has also enhanced the armor on a few occasions for unique circumstances. For example, Tony Stark has modified suits like the "Hulkbuster" heavy armor, composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability to allow it to take on the Incredible Hulk in combat. One time, when Stark had to face Thor, he made an armor modeled on the Destroyer and used a mystical power source.

Tony stark is effectively a genius, able to constantly create new and improved technologies and make upgrade after upgrade to his suit of cybernetic armor. Iron Man is able to harness his intelligence and ingenuity in order to allow him to defeat more powerful foes and escape their dangerous traps and machinations. Stark is also a powerful leader, able to command the loyalty and respect of others. Stark has been expertly trained by Captain America in hand-to-hand combat, making him a formidable opponent even without the power suit.

For more information on Iron Man's various armors see: Iron Man Armor   

Statistics

• Height:  6'1" 
• Weight:  225 lbs 
• Eyes:  Blue
• Hair:  Black

Iron Man & War Machine

One of the most requested and sought after battles in the Marvel Universe has always been War Machine vs Iron man. We've seen them battle only a few times but it's not always been

Iron Man Vs War Machine

• Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #2 (1993)
  
• War Machine #8 (1994)
  
• Iron Man #310 (1994)
  
• Marvel Action Hour: Iron Man #2 (1994)
  
• War Machine #22 (1994)
  
• Iron Man #11(1998) Parnell as War Machine
  
• Iron Man #12(1998) Parnell as War Machine
  
• Iron Man #19(1998) Parnell as War Machine
  
• Iron Man #20(1998) Parnell as War Machine

• U.S. War Machine 2.0 #2 (2003)

Alternate Realities 

Iron Man Earth-1610 (ultimate)

Earth-1610

The Iron Man of the Ultimate universe is a member of the Ultimates, that universe's version of the Avengers. In the Ultimate Universe, Antonio "Tony" Stark is a wealthy industrialist and a brilliant inventor. Like the original Marvel universe Tony, he has a dependency on alcohol and a life-threatening affliction. In this case however, his condition is an inoperable brain tumor which could kill him at anytime. For that reason he decides to use his remaining time to the best of his ability, becoming a philanthropist and superhero using the armor he creates.

In the Ultimate Iron Man limited series, it's revealed that the reason for Tony's unprecedented brilliance is that his body contains a regenerative virus which caused him to grow extra neural tissue throughout his body, effectively expanding his brain. However, a side-effect causes him constant pain, which is mitigated by alcohol; one reason why he drinks so heavily. On the upside, the virus also lets him regrow lost limbs and organs with incredible speed, as long as he has enough protein available. His skin is also impregnated with a "bacterial armor" that makes him resistant to impact, though it apparently isn't fireproof. The bacteria would eat the skin of anyone who can't regenerate in minutes, which is why he hasn't mass-produced the design. 

Iron Man Earth-2149 Zombiverse.

In the Marvel Zombies reality Iron Man has been turned into a zombie as have most of Earth's heroes. Iron Man is one of the main characters of the Marvel Zombies storyline. Iron Man appears to be one of the uninfected heroes in the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier where the uninfected had met to hear Nick Fury's plan to save Earth from the virus. Iron Man is infected with the virus and he joins the infected zombies on the rampage to find food and consume it. He appears to be one of the zombies left in the Earth after everything was consumed and is one of the zombies to see Silver Surfer come to Earth to tell them that Galactus was coming to eat the planet. The zombies attack him and Iron Man loses his bottom half of his body during the fight but is thrown into the fray by Wolverine. After Silver Surer is subdued, Iron Man becomes one of the few to feast on the Silver Surfer and soon is able to fly again since he had gained a portion of the Surfer's powers. He is one of the zombies seen fighting Galactus, and he retreats to think of a plan to defeat Galactus. He thinks of making a machine where it combines all the zombies new Silver Surfer powers and unleash against Galactus. Iron Man, along with Hulk and Giant Man, build the machine while Galactus is fighting the others. They complete it and the zombies that had gained the Surfer's powers combine their powers into the machine and shoot a beam of the energy at Galactus. Galactus staggers a bit and they shoot a couple more until Galactus falls. Iron Man is one of the zombies that fight the villain zombies to see who would eat Galactus. The heroes easily win and they feed on Galactus, who was becoming conscious and Iron Man becomes one of the few who had gained Galactus's powers. He is seen appearing in an alien world flying with the zombies that had gained Galactus's powers. Later, Iron Man and the zombies are returning to Earth after forty years of consuming the universe. They return to Earth to see that there are still survivors and they attack the remaining survivors. They face opposition from Spider-Man and Luke Cage along with the survivors. Iron Man was the one who had breached the facility they were in and battles Forge, T'Channa(controlled by Colonel America's brain), and several acolytes. The zombies swarm in after the breach has occurred. Giant Man realizes his hunger had disappeared and and tells all the zombies that their hunger is gone. The zombies realize it too and they agree that they stop attacking and spare the survivors. However, an enraged Hulk appears and is hungry for food. Hulk assaults the survivors, but the zombie heroes intervene to save the survivors. Iron Man fights Hulk, but ultimately is killed by Hulk. 

In the Marvel Adventures reality Iron Man is a member of the Avengers along with Captain America, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine, Storm and Giant Girl. He also has many solo adventures against villains from his own rogue's gallery. 

Earth-2020

The Iron Man that was a member of the Weapon X team that appeared in Exiles was from this reality. He was one of the few Weapon X members that returned to his home reality alive at that time. 

In the Earth X reality Tony Stark is one of the few remaining humans. In this universe he founded the Iron Avengers. 

Earth-5012

This version of Iron Man is known as Iron Maniac. His armor resembles that of Doctor Doom, He killed Magneto, and he is more of a villain than a hero. 

In the MC2 reality Tony Stark is retired, but he created Mainframe in order to take his place in the Avengers. 

Anthony Stark of Earth-398 was known as Iron Knight and was a member of the Queen's Vengeance. 

In this reality Iron Man is Arno Stark, nephew of Tony Stark. He calls himself Iron Man 2020. 

In the year 1602, there is a Spanish Iron Man named Lord Iron, who became a prisoner in Jerusalem during the English-Spanish war, where he had to make weapons and is also being tortured by David Banner, the Hulk in this universe 

In the Age of Apocalypse, Tony is a member of the Human High Council. The injury on his heart was caused by a mutant in this reality. 

In this reality, Iron Man is the friend of Mimic, the member of the Exiles. 

In this reality, Iron Man is killed by Black Panther, who is called Coal Tiger. 

In this reality, Iron Man died defending his reality against Namora, who plans on invading that earth. 

In this reality where the Hulk is now called the Maestro and rules the world, Iron Man was one of the superheroes that was killed during the Maestro's rise to power 

Tony is horrified by the invasion of the Martians and threw all of his armor into space, where it was found by a group of aliens and they used the armor to become pirates calling themselves the Stark. They battle the Guardians Of The Galaxy. 

In the Crusader X, where the British still control North America, Tony Stark is a freedom fighter of the group called the Sons of Liberty. 

Iron Man Earth-58163 House of M.

In the House of M, Tony is still the owner of Stark Industries and is the winner of the Sapien Death Match, a reality tv show where humans will fight with powerful armor. Magneto became grateful to Tony and his teammates when they prevented a terrorist plot to commit genocide on hundreds of mutants using a "Gene Bomb". 

In the Marvel Mangaverse, Tony fought Namor and then disappeared. He was replaced by his twin sister, Antoinette "Toni" Stark, a former SHIELD agent. When she was killed by the Hulk, Tony appeared again and is now in the familiar armor. He explained that he had cancer in the spinal cord and is in life support inside the armor.

He design a giant-sized mecha for the Avengers, first, was a robot that is composed of transforming vehicles but was destroyed by the Hulk. The second robot was only a single unit and it battle the Galactus spores before being destroyed along with the Avengers by Doctor Doom 

Video Games

Iron Man makes an appearance in a variety of video games as a special playable character, including the X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.

Iron Man is a major character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, where he can be re-united with many of his Avengers teammates. He is also a main character in MUA 2 which released late 2009. 

Iron Man makes a cameo appearance in The Punisher video game, and again as one of the main characters in a number of Marvel games such as Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, Captain America and the Avengers, Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes War of the Gems, and Marvel vs. Capcom 1 & 2. 

He appears as the lead character in Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal.  

Animated Iron Man

 
Iron Man's first appearance on television was starring in the Iron Man segments of the 1966 series The Marvel Superheroes Show. Later, Iron Man starred in his own animated series beginning in 1994. He also appeared on Spiderman and his amazing friends. He also guest starred on Spiderman the Animated Series.He also guest starred on the Incredible Hulk .He also guest stars on Avengers United They Stand .He appears in the Fantastic Four Worlds Greatest Heroes episode Shell Games. He has his own series now called Iron Man Armored Adventures. 
 
Iron Man Armored Adventures  
  
This series is a retelling and re-envisioning of the  Iron Man franchise, it's most similar to the Ultimate Iron Man in regards to Tony creating the Iron Man armor as a young teen. It is currently airing and has it's own toy line currently in stores.
 
The Super Hero Squad Show

Iron Man appears as the leader of the Squad. Voiced by Tom Kenny. He's protrayed more as a softy and he usually sleeps in his suit.

The Invincible Iron Man (Animated Movie)  

Future Films