Tony Stark isn't the same man he was before. Sure, Iron Man's been a bit of a jerk from time to time. Tony Stark is known for being a little arrogant. But after the events of Axis, we've seen Tony go down a slightly darker path. At first it seemed like he was doing some really great things for the people of San Francisco but now there's the question of what are his ethical beliefs and is he now crossing a serious line?

SUPERIOR IRON MAN #4 was released last week. There will be some spoilers so be sure to check that out first.

The idea behind Tony Stark's new Extremis 3.0 app is people can download it and make themselves better. Their bodies will appear younger, healthier, and...superior than before. The problem is, there is a cost. To maintain this near-perfection, the user has to pay a daily fee. This has become a large portion of San Francisco to head into a state of panic after getting a taste of a better life. The rich have no problem keeping up with the payments but others have resorted to crime and other activities in order to make the payments.

This is what caused a conflict between Iron Man and Daredevil. Having witnessed this new wave of crime and violence, he's tried convincing Tony that he's created a serious problem and needs to shut it all down.

Tony did address the concern about the act and desperation of some individuals. His solution is a new Stark Security System -- Iron Sight.

Basically, Tony's solution was to use information gathered when users downloaded the Extremis 3.0 app. The drones can access the data from the phone including the phone's cameras to create facial recognition. With the drones flying around the city, any crime committed could be witnessed and if it was an Extremis 3.0 user, their identity would immediately be known.

When asked about the privacy of users and citizens, Tony felt that would be a small price to pay. With Iron Sight, the lives of the children and innocent would be protected. His goal is to make the city a crime-free zone. As for those that still can't afford the app, Tony feels the knowledge or taste of it will be incentive for them to try to achieve more within their lives. They'll try to work harder in order to be able to afford it.

The question is, is violating the privacy of individuals in order to guarantee the safety of a city justifiable? Tony may sound like he has good intentions in ending crime but a lot of the new incidents were because of his app. He also didn't give full disclosure in what his intentions were. He claims it was all in the terms of the app (which no one really reads these days). Do those terms mention data could be collected from their phones without their consent?

I think we can all agree that what Tony's done is still wrong. He first presented the the app as a gift to the city. There wasn't any mention of a price coming later. Yes, he was telling the truth about the app being free once it was automatically sent to their phones (without their permission). He didn't force anyone to keep the app or use it. He made it sound as if he was giving the city a gift with no strings attached. Placing a high daily cost clearly shows Tony's intentions of making money. He is a business man after all. Even building and employing his drone cameras would cost money. But no one asked him to turn San Francisco into a crime-free zone.

There's also one other matter.

Daredevil has discovered another one of Tony's secrets. The app isn't all it appears to be. Tony was caught in a pretty big lie. Do all businessmen never lie? One could debate it's a matter of lying versus simply not disclosing all the facts or truths. Clearly Tony has crossed a line by introducing a virus upon the city.

This doesn't mean Tony is a completely evil businessman. Daredevil's life is put in danger and he does save him. Although, what he does next is pretty jaw-dropping.

Iron Man may still be a hero but with each action he performs, it's becoming more and more questionable. Our consensus is, Tony is being a super-jerk. He's making some very questionable business plans and it's only a matter of time until people find out the truth.

Why don't you take our poll and tell us what you think. You can go more in depth in the comments.

(Note: if you get a "session expired" notice, refresh the page).

Lol

No one thinks of him as a business man BTW there was a typo in paragraph 3 it says pa a daily fee instead of pay.

Don't like this douchebag twist on iron man one bit. He be thrown in jail for multiple ekectronic and humanity violations for pulling such crap. Not my marvel.

never seen him as a business man mostly just a guy who likes to party,have a good time.Also digging the new suit.

He doesn't need to make money at all. Hes already rich lol

Putting a virus in to people's drinking water for profit? That sounds textbook supervillain to me.

Its funny how "Superior" has become the term for destroying a hero, first with the "Inferior Octopus" and now with A**hole Ironman

What's $99 a day to be perfect. No crime, great skin, perfect friends. Tony for Mayor!

I love this book.

The three options you've given are BIASED. It's obvious you're convinced he is an evil business man, or headed along that path.

The option I see is similar to Bill Gates and how he left the business world to become a humanitarian. The drive is far FROM gaining MONEY and MORE towards becoming HUMANITIES GOD-LIKE savior...

In my opinion Tony is convinced that human beings are equally gifted with the ability to become GREATER than their previous circumstances, they just need proper incentive in-order to awaken that hunger and drive to be better. He assumes that every human may not be MOTIVATED by being wealthy alone, but we all MAY want to have UNLiMITED and better physical life, so maybe that is the proper MOTIVATION to become BETTER...

So I see him as a "TWISTED EXTREMIST HUMANITARIAN BILLIONAIRE" with a GOD-LIKE EGO

I really like the poll option for this article! I think you should do more articles like these!

Meh...

We knew it was coming....

I've always looked at Tony Stark as Bruce Wayne; a billionaire douchebag who is incredibly arrogant and rude. The difference, of course, being that Batman uses the Bruce Wayne identity to divert suspicion away from himself (he's not REALLY that kind of person) whereas Stark IS an overall unlikable person. That he takes a spot as one of the big three at Marvel is what turns me off so much about their universe (as I like my share of team comics) and stories like this go a long way towards cementing that opinion. Maybe something is wrong with his mind and it's making him do this? Either way, there's something wrong with a "hero" if I can't tell the difference between their mind being manipulated for the worse or if they're just being themselves.

Looks like a superior jerk at this point.

I think Stark is definitely crossing the line that separates say Reed Richards from being Dr Doom!

Terry

I like this. we don't want every hero acting the same, being predictable.

MARY1714 get you're own LIFE and STOP sharing B.S spam...

Is this some sort of subtle subliminal message about the People of San Francisco? Hmmm.....Marvel goes extremis talking about the message! ;) lol

Anyway in the All new new new (totally not a reboot) marvel Now universe nobody will remember the horrible things he did.

@fattytravy: Read Court of the Owls yet? Bruce actually dedicates most of what he has towards making the city a better city.

He's a jerk . Plain and simple

@elmohump: I was more so referring to his societal habits than his philanthropy. I imagine Tony Stark is every bit as philanthropic, but my point was that the douchebag socialite image which Batman acts out as Bruce Wayne is simply how Stark actually is. Which makes him an overall unlikable person.

@fattytravy: There was a spell cast on a lot of heroes/villains in some event that changed their personalities, actually. A bunch of heroes are self righteous douchebags, and a lot of villains are questioning their ways. I forgot what exactly happened, though...

Tony Stark is probably the most successful supervillain ever in the marvel universe. He's done just about everything to anyone and he's gotten away with it all. He's second only to Dr. Doom in terms of sheer villainy and that's only because Doom has had more time. Another difference is that Doom has respect from friend and foe while Tony is like the drug dealer/pimp who puts on fancy clothes but is still just a punk who'll sell out anyone and do anything to get what he wants.

He is evil. I don't think there should be a debate about that. He is clearly evil. I have seen the same plot used by many super villians.

That new series is a great one. And you know why?
Because that feels at the same time right and wrong. So Stark is good here because he is jerk.

What I'm eagerly waiting for is for someone else to figure out how Extremis ACTUALLY works, and to then cobble together a hacked trigger for it.

All it takes is one person with a computer, after all. Tony's business plan is a lot more fragile than he's allowed himself to believe.

Tony is coming off as a cross between Bono and Superior Spider-man.

This

Tony Stark famed business gets inverted but instead of becoming a socialist becomes more of capitalist... of marvel you really don't think anything through do you.

I wonder if someday the Tom Taylor will write a comic of a hero just being a hero.

Tony has always been a jerk, now he's a super one

More like a super smarta**

Well, if Tony really would have been the philanthropist he claims he is; the wouldn't require payment at all or would only ask for a token fee such as 1$/day and even that would have made him insane amounts of money in a year. SF. 837 442 + about 100 000-200 000 at bay area = approx 1000 000 user = 365 millions a year and growing and growing every year but hey why ask less when you can make people go completely broke and buy them out once they do? It's a win win for "evil Tony" the complete monopoly is just an added bonus.

My friend pointed this out to me, but isn't Tony's plan, so far, the same as the one the villains used from the Halle Berry Catwoman movie? The difference being an app instead of cosmetics.

Regular Tony is a guy who legitimately wants to use his smarts to help the world, but at the same time is fearful of what his technology could do in the wrong hands. Inverted Tony wants to remake the world as he sees fit, and uses his tech to further that goal.

I'm really enjoying this storyline, the lines are getting very blurred between Hero and Villain for Tony, and I like that.

I say this again--AXIS was a stupid idea, even stupider than (referencing Spaceballs) using 1-2-3-4-5 as the combination to your luggage.

he is being an ass

Eh, ever since Tony Stark supported the registration of superhumans and even waged war against his fellow heroes I've been leery of the guy. You just can't trust Tony Stark.

I never read Superior iron man. but when i see the cover , tony stark says to me ''hello there, I am a dick, so why won't you just read my comic book. my life style is better then yours.''

Is Superior Iron-Man Strong enough to take on Sentry?

I'm hoping that marvel just kills him off. I'd rather no Tony than the creature they've been writing for so long now.

Tony Stark is selling legal highs. He's effectively a digital drug dealer.