Iron Man

"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 a genius, billionaire, 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 Ten Rings. 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 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.

Fresh off from defeating enemies all over the world, Stark found himself dying due to his own Arc Reactor poisoning his body, all while he was challenged by the vengeful terrorist, Ivan Vanko who attempted to destroy his legacy. Due to their assistance in both these battles, Stark reluctantly agreed to serve as a consultant to Director Nick Fury's peacekeeping intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. where he used his position to upgrade their technology while he began a relationship with Pepper Potts. With the world yet again being threatened, Stark joined the Avengers and helped defeat the Chitauri and Loki. Due to the battle, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, leading him to create the Iron Legion to safeguard the world and help him retire.

Threats of the Mandarin forced Stark to come out of retirement to protect his country, inadvertently putting his loved ones at risk and leaving him defenseless when his home was destroyed. Stark continued his mission, finding Aldrich Killian was behind the attacks and that Trevor Slattery was a pretend Mandarin. Eventually, Stark defeated Killian, almost losing Pepper Potts in the process. In the wake of the battle, Stark destroyed all of his armors with the Clean Slate Protocol. However, when the Avengers were officially demobilized due to the War on HYDRA, Stark built more armors and resumed his role as Iron Man, aiding them in the capture of Wolfgang von Strucker and acquiring Loki's Scepter.

Once the threat of HYDRA had been ended at last, Stark, influenced by Wanda Maximoff's mindgames, built Ultron with the help of Bruce Banner as a new peace-keeping A.I. to protect the world and allow the Avengers to retire. However, Ultron believed that humanity threatened the world and thus, according to his program, decided to extinguish humanity. Through the work of the Avengers, Ultron was defeated, however not without massive civilian cost and many lives being lost. After the Ultron Offensive, Stark retired from active duty, still haunted by his role in the chaos the A.I. created. The guilt of creating Ultron and causing so much destruction and loss of life eventually convinced Stark to support the Sokovia Accords. However, Stark's own strong support of the Accords lead to a disagreement with his ally Captain America, who opposed the act and what it meant for the team.

When Rogers then proceeded to further break the law to protect the Winter Soldier, Stark was forced to lead the manhunt for his old ally, igniting the Avengers Civil War. Eventually, Stark learned that Helmut Zemo had manipulated them into conflict and rejoined his friend, only to have Zemo reveal that the Winter Soldier was responsible for the murder of his parents, causing Stark to seek revenge and fight both Rogers and Barnes. Rogers, aided by an interference of Barnes and Stark's subsequent distraction and mindless grief, managed to disable the armor and put an end to the fight. With Rogers and Barnes on the run, Stark returned to New York to become a mentor to Spider-Man and to guide him in order to make him a better hero than he ever was.

Stark proposed to Pepper Potts, and was recruited by Doctor Strange and Bruce Banner to defend Earth from Thanos and the Black Order. Strange was captured, prompting Stark and Spider-Man to rescue him from captivity and travel to Titan to battle Thanos with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Stark later battled one-on-one with Thanos and made him bleed but was subsequently beaten to submission. He was ready to die in order to save the universe, but Doctor Strange interfered. Strange surrendered the Time Stone to Thanos in exchange for Stark's life. Stark remained on Titan with Nebula as they watched their allies disintegrate into ashes.

Troubled Childhood
"What do you remember about your dad?" "He was cold; he was calculating. He never told me he loved me, he 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 had 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, to 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. One thing about Tony's childhood that annoyed him was his nanny that cared for him until he was 14. While he was in high school, Stark hacked into the Pentagon on a dare by some 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, leading Stark to become 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
"With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry, by ensuring freedom and protecting America."

- Tony Stark's award ceremony

A few months later, Stark inherited Stark Industries, becoming the youngest CEO of a 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.

Creating Demons
"A famous man once said, ‘we create our own demons’. Who said that? What does it even mean? It doesn’t matter; I said it because he said it, so now he was famous and then basically getting said by two well-known guys. I don’t…argh. Let me start again."

- Tony Stark

On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, attended a science conference in Bern, Switzerland. There Stark got so drunk he could barely give his speech and rejoined the party as soon as possible. While celebrating he met a scientist named Ho Yinsen who introduced him to Doctor Wu, although Stark swiftly dismissed them both and moved through the party. While moving throughout the hotel with Happy Hogan and Hansen, Stark then arrogantly avoided a gifted but crippled scientist, Aldrich Killian, who wanted Stark's financial backing for his own science company, Advanced Idea Mechanics. Once they were alone in an elevator together, Stark then purposely told the excited Killian to meet him on the rooftop of the building to discuss him working with Stark Industries, with the intention of not even turning up. Back in Hansen's hotel room, Stark looked at her new research into a project known as Extremis which had the potential to regrow human limbs if she could get enough funding. Stark was amazed by the concept, although Hogan was less impressed and played with a nearby plant despite being told not to. Stark and Hansen then went to her bedroom where they continued flirting with each other before then leading towards each other for a passionate kiss. However, Hogan inadvertently caused a small explosion by touching the plant, causing a brief moment of panic. Stark sent Hogan away and then spent the night with Hansen, leaving Killian freezing on the rooftop where he even considered committing suicide out of complete humiliation. Stark was unaware of Killian's suffering and woke up the next morning, completed Hansen's formula for her before walking out and returning home, leaving Hansen behind.

Testing Weapons in Arizona
"I hate when people tell me my place. Which reminds me, Celeste, Eloise, let's go see my place!"

- Tony Stark

Stark and James Rhodes went to a weapon demonstration at the. Pepper Potts gave the weapon's specifics to the generals while Stark and Rhodes went to a night club. Stark enjoyed the company of two girls while Rhodes tried to convince him not to go to Afghanistan for a weapons demonstration. Stark was then attacked by a man whose girlfriend he previously seduced, but Rhodes was able to defeat the attacker. Stark, Rhodes and the girls went to Tony Stark's Mansion in order to continue the party.

Final Day of Freedom
"Miss Brown, it's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals." "You rehearse that much?" "Every night in front of the mirror before bed time." "I can see that."

- Tony Stark and Christine Everhart

After a presentation of Stark's successful past, James Rhodes was given the honor of presenting the Apogee Award to him at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When Obadiah Stane gave Rhodes a signal saying that Stark was not there to receive it, Stane took the award in Stark's honor. Shortly after the award ceremony, Rhodes brought Stark the award while he was gambling in the casino inside of Caesars Palace. Rhodes got angry at him for not being present. Right when Stark was just about to leave the hotel with all of his own entourage, Christine Everhart ran up and tried to get an interview with him for her magazine. Having been told Everhart was attractive, Stark agreed to her interview, all while he deflected her questions with some swift quips. Upon being morally questioned, Stark defended his actions and turned to seducing Everhart, as the two ended up at Tony Stark's Mansion where they had sex. In the morning Stark had left Everhart in his bed to be greeted by J.A.R.V.I.S. and escorted home while he began working on one of his cars. His assistant Pepper Potts then arrived and reminded him about his trip to Afghanistan. Stark remained complacent, unfazed about being late as it was his own plane therefore it would wait for him. Potts then revealed it was her birthday, noting she had used Stark's money to buy a present for herself from him. Finishing his coffee, Stark then finally left his mansion and drove to the airport followed by his bodyguard Happy Hogan, who struggled to keep up with his boss who drove exceptionally fast. He got to the plane three hours late and found Colonel James Rhodes was still there waiting for him to finally turn up, incredibly annoyed to have been left waiting for so long, although Stark was not bothered at all. He then got onto the plane and sat down along with Rhodes who tried to discuss business between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces while Stark all wanted to do just drink and then relax, much to Rhodes' continued great annoyance. Despite wanted to discuss his work, Stark managed to convince Rhodes to have a drink with him and before long, he and Rhodes had gotten completely drunk and had a small party on the plane. As Rhodes discussed his work in the United States Air Force, Stark completely ignored his friend and focused his attention of the air hostesses who had begun undressing and dancing around a pole in the middle of the plane for both of their entertainment.

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 Afghanistan, 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 Stark received a round of applause from everyone. After the successful presentation Stark had a drink, noting that the whiskey came with every order of the Jericho missile. While all of the various members of the United States Armed Forces celebrated the new deal, Obadiah Stane called Stark to ask how it had gone, with Stark explaining that they would be getting an early Christmas. Stark got into a convoy vehicle to leave, sending James Rhodes to another humvee to then go and return to their military base. As they drove down the road towards the military base, Stark sat with his whiskey while awkward members of the military sat with him and attempted to make small talk. Stark teased them, noting that he would have never guessed that the driver was a woman as he was asked all about sleeping with various super models before he was asked to take a selfie. Posing for the picture, Stark muttered about loving peace while asking the soldier not to make gang signs.

Kidnapping by the Ten Rings
"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

As Stark's convey drove through Afghanistan to return to the United States Armed Forces base, the convoy was suddenly attacked by insurgents, who blew up the car in front trapping them. Stark watched in utter horror as the soldiers stepped out only to be gunned down right in front of his own eyes, leaving his ears ringing from the many explosions. While soldiers were dying around him, Stark got outside and attempted to find some cover and call for help. While Stark was using his phone in his attempt to contact someone for assistance, one of Stark Industries' own bombs suddenly landed right by him, Stark saw this and desperately attempted to get away, however he was too slow and the bomb exploded right beside him. The resulting blast caused Stark to be thrown backwards and lose consciousness and embedded several pieces of shrapnel into his chest, several fragments dangerously close to his heart. While falling in and out of consciousness, Stark felt incredible pain as an operation was performed on his chest in an attempt to remove the pieces of shrapnel and save his life. Eventually, Stark dazed away to find himself in front of a camera as some various terrorists were now reading out a ransom note to an unknown viewer while Stark could only look on in dismay with various guns aimed directly at him. The shock of seeing this made Stark lose consciousness again. He woke up some time later to find Ho Yinsen in his cell with him and an electromagnet attached to his chest. Hooked up to a car battery, Yinsen explained that the electromagnet kept the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Yinsen went on to explain how they had once met in Bern during the 1990s although Stark had been too drunk to remember. Just as Stark questioned where they were, someone banged on the door from the other side. As Yinsen ordered Stark to get onto his feet, they were greeted by Abu Bakaar, who had Yinsen translate as he welcomed Stark as the greatest mass murderer in the entire history of the United States of America. Bakaar explained that he now wanted Stark to rebuild the Jericho missile for him, however Stark simply refused to help them. As a direct result of refusing to help the Ten Rings, Bakaar had Stark tortured by drowning him in freezing water repeatedly. Stark was then taken outside of the cave where Bakaar showed him how the Ten Rings had an incredible supply of his Stark Industries weapons, including guns and missiles which were being used against the United States Armed Forces, which clearly horrified Stark. As Bakaar continued his earlier conversation, he told Stark that they had all the materials needed for him to build a Jericho missile, promising that if he began immediately then once he was done, he would be returned home. Stark agreed to the job, although he noted to Yinsen that Bakaar would never actually allow him to get away, with Yinsen confirming that this was true while Bakaar smile at them. 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 Anton 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 Raza, the leader of this Ten Rings group who told Stark to relax before admiring his Arc Reactor. Raza compared Stark's work to that of who had almost conquered the world. Believing they were lying to him, Raza had Yinsen held down and threatened to put a red-hot coal in his mouth until Stark told him to stop. Raza 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 Raza and the Ten Rings 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 Ten Rings
"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 new Arc Reactor was being downloaded into the suit. However, the booby-trapped door the pair had rigged with an explosive was set off, killing all 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 Ten Rings 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 Ten Rings 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 Raza fired a rocket launcher at his former hostage. Iron Man managed to dodge the shot and returned fire, shooting a missile at the Ten Rings 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 Ten Rings 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. While back inside his Malibu Mansion, Stark called upon the help of Potts to get rid of the expired Arc Reactor in his chest, as Dum-E and U were unable to assist him. Although Potts was initially skeptical about the idea, she helped him at removing the Arc Reactor, although she accidentally put him through cardiac arrest briefly. Once they were finished Stark told Potts he only had her to help and told her to bin the Reactor as he no longer had any more use for it. 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 Ten Rings 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.

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.

Stark eventually perfected the flight power after much trial and error, taking the silver Mark II suit for its first test flight as Stark put on the armor for the first time 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 '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, having an attractive woman try to speak to him who Stark quickly dismissed as he did not remember her before complimenting another man who he had mistaken for. 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. Stark however was too distracted by seeing Pepper Potts, who he saw in the centre of the room wearing a blue dress. Having said goodbye to Coulson, Stark went up to Potts and complimented her on her dress, which she noted she had bought as a present from Stark using his money. Despite Potts' protests, Stark took her onto the dance floor and danced with her, as Potts worried about being seen dancing with her boss. They joked about Stark firing her to make it less uncomfortable but Potts noted that Stark wouldn't be able to survive without her assistance, questioning if he knew his own social security number which admitted he did not. Stepping outside, Potts confronted Stark about pushing her to dance with her while in front of all her coworkers due to Stark's reputation with women and fearing that her intentions with the dance would be misinterpreted by any who had watched them while Stark continued to argue that it was not really a big deal. As the spoke, the pair then almost kissed one another before Stark decided to go and get them both a drink, with Potts requesting a heavy drink. While ordering all the drinks for himself and Potts, Stark was then accosted by Christine Everhart, whose name he briefly forgot despite them having slept together. Everhart expressed her disgust at Stark and showed him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of the Ten Rings 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 Raza and his Ten Rings 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 Raza'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 Ten Rings' 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 Ten Rings 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 Ten Rings 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 ripped out the Arc Reactor from Stark's chest, causing him to go into cardiac arrest. 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 Obadiah Stane was attempting to execute Pepper Potts, so he charged down and knocked Stane aside, crashing into the motorway and then through a Roxxon Corporation lorry. Stane 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 Stane 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 Stane 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 Stane, 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 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 Am Iron Man
"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 the Ironette Dancers and 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. Unfortunately, Stark's own life was not as good as it appeared. Stark was facing a double threat. The first was in the form of his own heart: the Arc Reactor Palladium core was poisoning him due to overuse of the Iron Man armor. To maintain appearance, he was forced to drink home-made medicine to counteract the symptoms. Meanwhile Stark was also aware that the United States Armed Forces were constantly looking to take all of his technology away from him. Stark then left the Expo with Happy Hogan helping to keep the press at bay, signing autographs and meeting Larry Ellison and Larry King on their way out before he was then confronted by a beautiful U.S. Marshal who was waiting beside his car. The Marshal then informed Stark and Hogan that he was now required to attend a congressional meeting in Washington, D.C. the very next day in order to discuss the future of his work as the well-known superhero Iron Man.

Meeting with Senator Stern
"I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in. You can't have it." "Look, I'm no expert..." "In prostitution? Of course not you're a senator, come on!"

- Tony Stark and Senator Stern

The second threat was from a senate committee hearing, this time led by Senator Stern, demanding that Stark release the technology of the Iron Man armor for military application. Stark refused, believing it was not in the best interest of the American people for the United States Armed Forces to possess it and that they would use it as a weapon that could very well be used against America if other various countries were able to recreate the Arc Reactor technology. Senator Stern tried to turn Lt. Colonel James Rhodes against him in an effort to force Stark's decision. Competitor Justin Hammer tried to plead his case in the matter; Stark took this opportunity to embarrass both Hammer and Stern with a collection of footage of Hammer and others around the world attempting to recreate the technology. Stark arrogantly stated that it would be years before anyone would be able to successfully recreate the tech.

Making Pepper CEO
"I don't care about the liberal agenda anymore, it's boring, boring, I'm giving you a boring order, you do it." "I do what?" "Excellent idea, I just figured this out, you run the company." "Yeah I'm trying to run a company."

- Tony Stark and Pepper Potts

Returning to his Malibu Home, Stark was greeted by J.A.R.V.I.S. who updated him on the fallout from his meeting with Senator Stern. While Stark listened to the news, he pulled out his Arc Reactor and examined the damaged Palladium core which was slowly killing him, with J.A.R.V.I.S. noting that a replacement had not yet been found that could both power his many Iron Man Armors and also still keep him alive. Uncertain of his chances of survival, Stark decided to appoint his former personal assistant Pepper Potts into the role he no longer was interested in, CEO of Stark Industries. When Potts arrived in his workshop, she and Stark had an argument about Stark's own lack of interest in his company and their resources ever since becoming Iron Man at which point he informed her that he had decided to promote her. Although Potts did not at first believe that Stark was being serious with this idea, Stark had Dum-E deliver some champagne to them as he confirmed that this would be happening and she was the perfect person to take the job over from him. While doing some boxing training with Happy Hogan, during which he used dirty boxing techniques to gain the upper hand, Stark saw the arrival of Pott's new replacement as his own personal assistant, Natalie Rushman. Although Hogan hit Stark around the head, he proceeded to kick him away and beat him into surrendering before inviting Rushman into the ring. Stark looked into Rushman's eyes before inviting Hogan to train with her instead. Stark then sat down with Potts to discuss Rushman, with Stark bringing up her history files and noting that she even spoke and had once been an underwear model. While they were speaking Stark and Potts witnessed Rushman using a leg move to pin Hogan to the floor, before she exited the ring and asked Stark to sign the paperwork handing Stark Industries over to Potts. Once Rushman was gone, Stark told Potts that he needed her.

Monaco Grand Prix
"What's the point of owning a race car if you can't drive it?"

- Tony Stark

Stark traveled to Monaco with Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan. There Stark and Potts encountered Justin Hammer, who smugly tried to show off that he was being interviewed by Christine Everhart for an upcoming piece for ; Stark quickly made it clear of his own romantic history with Everhart and noted that Hammer Industries had lost their contract with the United States Armed Forces due to his embarrassing performance at the senate committee hearing. Taking some time away from Hammer, Stark excused himself to check his blood toxicity level in the bathroom. Seeing that the Arc Reactor's poisoning of his body due to the levels of Palladium it was emitting into his skin. Looking up at the mirror and seeing that he likely did not have much time left until he eventually died from this poisoning, Stark began questioning what he would like to do with these last few months that he likely had left. Growing increasingly despondent and thrill-seeking as a direct consequence of what he believed to be his impending death, Stark decided to take the Stark Industries car intended for the track and race it at the Monaco Grand Prix. As he stepped into the car, with all the cameras now facing him, Stark gave a look which he knew would be viewed by Justin Hammer, much to Hammer's annoyance as he would once again be taking the spotlight away.

Duel of Monaco
"Were you heading for me for him?" "I was trying to scare him!" "Because I can't tell! Better security! I was attacked!"

- Tony Stark and Happy Hogan

As Stark drove around the track, Ivan Vanko, who had successfully constructed an Arc Reactor of his own, along with whip-like energy weapons, attacked him, using the whips to cut off the front of his car and cause it to crash along with several other race cars. Despite Stark's best efforts to gain the upper hand once he escaped from the car before it could be sliced in half, Whiplash's armored weapons managed to get the better of Stark who was defenseless. As Whiplash prepared to rip Stark apart, Stark was forced to use his own wits and cunning to escape the deadly whips Vanko was using. Managing to get behind Whiplash, Stark struck him on the back of the head with a car door, but Vanko proved to be unaffected, forcing Stark to dodge out of the way of his attacks, while he did manage to trick him into striking the whips onto gasoline, causing an explosion which separated the pair from each other for a brief time. With Whiplash proving himself too strong to be beaten without his armor, Stark seemed to be running out of options as he was backed into a corner by Whiplash. However, with the aid of the sudden arrival of both Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, who had driven their car into the race track and successfully managed to crash their own car into Whiplash, pinning him against the wall and briefly knocking him out cold. Stark then prepared to quickly make his escape. However, while Stark moaned about Stark Industries' seeming lack of security at the event, Whiplash continued to fight despite still being pinned to the wall and began ripping Hogan's car apart with furious strikes from his electric whips. This forced the terrified Potts to then hand Stark his portable briefcase armor, allowing Stark to don the Mark V armor ready to do battle against his would-be assassin in the middle of the track, with Iron Man now with the advantage. Using his new suit, Iron Man attempted to subdue Whiplash by firing his repulsor rays at his attacker, but Whiplash was able to block those blows with his own armor before managing to strangle Iron Man with his whips and fling him across the racetrack into Hogans car and then back the other way, tightening the whips around his neck and sending him volts of electricity from the whips which slowly destroyed the suit while Vanko looked on smiling. Not allowing himself to be defeated, Iron Man managed to build up his own strength and began wrapping the whips around himself in order to get closer towards Whiplash. Once he was close enough he punched him in the face a few times before ripping the Arc Reactor out of his chest and crushing it in his hand. As Whiplash was being dragged away by the police, he then spat out his own blood before laughing and claiming that Stark had now lost.

Meeting with Ivan Vanko
"Where will you be watching the world consume me from? Oh, that's right, a prison cell. I'll send you a bar of soap." "Hey, Tony. Before you go, palladium in the chest, painful way to die."

- Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko

Afterward, Stark decided to pay a visit to Ivan Vanko personally while he was being held in a French prison to learn how he acquired the technology, being led there by Lemieux. Once they were alone, Stark commented on Vanko's technology and even suggested ways that he could improve it, thinking that he would never actually get a chance to. During the conversation, Vanko revealed that he was the son of Anton Vanko, who collaborated with Howard Stark on the first Arc Reactor but was deported back to the Soviet Union and died in poverty. Vanko blamed the Stark family for his family's fate, and sought revenge. Vanko also mentioned that was he fully aware of Stark's current heart poisoning, saying that it was a terrible way to die, laughing out loud to himself as Stark left.

Whiplash's Attack Aftermath
"You said no one else would possess this technology for twenty years, well guess what, somebody else had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore."

- James Rhodes to Tony Stark

Despite Ivan Vanko having been put in prison for his crimes, the response to another man using the Arc Reactor technology was immediate, with Senator Stern giving interviews on WHiH World News could Stark's failure. While on his private jet returning to the United States of America, Stark made dinner for Pepper Potts as they discussed the aftermath of the attack, with Stark even suggesting that he quit being Iron Man from now on. Stark returned to his home where he and J.A.R.V.I.S. tried to find a solution in finding a new power source for the Arc Reactor as well as looking at the history files of Ivan Vanko and his father Anton Vanko, who had formally worked for Stark Industries years earlier before being deported under the orders of Howard Stark. While at his home he was visited by James Rhodes, who came to berate Stark about the military's wish to take his suits. However, Rhodes realized how unwell Stark was and assisted him by changing the Arc Reactor Palladium core. Rhodes tried to convince Stark that he did not have to do his journey alone although Stark still remained skeptical. Feeling more depressed about his future, Stark considered cancelling his birthday party which was now being prepared at his Malibu Mansion. Stark was then visited by Natalie Rushman, who came to give him a choice of watches to wear. Stark posed these questions to Rushman, asking what she would do with only a few days left to live, with Rushman telling him that she would do whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted to do it with.

Stark's Birthday Party
"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" "We don't have to do this, Tony." "You wanna be the War Machine, take your shot!"

- Iron Man and James Rhodes

Stark decided to attend what could very well be his last ever birthday party and quickly got himself very drunk, putting on his Iron Man Armor and partying with the many other guests who had come to celebrate. At one point he invited Natalie Rushman to wear one of his gauntlets and fire it at an ice sculpture, taking great pleasure in the destruction before joining the other guests and drinking more alcohol shots to get himself even further drunk and even harder to keep in control. While wearing the Iron Man armor and indulged in many dangerous activities, such as using his repulsor blasts to destroy a watermelon, Stark was watched by Pepper Potts who attempted to make him stop, being advised by James Rhodes that this was a terrible time to be acting so foolishly. Despite Potts taking the microphone away from Stark and trying to tell the guests that it was time to go home, Stark would not listen to reason and instead insisted that his party keep going as he continued to reckless as he used his Iron Man Suit to entertain his drunk guests within his Malibu Mansion, much to Potts' and Rhodes' dismay as they looked on in horror. In the end, Stark's actions became more and more dangerous and foolish, forcing his friend, Rhodes, to intervene. Rhodes donned Stark's Iron Man: Mark II armor and ordered the guests out of the room before demanding that Stark get out of the suit. Stark ignored him and instead requested that Adam Goldstein put on a good song for the incoming fight. The pair clashed as they flew through room to room, using whatever weapons they could find to try and subdue the other, including throwing heavy weights at each other before Rhodes managed to throw Stark into his upstairs bedroom. Eventually, after almost destroying all of Tony Stark's Mansion in the resulting fight, Stark managed to subdue Rhodes by smashing his head down against the kitchen counter, roaring at the onlookers to force them to flee. As Rhodes recovered, they both then fired their repulsors at each other, which caused a massive explosion. With Stark out of the fight, Rhodes then delivered the armor to the United States Armed Forces while Stark could only look on.

Nick Fury's Help
"What do you want from me?" "What do we want from you? What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with."

- Tony Stark and Nick Fury

In the aftermath of his battle with James Rhodes, Stark took the Iron Man Suit and flew to Randy's Donuts in California, buying himself a box of Donuts and enjoying them in the middle of the Donut sign above the shop. Just as he was relaxing in the morning sun, Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approached Stark and ordered him to come inside. Taking a seat inside, Stark once again informed Fury that he was not interested in joining the Avengers before rudely asking if he should look at Fury's eye or patch. Changing the subject, Fury then revealed to Stark that Natalie Rushman was in fact the undercover agent Black Widow, who Stark tried and failed to fire from Stark Industries. As Stark and Fury continued their conversation, Romanoff gave Stark an injection which slowed down the poison in his veins caused by his Arc Reactor before Fury reassured him that somewhere there was a cure and he simply had not discovered it yet, despite Stark insisting that he had already looked everywhere and found nothing. Returning to Tony Stark's Mansion, they discussed the history of Anton Vanko who had been working with Howard Stark in creating the Arc Reactor before he was deported for selling secrets on the black market where he then raised his son Ivan Vanko in Siberia. Before he departed, Fury revealed that Stark's father was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders and left Stark to go through his belongings to find the cure, leaving Agent Phil Coulson to watch over him.

Researching his Family
"Dead for almost twenty years, still taking me to school." "The purposed element should serve as a viable replacement for Palladium." "Thanks, Dad."

- Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.

Nick Fury gave Stark some of his father's old material to aid in finding a cure for the palladium poisoning. Stark found several items, including the notebook with the drawings of a "hypercube" and two Captain America comic books. Watching an old tape of his father, Stark discovered a hidden message where his father told him that he was proud of his son and viewed him as his greatest creation. Stark then drove to the Stark Industries Headquarters, buying some strawberries along the way and met with Pepper Potts who tried to inform him she was too busy to talk. Once Stark got her attention, he attempted to apologise in his way, which Potts struggled to believe and insisted she needed to focus on Stark Industries' future. They were interrupted by Happy Hogan and Natasha Romanoff who were both now working only for Potts. As Potts and Hogan left the office, Stark spoke with Romanoff and questioned how she could keep this lie going and she insulted him before leaving. Stark prepared to leave the office, dumping the strawberries into the bin, but first he thought he saw a hidden message in the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo proved to be a diagram of a new element's atomic structure. Stark took the model into his car and drove it back to his mansion for further study. Putting the model on his desk, Stark ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to make a scan of the model, removing all the trees and buildings from the scan so he focus just on the model itself. As J.A.R.V.I.S. questioned what Stark's plan was, he explained that he believed he had found a hidden message. Eventually Stark realized that the new element was inside the globe in the centre, with Stark thanking his father for gifting him with it as it would soon save his life.

A New Element
"You want to run some tests? Run them, and assemble the suit while you're at it, put it together now." "We are unclear on the..." "I don't want to hear it J.A.R.V.I.S., Tastes like coconut! And metal!"

- Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.

As Stark put the final pieces together to begin his experiment, he was greeted by Agent Phil Coulson who asked where he had been before discovering a prototype for Captain America's Shield which Stark took and used to straighten some of his machinery. Coulson then informed Stark that he was leaving to head to New Mexico to investigate a mysterious object that had been found there. With the aid of his A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark put his experiment into action, putting together a large laser in the center of his workshop in his Mansion. Stark pushed the laser into position, struggling to hold it in place as it put through the walls while he aimed it at its target. As the laser hit the newly designed Arc Reactor he had made, it finally synthesized the new element. As Stark picked up his creation and studied it, J.A.R.V.I.S. confirmed that the new element would indeed be a suitable replacement for Palladium and would be able to keep him alive while powering his Iron Man suits for the foreseeable future, Stark then continued work on the Reactor and his next suit. Afterwards while Stark continued his work on his new suit, he received a call which turned out to come from Ivan Vanko, despite having last been heard from dying in a prison explosion, revealing he was still alive and still set on revenge. While Stark attempted to trace the call and locate the dangerous terrorist, Vanko promised that he would soon have his revenge for what Howard Stark had done to his father Anton Vanko before hanging up the call. As Vanko had warned that he had taken Stark's scientific advice and upgraded his Whiplash Armor to be ready for their next battle, Stark donned the Iron Man Mark VI armor. Despite J.A.R.V.I.S.' objections, Stark wore his new Arc Reactor and commented on how it felt putting it on for the first time, noting he got a distinct taste of both coconut and metal before he suited up and flew off to the Stark Expo to then confront Vanko and stop his evil plans of revenge.

Battle at Stark Expo
"All these people are in danger, we gotta get them out of here, you've got to trust me for the next five minutes." "Yeah I tried that, I got tossed around your house remember." "Listen, I think he's working with Vanko."

- Iron Man and War Machine

At the Stark Expo, Iron Man arrived to confront Justin Hammer, who was busy unveiling his Hammer Drones, captained by James Rhodes in a heavily weaponized armor known as the War Machine Armor: Mark I. While trying to keep the audience calm, Iron Man demanded to know where Ivan Vanko was, although Hammer denied all knowledge of him and tried to play off the incident to the audience. Vanko seized control of both the drones and Rhodes' armor, setting them all to attack Iron Man, who then flew across the Expo in his desperate attempt to lose his attackers and cause them all to crash, while ordering J.A.R.V.I.S. to regain control of War Machine. During the battle, Iron Man did all he could to save the hundreds of people fleeing during the chaos, managing to save Peter Parker who was mistaken for him by a drone for wearing an Iron Man mask. Quickly running out of options as War Machine continued to fire upon him using Hammer Industries weapons, Iron Man did all he could to take out the drones, flying them all away from the civilians before leading them straight into the main globe in the centre. Using the Iron Man Armor: Mark VI's superior manoeuvring abilities, Iron Man had managed to escape and caused the bulkier Hammer Drones to crash into the globe and explode all together in a massive fireball. However before Iron Man could relax, he was knocked out of the sky and into an Oracle Corporation dome by War Machine, who was still being controlled by Vanko. Iron Man tried desperately to block War Machine's attacks, holding his mini gun at bay until Black Widow had successfully managed to override all of Vanko's programming, having broken into the Hammer Industries Headquarters, with a little help from Happy Hogan, despite failing to arrest Vanko.

Showdown with Whiplash
"You have a big gun, you are not the big gun." "Tony don't be jealous." "No, it's subtle all the bells and whistles." "Yeah it's called being a badass."

- Iron Man and War Machine

Iron Man knocked War Machine back before Black Widow confirmed that he was safe at last and in control of his own armor, before also complimenting Stark on his new element which had now stopped his Palladium poisoning, causing Pepper Potts to confront Stark for not telling her he was dying. While Potts had Justin Hammer arrested, Stark helped Rhodes back onto his feet. Knowing that the last remaining Hammer Drones would be coming to their location, both Iron Man and War Machine then set out a plan to battle them, however this only led to an argument between the two friends over who should take the better position in the area, with both of them arguing that they had the superior armor and skills. However before they could make up their minds, the Drones then arrived and surrounded Iron Man and War Machine, with nowhere to escape to, the pair donned their own helmets and prepared for battle, firing their weapons at the attacking Drones which outnumbered them. As the battle then commenced, Iron Man and War Machine found that although they could easily defeat each Drone, the numbers began to overwhelm them. While War Machine used his impressive weaponry provided by Hammer Industries to destroy the attackers, Iron Man used his top of the range armor to fight back and destroy multiple targets at once, eventually using his laser attack to slice all of the remaining Drones in half and finally win the fight. Eliminating the other drones, Iron Man and War Machine were then informed by Black Widow that they had a new enemy coming in, who she warned appeared to be much stronger than all of the previous drones. This was revealed to be Whiplash in his new, more powerful suit of Armor. Attempting to kill Whiplash before the fight could even begin, War Machine armed the Ex-Wife Missile, only for it to fail and not even dent the armor, with Iron Man then noting that it was clearly a Hammer Industries weapon due to it being useless in battle. Iron Man then engaged in a fierce battle with Whiplash, with himself and War Machine throwing all they had at defeating him or maybe damaging his armor enough to cause him to surrender. However they both found that not only was Whiplash's armor too strong, but he had improved his whips to the point they were more dangerous than ever before and they both soon found themselves overpowered by Vanko's improved technology as well as weapons. Whiplash soon managed to gain the upper hand in the battle when he succeeded in wrapping his electrified whips around Iron Man and War Machine's throats and slowly tightening them, hoping to break their necks. With no other choice, Iron Man called on War Machine to use the technique they discovered during the Duel at Tony Stark's Mansion and fired their own repulsor rays at each other, triggering an explosion in front of Vanko and knocking them all back. Recovering from the shockwave and getting back onto their feet, Iron Man and War Machine found Ivan Vanko lying on the battlefield, with not only his new Whiplash Armor but his own body damaged beyond repair. Too injured to continue the fight, Vanko claimed that Stark had in fact lost this fight before he ignited his and all of his drones' self-destruct bombs, including one in his own armor. Knowing that these Drones were littered across Stark Expo since he had shot many of them out of the sky, Iron Man then flew to rescue anybody remaining there before they exploded and caused major casualties. Iron Man raced to save Pepper Potts amid the series of explosions, pulling her away just in time. Seeing the chaos that Stark brought with him, Potts quit her position as CEO of Stark Industries, but Stark only teased her about the concept of leaving him before she and Stark kissed each other. Rhodes revealed he was there before he departed with the Mark II armor without serious objection from Stark, leaving them where Stark refused to accept her resignation.

Not a Suitable Candidate
"How can you approve me but not approve me? I got a new ticker, I'm trying to do right by Pepper, I'm in a stable-ish relationship." "Which leads us to believe at this juncture we'd only like to use you as a consultant."

- Tony Stark and Nick Fury

At a debriefing, while showing news footage of another superhuman event, Nick Fury informed Stark that while Iron Man was a suitable candidate for the "Avengers Initiative", Stark himself was not. S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted Stark as a consultant, but Stark said that Fury could not afford his help. Stark thought about the position for a moment and he agreed on the condition that Senator Stern present himself and James Rhodes with their medals for bravery in defeating Whiplash and Justin Hammer. A couple of hours later in exchange, Stark got his wish and took the job as consultant. He took great pleasure in Senator Stern's annoyance at being forced to give him a new medal, smiling for the pictures and offering a peace sign to the crowd of onlookers.

The Consultant
"Ahh... the smell of stale beer... and defeat. You know, I hate to say 'I told you so,' but that Super-Soldier project WAS put on ice for a reason. I've always felt that hardware was much more reliable."

- Tony Stark to Thaddeus Ross

Keeping with his job as consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark was tasked with preventing General Thaddeus Ross from releasing Emil Blonsky onto the Avengers Initiative, ordered by the World Security Council. Stark arrived at the bar where he found a drunken General Ross, who was still dealing with losing the Hulk, despite his own prolonged search for him. The two exchanged insults about each other's recent battles before Stark told him that a team was being put together. Stark annoyed Ross so much that the latter tried to have him removed from the bar, which Stark bought and arranged to be demolished later on, which Stark informed Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell on. The task was then completed with General Ross refusing to release Blonsky from his custody out of pure spite.

Avengers Initiation
"You have reached the Life-Model Decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message." "This is urgent." "Then leave it urgently."

- Tony Stark and Phil Coulson

Stark retrieved the War Machine armor and stripped it of all of the new Hammer Industries weapons and turned it back into the Mark II. When James Rhodes then arrived, Stark informed him that he would never wear that armor again because he made him a new one with improved technology and weaponry. Stark focused his efforts on Stark Tower in New York City which was powered by pure clean energy, with Stark admiring that his own name was lit up. Upon arriving at Stark Tower, he and Pepper Potts began celebrating the successful creation of their newest, clean energy source for the entire city, with Stark telling her that she could have twelve percent of the credit for Stark Industries' newest breakthrough. Stark was then informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that agent Phil Coulson had arrived and now wished to speak with him, to which he refused and even claimed to be a Life-Model Decoy, but Coulson still insisted that he needed to speak to Stark urgently and then let himself into the tower, much to Stark's dismay as he blamed Potts for the security breach. Coulson informed Stark that the Avengers Initiative was now active in the wake of the Destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. in which Loki had attacked some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and stolen the Tesseract, and had also taken Erik Selvig and Clint Barton as his mind-controlled slaves. Coulson explained that they needed him to come in despite having previously been rejected from the Avengers, handing Stark holographic screens with information about Captain America, Thor, Bruce Banner and Loki for him to study. While Potts and Coulson left the tower, Stark began examining the Tesseract design.

Capturing Loki
"Do not touch me again." "Then don’t take my stuff." "You don't know what you're dealing with." "Shakespeare in the Park? Doth Mother know you weareth her drapes?"

- Thor and Iron Man

Stark quickly suited up in his current Mark VI armor and then traveled straight to Stuttgart, Germany where he then quickly found his old acquaintance, Natasha Romanoff in a Quinjet overlooking the newly unfrozen Captain America in the middle of a battle with the hostile god, Loki. Iron Man jetted right in and blasted Loki with his repulsors and stood tall next to Captain America, aiming every weapon he had and forcing Loki to surrender as they took him into custody. Escorting Loki onto the Quinjet in handcuffs, the team headed back towards the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier. Stark commented on Rogers' fighting skills and subtly mocked his lack of knowledge of modern society since returning from World War II, questioning if he had taken up. As they were discussing why Loki had surrendered, a sudden thunderstorm had occurred, seemingly unnerving Loki. The Quinjet was then attacked by Thor, who broke in and subdued Iron Man before he could fight back before ripping Loki out from his seat before flying away, leaving Stark and Rogers behind. While Thor furiously threatened Loki atop a mountain in order to learn exactly who Loki intended to give the Tesseract to, Iron Man blasted straight into him, hurling him onto the forest floor away from Loki. While Thor got his bearings, Iron Man revealed himself and was warned to not touch Thor again, to which he told him not to take his things. Thor then informed Iron Man he did not understand what was happening, and Iron Man mockingly claimed that Thor looked like he was in a production in the park, telling him that he looked like he was wearing his mother's own clothing. The two began to battle as Thor refused to not be allowed to take Loki was to the Asgardian Dungeons as he furiously struck Iron Man who defended himself. During the fight, Thor summoned lightning to his hammer, Mjølnir, and electrocuted Stark however this only succeeded in super-charging Stark's suit. J.A.R.V.I.S. inform him that his suit was at 400% capacity, allowing him to blast Thor off his feet. When Thor attempted to charge at him, Iron Man charged back and managed to push him straight into a mountain, but Thor continued to fight back and caused them to crash land back in the forest where they then continued fighting each other. Iron Man's Mark VI armor took a beating during the battle as Thor easily began to crush one of the gauntlets with just his bare hands. Fearing his arm would be shattered, Iron Man responded by shooting Thor in the face, which merely knocked his head back, before head butting him with his helmet. However Thor's own Asgardian strength allowed him to withstand all of Iron Man's blows and be unaffected as they continued their fight with Iron Man using all the advantages of his suit to try and subdue Thor without killing him so that he could then take him and Loki back into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. Their fight was broken up by Captain America who demanded that they stop fighting and questioned what Thor was doing on Earth, and being told that he had come to put an end to Loki's Schemes. Then Rogers insisted that Thor prove that he was on their side by putting down his hammer, to which Iron Man noted that was a bad move as Thor loved his hammer, just before he was struck by the hammer and knocked through a three just when Thor furiously attacked Rogers. After matching Mjølnir with his shield, the Avengers managed to calm and recruit Thor, recapturing Loki and taking him away.

Meeting the Avengers
"It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

- Tony Stark to Bruce Banner

They took Loki back to the Helicarrier where Stark had a talk with agent Phil Coulson and promised to take him to Cleveland to meet with Audrey Nathan. Stark then joined the group, complimenting Thor on his fighting skills and pointing out an Agent playing Galaga before noting that Loki needed Iridium in order to control the Tesseract's power. As Stark noted why Loki needed Erik Selvig and Clint Barton, he was questioned about his new found expertise by Maria Hill, noting that he had done his research the night before, noting that all Loki needed was a power source to control the Tesseract. Stark was introduced to Bruce Banner who understood all of his own theories, delighting Stark who then complimented Banner on his own intelligence and ability to turn into the Hulk. Director Nick Fury then suggested Stark and Banner work together to try and understand Loki's Scepter, with Steve Rogers comparing it to a HYDRA weapon. While Rogers still struggled to understand a lot of the team's new modern references, Stark and Banner departed for the lap to begin their research, but not before Stark planted a hacking device and allowed J.A.R.V.I.S. to begin searching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database to find out its secrets about why the Avengers were assembled.

Team Tention
"Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?" "You know damn well why! Back off!" "Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me." "Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

Stark talked with Bruce Banner in their new lab as they discussed all of Erik Selvig's work and inviting him to come work at Stark Tower for a stress free work place, despite Banner claiming that he broke Harlem last time he was in New York City. Stark then tried once to annoy Banner by poking him with a prod in order to test his ability to control the Hulk, only to get no response apart from pain before Steve Rogers entered and demanded he stop harassing Banner. Stark wondered if Banner used jazz or marijuana to keep his cool, to which Rogers found less than funny, telling Stark he was risking the lives of everyone onboard the Helicarrier and should be focusing on the issues at hand. Stark however suggested that Nick Fury might have other motives for restarting the Avengers Initiative, although Rogers was unconvinced. Banner noted that Loki's comments could have been referring to Stark Tower and the power it supplied. Rogers once again told Stark to remain focused on locating Loki, only for Stark to insult his Uniform and send him out of his lab. Stark commented on how his father had so often admired Rogers having worked with him back in World War II. When Stark noted that he wanted Banner to be in the fight with them when it came time for it, Banner insisted that he could not, calling the Hulk a nightmare. Stark then told Banner about how his Arc Reactor was keeping the shrapnel he gained from his kidnapping away from his heart, calling it a terrible privilege, with Banner claiming his situation was not the same. Stark noted all the Gamma Radiation Banner was exposed to should have killed him and maybe the Hulk saved his life. Stark and Banner learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. was trying to harness the Tesseract's powers to begin Phase 2 and create weapons of mass destruction. Fury soon learned of their schemes and challenged them both, with them soon being joined by Captain America who had also found out that S.H.I.E.L.D. was using HYDRA's technology to learn how to harness it, based on Red Skull's designs. Just as Fury tried to defend his actions, Stark contradicted him, forcing Fury to confess they were building the weapons in response to Thor and the recent Battle of Puente Antiguo which they were unprepared for. While Banner called their new team a time bomb, Stark got into a heated argument with Rogers who claimed that Stark was not a hero but a selfish man in a suit of armor, while Stark noted that Rogers was only a hero because of the Super Soldier Serum given to him by Stark's father and Abraham Erskine, leading to Stark challenging him to a fight. During a ensuing argument between the Avengers, Banner inadvertently picked up Loki's Scepter, revealing Loki's control over him. All of Loki's troops then arrived, led by the brainwashed Clint Barton, and attacked the Helicarrier in order to free Loki.

Attack on the Helicarrier
"Cap, hit the lever." "I need a minute here!" "Lever. Now!"

- Iron Man and Captain America

When one of the Helicarrier's engines was destroyed by Hawkeye, Stark quickly suited up in the Mark VI armor and rushed outside to try and assist in its repair. Iron Man arrived and soon assessed the damage, recruiting Captain America to help him by checking all the main controls while Stark went inside the engine, however Stark was soon frustrated when Rogers struggled to understand the modern technology that he was currently looking at due to his lack of exposure to any of it. While Iron Man and Captain America were working together by the damaged engine, Nick Fury and Maria Hill were unable to stop Hawkeye using one of his arrows to shut down the Helicarrier's power, causing it to fall out of the sky, dramatically shortening the time Iron Man had to save the day. Upon arriving at the engine itself, Iron Man used his laser to cut through the damaged propeller and decided to use his suit's power to restart the engine by hand, telling Captain America to pull a lever in order to free him from the engine before he got shredded inside it when it moved too fast. Iron Man put all of his might into pushing the engine in order to get in spinning fast enough to lift the Helicarrier back up into the air, saving all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents onboard. However Iron Man soon found it was beginning to move too fast for him to keep up and then asked Captain America to pull the lever, only to learn Rogers was now busy fighting Loki's own soldiers. Iron Man was briefly trapped and badly damaged by the propeller until Rogers managed to free him just in time. Iron Man then flew to Captain America's location and subdued the soldier attacking him before his suit lost all power.

Something to Avenge
"That's what he wants! He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." "I caught his act in Stuttgart." "That’s just previews, this is opening night. And Loki, he’s a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered on it."

- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

With the Helicarrier now safe thanks to their efforts, the duo then learned that during the chaos, Bruce Banner had transformed into Hulk and caused mass destruction before he had escaped from the ship, as well as Thor being ejected from the Helicarrier by Loki who escaped but not before mortally wounding Agent Phil Coulson. When medical assistance was called in for Coulson, it was soon confirmed that he had in fact died from all of his wounds, news which shook Stark to his very core. Stark and Steve Rogers were then gathered together in the control room where Nick Fury expressed his own deep regret for Coulson's death, presenting Rogers with the Captain America Card Collection he had asked him to sign. While Stark listened in silence, Fury then explained they could not locate the Tesseract, confessing that he was planning on recreating HYDRA weapons with it's power. before he informed the two that the Avengers Initiative was started so the isolated individuals could become something more and that Coulson died still believing this. Hearing this, Stark got to his feet. Visiting the site of Coulson's murder at Loki's hand, Stark began talking with Steve Rogers about how Coulson did not have family, but was dating Audrey Nathan. When Rogers called him a good man, Stark called him an idiot for challenging Loki with the Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun on his own. Stark began furiously claiming that they were not soldiers in a war and he would not be following Fury any longer, noting about how Loki made it personal to draw them in. Rogers went to dismiss the comment but Stark noted that making it personal was Loki's plan, to rip their new team apart. While rambling on about the theatrics that Loki has pulled off as part of his grand plan for world domination, Stark began to draw closer to finding out where the Asgardian God of Mischief would set off the portal to bring the alien army forth, commenting on how Loki wanted his victory to to be seen by the world. At that moment, Stark realized he had built something out of ego, Stark Tower, and it would provide both the perfect source of energy to open the portal and serve as a taunt. With a "son of a bitch" escaping his lips, Stark then informed Rogers of his epiphany before quickly walking out of the room. With this new lead, Rogers put on his Uniform and recreated the other available Avengers while Stark repaired the Mark VI armor so it was battle ready again. Fueled by a desire to avenge Agent Coulson's death, Stark soon had his armor ready to go into battle. While Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, who had now freed of Loki's mind control, left onboard a Quinjet which they had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man flew himself straight to New York City in order to finally confront Loki and end his attack, although he found the armor still lost some power along the way.

Confronting Loki
"There’s no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we’ll avenge it."

- Tony Stark to Loki

Iron Man soon arrived at Stark Tower where he found a device had installed on the roof powered by the Tesseract that was now being controlled by Professor Erik Selvig. Iron Man ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to cut the power from the tower, only learn the portal device was already self-sustaining. Failing to convince Selvig to shut down the device, Iron Man blasted it; however the barrier around the device bounced the blast back. Iron Man saw that Loki was watching in amusement from the balcony of Stark's penthouse and, seeing that there was now nothing else he could do to stop the invasion, Stark decided to change tactics and landed and had the Mark VI armor removed and faced off against Loki without any defences. In a sense of hospitality, Stark offered Loki a drink, but he declined before Stark threatened Loki. To buy time to put on two metal bracelets, Stark then promised Loki that he would be stopped by the Avengers no matter how long it took them, although Loki still remained unintimidated by the concept Stark listed off all the Avengers members to show what Loki was up against, seeing Loki cringe at the mention of Thor. Loki insisted that his army would overcome them with ease, so Stark then noted that they had a Hulk on their own side. Stark then promised that even if the Avengers failed to protect the Earth, they would at least avenge it by defeating Loki, the now furious Loki promised that the Avengers would have no time for him when they were fighting a brainwashed Stark. When it seemed Loki would brainwash him, it turned out the Arc Reactor was blocking the Scepter from Stark's heart. Making a performance joke, Stark was suddenly attacked by Loki who vowed to destroy the Avengers before Stark was then thrown out of the window hundreds of feet above the ground. However Stark just managed to call for the Mark VII; it was rocket-propelled to him, and formed the suit around him by connecting to the Colantotte Bracelets he had put on right before he could hit the ground. Stark flew back up to Loki and told him there was one other person Loki had pissed off, Phil Coulson, and blasted Loki backwards before he could even react in the name of the late Agent Coulson.

Battle of New York
"Stark, you got a lot of strays sniffing your tail." "Just trying to keep them off the streets." "Well they can't bank worth a damn, find a tight corner." "I will roger that."

- Hawkeye and Iron Man

Stark was however confronted by Loki's device which opened a portal into space where Loki's army of Chitauri flew into New York City and began their war against Earth. Amazed at what he was witnessing, Iron Man charged upwards and fired all of the Mark VII's weapons upon the attacking alien forces. Iron Man recruited the help of Hawkeye by flying by the Quinjet and having him shoot the aliens out of the sky behind him while mockingly asking if they had stopped for drive-thru as they were so late to the fight. Stark fought off the Chitauri and tried to call James Rhodes, who told Stark that he was too busy fighting soldiers working for the Ten Rings, but would come to help as soon as possible. Iron Man then began to chase after a Leviathan, a giant alien serpent and the warship to dozens of Chitauri. When he was notified of the arrival of Bruce Banner on the field, Iron Man led the serpent towards him, saying he was bringing the party to the others, so that Banner would transform into Hulk and defeat it, with Iron Man firing a tank missile at the Leviathan to destroy it's body and finally kill it. Stark landed on the ground alongside his fellow Avengers. The team were then confronted by hundreds of Chitauri who flew in through the portal as well as several more Leviathans. Captain America gave out orders and instructed Stark to take to the skies and take out more Chitauri and keep them within New York City. Captain America then ordered Hawkeye to get onto the roof of one of the skyscrapers in order to inform them of the Chitauri's movements during the battle while also sharpshooting them, so Iron Man flew him up there while Captain America gave out his orders to the other Avengers. As the battle began, Iron Man focused on his task of insuring that the Chitauri forces did not leave the city and wreak havoc elsewhere. He soon found himself being chased down by multiple Chitauri Chariots which attempted to shoot him out of the sky, until Hawkeye advised Iron Man to fly towards a tight corner as he noted the Chitauri did not were not as good at maneuvering their craft as he was. Iron Man did as recommended and successfully caused the Chitauri crafts to crash into nearby buildings. However despite Thor's best efforts to block the portal, they still continued coming through. Charging throughout the entire battlefield, Iron Man came to the aid of Black Widow who was currently riding one of the Chitauri Chariots to try and reach Stark Tower, who Iron Man soon shot the pursuing Chitauri out of the sky to ensure she could get there. Iron Man then charged through multiple aliens to team up with Captain America, as they used his shield to deflect Iron Man's gauntlet blasts across the multiple enemies, increasing it's power as a result. Iron Man then aided Hawkeye by knocking several Chitauri off the building he was on before they could get to him as he continued flying. Having been told by J.A.R.V.I.S. that all his lasers were not cutting through the Leviathan's armored skin, Iron Man took inspiration fro the tale of, Stark took out a Leviathan by flying head-first into its mouth and launching missiles from the inside, tearing it apart before crash landing on the street. However, he soon got battered by numerous attacks. Stark asked Thor if he had ever seen , saying he reminded him of it. Thor asked him how he can joke around during the battle, but was then eaten by a Leviathan. Out of rage, Thor used Mjølnir to get out of the Leviathan.

Self Sacrifice
"I got a nuke coming in, it’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." "Stark, you know that’s a one way trip."

- Iron Man and Captain America

As the Battle of New York continued, the team found themselves still outnumbered and learned that Black Widow had now found a way to close the portal. Stark hindered this as Nick Fury has instructed him that Gideon Malick and the World Security Council had sent a missile to blow up Manhattan. Iron Man soon intercepted the missile and demanded that Widow keep the portal open, despite Captain America wishing to close it as soon as possible to end the invasion while they still could. Iron Man flew it up through New York City and up alongside Stark Tower and finally straight through the portal as he was taken into deep space. Iron Man looked in amazement at what was before him, all while he lost contact with J.A.R.V.I.S. and the oxygen swiftly ran out. As he lost consciousness, Iron Man released the nuclear missile and blew up the Chitauri Command Center, which resulted in the deaths of the Chitauri and Leviathan across the city. However Iron Man lost power in the Mark VII armor in the process and then fell unconscious back through the portal just before it closed. As Stark fell back to earth, he was caught by Hulk who landed with him back on the ground. Captain America and Thor ran over to Stark who appeared to be dead, only for Hulk to scream in his face, waking him up. Stark said they should get some to celebrate, despite not knowing what shawarma was. Rogers told him they'd do that later, since Loki still needs to be recaptured. Stark joined the rest of the Avengers to make sure he didn't get away. Loki, badly beaten by the Hulk, asked for the drink Stark offered him earlier; however, Stark ignored the request and took him into custody.

Battle Aftermath
"What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?" "We won." "Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is."

- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

A few hours later, Stark and all of the rest of the Avengers went into the Shawarma Palace where they all ate silently. They were soon interrupted by War Machine, who arrived too late to aid in the battle. The next day, the Avengers met in Central Park and made sure Loki was taken back to Asgard by Thor along with the Tesseract, despite Gideon Malick's objections. The team then went their separate ways; with Stark saying goodbye to Steve Rogers and shaking his hand before he drove away in his Acura 2012 Stark Industries Super Car with Banner by his side. Stark was later with Pepper Potts in Stark Tower ready to rebuild after the damage that was done. Stark would go onto focus his efforts into creating the Iron Legion in order to protect the Earth from the next threat from the Nine Realms, Stark showed Rhodes several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled. When Stark was presenting how he could now charge his new armor from solar energy at Stark Tower, when he was suddenly attacked by a villain called the Melter, who he defeated and put him in the United States Armed Forces' custody with War Machine's assistance. Feeling all the guilt of his recent actions involving the Battle of New York, Stark invested into Damage Control in order to clear up the wreckage left behind by the Chitauri and the Leviathans that now littered New York City. Putting Anne Marie Hoag in charge of the newly established Damage Control, Stark had Hoag take control away from Adrian Toomes' Crew to work on the clear up of the battle's aftermath, much to Adrian Toomes' great dismay.

Armor Obsession
"And I guess 72 hours is a long time between siestas. Didn't think it could get any worse, then I had to go and turn on the TV. That's when he happened."

- Tony Stark

Six months after the Battle of New York; Stark continued building up the Iron Legion, creating new suits for all possible eventualities. While in his Malibu Mansion, Stark tested out the new Mark XLII, which was built so that he could now summon various pieces of the armor when needed. He ignored J.A.R.V.I.S.'s concern about his lack of sleep, pointing out went without a lot of sleep and invented many things. Stark recruited Dum-E and U to assist him in filming the newest test. Some glitches with the new armor included the face plate and crotch plate, which hurt him if they impacted by themselves. With just the helmet to go, Stark noticed it was upside down so flipped himself over to help it fit. However as Stark celebrated, a final piece knocked him over and caused the suit to fall apart. Right after testing the new armor, Stark watched television, only to see that the terrorist Mandarin had made yet another attack on the United States of America. At the same time, James Rhodes had his own suit rebranded as Iron Patriot under President Matthew Ellis' direct orders to him.

Mental Struggle
"You know I can help, just ask. I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air." "When’s the last time you got a good night’s sleep?" " slept three hours a year. Look what he did?"

- Tony Stark and James Rhodes

Stark met with James Rhodes at a bar and diner where Stark spent much of his time mocking the newest Iron Patriot name, being told that it had tested well with focus groups; the government felt that "War Machine" was too violent a name, which would send the wrong message to children. Stark and Rhodes then discussed all of the Mandarin's attacks and how he was being hunted down. Two kids asked Stark to sign a drawn picture of him diverting the nuclear missile to the portal above Stark Tower. The picture depicted Stark's near-death experience in the Battle of New York which lead him to have an anxiety attack as he recalled what he had seen while fighting the Chitauri. He immediately put on his Mark VII suit to test for any faults in his physiology, only to be told nothing was wrong. Stark then left to return home and resume work on his suits. While at his home, Stark called Happy Hogan to get an update on what was happening at Stark Industries where Hogan was now head of security. Once Hogan had finished complaining about all of his experiences and embarrassments as Iron Man's bodyguard, Hogan told Stark that Pepper Potts was currently having a pitch meeting with Aldrich Killian at the Stark Industries Headquarters, although he failed to flip the screen to show Stark Killian's face. Having discussed meeting Killian in Switzerland back in 1999, Stark and Hogan discussed if Hogan should follow Killian, as he did not trust him or Eric Savin who had come with him. While Hogan told Stark to pay more attention to Potts, Stark said he missed his friend, with Hogan noting that he missed him too but also how Stark spent more time with the Avengers now, before Stark hung up the call and left his phone inside the wine cellar to continue working.

Anxiety Confession
"I’m just a man in a can. The only reason I haven’t cracked up is probably because you moved in. Which is great. I love you, I’m lucky. But, honey, I can’t sleep. You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know, I tinker. But threat is imminent, and I have to protect the one thing that I can’t live without. That’s you."

- Tony Stark to Pepper Potts

As Christmas was nearing, Stark decided to show Pepper Potts his love for her by buying a large stuffed bunny as her gift. Unfortunately, it was too big to fit through his mansion's door, so he would need to have the wall taken down to get it inside. Deciding to test his new remote-control unit, Stark had his Mark XLII armor sit on the sofa and wait for Potts to come home. Once Potts was home and greeted him, Stark lied that he was breaking in the armor. His ruse fell apart when she attempted to open the armor to kiss him; she went down to Stark's workshop for a crowbar, only to find him watching news reports on the Mandarin. Stark managed to quell Potts' anger by explaining that he's been feeling like an amateur in the big leagues since the Battle of New York; he's just a man in a suit against Asgardians, portals to other worlds and the Chitauri coming through. He then admitted that probably the only reason he had not snapped is because she moved in with him, for which he is greatly thankful. However, he was also been plagued by nightmares about these hostile forces attacking what he loves most, her. Because of this, he spent most of his time, even when she's asleep, building more and more of the Iron Legion to help protect her. Potts comforted him, understanding why he's been so distant from her since being involved with the Avengers. She then left to wash up for bed; however, Potts turned around and offered to have sex in the shower to cheer him up. Stark agreed, hoping not only to lighten his mood, but try closing the gap forming between them. Later that night, Stark attempted to have a good night's sleep, but had visions of himself going against the Chitauri Invasion, causing him to go into distress as he recalled almost dying while destroying the Chitauri Command Center. Potts attempted to wake and comfort him until his newest Mark XLII armor appeared, coming to Stark's aid, seeing Potts as a threat. Stark awoke and deactivated the armor, apologizing to a terrified Pepper who left him alone in bed.

Threatening the Mandarin
"My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm going to come and get the body. There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me."

- Tony Stark to the Mandarin

Stark's former bodyguard, now head of security, Happy Hogan was caught up inside the Destruction of the Chinese Theatre, seemingly caused by the Ten Rings working under the orders of the Mandarin. Stark visited him at the Los Angeles Mercy Hospital, ensuring that the nurses kept, Hogan's favorite program, on Television and to make sure they all wore ID tags as Hogan was a stickler for those. Having ensured that Hogan's health recovery was as comfortable as it could be, Stark prepared to return home while he was mobbed by the press who had requested a statement about the true cause of the blast. Stark ignored all of the questions and made his way to his car until he was stopped upon being asked if he would kill the Mandarin and put an end to his war against the United States of America, with Stark turning around upon being asked this question. He then issued a public threat to the Mandarin, calling him a coward who hid behind the Ten Rings and would not dare face him alone. Without a second thought due to his rage at Hogan's injuries, Stark gave away the address of his Malibu Mansion so they could face off. As he left, Stark smashed the reporter's phone and told him to send him the bill. This resulted in numerous news choppers flying around Stark's home, waiting to film Iron Man vs the Mandarin.

Mandarin Research
"Okay. What do we got here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning Adviser to the King. South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher. There’s lots of pageantry going on here... Lots of theater. Close."

- Tony Stark

Stark ended up fighting with Pepper Potts' over leaving their Malibu Mansion for their own safety, since he was dumb enough to give up his real address. Stark spent his time in the workshop, creating a database on the Mandarin and recreated the explosion that left Happy Hogan in a coma, searching for any clues that he could find what caused the fireball that had killed several people. With new information from S.H.I.E.L.D. databases, Stark tried to learn who the Mandarin really was. Viewing the holograph of Hogan, Stark found he was pointing at a dog tag belonging to Jack Taggart near the center of the explosion; using this clue, he looked for records of similar explosions of 3000 degrees. Ruling out the Mandarin attacks, Stark eventually found one case in Rose Hill, Tennessee, seemingly caused by Chad Davis committing suicide with a bomb vest. To Stark's surprise, the doorbell rang; J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him that there was only so much he could do since Stark had given the press his address. Donning the Mark XLII, Stark confronted his visitor, only to find Maya Hansen instead of the Mandarin. He initially mistook her comments about needing to get him alone as an offer for sex; so he turned her down, explaining that he was now happily in a committed relationship with Pepper Potts, which amused Hansen. At that moment, Potts dropped luggage from the second floor. Stark quickly asked Hansen if their one-night stand back in Switzerland had resulted in a child; after teasing him by hinting this might be true, she explained that this was not the case. Potts and Hansen met, while Stark continued arguing about confronting the Mandarin. While Hansen tried to move them out, Stark insisted they should stay while also yelling about the giant buddy had had bought her.

Destruction of Mansion
"J.A.R.V.I.S., where’s my flight power?!" "Working on it, sir. This is a prototype."

- Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.

However, as they were still arguing about what action they should take next, Maya Hansen then turned their attention towards their television, which showed a missile which was now currently heading straight towards Tony Stark's Mansion fired by Eric Savin. Before they could react, the missile struck the side of the Mansion and sent the pair flying backwards, with seconds to spar before hitting the wall, Stark signaled his new Mark XLII armor onto Pepper Potts, protecting her as they slammed into the wall, with Stark taking the brunt of the impact. Having been winded by the impact of striking the wall hard, Stark attempted to crawl away by noticed a large chunk of the ceiling was about to fall and crush him. However Potts appears wearing his own armor and saved his life. Stark claimed to have always said it was not safe to stay there and told her that they needed to get out. Upon being separated as the Mansion fell apart, Stark ordered Potts to get currently unconscious Hansen back to safety outside. While Potts pulled Hansen to safety, Stark was forced to avoid the helicopter's shots as they tried to shoot him. Once J.A.R.V.I.S. had informed Stark that Potts had now gotten Hansen to safety, Stark summoned the armor back to himself. Still avoiding the gunshots, Stark collected all the sections of the Iron Man armor, getting saved from a bullet in the back just in time, before triumphantly raising to his feet as he prepared to fight back against his attackers. Iron Man was unable to call upon the Iron Legion due to the Mansion falling apart around him and trapping them under rubble, so he was forced to defend himself using the new prototype armor, which lacked the offensive abilities of his battle armors. Despite being warned by J.A.R.V.I.S. that both the suit's flight and weapons capabilities were not ready and needed time to charge, Iron Man continued fending off the several helicopters surrounding him. When a missile had failed to fire, Iron Man then simply threw it at the helicopter and shot it with his repulsor, destroying the helicopter in the resulting explosions while the others still fired. Taking out a second helicopter by launching his piano at it, Iron Man had another missile fired at him and fell through the floor into his workshop. Iron Man watched as Dum-E and U was destroyed along with his armors from Mark I to Mark VII, which were consumed in fireballs. Having been outgunned, Iron Man was pulled into the ocean while his home and possessions were all demolished over him, with Iron Man still without enough power to fly himself to safety. As the Mark XLII began filling with water, causing Iron Man to come close to drowning, Eric Savin and the other attack choppers circled above the wreckage, looking for any signs of life. Iron Man was saved when J.A.R.V.I.S. took control of his gauntlet and used that to pull Iron Man out of the wreckage and flew away just in time as the power had been restored. Escaping, Iron Man lost consciousness from the strain and left J.A.R.V.I.S. in charge of the suit.

Back to Basics
"Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again."

- Tony Stark to Pepper Potts

Stark found himself in Rose Hill, Tennessee after J.A.R.V.I.S. followed his initial flight plan to locate the Mandarin. Unfortunately, since the new Mark XLII was still his prototype and highly damaged from the attack, it lacked the link to the Arc Reactor to sustain its own power. Therefore Stark awoke just as the suit crash-landed in the middle of Ross Hill and lost power, including the link to J.A.R.V.I.S.. This left Stark in the cold, with nothing left but his own genius to help him find a solution. Lacking the power to return to California, the world at large believed him to be dead from the Destruction of Tony Stark's Mansion, Stark dragged the Mark XLII behind him as he looked for shelter. Finding a phone booth, Stark called his system back home, leaving a private message for Pepper Potts to hear. Apologizing for putting her into harm's way, Stark stated that he now had to find the Mandarin and therefore he still could not return back home just yet. Stark broke into a work-shop belonging to the family of the 10-year old Harley Keener where he laid down the Mark XLII and attempted to fix the damaged parts until he was discovered by Keener. Despite being threatened with a potato gun, Stark found that he got along well with Keener, who soon reminded Stark of a younger version of himself, a child genius; Keener admired the Arc Reactor and had recommended using new retro-reflection panels to create a stealth armor, although he claimed to prefer the Iron Patriot name over War Machine for James Rhodes, which Stark highly disagreed with. Having discussed Keener's home life where he was growing up without a father, Stark mocked him by noting his own father was not there for him. Stark then requested that Keener find him a a digital watch, a cell phone, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich. Stark then gave Keener a flash grenade from his suit, recognizing the signs of a kid who has been bullied, to which Keener accepted while Stark demanded Keener get his sandwich. Stark enlisted Keener's help in finding the truth behind the terrorist bombings seemingly involving the Ten Rings and the Mandarin. While being lead to the site, Stark complained the watch he was given was a watch. While examining the site of the explosion, Stark realized something was amiss as there was no ash-imprint of Chad Davis who died and the blast was similar to the Destruction of the Chinese Theatre, with no bomb parts being found. However, when Keener started asking him about the Battle of New York and the Avengers and whether or not the Chitauri would return, Stark started having another panic attack. At this point, Stark had admitted that he should have been on medication to deal with his. Having pulled himself back together and thrown a snowball at Keener, Stark asked where Mrs. Davis could be found, with Keener telling him where she was.

Battle of Rose Hill
"You walked right into this one, I’ve dated hotter chicks than you." "Is that all you got? A cheap trick and cheesy one-liner?" "Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography."

- Tony Stark and Ellen Brandt

Seeking information, Stark set up a meeting with the mother of recently killed Extremis-infected soldier Chad Davis. Arriving outside the bar where he had been told he could find Davis, only to bump into Ellen Brandt, who complimented Stark on his watch, which he proudly noted was limited edition while also complimenting Brandt. Inside, Stark soon found Mrs. Davis, offering her his condolences for the death of her son. To Stark's surprise, Davis handed him a file on her son's work with A.I.M. which he had not asked for, which held key information regarding her son's death and showing that he had worked along with Jack Taggart. Stark told Davis that he believed her son did not commit suicide but was instead used as a weapon, at which point Davis realized Stark was not who she expected. Stark and Davis were then interrupted by Brandt; who revealed she was the one who had contacted Davis and attempted to arrest Stark. When the Rose Hill Sheriff attempted to stop this and questioned what was happening, Brandt then claimed to be before she suddenly used her Extremis powers to murder the Sheriff while Davis hid the file and Stark ran out, still handcuffed. Outside, Stark encountered Eric Savin forcing him to run for his safety. As Stark ran, Harley Keener threw a snowball to distract Savin before he could shoot him. Followed by Brandt into a restaurant, Stark was forced to fight against the highly trained Brandt with no weapons to defend himself. As they fought, Stark noticed that Brandt could heal from most injuries and could super-heat anything she touched, using this to burn through his handcuffs. Stark bought himself time to set up a bomb by igniting some fuel to block Brandt's way. While Davis walked through the flames, Stark put Chad Davis' dog tag in the microwave and exposed some gas. As she stepped inside, Stark joked that he had dated hotter girls than Brandt, who was currently on fire, with Brandt questioning if those would be his final words. Stark told Brandt that those words could be the title of his autobiography before fleeing outside and hiding behind an ice machine. An explosion then erupted, killing Brandt. As Stark recovered from his fight with Brandt, he suddenly witnessed Eric Savin using his own Extremis powers to bring a water-tower crashing down, trapping Stark underneath all of the debris. Savin held Harley Keener hostage in order to regain Davis' file, but Stark reminded Keener about his flash grenade he had given Keener from the Mark XLII Armor; this allowed Keener to get away before Stark was able to blast Savin with a secret spare repulsor. Stealing Savin's car keys from his pocket, Stark commandeered his car, taking off with the file from Mrs. Davis. As Stark prepared to leave, he was followed by Keener who insisted that Stark thank him for saving him from Savin, but Stark insisted that Keener instead go home to his mom and protect the Mark XLII armor until Stark had contacted him. As he leaved, Stark did thank Keener for all his help but teased him as he drove out of Rose Hill, leaving Keener.

Locating the Mandarin
"I’m chasing bad guys, trying to grapple with something from some hard-crypt data files. I don’t have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof, right? Recalibrate the ISDNs, pump it up by about forty percent. Right, it’s a mission. Tony needs Gary."

- Tony Stark to Gary

While driving Eric Savin's car, Stark called James Rhodes, who was overseas hunting down the Mandarin as well. Stark reminded Rhodes how last time he had vanished Rhodes had searched for him before requesting the log in to Rhodes' Comsat, with Rhodes eventually revealing that his password was War Machine, much to Stark's great amusement and Rhodes' own embarrassment. Stark found a nearby pageant and broke into a broadcasting van in order to use their computers to find out what he needed to know. While inside, Stark was confronted by the cameraman Gary, who froze upon realizing who was there as he was a huge fan of Stark and the Avengers, who noted that he had not believed Stark had been killed in the Destruction of his Mansion. Stark amused all of Gary's requests to show his tattoo of Stark and recruited his help. Using Gary's own satellite connection to hack into A.I.M.'s systems, which the file reported was responsible for Chad Davis' death. Stark watched footage of Aldrich Killian recruited Davis along with Ellen Brandt and Jack Taggart before they were injected with Extremis which enhanced their strength and regrew their limbs. Upon seeing one test subject exploding, Stark realized Killian must have sold his technology to the Ten Rings to use as human weapons. Stark called Harley Keener, to check on how the suit was doing; with it now fifty eight percent charged, and J.A.R.V.I.S. kept saying the wrong word at the end of each sentence. Asking for the Mandarin's location, Stark heard Miami was it; thinking J.A.R.V.I.S. had misspoke again, Stark asked Keener to read the location. To Stark's shock, the location was correct; this sent Stark into a panic attack, as he did not have any of his armors or a to call in the Avengers to help. Trying to keep Stark calm as he recalled the Battle of New York which made him panic even more, Keener suggested that Stark build his own gadgets if he would now have to defend himself when he would then confront both Killian and the Mandarin. The sudden thought of being independent and focusing on his work snapped Stark out of his panic attack as he drove away towards a gardening store to buy some supplies, several gadgets together.

Learning the Truth
"The Mandarin, the real guy, where?! Where’s the Mandarin?!" "He’s here. But he’s not here. He’s here, but he’s not here." "What do you mean?" "It’s complicated. Hey, it’s complicated, alright?"

- Tony Stark and Trevor Slattery

With all of his new home made gadgets now ready, Stark prepared to infiltrate the Mandarin's home and finally confront and possibly even kill the Mandarin in revenge for all of the lives he had damaged, including Happy Hogan. Taking position outside the walls, Stark used binoculars to spy on the compound, spotting several guards watching the entire area as Stark planned to get past them. Jumping over the wall, Stark inflitrated the mansion as quickly as he could. Using all his wits and fighting skills, Stark successfully and quickly knocked out several of the guards, using his newly made gadgets to gain the advantage as he fired knock out darts at the guards and using an electrified glove and home made grenades to get past them all and eventually get inside the building were Stark continued to search through the rooms for the Mandarin. Stark eventually found a large room filled up with movie props, along with the Mandarin's wardrobe; there was also signs that someone was living in the room and Stark found two half-naked women in the bed. Hearing someone enter from the bathroom, Stark then hid; the Mandarin entered, speaking in a British accent. Stark surprised him, holding the Mandarin at gunpoint, Stark was surprised by the sudden cowardly reaction from the terrorist and demanded answers. To his horror, Stark soon learned that "the Mandarin" was nothing more than a character the actor, Trevor Slattery, had been hired to play; Slattery was given endless amounts of drugs and anything else he desired in return for taking the blame for the explosions. The person who had employed him was Aldrich Killian, who needed to cover up the failures of his Extremis program. Stark was however knocked unconscious by Eric Savin who took Stark hostage.

Killian's Hostage
"What’s next for you in your world?" "I wanted to repay you with the same gift that you so graciously imparted to me. Desperation."

- Tony Stark and Aldrich Killian

Being held in captivity, Stark learned Maya Hansen was working for A.I.M.; she had used the formula he had written down in a drunken daze after their night together to better stabilize Extremis. Stark had forgotten all about the drunken equation he had given her, chiding her for losing her soul; he was with a woman who had a sense of right and wrong. Their conversation was interrupted when Aldrich Killian arrived and explained the reasons behind A.I.M. and how he was grateful to Stark for teaching him that he needed to rule the chaos from behind the scenes. Explaining that he was grateful to Stark for leaving him behind in Switzerland as it gave him a sense of desperation which changed his life, Killian went on to discuss Trevor Slattery's role, acknowledging Slattery's over the top personality. Killian compared Slattery's Mandarin performance to him creating a terrorist like or a  to blame his failures on. Noting his desire for Stark to suffer desperation, Killian revealed he had captured Pepper Potts and was currently infecting her with Extremis; with Potts' life now in danger of ending up like the failures, Stark would be forced to help improve Extremis for her sake, with Killian noting how much pain Potts was currently in. While Stark struggled to look at the video feed of Potts' suffering, Killian cruelly mocked him by noting how Potts was now at risk of exploding and offering to pay him for helping them. When Hansen tried to help him by threatening to kill herself to deprive Killian of one of his chief researchers, Stark witnessed Killian casually murder her without any remorse. As Killian left, Stark called him a maniac for killing Hansen while Killian claimed to be a visionary.

Break Out
"Put down your weapons, tie yourselves to those chairs, I’ll let you live. In five, four... Bang! You should be gone by now, you should have already been gone."

- Tony Stark to Ponytail Express

Stark was left guarded by two of Aldrich Killian's henchmen, one of whom broke Harley Keener's sister's watch. Once he learned the correct time, Stark worked out that the suit would be charged by now and offered the henchmen, one of who he nicknamed Ponytail Express, a chance to escape, believing that it would arrive in seconds, however this led to an awkward period of Stark awaiting his suit which took considerably longer than he expected to arrive. The reason being that the doors to Keener's barn they were being kept in were chained shut, and therefore the rest of the suit was trapped. Summoning his Mark XLII all the way from Keener's House, Stark was given one of his gauntlets which he used to shoot Ponytail Express and free himself, with a boot then attaching itself to his leg to give him the advantage in the fight against all the men, although Stark still questioned where all of the rest of the armor was. Having escaped captivity, Stark was forced to fight against several guards from A.I.M., despite only getting a hand and leg part of the suit for the duration of the fight and finding that this greatly affected how he could fight, as he struggled to maintain control of flying while wearing only the pieces of armor he had. When one guard grabbed Stark from behind, Stark used the boot to launch himself backwards and knock out the guard, stealing his gun in the process. Keener soon freed all the rest by destroying the lock with a powdery substance, knowing that Stark was in need of his armor. Once the guards were all knocked out, Stark prepared to shoot the last one, only to be amused when he quickly surrendered to him as he claimed to hate working for Killian and A.I.M.. The rest of the suit arrived and Stark made his way through the facility. He greeted J.A.R.V.I.S., while seeing the Iron Patriot Armor fly off, and his suit failed to fly. To Stark's surprise, he ran into James Rhodes, who he thought was in the armor. It turned out that the Armor was being worn by Eric Savin in order to kidnapped President Matthew Ellis. Needing a way to go after Killian, Stark remembered Trevor Slattery, waking him from another drunken stupor. Seeking a way to save the President from being kidnapped. Stark then remembered that Slattery also had been given a speed boat from Killian and demanded it. Onboard Slattery's boat, Stark called Vice President Rodriguez to inform him that President Ellis was about to be attacked by Savin posing as the Iron Patriot, with Rodriguez informing them that Ellis was about to board Air Force One. With Rodriguez promising to fix the situation, Stark and Rhodes discussed who they had time to save, Pepper Potts or President Ellis, with Stark deciding to remote control his armor so they could save both of them.

Saving the Air Force One Crew
"Easy. Eleven more to go. Remember that game called Barrel of Monkeys? That’s what we’re gonna do." "Eighteen thousand feet." "Come on, people! Everybody, grab your monkey!"

- Iron Man and J.A.R.V.I.S.

To protect President Matthew Ellis, Stark remote-controlled his armor to Air Force One, where Eric Savin had already forced President Ellis into the Iron Patriot armor and sent it away. Fighting Savin, Iron Man's armor was briefly disabled by Savin's Extremis powers, but Iron Man soon managed to shoot directly through Savin's chest and killed him, but at the cost of the plane falling apart around him. To his horror, Iron Man witnessed all of the passengers onboard were sucked out of the plane through a hall caused by a bomb Savin had planted and were now falling thousands of feet to the ground below. With everyone else falling, Iron Man flew out of Air Force One just before it exploded, questioning J.A.R.V.I.S. about how he could save them all, with J.A.R.V.I.S. informing him that the Mark XLII could not carry that many people at the same time. With no time to spare, Iron Man grabbed ahold of Heather and told her to grab ahold of whoever she could, explaining that he would send a shockwave through her body so that she could not let go to them. Iron Man saved two other passengers while diving down to collect the others, swiftly running out of time as they fell towards the ground. Forming a human chain by grabbing everyone else, once everyone was linked Iron Man dived for the final passenger. With everyone now connected, Iron Man used his thrusters to give them more height before he then dropped them in a river at a safe height. As the people cheered in celebration, Iron Man ensured that they were all safe and complimented them before turning around to return to the boat and go save Pepper Potts. However, when Iron Man was not looking, the armor was knocked apart by an in-coming truck, smashing into lots of small pieces across the road. Still back onboard the boat, Stark took off the Iron Man Mark XLII Telepresence Headset and then informed James Rhodes that he had indeed saved the passengers. As they moved on and prepared to go find Potts and Aldrich Killian, Stark was then informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that the clear out of his Malibu Mansion had now finally allowed him to reactive the Iron Legion, so Stark ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to send them to him ready for the next battle against Killian's soldiers.

Battle on the Norco
"Yeah. Merry Christmas, buddy. J.A.R.V.I.S., target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice." "Yes, sir." "What are you waiting for? It’s Christmas. Take ’em to church."

- Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.

Stark and James Rhodes had eventually traced Aldrich Killian to an impounded oil tanker called the Norco where he now intended to kill President Matthew Ellis on live television. Sneaking in, they were attacked by several Extremis Soldiers. Stark fired his gun at the soldiers, but was unable to stop them due to poor aim, which Rhodes mocked him about. Taking out a light from a long distance, Rhodes quickly proved himself to be the superior marksman due to being in the Armed Forces which greatly annoyed Stark. Outnumbered, Stark summoned the Iron Legion to their aid, all of which were currently being controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S., except the Mark XLII, which was running late after trying to save the president in Air Force One. Rhodes looked on in amazement as all the armors flew in together and lined up, awaiting the orders of Stark. Taking delight in his achievements, Stark then wished J.A.R.V.I.S. a Merry Christmas before sending all of the armors into battle, ordering the to target the Extremis Soldiers with extreme prejudice. Stark watched the battle unfolding, ordering Mark XXXVIII to hold up the platform under them and Mark XVII to assist Mark XXXV in the fight. Stark wore the Mark XXXIII suit and prepared to fly into battle, with Rhodes requested his own armor to fight in. Stark however revealed that the armors were only coded to himself and therefore he had to send the Mark XVII to carry Rhodes to find both President Ellis and the Iron Patriot Armor, much to Rhodes' annoyance. Stark then flew across the battlefield in search for Pepper Potts so that he could get her away from the battle and then back towards safety. While his suits continued to battle all of the Extremis Soldiers, with several of the armors being torn apart by the enhanced soldiers, Iron Man eventually found Potts unharmed underneath wreckage from a recent explosion. Iron Man mocked her about all of this happening because she spent time with Maya Hansen, while trying to get her out without risking the structure falling and crushing her. Reaching out, Iron Man and Potts were able to grab each other's hands. However before Stark could free Potts, Aldrich Killian unexpectedly attacked him and damaged the armor's Arc Reactor. Pinning Iron Man down, Killian began slowly burning through his suit with his finger, telling Stark to close his eyes and die. Refusing to give in however, Stark was forced to cut off Killian's arm with the armors hidden blade and eject from the suit, only for Killian's still red hot severed arm to burn through the floor underneath Potts. Seeing that Potts was trapped and being pulled towards a sheer edge, Stark charged through the battle field as he demanded that J.A.R.V.I.S. provide him with a new suit. As he ran across the Norco, Stark failed to get a new armor and was informed that Rhodes and rescued President Ellis and was taking him to safety. With all of the Extremis Soldiers being kept at bay, Stark began catching up with Potts and leapt from one platform to the other to get to her. Getting as close as he could, Stark was still unable to quite reach Potts and begged her to reach out for him as he stretched as far as he could to try and save her life. However, Stark was then forced to watch in utter horror, as a jolt from the platform she was on caused Potts to lose her grip as she fell into a pit of fire a hundred feet below to a certain death. Stark looked on with utter devastation as he failed to protect the one person he could not live without.

Showdown with Killian
"Okay, okay! Wait, wait! Slow down, slow down! You’re right, I don’t deserve her! Here’s where you’re wrong, she was already perfect. J.A.R.V.I.S., do me a favor and blow Mark XLII."

- Iron Man to Aldrich Killian

While Stark continued to react in horror, Aldrich Killian then appeared and even mocked Stark, claiming that if he was in Stark's position, he would have caught Pepper Potts. Infuriated, Stark then ran forward in order to engage in a final fight with Killian. When Killian leaped into the air to strike Stark, he then dived underneath him and donned the Mark XVI armor. Even with his armor on, Tony found Killian was the superior fighter and the situation was made even worse by Killian's Extremis abilities, which could penerate any armor with relative ease, using his red hot fists to cut through the metal armor and attempt to kill Iron Man. As their battle continued, Iron Man did all he could to subdue Killian, but found that he could withstand and heal from any strike and his strength also surpassed Stark's, even tearing off part of the Armor from his left hand and healing from having his left hand broken when they clashed their fists. When he was pinned down, Iron Man again exited his suit to avoid Killian's burning fist. Having launched himself off the edge of the platform, Iron Man then donned the Mark XL in midair and attacked Killian once again. Iron Man flew Killian across the battle field but was still unable to tire him out, as all his attempts to stop Killian were met with superior fighting skills and his armor was once again cut to pieces by all of Killian's Extremis powers, with Killian almost cutting off Iron Man's leg at one point before he was finally able to gain the upper hand. Iron Man was able to avoid death once again by ejecting out of his suit seconds before Killian ripped it apart with his bare hands, falling hard on his back onto the platform below. Standing alone on the platform, Stark, now armor-less due to the rest of the Iron Legion being preoccupied with Stark's command to destroy all of Killian's Extremis Soldiers, awaited the arrival of the Mark XLII but was soon deflated when it crashed and disassembled once again. Amused at Stark's failed attempt to don another armor to continuing fighting against him, Killian mockingly spoke to Stark about him not deserving Pepper Potts and claiming that he was close to making her perfect in his eyes by injecting her with Extremis. Stark told Killian that he was right that he did not deserve her but that she already was perfect and sent the Mark XLII onto Killian, trapping him with all the thrusters put on full power, pinning Killian against the wall. As Killian yelled out in anger at seemingly being defeated, Stark then ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to let the armor self-destruct while he escaped. Diving down off the platform, Stark avoided the massive explosion behind him, which seemingly destroyed Killian once and for all. As the fireball contiuned to grow and destroyed most of the Norco, Stark summoned the Mark XV to catch him as the leaped for safety, only for the armor to fail on the way down by crashing into the platform, causing Stark to crash land, barely avoiding all of the flames and the debris that followed him down from the explosion.

Suit Destruction
"You just scared the devil out of me. I thought you were..." "I was dead. Why? Because I fell two hundred feet? Who’s the hot mess now?" "It’s still debatable. Probably tipping your way a little bit."

- Tony Stark and Pepper Potts

Lying on the ground, Stark watched as the Mark XLII helmet fell into the fire before him and broke apart. Suddenly, Aldrich Killian emerged from the flames with most of his own skin destroyed seemingly beyond Extremis's ability of reconstruction and still intent on Stark's death. Stark was now powerless and at the mercy of Killian who called himself the Mandarin, saying that he was from the start. During this proclamation, Pepper Potts, still alive due to the Extremis in her system, struck Killian to the ground with a large metal pipe, with Stark was left speechless. The Mark IX armor flew downward in an attack position. Stark failed to tell J.A.R.V.I.S. to disengage. Potts then jumped off a beam to impale the suit' donned one of the suits arms. Stark watched as Potts sent Killian flying backwards threw a missile at Killian and blew it up with a repulsor blast. With Killian and all the Extremis Soldiers now dead for good, Stark approached the confused Potts who took a minute to realize what she had done while under the influence of the Extremis, calling it really violent. Stark and Potts teased each other about how he had thought she was dead while she joked about who was the bigger hot mess now. Stark apologized to Potts and promised to find a cure for her, joking a relationship with him would always be a mess. Stark, seeing Potts that was still worried about their future together, decided to now give her an early Christmas present and finally ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all his remaining Iron Legion armors in Operation: Clean Slate Protocol. Surrounded by the subtle, firework-like explosions in the sky, the two embraced, with Stark asking if Potts was enjoying the show, which she said she did as he accepted life without such an obsession with being Iron Man.

A Step Further
"I guess I'd say 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. One thing you can't take away... I am Iron Man."

- Tony Stark

Stark was able to use his vast resources to cure Pepper Potts of the Extremis, removing her powers as he promised; now there was no worry about her suffering an explosive end. Two days later, Stark underwent surgery from Doctor Wu to have the shrapnel removed from his heart, which he had gained during his kidnapping by the Ten Rings some years earlier and forever end the risk to his life. He used the pieces of shrapnel that had been removed by Doctor Wu to make a necklace, which he gave to Potts; ironically, this would be a gift from the heart which symbolised his commitment to her and not Iron Man from this point forward. Since Tony Stark's Mansion had been destroyed by Aldrich Killian and Eric Savin, Stark and Potts moved in together at Stark Tower, which he had now redesigned and renamed Avengers Tower ready if he would ever again need to rejoin the Avengers for a future mission to save the world again. Returning to his home's wreckage, Stark threw his Arc Reactor into the ocean, vowing that he was still Iron Man. He took the remains of his Dum-E and U to repair. Stark retired from the hero "business" for at least a year, but continued to work as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. and run Stark Industries. He began helping S.H.I.E.L.D. by making repulsor technology for their three new Helicarriers, to avoid the issue that happened during the Attack on the Helicarrier.

Therapy Session
"Where did I lose you?" "Elevator in Switzerland." "So you heard none of it?"

- Tony Stark and Bruce Banner

In the wake of his battle with Aldrich Killian and all of the stress he had endured from the Battle of New York aftermath, Stark retold the entire story to Bruce Banner in the Avengers Tower. Much to Stark's great annoyance, Banner had fallen asleep during the tale, telling his friend that he was not that kind of doctor. Stark ignored this comment and then began telling more stories of his life, much to the dismay of Banner, who proceeded to go to sleep again.

Project Insight
"Most of the intelligence community would like to drop me into a dark hole, but even they can't mess with Tony's army of lawyers. So for now, we're privatizing global security."

- Maria Hill

Tony Stark was listed as another potential target of Project Insight by HYDRA. Luckily, Captain America was able to stop HYDRA in time to save all of HYDRA's intended victims. In the wake of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark hired Maria Hill, utilizing his army of lawyers to protect Hill, in order to help him fill the void left by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s absence by privatizing global security. As a result of HYDRA's return, the Avengers were reassembled and Iron Man signed up.

Attack on the HYDRA Base
"Okay guys; let's talk this over (knocks them out) Good talk." "No it wasn't."

- Tony Stark and a HYDRA Soldier

As they tracked down HYDRA's current leader, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the reassembled Avengers came into conflict with Doctor Jensen in Sudan as she was using Chitauri weaponry. Working as a team the Avengers defeated Jensen. With the help of Phil Coulson and the newly rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man and the other Avengers attacked Baron Strucker's HYDRA Research Base to battle HYDRA's leadership. While the other Avengers fought the soldiers on the ground, Iron Man worked on destroying the base's shields to allow the team access. When Iron Man swore during the mission, Captain America told him to watch his language, much to Iron Man's amusement. When the people of Sokovia began being targeted by all Strucker's guns, Iron Man ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to send out the Iron Legion in order to get the innocent people back to the safety of their homes. Iron Man soon managed to disable the shields and entered the base; subduing all of Baron Strucker's soldier's with ease. Once inside Iron Man killed Doctor List who was attempting to delete his files before making his way through the hallways. Removing the Mark XLIII, Stark scanned the room in order to find a secret hallway, hoping to find all of Strucker and List's secret experiments, while being informed that during the battle Hawkeye had been badly injured. While Captain America had successfully captured Baron Strucker, Stark located inside the base a giant Leviathan, which HYDRA had stolen after the Battle of New York, and the Scepter, which had last been seen in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands having been taken away from Loki. While Stark was looking at the Scepter and prepared to take it back into the Avenger's custody, Wanda Maximoff sneaked up behind him and gave him a vision of the future with her powers. In the vision, Stark saw the Avengers lying dead after a mysterious battle against a powerful enemy. As Stark explored the battlefield, he saw the deaths of his team mates, with Captain America's Shield lying broken in half. Going to Steve Rogers, Stark was surprised when Rogers grabbed his hand, telling him that Stark could have saved them before dying. Stark looked up and saw the Leviathans and Chitauri heading to Earth through a portal in space. Shaken by what he had seen, Maximoff allowed Stark to retrieve the Scepter, knowing its power would ultimately cause his own downfall. Unaware that he was now being watched by Maximoff and her twin brother Pietro Maximoff, Stark reclaimed the Mark XLIII gauntlet and used it to snatch the Scepter away, originally planning on giving it back to Thor to take back to Asgard to keep the Earth safe from it's power but Stark now had some new ideas about using it.

Creation of Ultron
"I see a suit of armor around the world." "Sounds like a cold world, Tony." "I’ve seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."

- Tony Stark to Bruce Banner

With Baron Wolfgang von Strucker now in the custody of the United States Armed Forces, Stark flew the Avengers away from Sokovia onboard the Quinjet. Along the way, Stark asked Bruce Banner if it was okay for Doctor Helen Cho to set up all of her own equipment in his lab so she could begin the operation to save Clint Barton's life in the wake of his injuries during the battle. As they came closer to their destination, Stark had put J.A.R.V.I.S. in charge of flying while he spoke with Thor and Captain America about what was to happen with Loki's Scepter now that they had finally recovered it from HYDRA. Stark requested that he be allowed the chance to study the Scepter before Thor returned it to Asgard to be kept safe, which Thor agreed with before they all discussed having a party to celebrate the capture of Baron von Strucker. Upon arriving at Avengers Tower, Stark was greeted by both Doctor Cho and Maria Hill, with Stark correcting Hill when she called him boss, claiming that Rogers was the boss despite Stark paying for every they did. While the Iron Legion returned to the tower, Stark checked on Barton's condition while Cho used the Cradle to repair his damaged skin tissue, with Stark teasing Barton that he was dying while Barton insisted that he would now live forever. Continuing his mindset toward protecting humanity while realizing the void that the downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D. created, Stark created an intelligence with the mandate to ensure global peace at any cost. The intelligence, Ultron, who in turn took control on the Ultron Sentries to defend humanity as a sort of makeshift army and allow the Avengers to retire. Seeking to push the Ultron Program forward, Stark recruited Banner by pitching the Program to him and showing him a detailed breakdown of the Mind Stone inside the Scepter, claiming that they could use it's detailed brain waves to give life to Ultron, something they had failed to do in all of their past experiments. When Banner expressed his doubts about the Ultron Program, Stark argued if they were successful they could finally retire and Banner may not have to worry about facing Veronica. Claiming that with Ultron, the next Chitauri Invasion would never happen again, Stark told Banner that he had a vision of a suit of armor around the Earth, when Banner claimed this sounded like a cold world, Stark said he had seen colder, referring to Wanda Maximoff's vision. With Banner now onboard, he and Stark spent the next three days before it was returned to Asgard attempted to sync the Mind Stone from the Scepter into the Ultron Program in order to finally give life to Ultron. However after three days of constant experimentation with the system, Stark and Banner admitted defeat, believing that there was no way for Ultron to be given life. J.A.R.V.I.S. recommended that Stark leave the project and attend to his party guests.

The Avengers Party
"The handle’s imprinted, right? Like a security code. “Whosoever is carrying Thor’s fingerprints” is, I think, the literal translation?" "Yes, well that’s, uh, that’s a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one. You’re all not worthy."

- Tony Stark and Thor

At a party hosted at Avengers Tower, celebrating their recent defeat of HYDRA and the capture of the Scepter and HYDRA's current leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Stark welcomed not only his own team mates, but also several allies of the team such as Sam Wilson and Maria Hill, with Doctor Helen Cho agreeing to attend the party as she had heard that Thor would also be attending. Stark also decided to invite several World War II veterans to the party who spent their time with Thor and Steve Rogers, drinking ancient Asgardian alcohol which got one attendee too drunk to walk. While drinking with Thor, Stark listened as James Rhodes attempted to impress them with stories of how he had secured a tank while in his War Machine Armor, with nobody impressed. Stark and Thor then began debating if either Pepper Potts or Jane Foster was the more impressive girlfriend, with Stark noting all of Potts' work with Stark Industries which caused Rhodes to walk away with Rhodes, leaving Stark and Thor to continue the girlfriend debate alone. As the party went through the night, many of the attendees returned to their home, including Wilson, leaving Stark and the Avengers along with Hill and Cho as the only remaining non-team members there. As the remaining group joked and drank together around a table, they began to discuss Thor and his power to lift Mjølnir. As the debate went on, Clint Barton decided to try to lift Mjølnir himself, with Stark joking about him not being able to get it up. Stark then stepped up, joking that he wanted to rule Asgard if he picked it up. Stark initially tried to lift it on his own, when that failed he called for the help of James Rhodes to no more avail, even with the Mark XLIII gauntlet. All the other Avengers then each decided to have a go at lifting the hammer, with Bruce Banner joking about Hulking out and Steve Rogers only slightly moved it while Natasha Romanoff refused it even try. Upon his defeat, Stark looked for fingerprint recognition software on the hammer which Thor still had denied.

Attack on Avengers Tower
"Reboot, Legionnaire, we got a buggy suit." "There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

- Tony Stark and Ultron

As the group laughed, a sudden loud ring echoed through Avengers Tower as they turned to see one of the Iron Legion robots stepping out of the darkness to confront them. While Stark tried to get J.A.R.V.I.S. to shut down the robot, it introduced itself as Ultron, claiming that it was there for peace in their time. When questioned about it's true intentions, Ultron told them it intended to destroy the Avengers in order to achieve peace as they listened in horror. Ultron then sent out all his Sentries to then attacked the entire party. Without his Mark XLIII armor to defend himself, Stark was quickly separated from James Rhodes and was forced to use whatever had come to hand to battle the robots. Grabbing a knife, Stark jumped onto the back of one of the many attacking robots that he had once designed himself and attempted to damage it's inner wiring in mid-air, eventually succeeding as they fell to the floor together. In the wake of the brief battle, which concluded when Hawkeye had handed Captain America his shield which he used to destroy the final robot, Stark and the Avengers were faced with the main Ultron form. Refusing to listen to the robot's threats to them any longer, Thor then destroyed Ultron's robot body with Mjølnir, although one of it's own Sentries had already escaped with the Scepter in it's hand and had claimed that it would attack all of the Avengers again.

Team Argument
"It is funny. It’s a hoot that you don’t get why we need this." "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to..." "Really?! That’s it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls." "Only when I’ve created a murder bot."

- Tony Stark and Bruce Banner

With the Avengers now all gathered together, Stark began examining the Ultron robot to understand what caused it to attack them all. He listened closely as it was soon learned that Ultron had successfully accessed Avengers Tower's files and escaped through the internet, with James Rhodes and Maria Hill worrying that he may also gain access into the nuclear codes. When it was noted that Ultron had claimed to have killed somebody, Stark revealed that he had learned that Ultron had destroyed J.A.R.V.I.S.' mainframe in a rage. While Stark and Helen Cho discussed Ultron's possible motives for turning against him, Thor then stormed in and grabbed Stark by the throat, accusing him of bringing destruction onto the Earth. Thor explained he had lost the Scepter, claiming Ultron was created by Stark messing with something he did not understand. As Stark had started to laugh, despite Bruce Banner telling him to stop, he claimed it was funny they did not understand why it was needed. Stark defended himself, claiming that he was coming up with a new solution to end the war that would destroy the Earth based on the vision recently given to him by Wanda Maximoff. Stark then recalled the Battle of New York, claiming that what was out in space would destroy them all if they did not plan ahead. As Steve Rogers claimed they could beat that threat as a team, Stark claimed that they would fail, with Rogers telling him they would still be a team. Seeking leads, the team began searching for wherever Ultron was heading next and later learned that Ultron had built himself a new body and had murdered Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in his prison cell and had recruited the aid of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Upon learning of Baron Strucker's death, it was noted that this was likely a smokescreen to throw them off, with all of their own information on Strucker having been deleted off their computers. Forced to use old S.H.I.E.L.D. files, the team researched anyone who was connected to Strucker who maybe able to find a new lead. Stark soon pointed out Ulysses Klaue, noting that he had almost done a deal with him to sell Stark Industries weapons. Stark explained that Klaue was known for having a brand on his neck that marked him as a thief of Wakanda, the land where Vibranium was made, so they all assumed that Ultron would go to him for the metal.

Hunting Ultron
"Don't compare me with Stark! It's a thing with me. Stark is... he's a sickness!!" "Oh junior, you're gonna break your old man's heart."

- Ultron and Tony Stark

Stark led the team to Johannesburg where they found Ultron, along with Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, taking the Vibranium having just cut off Ulysses Klaue's arm in a fit of rage. Confronted Ultron, Iron Man attempted to talk him into surrendering, but Ultron refused, with the Maximoff siblings backing him up and insulting Iron Man's legacy. When Iron Man questioned what the Vibranium was for, Ultron responded by suddenly and furiously attacking Iron Man. They engaged in a fierce battle, with Iron Man taking on Ultron alone while Thor and Captain America fought the Ultron Sentries and the Maximoff twins, and both Hawkeye and Black Widow fighting against all of Klaue's soldiers who had come to defend their own employer following Ultron's assault on him. As their battle continued, Iron Man and Ultron flew out of the Churchill and across the Salvage Yard, still furiously firing all of their own weapons at each other. Eventually, Iron Man brought down Ultron and threatened him with a missile, however Ultron revealed that he had already transferred his mind into another Sentry body and explained that the team had been mentally taken down by Wanda Maximoff, who had proceeded to cause Bruce Banner to transform into Hulk in the middle of South Africa and had started to destroy everything he could. Responding by destroying Ultron, Iron Man then went after the Hulk.

Duel of Johannesburg
"Stand down! You listening? That little witch is messing with your mind. You’re stronger than her, you’re smarter than her, you’re Bruce Banner! Right, right! Don’t mention puny Banner."

- Tony Stark to Hulk

Knowing that many innocent civilians would undoubtedly be killed in the Hulk's rampage, Iron Man was forced to leave Ultron behind and called on Black Widow to try and calm Banner down, only to be told by Hawkeye that Romanoff was unable to go into battle. Iron Man called upon his Mark XLIV and Veronica in an attempt to subdue the Hulk himself. However, despite soon being trapped inside Veronica's enforced and electrified metal cage, the enraged Hulk had soon managed to break himself free. Ordering the South African police to stand down from the fight, Iron Man tried to get through to Bruce Banner by telling him that Wanda Maximoff was messing with his mind, telling him that Banner was stronger and smarter than her. However the mention of Banner's name only seemed to enrage Hulk even further. When all of Iron Man's attempts to calm the Hulk down had failed, the two began to fight. Hulk launched a car at Iron Man, knocking him back, so Iron Man responded by flying to the Hulk and dragging him face first through the concrete. When Hulk damaged the armor, Stark called for extra parts and used its many capabilities to try to knock Hulk down. With the Hulk charging at him, Iron Man kept him at bay with his gauntlet beam while his arm was repaired. The Hulk charged forward and the pair smashed their fists into each other, causing a shockwave through Johannesburg. Pinning the Hulk to the ground, Iron Man began repeatedly punching him in the face and begging him to go to sleep and finish their fight, however the Hulk's rage only continued to build. Iron Man attempted to trap his arm with the Hulkbuster Armor and fly him out of the city in order to protect the people, with the Hulk still fighting back. As Iron Man attempted to fly the Hulk out of the city, he continued to fight back and forced Iron Man to crash land on the side of a large building. As Hulk furiously tried to rip him apart, Iron Man pushed him against a wall and tried spraying gas in his face, although this tactic had almost no affect. As they continued fighting, Iron Man was aware that behind him an elevator filled with people were standing just feet away from the battle as they attempted to escape. When he was kicked back with incredible force, Iron Man crashed into the elevator filled with innocent people, forcing him to catch it before it hit the ground as he ordered everyone to get out while they still could. Iron Man then proceeded to use the elevator as a weapon as he slammed it down onto the Hulk's head. Once the Hulk was stunned, Iron Man hit him across the face, knocking out one of his teeth, an action which Iron Man then soon regretted. The enraged Hulk then proceeded to smash Iron Man across the city, attempting to rip out the Arc Reactors powering the Mark XLIV armor. Despite trying to get assistance from Veronica, Hulk proved to be too strong as he tore the armor apart. Eventually, Iron Man resorted to dropping the Hulk through a building still going through construction; this massive impact seemingly calmed Hulk enough that Stark could knock him out with a final massive punch to the head.

The Barton Home
"Isn't that the why we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home?!"

- Tony Stark to Steve Rogers

With the battle over, the Avengers were flown away on the Quinjet. Stark spoke with Maria Hill who told him of all the reactions to the Avengers' actions in South Africa and talks for Bruce Banner's arrest. Hill also suggested that they should go somewhere to rest. Clint Barton told Stark to get some sleep because they would land soon. When Stark asked him where they were going, Barton responded to a safehouse. They landed in a countryside and entered into a small house. The team was surprised to learn that it was Barton's family home and that he has a wife and children. Although Stark at first assumed it was a lie as Barton was a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy, Barton explained to them that the reason the team were still unaware of his family was due to Director Nick Fury helping him to have this second peaceful life just outside S.H.I.E.L.D. where his family could be safe. Stark and Steve Rogers went outside and chopped wood together. They discussed how Wanda Maximoff had been able to use her new powers to pull the team apart. When the conversation moved to how Stark and Banner inadvertently created Ultron, they then proceeded to argue and debate on simply whether or not Stark should have ever experimented on Loki's Scepter. Stark explained his action by using the argument that the reason they fight is to end the fight. Just as Rogers was making his point, Laura Barton then asked Stark if he could help to fix their tractor. While Stark examined the broken tractor, Nick Fury revealed himself; Stark realized that Maria Hill had called him. Fury tried to convince Stark that Wanda Maximoff had just tricked him, but Stark said that the vision he had seen where all of his friends are dead would be in the future, if Stark would not do everything he could to save them and all of humanity. Having gathered together the entire team, Fury then showed himself to the rest of the Avengers and started to discuss their next move to stop the Ultron Offensive. Fury told them that his contact people in "NEXUS" in Oslo had informed him that Ultron had attempted to get nuclear codes but somebody was changing the codes all the time. While Stark played darts, being outplayed by Clint Barton, he told the group he would go to NEXUS to find Ultron's new enemy. When Natasha Romanoff noted she had hoped Fury had more to offer, Fury gave them a speech to inspire them to get up and fight against Ultron, telling them to stand up and fight as a team once again. This led to them discussing Ultron's motives at which point, Bruce Banner then realized that Ultron wanted always to improved his body, so he needed Helen Cho and her Cradle device to create his ultimate body which he could use to become unbeatable.

Hacking the NEXUS
"A hacker who’s faster than Ultron? He could be anywhere. And as this is the center of everything, I’m just a guy looking for a needle in the world’s biggest haystack."

- Tony Stark

Stark then made it clear to Steve Rogers that if Ultron succeeded in uploading himself to the synthetic body, he might be stronger than any of them. Nick Fury then told them that he will take Bruce Banner to the Avengers Tower and said to Stark that he needed Maria Hill for "something dramatic". As the Avengers flew to Seoul, Stark was inside the NEXUS base searching for the person who prevented Ultron from obtaining launch codes for nuclear missiles. While hacking into the NEXUS to find Ultron's new enemy, Stark was shocked to find out it was J.A.R.V.I.S., who erased his memory and had scattered himself all across the Internet to block Ultron. It turned out that Ultron was afraid of J.A.R.V.I.S. and of what he could do, so J.A.R.V.I.S. went underground and prevent from Ultron from getting the codes. Restoring J.A.R.V.I.S.'s memory, Stark then sent his own programming back towards Avengers Tower.

Birth of the Vision
"So, you want me to help you put J.A.R.V.I.S. into this thing?" "No, of course not! I want to help you put J.A.R.V.I.S. in this thing."

- Bruce Banner and Tony Stark

Having learned what he needed to at the NEXUS, Stark then went back to the Avengers Tower where Bruce Banner and Clint Barton waited for him. Greeting Stark upon his arrival at the Tower, Barton was with the Cradle with the synthetic body inside it. Barton informed Stark that Ultron had also successfully kidnapped Natasha Romanoff during the Battle of Seoul, so Barton began his search for her. Stark then told Banner everything he discovered and he asked for his help him upload J.A.R.V.I.S. to the synthetic body. Banner was against the idea of messing with the body, finding the situation to be a time-loop they were all now stuck inside since first activating the Ultron Program; however, Stark argued that this was the right move and they did not have the time for the decision to be argued by the other Avengers. Stark was able to convince Banner that the new being Ultron had created could be a benefit by giving it J.A.R.V.I.S. as a core persona, and prevent megalomania. As the two were almost finished preparing to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Cradle, Steve Rogers with Wanda and Pietro Maximoff came and ordered him to shut it down. Stark and Banner refused, shocked that Rogers had recruited the Maximoffs as they recalled how Wanda's powers had caused the Duel of Johannesburg. When Rogers tried to convince them, Stark argued that whatever had already happened was nothing compared to what was still incoming. To try and end the dispute before it got out of hand, Quicksilver then responded by speeding around the Cradle and unplugging all of the cables, until he was then subdued by Hawkeye's quick thinking. This action then led to a brief clash between the group, with Stark calling on parts of his Mark XLIII armor and shooting at Rogers, who in turn threw his shield at Stark, while Banner and Wanda Maximoff had a brief fight in which she knocked him back with her powers. Just as their fight was getting underway, Thor had suddenly charged straight into Avengers Tower and revived the synthetic body with a massive bolt of his lightning as Stark and the others looked on in shock and horror. The living body then jumped out of the Cradle and looked around it's surroundings while the group looked on. The being then briefly attacked Thor until he looked out over New York City and calmed down as the Avengers moved down to speak to it. The living body apologized and called itself the Vision and claimed to wish to assist them in their fight against Ultron. Thor explained that while in the Water of Sights he had seen the Vision in his dream and the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, that is in the Vision's forehead. At first, the team did not trust the Vision's motives, but as proof of his honor, Vision handed Thor Mjølnir. A shocked Stark was congratulated by Thor for creating a new worthy ally. Having successfully tracked down Ultron to Sokovia where he was planning on using Wolfgang von Strucker's former base to begin his schemes, Stark and the other Avengers got themselves prepared for what could be possibly their final battle. As Stark was talking with Rogers and Banner, he noted that if any of the Ultron Sentries got away, then they had lost. When Stark noted Ultron was waiting for him, Vision confirmed that Ultron hated Stark most of all. Getting onboard the Quinjet in order to fly to Sokovia and confront Ultron for the final time, Stark and the other Avengers listened as Captain America gave a speech in which he told the team that their priority would be to get the people of Novi Grad to safety before fighting Ultron's army. Looking at Stark, Rogers noted that Ultron believed the Avengers were what was wrong with the world, and this was their chance to prove that he was wrong.

Battle of Sokovia
"Come to confess your sins?" "I don't know, how much time you got?" "More than you."

- Ultron and Iron Man The Avengers had eventually tracked Ultron down in Sokovia, where he had taken Natasha Romanoff to be held in a secret cell. Before leaving, Stark first installed a new AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y., into his newest suit as he no longer had J.A.R.V.I.S. to assist him. As the rest of the Avengers helped to evacuate the civilians out of Novi Grad and Bruce Banner went to free Romanoff from her cell, Iron Man confronted Ultron in the city's church right in the centre of Sokovia. Ultron revealed himself to Iron Man, showing that he had created a new near indestructible body for himself made from the Vibranium he had stolen from Ulysses Klaue, and a drill that had emerged from the center of the church which dug deep underground, also revealing a Vibranium detonator with a mechanism located underground. As the machine was activated, Iron Man went to understand how to stop it while the Vision then came to confront Ultron himself. As Vision succeeded to disconnect Ultron from the internet. Ultron activated the drill and a part from the city flew to the sky. F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed Stark that if the city would get high enough, the impact of its fall to the ground would cause a global extinction. While all the Avengers fought against the Ultron Sentries and made sure that the civilians were safe, Stark and F.R.I.D.A.Y. debated about a way to make sure the city would not be able to hit the ground. While flying around the still rising Novi Grad, Iron Man witnesses one building falling off the edge of the drop, with F.R.I.D.A.Y. informing him that there were still people trapped inside. Without a moment to spare, Iron Man flew into the building to find a terrified family, so he ordered them to get into the bathtub as he flew them down to the ground to safety. Iron Man warned Captain America of more Sentries heading his way, although Rogers was hit regardless. Eventually through lots of planning with F.R.I.D.A.Y., Iron Man came to the idea that he and Thor can destroy the entire city in the air by attacking it from the top and the bottom. With it seeming there was no hope of saving all of the civilians, Nick Fury and Maria Hill arrived with a new Helicarrier and a fleet of Transporters, helping all of the Avengers with evacuating Novi Grad while War Machine helped with the battle as he and Iron Man fought the Sentries together. As Iron Man did all that he could to keep the Transporters filling with civilians safe, he continued discussing how to destroy Ultron's core, coming out with a plan to supercharge the inside from below. When one Transporter was damaged, Iron Man flew up and pushed it the rest of the way to the Helicarrier. Iron Man was informed by Thor that Ultron was now heading towards the core so Iron Man called on the Avengers to come together and stop him from activating it.

Protecting the Drill
"Thor, I've got a plan!" "We're out of time, they're coming for the core!" "Rhodey get the rest of the people on board that carrier. Avengers, time to work for a living."

- Iron Man and Thor

The Avengers came together to guard the Vibranium drill in order to keep the the Ultron Sentries from activating it to prevent the city from falling. As they prepared for the battle and destroyed the nearby Sentries, Iron Man mocked Black Widow for taking too long to arrive and joked she was messing about with Bruce Banner, while she noted that not every member of their team could fly. With all the Avengers assembled around the core, Iron Man looked on as Ultron gathered his army of Sentries, with Thor challenging his might by questioning if this was the best he could do. Having shown off his entire army, Ultron questioned how they possibly hoped to stop him, with Iron Man then quoting back Captain America's earlier words by telling Ultron that they would do it together, which caused Ultron to send in his hordes of Ultron Sentries. As the army of Ultron Sentries charged into the church in an attempt to rip the Avengers apart and activate the key, Iron Man and the rest of the team used all of their might to fight back against the hordes of robots. As Iron Man flew around the church in his Mark XLV army, he assisted Scarlet Witch and all of the other Avengers by shooting the Sentries, cutting down their numbers swiftly. Using teamwork, the Avengers soon began defeating the entire Ultron army. Seeing the he was losing the battle, Ultron attempted to get involved himself in order to regain control, attacking the Vision, however he was soon knocked back out of the church when the Vision used the power of the Mind Stone to push him down. Seeing this, Iron Man and Thor joinen in, using the armor beams and Mjølnir's lightning to destroy Ultron's Vibranium armor before the Hulk then smashed him across the city and scared of the remaining Sentries. With Ultron seemingly defeated, Iron Man ensured that the civilians were evacuated onto the Helicarrier while he went under the rock to overload the core. However while Iron Man was cutting through the metal, Quicksilver was killed by Ultron before one sentry caused the city to fall. Iron Man and Thor succeeded in exploding up Sokovia before it hit the ground. The Ultron Offensive was then ended when the final Ultron Sentry was then destroyed by Vision.

Saying his Goodbyes
"I will miss you, Tony." "Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark Using Stark's funding, the New Avengers Facility was constructed in upstate New York; Stark informed the others about his resignation from the Avengers, aiming for it still to continue by pouring his money and resources into it, with a new team of heroes which included Falcon and the Scarlet Witch. Stark drove to the facility to personally oversee it in action and say his final goodbyes to the whole team. Stark met with Steve Rogers and Thor at the facility where they all discussed the Vision keeping the Mind Stone inside his head; Thor insisted that he could as he had proven himself worthy by managing to lift Mjølnir, although Rogers questioned if this counted as Vision was a machine. Thor informed the pair that he intended to return to Asgard to learn more about the Infinity Stones and who had been recently manipulating them into locating the stones. Rogers then said to Stark that he will miss him too, and Stark joked that he will build for Pepper Potts a house in the country, like Clint Barton. Stark then drove from there. Stark was asked by the media about the incident involved Hulk. Stark then responded that public concerns about Bruce Banner are "Baseless" and "Irresponsible". Because all of his activities as Iron Man, Stark and Potts took a break from their relationship while Stark continued his own work.

Facing the Consequences
"That was really sweet, what you did for the young people." "Oh, they deserve it. 'Cause it helps to ease my conscious."

- Miriam Sharpe and Tony Stark

Stark gave a guest lecture at his alma mater,. He demonstrated the students his latest device, B.A.R.F., which aimed to recreate and relive old memories to help with regret, and showed them his last meeting with his mother and father. Then he followed with a speech where he introduced a grant being awarded to all students, giving them all the proper funding to move forward with their own inventions and ideas. He then read from the teleprompter and was shocked to read that he should be presenting Pepper Potts to the stage. Seeing this made Stark briefly pause as he and Potts had broken up due to his own previous commitments to the Avengers and obsession with building new Iron Man Armors. Stark then said his final words before stepping off stage where the M.I.T Liaison then attempted to get some money from Stark Industries for the school's funding. As he walked outside, he encountered a woman who complimented his funding. She reached to her purse and Stark, thinking she was about to pull a gun, grabbed her hand. But instead, she pulled a photo of her son and told him that he had been killed during the Battle of Sokovia. She then told Stark her son's name and that she did not actually blame Ultron for her son's death, but held Stark personally accountable his death, which deeply unnerved Stark.

Sokovia Accords
"We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, we're boundless, we're no better than the bad guys."

- Tony Stark On May 5, 2016, Thaddeus Ross presented to Stark the Sokovia Accords, a document which required the Avengers to operate under the supervision of an United Nations panel. Stark, haunted by the massive damage he had caused by creating Ultron, agreed to sign the Accords. One month after the Incident on Lagos involving Crossbones, both Stark and Ross went to the New Avengers Facility, where he tried to convince the Avengers to sign the Accords. The Avengers were briefed on the Accords by Ross, who explained that the Accords were created as a result of the catastrophic events in which they were involved, including the Battle of New York and the Battle of Sokovia, with Ross presenting them with both the number of casualties caused and the expense of the damages. While the presentation was stopped for upsetting Wanda Maximoff, Ross told them the Accords would be signed in just a few days. With Ross gone, the Avengers moved into another room to read and debate the Accords, with Sam Wilson and James Rhodes almost immediately clashing on their different views. Vision then noted that perhaps their own existence had caused the conflicts they were fighting. As all the Avengers debated whether to sign it or not, Stark remained silent, with Steve Rogers realizing that Stark had already chosen his own side, which was to be pro-Accords. Stark gave them the story of Charlie Spencer and how he had been killed in Sokovia. He pointed out that the group needed to be put in check or they were no better than the bad guys. However, Rogers saw the Accords as a block to keep the Avengers from where they needed to be, while Stark noted that if they did not decide to make this decision themselves, it would be done to them at some point soon with far graver consequences for all of them. Stark and Rogers both argued with each other and then Stark even got surprising support from Natasha Romanoff, who had previously expressed her distain for this kind of government oversight in the wake of the HYDRA Uprising and the Battle at the Triskelion. Their argument ended when Rogers left the room upon hearing news that Peggy Carter had died in her sleep, while Stark remained unchanged in his opinion that signing was the right decision.

Fighting with a Friend
"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth. But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far nothing's happened that can't be undone. Please, sign."

- Tony Stark to Steve Rogers

Seeking to continue supporting the Sokovia Accords, Stark went into the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre where he assisted with the fallout from the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre. When Stark was informed that Captain America and the Falcon had tried and failed to save the Winter Soldier from being arrested, Stark greeted them both upon their arrival, noting that Secretary Thaddeus Ross wanted them both prosecuted for their all of actions. Having also asked Vision to keep Wanda Maximoff inside the New Avengers Facility in order to protect her, in the wake of her accident in Lagos had resulted in her US Visa being removed. Sitting down with Steve Rogers, where he once again attempted to convince him to sign the Sokovia Accords. Presenting Howard Stark's pens which had been used by to sign the  bill, hoping this could help to change Rogers' mindset on the Accords. When Rogers asked about Pepper Potts, Stark revealed that now they were taking a break from their relationship, with Rogers then apologising for bringing it up as he did not know. As Stark noted how after Aldrich Killian's War he had destroyed the Iron Legion for Potts, but since then he had armored up again and again to stop HYDRA and Ultron, admitting that Ultron was his own doing and that he did not want to stop being Iron Man, and he had hoped signing the Accords could win Potts back. They then briefly discussed his own father's relationship to his mother before Rogers admitted he could not ignore bad situations from happening. Begging Rogers to sign, Stark promised that Bucky Barnes would not be sent to a Wakandan prison. As Rogers seemed to consider signing, they discussed adding safeguards to the Accords. However when Stark noted that Maximoff was locked up, Rogers confronted him about locking up a child like a Japanese Internment during World War II, with Stark insisting that he was just doing what needed to be done for the Avengers, until Rogers walked out.

Escape from the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
"You gotta let us bring him in." "And how will that end any differently from the last time." "Because this time I won't be wearing Loafers and a silk suit."

- Tony Stark and Thaddeus Ross

During Bucky Barnes' psychological assessment, Stark watched closely as the the physiatrist questioned him about his time as an assassin for HYDRA. During the questioning however, a power failure occurred and Barnes freed himself and tried to escape. While Everett Ross tried to sort out their situation, Stark contacted F.R.I.D.A.Y. and went to confront Barnes himself without his Iron Man Armor to defend himself with from the furious Barnes. Stark engaged Barnes, backed up by Natasha Romanoff and Sharon Carter. Stark used his gauntlet to fight him by first firing flash beam towards the Winter Soldier which briefly blinded him before blocking a gunshot with the gauntlet and then ripping the gun apart, however Barnes managed to overpower him. Barnes escaped, but Stark knew Barnes was most likely still with Steve Rogers, who, along with Sam Wilson, had also managed to escape from their custody. While the base recovered from the Winter Soldier's escape, Stark was greeted by Secretary Thaddeus Ross who furiously informed him that due to his involvement in helping their target escape, a special force unit would deal with Rogers. Stark however convinced Ross to let him bring them in, promising to wear the Mark XLVI to bring him in, which Ross accepted. As he left the base, Ross gave Stark thirty six hours before lethal force would be utilized. As Stark considered what to do, Romanoff said to him that they were understaffed, with Stark questioning if she knew where the Hulk was, despite Romanoff noting that Bruce Banner would likely not be on their side. Thinking of possible allies, Stark said that had someone in mind, referring to Spider-Man whom he had just been researching. Romanoff approached T'Challa to ask for his help, while Stark flew into New York City to go and recruit the Spider-Man.

Recruiting Peter Parker
"So you wanna look out for the little guy. You wanna do your part. Make the world a better place all that, right?" "Yeah, just looking out for the little guy. That's-That's what it is."

- Tony Stark and Peter Parker

Having learned about the "Spider-Man" that was protecting New York City, Stark deduced his true identity as Peter Parker and visited him at home. He waited for him to return from school where he openly flirted with his aunt, May. As Parker returned, Stark persuaded him to trick his aunt into thinking that Parker had applied for Stark's scholarship. Stark entered his room with Parker and was soon impressed by how Parker used the technology he had retrieved from the trash to build himself computers and other technology. When Parker attempted to explain that he had not applied for the grant, Stark stopped him before he then showed Parker] videos of him as Spider-Man saving civilians, complimenting him on his speed and strength as they watched footage of him stopping a car with his bare hands; Stark even states that the car was three thousand pounds and was going forty miles per hour when Parker stopped it. Parker denied that the person in the video was him, claiming it was edited footage, but Stark quickly found his Spider-Man Suit and equipment, forcing him to admit the truth. Stark asked him if anyone knew who he was, to which Parker informed him that nobody else knew. Stark then complimented Parker on his Web-Shooters and was surprised to learn that Parker had built the webbing himself before Stark joked about Parker's suit and promised to build him a new one. Stark questioned why Parker became Spider-Man, being told that he only wanted to use his powers for the benefit of the people, noting that he believed that if he did not do the right thing with his powers, then good people would get hurt as a result, which Stark understood completely. Believing that Spider-Man could now be of great benefit during the upcoming Clash of the Avengers, Stark sat next to Parker and decided to officially recruit him into his own team. Impressed, Stark asked him if he wanted to go to Germany, mildly blackmailing him by joking to tell Aunt May if he refused, to which Parker responded by webbing Stark to the door. When Parker agreed to help him, Stark built him a brand new Spider-Man Suit from Stark Industries and flew black to Germany to search for Steve Rogers, but also asked Happy Hogan to accompany Parker to Germany and assist him with whatever Parker needed while there.

Failed Negotiations
"I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart." "You did that when you signed." "Alright, I'm done. You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us. Now!"

- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

Stark learned of Steve Rogers's plan was to escape from the Leipzig-Halle Airport, so he and his teammates evacuated the airport and waited for Rogers and his team. Rogers soon showed up and Stark, with his newest armor and attempted to convince him to turn over the Winter Soldier to the authorities and surrender before Secretary Thaddeus Ross ordered that lethal force would be taken. Rogers insisted that Helmut Zemo had posed as the psychiatrist interviewing Bucky Barnes and was behind everything. Iron Man noted that Barnes was responsible for the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre which had killed T'Chaka and many others, and therefore needed to face justice, while Rogers claimed that Zemo was planning on unleashing more of the Winter Soldiers. Stark soon found that their negotiation was going nowhere. As a result, Stark called in Spider-Man to steal Captain America's Shield and to tie Rogers' hands using his Web-Shooters. Much to Iron Man's annoyance, Spider-Man was more concerned about meeting his hero, Captain America, and therefore acting immaturely during the encounter, forcing Iron Man to tell him to calm down. With Rogers now trapped, Iron Man ordering him to listen to his views on the Sokovia Accords, but Rogers remained uncompromising. Before they could take in Rogers, Hawkeye used an arrow to free him before Ant-Man returned the shield to Captain America. As the Mark XLVI's sensors then detected the rest of the renegades making their way towards the Quinjet, Iron Man flew off to confront Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, telling War Machine to take on Captain America before ordering Spider-Man to keep his distance and web up his foes from afar. Iron Man quickly caught up with Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, managing to block their path with missile strikes. With his two former allies now seemingly trapped, Iron Man began joking that Scarlet Witch had hurt Vision's feeling as she escaped from the New Avengers Facility, with Scarlet Witch expressing her disgust at being locked away while Iron Man claimed it was for her own protection after the Lagos Catastrophe. Iron Man then casually greeted Hawkeye and asking about what he had been up to during his retirement from the Avengers, asking if he played golf. As they were talking, Hawkeye then deliberately fired an arrow to miss Iron Man, which he shot out of the sky and joked that Hawkeye had finally missed a shot. Hawkeye however then revealed that this was a deception as it had now left Iron Man open to being pinned under several cars by Scarlet Witch. With Iron Man now trapped underneath all of the crashed cars, F.R.I.D.A.Y. alerted him he was in danger which Iron Man noted he was already aware of. Freeing himself, Iron Man helped Black Widow up after she, Black Panther, and War Machine had nearly been killed by Captain America and Ant-Man using the Pym Particles Disks to throw a truck at them. Seeing the single mindedness that was driving Rogers, Iron Man was left with no choice but to call in his trump card: Vision to come into the battle and give them the advantage they needed to finally bring all of Captain America's team members into their custody.

Clash of the Avengers
"Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose, I'm open to suggestions."

- Iron Man

The Vision fired a powerful burst from the Mind Stone to attempt to cow Captain America into submission before offering him a final chance to surrender. Regrouping his team, Iron Man stood across from Captain America's team to try and force his ally to stand down. However Captain America refused again, forcing Iron Man to order his team into battle with the directive to capture their renegade teammates alive. Iron Man engaged Captain America in one on one melee combat before Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow towards the Mark XLVI to no effect other than knocking him back. As the Avengers all fought each other across the airport, Iron Man later chose to attack Falcon in a midair battle, before Hawkeye fired a volley of arrows towards Iron Man. The Mark XLVI's systems were able to easily trace the path of the arrows and then destroy them all one by one. As Iron Man prepared to take down Hawkeye with a carefully aimed shot, the left repulsor failed. Demanding an update from F.R.I.D.A.Y., she tracked the problem to Ant-Man having entered the suit and was disabling it from the inside, teasing him that the voice he could hear was his conscience. Iron Man and Ant-Man continued to mock each other before, getting fed up, F.R.I.D.A.Y. ejected him via the usage of fire retardant foam sending him falling back to the ground. When it became clear Iron Man's team would win the battle Ant-Man inverted his powers and grew to sixty feet in height, turning himself into Giant-Man. Iron Man looked on in amazement as Giant-Man grabbed War Machine out of the sky. As Iron Man ordered Giant-Man to free War Machine, he was then attacked by the Falcon, who fired the Redwing drone to stun Iron Man in mid air. While the drone threw off Iron Man's flight plan, it shattered apart against the armor. Working with War Machine and Spider-Man, the three attempted to find a way to stop Giant-Man while he helped Captain America and the Winter Soldier to get away. Spider-Man soon came up with an idea to managed to recreate a moment from , calling it a really old movie which caused War Machine to question Iron Man on how old Spider-Man really was. While Spider-Man used his Web-Shooters to tie up Giant-Man's legs, Iron Man and War Machine flew up and hit him hard in the chin. While they succeeded with knocking down the giant Ant-Man, as he fell, Ant-Man had managed to knock Spider-Man out of the air and onto the concrete from a great height prompting Iron Man to fly down to check on him. When he was satisfied with Spider-Man's state he decided it was time to send him back to New York City threatening to call his Aunt May if the enhanced youth did not listen to him. Despite protesting, Spider-Man soon collapsed from exhaustion. Iron Man flew off to chase after the now hijacked Quinjet containing Captain America and the Winter Soldier, who had managed to get away with the assistance of Black Widow who had subdued Black Panther from them. Iron Man was backed up by War Machine in his pursuit before Falcon began following them. Rhodes ordered Vision to destroy Falcon's flight gear with the Mind Stone but the android miscalculated and shot out War Machine's Arc Reactor, taking the power out of the suit in hundreds of feet above the ground. As War Machine fell towards the ground, Iron Man changed direction and tried to save his friend but was just unable to catch him in time before he crashed. He immediately ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y. to scan for life signs and she contacted emergency medical personnel when she found War Machine was still alive. Falcon also landed and told Iron Man he was sorry, but Iron Man vented his rage by blasting him with a repulsor beam, decisively ending the extended fight.

Clash Aftermath
"How did this happen?" "I became distracted." "I didn't think that was possible."

- Tony Stark and Vision

With the Clash of the Avengers over for now, Stark retreated back to the New Avengers Facility, checking on James Rhodes' current state as his body was X-Rayed. Stark then questioned exactly how Vision could make a mistake like that and Vision admitted he had been distracted by Scarlet Witch, which neither he nor Stark had known could happen. Stark then stepped outside of the operating room when he was then approached by Natasha Romanoff, to whom he then explained Rhodes' condition before he told her that he was disappointed she allowed Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier to escape, inadvertently leading to Rhodes' accident. Although Romanoff insisted that they had made all of the wrong actions in trying to resolve their situation, Stark then called her a double agent for assisting Rogers. Stark told her that T'Challa had informed Thaddeus Ross about her betrayal, and that the government and the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre would likely come to arrest her. When she insisted they went about this wrong, he then commented that betraying people was something Romanoff seemed unable to help. He made no attempt to help or detain her as she fled the facility to go underground showing he was losing faith in all of his own former teammates.

The Raft
"Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong." "That's a first." "Cap is definitely off the reservation and he's about to need all the help he can get."

- Tony Stark and Sam Wilson

In order to find Steve Rogers, Stark went to visit the Raft, where his teammates were imprisoned. On his way to the prison, F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed Stark that the therapist who was supposed to do Bucky Barnes' psychological evaluation, had been killed by Helmut Zemo from Sokovia. She told him that Zemo had framed Barnes for the terrorist attacks as Stark realized that he had been wrong. Upon arriving at the Raft, Thaddeus Ross greeted Stark who tried to immediately organize the hunt for Zemo in order to bring him to justice, however Ross noted that in the wake of the Clash of the Avengers he would not be taking orders from Stark, claiming that Stark was lucky not to be arrested himself. Although Ross did not believe Stark, he allowed him to speak to the prisoners, as Stark saw that Scarlet Witch's powers being kept under their control. As Stark walked through the cell block, Clint Barton got to his feet and expressed the fact that he was enraged at Stark's supposed betrayal of his former Avengers teammates. Stark argued that he did not know that Barton would end up there, with Barton noted the place was for criminals, which Stark had made them all. Stark argued that Barton had walked away from his wife and children to break the law, accusing Barton of choosing the wrong side to fight for. As Stark walked away, Barton slammed his hands against his cell wall and accused him of being willing to break their backs, referring James Rhodes' injures during the recent fight. Stark then walked past Scott Lang, who said Hank Pym was right not to trust the Starks, due to his relationship with Howard Stark. Stark however calmly asked him who he is as he walked past, much to Lang's disappointment. As he approached Sam Wilson, who asked about Rhodes' condition, Stark asked him to tell him where Steve Rogers had gone. Wilson did not want to do it, but Stark admitted that since learning about Zemo he knew that he was wrong not to listen earlier and that he wanted to help Rogers. Stark knocked out the audio feed, so Wilson then told him that Rogers was heading for the a HYDRA base in Siberia, telling Stark to go alone to assist Rogers in stopping Zemo. Knowing Ross would be of no aid with the hunt for Zemo due to his desire to bring the Winter Soldier in custody for his believed part in T'Chaka and many other deaths, Stark decided to withhold the information. As Stark made his way towards his helicopter, Ross questioned if Wilson had given him intel about where Rogers was, but Stark denied it and promised not to answer all Ross' calls if he contacted the New Avengers Facility while he departed. While onboard his own helicopter, Stark then considered how he now would approach Rogers in the wake of everything that had happened before he donned the Mark XLVI in his helicopter and flew to Siberia, using the rain to cover his movements in the hope that Ross would not follow him and arrest Rogers. However Iron Man was unaware that Black Panther was actually following behind him while onboard his own Jet to find and kill Barnes once and for all.

Helmut Zemo's Secret
"Did you know?" "I didn't know it was him—" "Don't bullshit me, Rogers, did you know?" "...Yes."

- Iron Man and Captain America

Entering the HYDRA Siberian Facility, Iron Man pulled open the doors and saw Captain America and the Winter Soldier were waiting for him, ready with their defences. Greeting the pair, Stark noted that Rogers seemed defensive, with Rogers noting it had been a long day, before Stark told the Winter Soldier that he was not currently targeting him because he had decided to listen to Rogers' points. Noting that Thaddeus Ross did not know that he was there and he wanted to keep it that way as he was currently violating the Sokovia Accords by even talking with Rogers without Ross' approval. Stark agreed to put aside the arrest warrant for the two to help them find Helmut Zemo before he could unleash the Winter Soldiers, with Stark calling the Winter Soldier the and asking him to put down his weapon as he promised they would not fight. Upon reaching the main room however, all the Mark XLVI's thermal scanners revealed that Zemo had killed the Soldiers instead before the man revealed himself within a bunker where he explained that he had successfully managed to bring Stark to the base, after a year of planning. Rogers realized that Zemo was from Sokovia and wanted revenge for the Battle of Sokovia. Blaming the Avengers for the loss of his family, he had orchestrated a plot to tear them apart. Zemo then played the video footage of the night that Stark's parents died, revealing that HYDRA used the Winter Soldier to assassinate them in order to steal the Super Soldier Serum inside their car trunk. Stark watched in complete horror as the footage showed the Winter Soldier brutally killing Howard Stark by using his Prosthetic Arm to crack his skull before breaking Maria Stark's neck without emotion before shooting the camera that had captured their deaths. Having finally learned the truth of what happened to his parents, Stark processed everything that he had just been shown before he then furiously demanded Rogers to tell him if he had known that Barnes had killed his parents. Rogers responded that he had known their deaths had been ordered by HYDRA but was unaware that Barnes had been the killer. Stark instantly saw through the lie and demanded the truth forcing Rogers to reveal that he had known it had been Barnes for years but hid that fact. Horrified that his friend and fellow Avenger had been lying to him for years, Stark took a step back to consider his next actions in response to this news.

Battle at the HYDRA Facility
"Do you even remember them?" "I remember all of them."

- Iron Man and Winter Soldier

Already enraged by the fallout of Steve Rogers' questionable and biased actions over the past few days, Stark snapped and attacked the Winter Soldier to avenge his parents. Donning his helmet back on, Iron Man struck Rogers in the face and shot the gun out of the Soldier's hand before flying him across the facility and pinning him down by forcing his foot against his arm and aiming a blaster shot at his skull. While they fought, Helmut Zemo made his escape from the facility. Iron Man attempted to shoot the Soldier point blank in the face, but Captain America ran to his aid and threw his shield at his to deflect the attack before he attempted to push Iron Man off the Soldier. Acknowledging their friendship, Iron Man tried to force Rogers out of the fight using the leg clamps which Rogers soon broke free of. Iron Man grabbed the Winter Soldier and flew him into the wall. The Winter Soldier managed to use his Prosthetic Arm to damage Iron Man's repulsor beam in his hand by crushing it. In response, Iron Man aimed a missile directly at the Winter Soldier's face, which he managed to push out of the way, causing it to destroy much of the entire HYDRA Siberian Facility around them. While the pair became separated, the Winter Soldier regrouped with Captain America while Iron Man was briefly trapped under all of the debris. As the Winter Soldier made his way towards the exit, Iron Man freed himself and chased after him, only for Captain America to stand in his way. While Captain America insisted that his parents' deaths were not Barnes' fault as HYDRA had control of his mind and it had been ordered by Vasily Karpov, Iron Man ordered him to move. Captain America damaged Iron Man's leg stabilizers before Iron Man used the laser to trap Captain America while he went for Barnes. While Iron Man quickly caught up with his target, who was attempted to climb up the building to reach the helicopter hatch in the roof, Iron Man kicked him across the facility and took aim at him yet again with a deadly kill shot. However Captain America refused to stand down from the fight, deflecting a lethal repulsor back at Iron Man, disabling the Mark XLVI's targeting system and using a wire to pull him down when Iron Man continued to chase after the Winter Soldier. When Captain America threw his shield at him, Iron Man was able to shoot it out of the air, leaving Captain America now defenceless and unable to aid Barnes. As he could no longer target Barnes with his missiles, Stark opted to trap Barnes within the bunker for their final showdown. With F.R.I.D.A.Y. informing him that his weapons systems could not target him, Iron Man used his own eye to aim and shoot at Barnes, destroying the main hatch and trapping him inside. With Barnes now trapped inside, Iron Man charged towards him as they engaged in hand to hand combat until Iron Man began crushing him under the Mark XLVI's weight. Holding him there, Iron Man then questioned if he even remembered killing his mother and father, with the Winter Soldier insisting that he remembered everyone who he had killed for HYDRA. Captain America jumped at the pair, knocking himself and Iron Man back down to the ground floor.

Final Showdown
"That shield doesn't belong to you! You don't deserve it! My father made that shield!."

- Tony Stark to Steve Rogers

As Iron Man and Captain America faced each other, Captain America insisted that nothing would change what happened all those years ago. Here Iron Man stated in no uncertain terms that he was done listening to Rogers as the Winter Soldier had killed his own mother which he would not forgive before Stark then charged forward and attacked his former friend, willing to even kill him in order to get to the Winter Soldier. Iron Man quickly overpowered him in melee combat before Barnes intervened by striking him with Captain America's Shield, turning the fight into a two on one brawl. Iron Man responded to the uneven odds by blasting Captain America with a repulsord before he was forced against the wall by Barnes. The Winter Soldier attempted to remove the suit's Arc Reactor with his robotic arm to which Iron Man unleashed a Unibeam disintegrating the majority of the arm. A recovered and enraged Captain America then stormed at Iron Man in order to defend Barnes from being executed, deflecting repulsor fire with his shield before forcing Iron Man back against the wall and pummeling him relentlessly. Despite having the Mark XLVI to protect himself from all of the attacks, Iron Man soon found himself outmatched due to the Super Soldier Serum that had given Captain America all of his strength and his superior fighting skills. Realizing he was incapable of competing with Captain America in close quarters hand to hand combat, Iron Man ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y. to analyze Captain America's movement patterns to find weaknesses to exploit. Iron Man overpowered Captain America in combat and then blew away the shield and brutally beat him into submission, using his suit's strength and repulsors to give himself the advantage and attacks Rogers. Unable to counter them all, Rogers is overwhelmed. Exhausted from the fight, Captain America tried once again to reason with Iron Man, defending Bucky Barnes as his friend before Stark commented that he had also once been his friend. Iron Man then beat Rogers down even more and tossed him aside. When Rogers got to his feet to continue the fight, claiming that he could do this all day, Iron Man aimed his repulsor beam directly at his face and gave Rogers a final chance to stand down and end the fight. As Rogers stood unyielding, Stark realized he would never stand down and charged a repulsor. A wounded Barnes grabbed Stark's boot, distracting him and Stark kicked Barnes in the face. This diversion allowed Rogers to turn the tide of the battle, using his own shield to destroy the Mark XLVI's helmet. Instead of killing Stark however, Rogers smashed his shield into the main Arc Reactor, destroying it and leaving his armor now completely powerless. Left covered in blood and now running purely on the suit's backup miniature Arc Reactors, Stark was unable to continue fighting as Rogers reclaimed the shield and helped Barnes onto his feet. But as he watched them leaving, Stark claimed that Rogers did not deserve his shield, since his father had made it in World War II. Rogers then dropped his Vibranium shield, returning it to the Stark family, and left the scene with Barnes, leaving Stark behind alone.

Spider-Man's Beginning
"Don't do anything I would do. And definitely don't do anything I wouldn't do. There is a little gray area in there and that is where you operate."

- Tony Stark to Peter Parker

After their battle in Siberia, Stark and Happy Hogan dropped Peter Parker back off at his apartment in New York City and told Hogan to give the Spider-Man Suit to Parker. A shocked Parker asked if he was allowed to keep it, which Stark confirmed. He also advised Parker not to do anything rash and not to stress Hogan, who would monitor all his activities. Parker then asked when would their next mission happen, with Stark assuring Parker that someone would call him up. Stark then hugged Parker, covering up by saying he was getting the door for him and he and Hogan drove off. For two months, Parker would report to Hogan about all his activities as Spider-Man, telling him about the crimes he stopped as the Spider-Man, which Hogan would then send to Stark himself along with Parker's activities as the Spider-Man.

Picking Up The Pieces
"Tony, we have a problem." "Ah, please hold."

- Thaddeus Ross and Tony Stark

With his friendship with Captain America seemingly done for finished and the rest of the team either on the run or locked away, Stark had started searching for a new purpose for the Avengers in the wake of their leadership falling apart all around them. Having taken Peter Parker to his home, Stark returned to the New Avengers Facility where he began considering what the Avengers could become without Captain America. At the same time, Stark had also developed some new technology in order to help James Rhodes to walk again in the wake of his injury during the Clash of the Avengers. When Rhodes fell while testing the technology, they discussed the fallout of the Sokovia Accords and Rhodes' belief that they had done the right thing. Stark then received a package from the mailman, who misread his name as "Tony Stank" to Rhodes's amusement as he began mocking Stark. Stark found a phone and letter from Steve Rogers, apologizing for keeping the truth about Stark's parents from him, telling Stark if he would need Rogers' help, he and the rest of his team were just a phone call away. By this time, Rogers freed the imprisoned Avengers team from the Raft and Thaddeus Ross called Stark for help. Stark put Ross on hold by pretending to be busy with something else, thus letting Rogers and his Avengers team escape successfully.

Encounter with Vulture
"Can't you just be a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man?" "But I'm ready for more than that now!" "No, you're not."

- Tony Stark and Peter Parker

When Stark was attending a party in India, Peter Parker tried to stop illegal smugglers working for the Vulture, but only to end up being dropped and drowned in a lake. Stark used the tracker he installed in the Spider-Man Suit and sent Mark XLVII remotely to save him, arriving just in time to pull Spider-Man out of the lake before he could drown. Taking Spider-Man to a nearby park to calm down, Stark then asked him what he had been thinking trying to take down those criminals instead of letting other people to handle this. Parker questioned if he had put a tracker in the suit, to which Stark admitted that he had put everything in his suit, including the heater which dried him. Parker asked if those people were the Avengers only to be told by Stark that it was below their own pay wage to go after the Vulture. Stark asked Parker to forget about the Vulture because he said so, accidentally screaming in the middle of the party. He then said to him to continue helping the little people, but Parker was convinced he was ready for more now, claiming that Stark also thought so when had took on Captain America during the Clash of the Avengers. Stark ensured him that if he had wanted to, Captain America would have defeated him with some ease during their pervious fight. Stark finished the call by telling Parker that if he saw the weapons being sold by the Vulture's Crew again, he was not to get involved himself and to immediately to call up Happy Hogan and let him deal with the situation. Having given Parker this advice, Stark then hung up the call and sent the Mark XLVII back to the New Avengers Facility while he drove away from the party, leaving Parker then to consider everything that he had just been advised to do by Stark.

Ambush at the Staten Island Ferry
"What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? 'Cause that's on you. And if you died, I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."

- Tony Stark to Peter Parker.

Deciding to take Peter Parker's information seriously, Stark alerted the FBI to the illegal activities. Days later, Stark called up Parker to apologize and praise Parker for his actions in saving his classmates in Washington, D.C.. Parker however was in the middle of trying to stop Vulture's Crew in the middle of a weapons deal at the and spent the phone call trying to distract Stark before he eventually hung up on him, much to Stark's annoyance. Suspicious, Stark decided to suit up in his Mark XLVII and arrived just in time to see the Ferry; Parker was on about to be torn apart thanks in part to Spider-Man's and the Vulture's recent battle, during which a rogue Chitauri Gun had lost control and fired all the way down the ferry. As Spider-Man had already defeated both the Shocker as well as Mac Gargan, Iron Man then proceeded to fix the Ferry by pushing it back together while Spider-Man could only just watch on. By using his own Stark Industries technology and the lasers in his armor to meld the cut in the Ferry back together. When Spider-Man had asked if there was anything he could do to help, Iron Man simply told him that he had done enough before finishing saving the ferry. Iron Man then ordered Spider-Man to meet him in New York City so that he could then chastise Spider-Man for disobeying him and putting his own and other people's lives at risks by his own actions. Parker accused Stark about not caring what was happening with the stolen weapons, only for Stark to step out of his suit and told Parker that he did listen to him and that he was the one who contacted the FBI. Furthermore, Stark revealed that he was in fact the only one who believed in Parker's potential, despite his age, and that if someone had died there due to his actions, it would be on his conscience and if Parker himself died than his death would be on his forever. Parker told Stark that he was just trying to be like him, only for Stark to tell him that he wanted him to be better than him and demanded Parker give the Spider-Man Suit back, much to Parker's dismay as he claimed that he was nothing without the suit. Stark replied that if he was nothing without the suit then he shouldn't have it. Parker - much to his reluctance - gave the suit back and Stark sent him home to his Aunt May with some clothes Stark had bought him.

Spider-Man's Offer
"I think, with a little more mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team." "To the– to the team?" "Yeah. Anyway, there's about fifty reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers. When you're ready, why don't you try that on? And I'll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers – Spider-Man."

- Tony Stark and Peter Parker

In the wake of Spider-Man successfully stopping the Vulture and his gang from stealing an entire plane full of the Avengers' weapons and technology directly from Avengers Tower, Stark decided to send Happy Hogan to Peter Parker's school in order to take him into the New Avengers Facility. Upon arrival, Stark met up with Parker and apologized for being so harsh on him previously and told him that his actions in stopping Vulture proved he was ready to be a hero. Stark explained that he had gathered together reporters to meet him before showing Parker the new version of the Spider-Man Suit, as Stark told him to put it on, so he could introduce him to a bunch of reporters as the newest member of the Avengers, noting he would have a room by Vision. However, Parker declined, wanting to stay on the streets and look out for the citizens of New York City as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, much to the great surprise of Stark. Stark, although a little disappointed, accepted Parker's decision, still offering him one last chance to take his offer which Parker said no to, telling Hogan to take Parker back home. Before leaving, Parker then asked if that was a test, to which Stark lied and said it was. However, as soon as Parker exited the building, Pepper Potts came through asking where Parker was as all of the reporters were waiting, only for Stark to say that he was now not going to be there after all. Now wondering what they were going to tell the press, Stark asked Hogan for the engagement ring which the latter had been keeping for years. Potts however assured them that they would be able to come up with something better and kissed Stark before they went out to meet the press although Hogan still threw Stark the ring as a last resort. Stark had the second suit delivered back to Parker, believing that the young hero had earned the right to wear it again.

Attack on Greenwich Village
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get out of here."

- Tony Stark to Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian

Months later, working at the New Avengers Facility, Stark, guilty that he got distracted, began work on a suit that could be used by him to defend the world by himself. Several years later, Tony and his fiance Pepper Potts are out for a jog as Tony mentions having a dream that he and Pepper were going to be expecting a child. Pepper herself doesn't seem ready for that. Doctor Strange then enters through one of his portals and tells Tony he needs to talk to him, and he brings Bruce Banner out to stress how urgent the matter is. At the New York Sanctum, Wong explains the history of the Infinity Stones the Power, Space, Soul, Time, Reality, and Mind and why Thanos want to get his hands on them. Stark explained that Vision had disappeared two weeks earlier, and that only the fugitive Captain America could possibly find him. Banner insisted that Stark call Rogers, only for Stark to explain to Banner that him and Rogers had fallen out. Banner would convinced Stark to call Rogers by telling him that Thanos had killed their teammate Thor. However, before Stark could place the call, they were interrupted by the sound of agitation in the streets and debris flying through the air. Leaving the Sanctum to investigate, the four found people fleeing and screaming in panic, as a Q-Ship sent by Thanos had arrived, devastating the surrounding city with powerful winds. Outside the New York Sanctum, The Q-Ship was confronted by Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange and Wong. As Stark commanded F.R.I.D.A.Y to evacuate the surrounding area and mobilize emergency response teams, Doctor Strange cast the Winds of Watoomb, neutralizing the powerful winds created by the Q-Ship. This would drew out Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian who demanded the Time Stone, kept in the Eye of Agamotto, from Strange, only to be rudely rebuffed and commanded to leave by both Strange and Stark. Stark donned his nanotech Mark L armor, and blasted away Obsidian, astonishing Banner. Iron Man flying into the air and directly assaulting Strange and Wong with his telekinetic powers, throwing debris at the Masters. Iron Man would attempt to assault Maw, only to be engaged by Obsidian, who sent Iron Man flying into Washington Square Park, encountering Banner. Iron Man returned, commanding Strange to also flee and get the Time Stone away from the city, who refused. Iron Man attempted to assault Maw, only to be engaged by Obsidian, who sent Iron Man flying into Washington Square Park, encountering Banner. While Iron Man held off Obsidian to protect Banner, eventually joined by an arriving Spider-Man, Banner continued to attempt to unleash the Hulk, only for the Hulk to directly refuse his commands. Iron Man tasked Spider-Man with rescuing the unconscious Strange as he held off Obsidian.

Ascent to Space
"Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." "Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies."

- Ebony Maw and Iron Man

Maw makes a grab for the Time Stone, but Strange has placed an enchantment on it that prevents him from grabbing it. He takes Strange with him, so Parker jumps onto Maw's ship. Stark flies up after him and sends the Iron Spider armor to protect Parker but also send him back to Earth. Instead, Parker manages to stow away onto the ship. Wong stays to guard the Sanctum while Bruce decides to call the rest of the Avengers. Onboard the Q-ship, Stark was joined by Cloak of Levitation who shows him to Strange and the Time Stone. As they prepared their next move, observing from above, they were surprised by the appearance of Spider-Man, who had also stowed away, much to Stark's horror. As Stark berated Parker for leaping into a battle way above his level of preparation despite trying to send him home, Parker reasoned that he could not act as a neighborhood defender without a neighborhood to defend, which Thanos threatens to destroy. Stark called Parker to assess the situation. Thinking quickly, Parker immediately called to mind the movie . Iron Man would appearance to interrupt Ebony Maw, Maw threatened to kill Strange but Stark was unfazed, and as part of Parker's plan, fired a missile past Maw, into the wall of the Q-Ship. The missile caused a hull breach, instantly sucking a screaming Maw into the vacuum of space to his death. However, Strange himself was inadvertently caught in the vacuum, and the Cloak unsuccessfully attempted to rescue him. Leaping in, Spider-Man managed to grab Strange, and with aid from his new armor's artificial spider limbs, was able to narrowly pull him to safety, allowing Iron Man to seal the breach using his nanobots. Stark noted that the Ship was on an automated course bound for an unknown location. Strange insisted that Stark commandeer the Ship to return them and the Time Stone to Earth, although Stark was reluctant. Instead, he suggested continuing on their current course to Thanos, proposing they ambush him on his territory, where he would not be expecting an attack, and to keep his attention away from Earth. Strange reluctantly agreed with Stark's plan, but reminded him that he would prioritize saving the Time Stone over either Stark or Parker's lives, asserting he would easily let either of them die if it means keeping the Stone from Thanos's hands. Satisfied that Strange concurred with his plan, even if reluctantly, Stark prepared for the long journey to Thanos, and officially recruited Parker into the Avengers.

Battle of Titan
"You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna lose it."

- Iron Man to Thanos

Stark and his allies crash-landed on the barren planet and attacked by the Guardians of the Galaxy, each believing the other to be working for Thanos. However, after a tense standoff, both parties realized they shared the same goal, before deciding to work together to ambush Thanos, who they expected to be arriving soon. Thanos realized that Strange wasn't alone, as Iron Man dropped a piece of a spaceship hull onto Thanos. After the heroes would attack with Star-Lord saying to Iron Man that would only be infuriated by the initial attack. Iron Man was attacked by Thanos using the Reality Stone to turn rubble into an enormous swarm of bats. Iron Man would return back in the battle by raining down missiles onto Thanos, with the Gauntlet freed, Thanos would blast a beam of fire at Stark. Iron Man began the battle by dropping a piece of a spaceship hull onto Thanos, after the heroes would attack with Star-Lord saying to Iron Man that the Titan would only be infuriated by the initial attack. Indeed, Iron Man was soon attacked by Thanos using the Reality Stone to turn rubble into an enormous swarm of bats. Iron Man would return back in the battle by raining down missiles onto Thanos only for Thanos to remain undamaged and use the Gauntlet to blast a beam of fire at Stark. Iron Man would recover and swooped in, taking Strange's place to hold the Gauntlet. Iron Man and Spider-Man moved to forcefully pull the Gauntlet from the Thanos' hand. Star-Lord would ask Thanos where is Gamora. With Thanos telling Star-Lord, Iron Man's attempts to restrain him, Star-Lord began to ruthlessly attack Thanos without thinking, inadvertently breaking Mantis' control over the Titan. Iron Man was then attacked by a nearby moon which Thanos used the Power Stone. Iron Man would save Strange before Thanos could find the Time Stone. Before he would fight Thanos he was surprised that Thanos would call him by his name of Stark, before noting that they were both "cursed with knowledge." Unfazed, Iron Man blamed Thanos himself as his curse, and attacked him first, blasting him with missiles. This would distract Thanos and Iron Man would begin to attack the Titan with with his nanotech suit, kicking the Titan with his enhanced boosters before he could recover. Anchoring his feet to the ground, Iron Man immediately struck Thanos again with repulsor-boosted hammers, beating him back into a wall. However, Thanos was unfettered, using his bare hand to tear apart Iron Man's helmet by surprise and punch him to the ground, with the Avenger being barely able to construct a new helmet to block the strike. With Iron Man dazed, Thanos quickly ripped the clamp from the Gauntlet, and immediately blasted Stark with a concentrated beam from the Power Stone. Barely recovering, Iron Man managed to block and sidestep the blast by forming a shield. Boosting towards Thanos in a renewed assault, Iron Man would swiftly pinned the Gauntlet to the ground using a foot clamp, before twisting to strike him with a repulsor-empowered fist, hard enough to making Thanos bleed for the first time in the entire battle. Unfazed, Thanos simply taunted Stark, for giving so much labor and struggle only to shed a single drop of blood. Immediately, Thanos effortlessly ripped the Gauntlet free from Iron Man's hold, flipping Iron Man with his fists, breaking off more and more of his armor with each strike. With Iron Man helpless to resist, Thanos followed with a point-blank blast with the Power Stone to Stark's abdomen, sending him flying and heavily damaging his armor. Desperate and missing much of the upper half of his armor, Iron Man attempted to hold off the advancing Thanos with his repulsors, relocating the nanites in his leg armor to form new arm repulsors, to no avail. Closing in, Thanos began beating Iron Man once again, destroying his helmet. Stark attempted to defend and counterattack with a left punch, only for Thanos to grab and trap his left hand. In a last-ditch attempt to fight back, Stark immediately shifted the nanites in his left arm to his other arm to form a sword, and wildly stabbed at Thanos. However, Thanos simply tore the sword from Stark's hand, and ruthlessly stabbed him in the abdomen with it, ending the fight. Cradling the injured Stark's head in his hand, Thanos revealed his respect Tony, genuinely impressed by his fearlessness and determination. Nevertheless, he prepared to kill him, only for Doctor Strange to intervene, offering the Time Stone in exchange for Stark's life, much to Stark's surprise. After Thanos took the Time Stone and left Titan, Stark would heal his wound using the last of his nanites and ask Strange why he would give up the Stone. As they awaited the inevitable, Strange could only inform Stark that they were now in the endgame.

Disassembled
"Why would you do that?" "We're in the endgame now."

- Tony Stark and Doctor Strange

Stark and his allies could only wait for Thanos to achieve his goals, and unlocked the powers of all combined Infinity Stones. Many of his allies began disintegrating into ash, including Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan, much to his horror and visible distraught. Stark could only watch as Spider-Man began disintegrating in his arms and unable to do anything as he begged Stark to save him until he accepted his fate and emotionally apologized for failing him. In the end, only Stark and Nebula remained on Titan. As Nebula somberly says in despair that Thanos had achieved his goal, Stark began mourning over the loss of his friends and Thanos' victory, unable to do anything but accept it.

Personality
"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. Now that I'm trying to protect the people I've put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?" "You're going to kill yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it." "I shouldn't be alive, unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy Pepper, I just finally know what I have to do."

- Tony Stark and Pepper Potts

Many people in the media think that Tony Stark is only just an egocentric playboy. As an adult, he was renowned for being casually arrogant, apathetic, callous and a hedonist who enjoyed the finer things in life, namely drinking, gambling, partying and flirting. However, it is shown that Tony does care for people, especially his friends. Although Tony causes trouble on occasion, he is more than willing to make up for his mistakes, which is also why he became a superhero. Eccentric, brilliant, outgoing and cocky, Tony is a classic playboy, with his wealth, power, and natural charm allowing him to get just about any woman he wants. But despite his rather carefree and overly confident personality, inside Tony's heart lies loneliness, as Ho Yinsen aptly described him as: "A man that has everything, but has nothing". Even following his reformation and birth as Iron Man, this stigma surrounding Tony persisted as many were quick to point fingers at him believing his arrogance and callous attitudes were the cause of many problems even if he would have only a tenuous connection to the issue at hand.

Before his kidnapping, Tony was a self-centered, arrogant person who didn't truly care for many people other than his closest friends. Even during this period of his life, he had a moral code believing the weapons he developed were being used exclusively by the United States and its allies for peaceful purposes but never caring enough to actually look too deeply into his company's dealings. He also funded large humanitarian inventions and programs via his arms dealings, something he felt justified manufacturing weapons.

During the following years, however, Tony has matured, gradually becoming more of a team player and becoming somewhat less arrogant and cynical. He even began opening up and having a real relationship with Pepper Potts. Tony's exploits as Iron Man have lead him to reevaluate his life, thus Tony now strives to use his inventions in a more responsible and considerate way. A textbook example of a Byronic hero, he never fully let go of his character flaws, however, using them to push him forward as a reminder to do better and often making self-deprecating jokes or comments. Despite this attitude, Tony is an exceptionally brave and selfless individual as shown when he single-handedly faced a near-omnipotent Thanos armed with nothing but a sword without hesitation, a trait that earned him the Titan's genuine respect as a hero. He further displayed it by begging that Strange not trade his life for the Time Stone, aware that his own survival was immaterial in light of the trillions of deaths Thanos was planning to enact.

His experiences while imprisoned by the Ten Rings, especially his injury and seeing his weapons being used by terrorists, hardened Tony into a brave, determined, and somewhat ruthless fighter, despite his sarcastic and enthusiastic personality remaining intact. Seeing first hand how innocent people were being harmed by his weapons and business while he remained ignorant greatly enraged him and motivated him to become a better man. This experience gave him an emotionally detached view to combat with Tony being perfectly willing to kill an enemy should the need arise particularly those whose goals paralleled those of the Ten Rings, such as Doctor List of HYDRA. He was also willing to kill to protect his allies, boldly saying he would kill Drax if Star-Lord killed Spider-Man. Despite this, he was also willing to punish his enemies without killing them, as he left Abu Bakaar at the mercy of the villagers his men were attacking and left several HYDRA soldiers in Sokovia alive but wounded. He was not entirely merciless however offering several of Aldrich Killian's men a chance to stand down and allowing the sole survivor to leave peacefully upon surrendering. Even when confronted by Captain America's betrayal, he offered the man several chances to step aside.

Even after starting a new life as a superhero, Tony's showy personality has never fully changed - as demonstrated in having the Iron Man suit with hot-rod red and gold, and in revealing his identity in public despite being told not to. Tony has also shown a strong liking towards heavy metal and rock music groups like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Queen. He also shows signs of being a gearhead owning and modifying several expensive cars, having a particular liking towards the Audi R8 model line.

Tony is also known for being exceptionally intelligent and innovative, having built an miniaturized Arc Reactor from scratch in Afghanistan. His intellect has earned him the "Da Vinci of Our Time" nickname, and his inventions of Stark Industries have revolutionized technology for mankind. His past as a businessman had turned him into a very pragmatic individual always taking the quickest, most efficient way out of a problem commenting to Captain America that he would simply "cut the wire" when given the scenario of laying on barbed wire to let others cross it. This behavior put him at odds with the majority of the Avengers during the Avengers Civil War, as they were unwilling to compromise and negotiate with the United Nations regarding the Sokovia Accords which Tony viewed as the easiest way to continue the Avengers' mission of saving people and appease the public's growing fear and unease regarding the team. As a result of this negotiator attitude, Tony was one of three Avengers to not become a fugitive by the end of the Civil War and allowed to continue saving people with the support of the United Nations. This pragmatism extended to his fighting style. When confronted by Ten Rings terrorists holding people hostage he simply switched to a more accurate weapon to kill his foes. During the Avengers Civil War, he displayed this again, having F.R.I.D.A.Y. scan Captain America's fighting style for weaknesses as well simply blasting the Captain away when he and Barnes attempted to tag team Stark and often using his repulsors to enhance his melee combat. He further displayed his combative pragmatism during the Battle of Titan by first restraining the Infinity Gauntlet before unleashing an unrelenting barrage on Thanos.

Even though he can appear to be self-obsessed, Tony can also be a reliable friend, and occasionally shows affection toward his teammates. Hence, Tony was the only Avenger who encouraged Bruce Banner to embrace his identity of Hulk as a blessing rather than a curse, and trusted him to make good use of Hulk's powers. He has also adopted a mentor role towards the young Peter Parker, seeing himself in the young hero, and helping him become better by designing an advanced Spider-Man Suit and quietly teasing him about his aunt May Parker, whom Stark considers attractive, Tony was in fact the only Avenger who believed in Peter and sought out his aid. When Tony was caught up by the terrifying vision of Scarlet Witch, he was possessed with great fear of losing all his friends on the Avengers team, and having to live on after they had all been murdered. During battle, Tony tries his hardest to protect his allies, risking his own life if he has to, notably when he personally carried a nuclear missile through the Tesseract's portal. During the Avengers Civil War, however, Tony became distant and hardened towards his former teammates, especially Captain America, for their stubbornness, although he still cares for them nevertheless, as he went as far as to warn Black Widow that the government are coming for her, looked clearly uncomfortable by how harsh Scarlet Witch was treated in the Raft, and also gave Rogers repeated chances to peacefully and legally settle their feud. Even when angered by Rogers concealing the truth behind his parents' deaths, he still was willing to ask him to stand aside and let him claim revenge on Barnes, although when Rogers refused to stand down, Tony was quick to match his aggression. After calming down and reflecting on what happened as well as Rogers showing he still trusts Tony by sending him a phone, Tony chose to no longer hunt them and even slightly helped them escape the Raft by briefly distracting Ross by pretending to be busy to refuse helping put his friends back in jail. Coming to regret how his rage and arrogance now puts him in distance with the other Avengers, Tony later referred to it with a tone of shame and guilt when Bruce Banner suggested he call Rogers. He was willing to call them so they can provide aid against Thanos's imminent arrival, even though he showed great reluctance to do so. His magnetic personality made it easy for him to befriend others, becoming close to Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy in the short time they fought together and being visibly saddened at their deaths. Despite not knowing them for long, he recognized that the demise of Gamora had awakened in Quill the same rage that he had succumbed to after learning of Rogers' betrayal and actively attempted to stop the half-human from letting his anger blind him while offering his sympathies over Gamora's demise.

After the Battle of New York, Tony developed a strong fear, that in this new world of "gods" and "aliens", he would be unable to protect the ones he loves, which induced him to become paranoid and full of anxiety, which, in turn, influenced Tony to build first the Iron Legion, and then the Ultron AI, so that the only threats against Earth were from Earth itself. Despite good intentions, Tony's plans to protect people tend to cause problems at times, most notably after his creation Ultron violently rebelled against humankind, requiring the combined might of Tony and his Avengers teammates to bring down. These attacks, that resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, appear to have changed Stark's attitude, as he appears more responsible, serious and hardened, despite his mischievous, wise-cracking nature still remaining dominant. This was seen during his visit to the Raft where he steadfastly refused to take Hawkeye's bait and be reduced to petty insults, instead maintaining a calm and controlled exterior, as well as casually asking Ant-Man who he is. His fear gave him something of a perfectionist personality and caused him to so intently focus on issues and problems that he unconsciously ignored other matters around him which led to a strain in his relationship with Pepper Potts and his somewhat negative reputation in the Avengers. After learning that Thanos is the one behind the attack, Tony developed a grudge towards him, as shown by how he took time to blame Thanos for his "curse" when Thanos mentioned it.

Compared to his fellow Avengers however, Tony was very forward-thinking, always seeing a "big picture", willing to take risks, compromise his morals and dabble in shades of gray to achieve results. As seen with the Sokovia Accords, Tony was willing to endure hardships in the present to build a better future. This behavior often put him at odds with his fellow Avengers, especially Captain America, who were content with the status quo. Combined with his unpredictability, some people such as Scarlet Witch thought he was destructive, with her claiming that Ultron's inability to distinguish between saving the world and destroying it comes from Tony. In reality, however, Tony was simply running into some errors during his attempts to plan ahead. Eventually, some, especially Thor, learned to appreciate these traits when it resulted in Vision, a being Mjølnir deemed worthy to wield it. Thor eventually left Earth to search for the Infinity Stones after he'd conceded that Tony's proactive approach to problems was the superior one. The negative stigma surrounding this attitude never dissipated however as during the Avengers Civil War and his subsequent imprisonment in the Raft, Hawkeye mocked this attitude, calling Tony a "futurist" who believed he knew what was best for everyone whether they liked it or not. Bruce Banner on the other hand, openly admired this attitude to the point that, upon returning to Earth to combat Thanos, he instantly sought out Tony for advice and aid.

During times of great stress and frustration, Stark could become very short-tempered and intolerant of those whom he considered his intellectual inferiors for delaying a solution to the problem either mocking/berating them or ignoring them entirely. This behavior extended to both allies and foes. During the Ultron Offensive, he abrasively mocked Thor to his face for being short-sighted, despite the Asgardian lifting him by the neck seconds earlier. After Ultron's defeat, Tony became better at controlling this aspect of his personality, but never fully let go of it, as seen when he argued with Captain America about the Sokovia Accords in the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building, or when he reproached Peter for making a unilateral attempt to stop Vulture without coordinating with others and later angrily scolding him for sneaking aboard the Q-Ship despite ordering him to return to Earth. He also clashed with Doctor Strange regarding the sorcerer's preference of returning to Earth when Stark found it better to duel Thanos on Titan, away from any innocents. This attitude initially caused friction with the Guardians of the Galaxy to the point that Tony was ready to write them off as useless before Doctor Strange foresaw the path to victory and the Guardians' role to play.

Tony was much closer to his mother, Maria Stark, than to his father. Hence, he was visibly affected more by Maria's death than Howard upon the revelation of his parents being murdered and during his fight with the Winter Soldier, avenging her was Tony's priority. When Rogers tried to stop Tony from attacking Barnes, Tony simply responded with an angry "I don't care, he killed my mom.". Indeed, Tony had very mixed feelings about his father Howard Stark, whom he felt had been "cold and distant", which Nick Fury, however, claimed to be false. However, even in such periods, he still did care for his father, as he did feel grief for Howard's death and showed regret for never having the chance to say goodbye. He also wanted to ask Howard whether he was okay with what their family company was doing or if he had doubts. Tony finally came to believe this after learning that Howard wanted Tony to complete his work with the Arc Reactor, and he chose to honor his father's wishes, contemplating what he saw and heard after Howard said that Tony has always been his greatest creation. Although he primarily focused on avenging Maria, he was nevertheless absolutely horrified and showed sadness and anger, closing his eyes and causing his body to tremble in rage, when he watched Barnes killed his father and his better opinion of him was shown best when he later defended Howard's memory by stating that Captain America's shield was Howard's property and that Rogers had proven unworthy of wielding the weapon by defending the Winter Soldier and hiding Howard's murder despite having been beaten by Rogers. Though having learned more of Howard's flaws and shortcomings, Tony still retained lingering issues with his father using his parenting as an excuse for being such a strict mentor to Spider-Man. He was aware of this flaw however and consciously attempted to grow out of it.

Following the Avengers Civil War, Stark adapted into a new role: that of a mentor to the inexperienced superhero, Spider-Man. He connected with Parker due to the similarities between that of him and Stark, such as their love of science, technology and heroic deeds, yet Tony was not blind to Spider-Man sharing some of his flaws and does his best to stop him from making the same mistakes Iron Man himself has made in the past. Like most mentors, Stark encourages Parker to be more forward-thinking and imaginative with his abilities while also being conscious of Peter's limitations and wanting to keep him out of fights he felt were too dangerous. However, he can also be strict regarding his treatment, such as not allowing him the full capabilities of his Spider-Man suit via Training Wheels Protocol, and later taking it back completely when his recklessness and over-reliance on the suit itself caused innocent lives to be put at risk. He was visibly disappointed and hurt when Parker revealed he was attempting to emulate him as Stark had wanted him to be better than him. Though he could come off as somewhat aloof and detached in his dealings with Spider-Man, this was all done with the intent of making Parker a better superhero than Tony ever was, and after the defeat of Vulture, Stark believed he had succeeded even going so far as to offer the young hero a spot in the Avengers. Some months later, their relationship had strengthened to the point that Tony openly weeped when Parker was among those killed upon Thanos completing the Infinity Gauntlet.

Though considered a hobby, obsession or part of his itinerary, Stark considers the relationship between the Iron Man Suit and himself to be symbiotic, in that he and the suit himself are one. By the time of Aldrich Killian's terrorist attack, he had designed 42 variations of the armor as well as having stylized them with their own color designs, personalities and names. He often referred to his suit as "he" when he was remotely controlling it with Potts and exclaimed when the suit's finger was pulled off, claiming it would hurt him. This is further supported during and after the Avengers Civil War whereupon the armors became incredibly streamlined and were designed to emulate a second skin. However, he does claim after the Clean Slate Protocol, that despite being without his suits he is still Iron Man.

In spite of his love of the spotlight, the idea of a normal life intrigued Tony greatly as he made attempts to extradite himself from the Iron Man persona and indeed, prior to his involvement in the Infinity War, pondered the possibility of he and Pepper having children together.

Powers and Abilities
Tony Stark does not possess any innate powers, instead, he uses a miniature version of the Arc Reactor to charge the various suits that provide him with superhuman strength, endurance, durability, and a variety of weapons. His original advanced technology combined with his extraordinary intelligence and adaptive combat skills makes Tony Stark one of the most formidable superheroes and a force to be reckoned with. Aside from Thor, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man Tony Stark was the fourth person to stand his ground and fought the Infinity Gauntlet empowered Thanos the longest, even managing to give him a cut on his cheek and earn the respect and admiration of Thanos himself.

Design
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 Afghanistan 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 Ten Rings 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 later armors.

The helmet served only as a simple faceplate 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 thrusters 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 repulsor 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 the intensity projected. 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.

Until the development of Mark V, Stark focused on refining basic systems shared by all later models, ignoring ease of putting on and taking off armors, resulting in Mark II, III, and IV all having lengthy and uncomfortable suit-up and suit-off periods. The Mark V marked Stark's first attempt at making his armors easily available when he needed to put them on outside. However, Mark V was experimental in nature and built specifically for testing out new technologies addressing suit-up problems. Couple that with its compact and lightweight form, proved underpowered in terms of functionality. Stark designed and constructed a ring specifically for easily donning and taking off his Mark VI armor until he can finally solve the issue without compromising on functionality.

It wasn't until the Mark VII that the issue was finally resolved, through enabling armors to move in one whole set on its own without the user in it, and open up to fit the user inside when needed, allowing Stark to done his armor within seconds for the first time. All Iron Man armors since then were all built this ease-of-donning feature perfected in Mark VII, with each armor design allowing the individual parts of the the suit to form around Stark, assembling itself over him with ease. This culminated in the Mark L, which used nanotechnology to seamlessly materialize the armor over Stark. The design philosophy had the added benefit of being able to control the armors via remote control, effectively making the armors into humanoid drones.

Performance and functionality-wise, through the design of the Mark XI, Stark stuck with a basic design and aesthetic, merely improving the technology and increasing the weapons' capabilities. From the Mark XI onward, he began crafting armors with specialized capabilities, beginning with stealth systems. By the time he built the Mark XV, he began giving the armors individual names to better identify them among the ever-growing set and in terms of the armor's specialized armors abilities.

Iron Man Armors
Tony used his technologically sophisticated armors to become Iron Man. The many systems of the armors allow him to fly at supersonic speeds and contain various weapons for battle. He frequently improves the technology put into his armors, giving them upgrades for battles and to perfect the onboard systems. He has created a collection of suits for him to choose from; some are mission-specific or prototypes for testing out various capabilities, others are older models kept for nostalgia or for research. As the multi-billionaire head of a global corporation and a genius-level inventor, Tony Stark can procure or develop the additional technology needed as soon as possible. The Iron Man Armor is arguably one of the most powerful man-portable weapons on the planet.

Alone, the Mark I was sufficient enough to allow him to go through armed terrorists in order to escape. The Mark II was sufficiently powerful enough to go toe to toe with a more advanced and updated version of the armor (the Mark IV). The Mark III was able to easily dispatch some of the Ten Rings terrorists with ease and battle the Iron Monger Armor, albeit with some difficulty (due to the fact that it was powered by the first generation mini-Arc Reactor and the Iron Monger was powered by the second Arc Reactor he made upon his return). The Mark V, while lacking additional weaponry and flight capabilities, was still able to take on Ivan Vanko while he was just utilizing just the first Whiplash Armor, with Stark relying primarily on his repulsors. The Marks VI and VII proved to be the most powerful generation suits used by Stark at the time.

They were powerful enough to battle hordes of Hammer Drones, Vanko with his own advanced Whiplash armor, survive and battle two Asgardian gods (Thor and Loki, respectively) and hordes of Chitauri foot soldiers and a Leviathan with ease. The Marks 8 through 42, most of which were not even built for combat, proved nonetheless to be a significantly more powerful generation suits as they were able to battle nanotech-enhanced human soldiers, who themselves had enough strength and combat capabilities to match any of the armors.

Support Powers

 * Flight: One of the armor's most important features is its propulsion system and subsequent ability of flight. The armor can reach speeds as high as Mach 3 in moments. It also has variable control surfaces for active flight control by J.A.R.V.I.S. to automatically stabilize the armor in flight. The armor is able to fly at speeds more than 1500 miles per hour. However, the armor shows it can fly at supersonic speeds at the drop of a hat. By the time of the Battle of New York, the Mark VII armor's flight system was improved with additional boosters on the back. It enables the armor to quickly evade enemy attacks, go faster, and also the ability to better maneuver himself and shoot while in flight; due to the fact that he doesn't have to use his hands to keep himself stabilized all the time now. He was able to reach Tennessee from California in a matter of a few hours.
 * Superhuman Strength: When inside the armor, it amplifies the user's physical strength, allowing Iron Man to lift in excess of 60 tons. Most armors are strong enough to lift and bench press tanks, S.H.I.E.L.D. Transporters or cars. Iron Man was also able to fight Ultron's second robotic body, and, when his strength was temporarily boosted by Mjølnir's lightning (increasing his suit's power to over 400% capacity), Iron Man was able to hold his own against the mighty Asgardian Thor himself. A unique feat of strength was when Tony pushed and jump started one of the rotors of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier while in the Mark VI.
 * Superhuman Reflexes: While not on par with that of someone with genuine superhuman speed and reflexes like Spider-Man, Iron Man's armors nonetheless have motors for movement, and they are shown to be extremely fast and responsive both in flight and during combat, even against physically enhanced opponents such as Captain America or the Winter Soldier. The suit's coordination and dexterity allow the user to easily maneuver themselves and change directions with great ease during flight.
 * Armor Systems: The armor has remote assistance from J.A.R.V.I.S. who manages the armor's systems at Stark's command, and the armor also has a holographic HUD with heads-up displays for navigation, power level, armor status, weapons systems, vital signs with cellphone and computer connections in the helmet, and a built-in loudspeaker. The armor is powered by a miniature Arc Reactor and has an onboard generator for emergencies. The scanner systems are capable of scanning the environment, weather conditions, and equipment for information.
 * Energy Conversion Power Recharge: The armor is able to absorb and convert energy sources, such as heat, kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity, directly into the batteries for recharge. Thor struck it with a full lightning blast from Mjølnir, but Stark was amazed to find that all it did was charge up the suit to 475%, allowing him to use a powerful repulsor blast and increase his strength substantially enough to give Thor a decent fight.
 * Self-Contained Life-Support System and Environmental Protection: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support. It is also shielded against radiation. The armor is shown to be capable of operating underwater, are resistant to water damage, and display no sign of faults once they're submerged under water.. but not designed for deep space travel (However, Tony has a new specialized armor designed to help with that situation). Most of Iron Man's recent armors
 * Heads Up Display (HUD): The Heads-Up display shows important things for the suit. The Heads Up Display of the Iron Man suit is powered by F.R.I.D.A.Y., Stark's artificial intelligence. The Suit also has Defensive and Offensive sections, able to switch around the sections, resorting to missiles and lasers. The HUD can also be talked to, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. will reply to it. The HUD can scan people, missile identifications, make calls, and give crucial suit credentials such as power. The HUD also has navigational (GPS) support. The suit also has radio capabilities, shown by Tony Stark talking to the Avengers as well as Nick Fury and Maria Hill at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
 * Armor Summon: Thanks to the new repulsor flight system, as well as the magnetic implants embedded in Tony's forearms, individual pieces of the armor can self-assemble themselves onto Tony or others. Tony is able to remotely summon the Mark XLII to Pepper for her to wear after his home was attacked by the Mandarin's forces. Tony summons the Iron Legion to fight against Aldrich's Extremis soldiers at the oil drilling platform. Tony is forced into confronting Killian, whom he attempts to defeat by ordering the suit to assemble itself on Killian and then self-destruct. This fails to kill him. Pepper intervenes, using her new Extremis abilities, as well a repulsor shot from a captured Iron Man gauntlet to finish off Killian once and for all. He was also able to use this to summon the gauntlet of the Mark XLIII to pick up Loki's Scepter, and also once more, along with a chest piece, to defend himself against Captain America's attack during the creation of Vision.
 * Mini Thrusters: Iron man can summon small circular thrusters, that can open up and attach to a surface to aid Iron Man it complicated situations. This was shown when he summoned thrusters with Iron Man Armor: Mark XLVII to assist him in repairing the ferry that Spider-Man failed to save.
 * EMP Projectiles: At the beginning of the Clash of the Avengers, Iron Man launched a device that emitted an electromagnetic pulse on a helicopter that prevented Captain America and Winter Soldier from escaping with it. The device disrupted and disabled the helicopter's machinery.
 * Powered Clamps: Tony can launch two disc-like projectiles consecutively with retractable metal fibers that can form a powered clamp to bind enemies. It is powerful enough to bind the legs of Captain America.

Defensive Powers

 * Superhuman Durability: The armor is made up of a strong lightweight Titanium Alloy, with interlocked plates for the shell, and a chest plate protecting the Arc Reactor. It has been shown to withstand tremendous amounts of punishment. The armor can withstand tank shells exploded in close proximity to Stark, and a resulting fall from several thousand feet up, followed by hits by 20mm Vulcan shells and a high-speed collision with an F-22 Raptor with only minimal cosmetic damage. It was able to survive a full-on fight with an older generation suit throughout Stark's house, the fights with the Hammer Drones and Whiplash, and having several cars dropped on top of him by Scarlet Witch, all of which resulted in taking relatively minor damage. Most of all, it protects the wearer from the effects of extreme g-force. It even allows him to withstand some of Thor's attacks, although Thor proved he could crush the suit's gauntlet frame with his strength. He was able to withstand the force of a turbine from the Helicarrier's engines when he got it to work again after removing the debris blocking it. It is also able to withstand a full-on assault from the Chitauri forces' energy weapons. The Mark 42 was able to take damage from having most of Tony's house collapse on him at the bottom of the ocean and being hit by a Mack truck, although, Stark was not in the armor and was instead remote-controlling it.
 * Advanced Combat Analysis: The Mark XLVI armor and component artificial intelligence F.R.I.D.A.Y. have the ability to analyze people's specific fighting patterns, and in turn, find a counter to said fighting style. When Stark proved unable to defeat Captain America in hand to hand combat, he had F.R.I.D.A.Y. analyze the pattern of Rogers' moves and find the openings. Once she had done so, Stark was able to overpower Rogers with aid from his repulsors, and while Rogers was still ultimately able to win, it was partly due to a last second distraction.

Offensive Powers
"I think you should lead with that next time."
 * Repulsors: Particle weapons in the palm gauntlets that shoot beams or blasts of concussive and explosive force, allowing them to can repel physical and energy-based attacks. Early repulsors needed time to recharge after use, but, because of the new Arc Reactor, they are able to fire at a moment's notice. The repulsors show to be strong enough to kill regular humans with one strike, destroy most stone and metal objects with ease, and destroy unmanned battle drones. When the suit is charged with additional power, the repulsors are powerful enough to stun even a superhuman with sufficient durability like Thor. It also enabled him to stun Loki on two occasions and take down numerous Chitauri foot soldiers and airships with ease. His repulsors shot down two of the three attack helicopters that destroyed his house and were capable of killing Extremis-enhanced soldiers at full charge. The repulsors now can fire in the form of segmented bolts and blasts instead of just beams. Also, by the sixth armor, the repulsor's can become small laser like welding beams, which Stark used to install an Arc Reactor for Stark Tower. The ones on the Mark XLVI are capable of launching targets off their feet without killing them and can even incapacitate super soldiers such as the Winter Soldier and Captain America, though they each proved resilient enough to continue fighting.
 * Unibeam: A more powerful version of the hand repulsor. It is located in the chest. However, it requires more power from the Arc Reactor to use and cannot be used as often. He used a blast through the chest to kill Extremis-enhanced Eric Savin after the many times Savin had taken several shots from his repulsor blasts. Indeed, the Unibeam is also powerful enough to disintegrate the Winter Soldier's prosthetic arm.

- War Machine


 * Lasers: A powerful weapon in the gauntlet wrists that can cut through any common metal. However, it is not strong enough to penetrate a Leviathan's shell. It has been shown to be very proficient against the Hammer Drones but Stark stated it only had a one-time use. It has been improved and has been used on several occasions in later models. They draw power from the Arc Reactor for more sustained operations, and can theoretically reduce the armor energy reserves to a drained state if operated indefinitely.
 * Smart Micro-Guns: Small anti-personnel guns in the shoulders that can target individual targets at once and fire at a moment's notice. It's proved to be highly effective against unarmored foot soldiers. They could be used to incapacitate rather than killing, allowing them to be used to incapacitate HYDRA agents during the assault on Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's research base in Sokovia.
 * Missiles: Among the most proficient of the armor's weapon system are the missiles which he first used against a tank sent by the Ten Rings. The earliest incarnations of the armor held a multi-fire adhesive grenade launcher in the upper arm. It includes Anti-Tank, Armor-Piercing rounds. In later models, the armor has mini-rockets hidden in a secret compartment in the boosters on the back, that blew up numerous Chitauri ships. Stark was able to destroy a Leviathan by flying into its mouth and launching them throughout its body with missiles in compartments in his knees. When using the Mark VII, he was able to use a missile hit by a repulsor to take down an attacker. From the Mark XLIII onward, the missiles used by the armor were shown to explode on impact rather than first attaching to the target, with the launchers for the missiles usually being located on either the arm or shoulder. Additionally, their destructive power grew, with allowing them to blast through stone and metal.
 * Direct Cybernetic Interface: Thanks to micro-repeaters injected into his left forearm, Stark can mentally and remotely control the Iron Man armors beginning with the Mark XLII either as a whole or in pieces with a combination of gestures and thought. This is further augmented by a holographic headset, which allows Stark to see through the Mark XLII's primary camera and allowing for complete remote control of the armor as though he were wearing it. The system was still in the test phases when Stark was forced to use it during his campaign against Aldrich Killian and had a tendency to fail at random.
 * Armor-Link: Stark can mentally command the armor with his thoughts even when he is fully unconscious. The Mark XLII almost attacked Pepper Potts in bed when Stark was having a nightmare. Potts' screams woke Stark in time to shut down the armor. He also can use a holographic headset that mimics the armors heads-up display and allows him to remotely control the armor as if he were inside it. He used this headset to remotely pilot the Mark XLII while he was on a speedboat with James Rhodes searching for Killian. He sent the armor aboard Air Force One to battle and kill Eric Savin and save its surviving occupants. Two years later he displayed these abilities with regards to the Mark XLIII, being able to summon pieces of it on telephonic command.

Abilities
"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!" "Well, I'm sorry. I'm not Tony Stark."
 * Genius-Level Intellect: Stark is one of the smartest humans in the world, surpassing even his late father Howard Stark, while rivaled only by fellow geniuses like Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Hank Pym, Shuri and Helen Cho, with Thanos, who had easily fooled Iron Man into believing Loki was unaided in his invasion while in actuality he had much of his resources from Thanos, being the only one to surpass him. As a result, Stark is known by the nickname "The Da Vinci of Our Time", and despite initially being deemed unfit for the Avengers Initiative, Nick Fury and Black Widow still respected Stark's genius enough for him to be recruited as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D.

- Obadiah Stane and William Ginter Riva

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" "Last night."
 * Master Engineer: Stark is an extremely talented and prolific engineer and robotics technician, having been able to make many complicated inventions at a young age, building his first circuit board at age four and his first engine at age six and at some point of his childhood, built Dum-E and U., his personal lab assistants, and then going on to construct numerous innovative Stark Industries weapons for the US military as an adult, most notably the Jericho, as well as leading Stark Industries to become the largest tech conglomerate in the world. Even in a cave with very few resources, Stark and Ho Yinsen were able to make the Iron Man Mark I armor and the first miniature Arc Reactor. Indeed, Obadiah Stane's group of well-equipped scientists failed to replicate the miniaturized Arc Reactor, while multiple world governments similarly failed to replicate Stark's Iron Man armors with the Feebles. He was also able to later program his Iron Man armors to fly to his body and the bodies of others, eventually able to remotely control his armors from vast distances away, via telepresence headset. Stark is equally brilliant in software and holographic engineering, with his custom-built mansion being highly technology-integrated and wired to be run through his personal AI assistant, J.A.R.V.I.S., whom Stark created from scratch. Stark would later go on to create the back-up AI systems F.R.I.D.A.Y., J.O.C.A.S.T.A., T.A.D.A.S.H.I., and Karen, in addition to installing the Training Wheels Protocol into the Spider-Man Suit, as well as re-assembling and restoring the memory of J.A.R.V.I.S. after finding the AI's remnants in the NEXUS world Internet hub. Moreover, Stark was able to help Nick Fury improve turbines on S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers, as well as help Bruce Banner construct the Hulkbuster, create the Ultron AI, and download J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Vision android. Stark also equipped several of his fellow Avengers with upgraded weaponry, notably the electroshock batons of Black Widow, and a new uniform with electromagnetic panels for Captain America, to help the latter more easily retrieve his vibranium shield. Stark similarly equipped Spider-Man, upgrading his Web-Shooters, creating a new Spider-Man Suit, capable of focusing Peter's superhuman senses, in addition to also eventually creating the Iron Spider suit for Peter. Even with limited resources and simple hardware store supplies, Stark was able to use them to build a home-made arsenal, with which he infiltrated the Mandarin's mansion. Indeed, Stark was even able to give a lecture on integrated circuits while drunk to the point that most other men, according to Ho Yinsen, wouldn't have been able to stand.

- Maria Hill and Tony Stark

"Tony, we need a plan of attack!" "I have a plan, attack."
 * Master Scientist: A exceptional scientific prodigy, Tony Stark is ingeniously resourceful, knowledgeable, and brilliant in many different fields of science, particularly physics, but also computer science, chemistry, and neuroscience, having graduated summa cum laude from MIT at age seventeen. Hence, he was able to attach an Arc Reactor to his chest in order to save his life, to synthesize a previously unknown element discovered by his father Howard Stark, to understand Erik Selvig's thermonuclear astrophysics notes on the Tesseract overnight, and to modify Maya Hansen's Extremis formula. Stark, however, notably admits to Bruce Banner surpassing him in the fields of radiophysics, particle collisions, and bio organics.
 * Master Hacker: Stark is an extremely skilled hacker, as he had managed to crack the Pentagon's firewall on a dare, while still in high school. As an adult, Stark successfully used J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database and learn of Phase 2, and, after successfully hacking into the NEXUS world Internet hub, Stark is able to discover J.A.R.V.I.S.' scattered remnants from all across the Internet.
 * Master Businessman: At the age of 21, Stark took over Stark Industries due to his parents' having died in a tragic car accident, thereby becoming the youngest CEO of a Company in history. Since then, Stark has helped the company grow, and gain more business partners, with Stark Industries eventually becoming the largest tech conglomerate in the world under his leadership. Stark is therefore extremely well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attention when he speaks on economic matters by virtue of the fact that he is savvy enough to have, over the years, built up Stark Industries into the premier weapons supplier to the US military for years. He is known for having his employees' loyalty, as well as his impeccable business ethics. However, upon his return, he now strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses such as turning away from making weapons. Nick Fury also notably recruited Stark as a business consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., which continued until the fall of the agency in the HYDRA Uprising. Moreover, Stark and the US government would later go on to joint purchase the Department of Damage Control, which Stark spearheaded so effectively in all post-battle cleanup, that Toomes Salvage Company promptly went out of business.

- Captain America and Iron Man


 * Expert Tactician: Stark, while a somewhat brash tactician, has every so often made many split-second tactical decisions that have either saved people's lives or overpowered his adversaries, though he usually has J.A.R.V.I.S.', and later F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s assistance in this. This is notable when Stark swiftly saved Gulmira from the Ten Rings, when he defeated Iron Monger with Pepper Potts' covert help, when he had War Machine use their combined repulsor blasts to defeat Whiplash, when he personally relocated a nuclear weapon sent by the World Security Council into outer space destroying the Chitauri Command Center effectively ending their invasion, when he managed to save all falling passengers of Air Force One, when he and War Machine saved President Ellis and destroyed the Extremis Soldiers with the Iron Legion, when he used F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s combat analysis to gain the upper hand against Captain America, and also when he promptly saved and fused back together a sinking NYC ferry. In addition, when Spider-Man was uncertain what to do in the Avengers Civil War, Stark promptly reminded him of their discussed plan for him. Nonetheless, Stark's tactics are usually brash and lack subtlety, as he mentions to Captain America upon their first meeting that his plan of attack concerning Thor was simply "attack."
 * Leadership: Stark, despite preferring to work on his own and not being as skilled a leader as Captain America, has proven to be a fairly capable leader when the situation calls for it, with Stark notably leading a portion of the Avengers, along with Black Panther and Spider-Man, in the Avengers Civil War, winning the battle.
 * Martial Artist: Stark is trained in unarmed combat by Phil Coulson and Happy Hogan, and has become quite formidable on his own without the Iron Man armor when the situation demands it. Hence, he was able to hold his own against War Machine, a Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Combat Pilot, during their armored brawl, despite himself being drunk at the time, and ultimately losing the fight. He was also able to battle Thor almost to a standstill for a time while using the Mark VI armor, though only because Mjølnir enhanced the armor to over 400% capacity and Thor was holding back. Stark further refined his hand-to-hand combat skills and became highly skilled in martial arts, being able to take down the guards at Aldrich Killian's Mansion with ease using a homemade arsenal, and defeat the Extremis Soldiers as well as hold his own reasonably well against Aldrich Killian on the Norco. However, Stark's combat skills are still outclassed by world-class fighters such as the Winter Soldier, who overpowered and knocked out an unarmored Stark rather quickly and even managed to beat him while Stark was wearing his Mark XLVI armor, despite Stark managing to take him down briefly, it was only due to Stark using repulsors to enhance his speed and pin him down before he could react rather than dominating him in a direct hand-to-hand fight, Captain America, who pummeled Stark after growing angered easily despite Stark managing to use his repulsors to enhance his speed to once again gain the upper hand to the point that Stark was forced to use the assistance of F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s combat analysis in order to hold his own against and overwhelm Captain America, which was also aided by his use of his armor's repulsors, and even then Rogers still defeated him, albeit only due to a last minute distraction, and Thanos, as although Stark managed to land some hits upon catching him off-guard, once Thanos engaged Stark in melee combat, Stark was easily pummeled by the Mad Titan and even armed with a nano-tech knife of his Mark L Armor, Thanos easily disarmed and grievously stabbed him with it and Stark only survived due to Doctor Strange bargaining for Stark's life with the Time Stone.
 * Marksman: Although he usually uses his armor, in some situations Stark is able to wield handguns with ease, using them to escape from A.I.M. operatives while not having access to his armor.
 * Pilot: Stark demonstrates a strong understanding of aerodynamics and air crafts, allowing him to perform complex maneuvers while flying in the Iron Man armor while being chased by F-22 Raptors. His aptitude also extends to ground-based vehicles, allowing him to efficiently drive in high-speed racing competitions such as the Monaco GP.
 * Multilingualism: Stark speaks his native English and some French, along with a little Spanish, Italian, and Latin. He can also speak Dari.

Tony Stark's Designs

 * Arc Reactor
 * J.A.R.V.I.S.
 * Dum-E and U
 * Holotable
 * Jericho
 * Gamma Ray Projector
 * Stark Sonic Cannon
 * Stark HUD 2020
 * Stark Medical Scanner
 * Tony Stark's New Element
 * Colantotte Bracelets
 * Bus
 * Iron Legion
 * Project Insight Helicarriers
 * Iron Man Mark XLII Telepresence Headset
 * Veronica
 * Ultron †
 * F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * J.O.C.A.S.T.A.
 * T.A.D.A.S.H.I.
 * B.A.R.F.
 * Iron Man Gauntlet
 * Spider-Man Suit
 * Spider-Drone
 * Karen
 * Training Wheels Protocol
 * Baby Monitor Protocol
 * Web-Shooters (2nd Generation)
 * Spider-Tracer
 * Spider-Signal
 * Iron Spider Armor

Family

 * Grandfather †
 * Grandmother †
 * Howard Stark † - Father
 * Maria Stark † - Mother
 * Pepper Potts - Fiancee and Former Assistant

Allies

 * Stark Industries
 * Happy Hogan - Close Friend and Former Bodyguard
 * Maria Hill † - Employee and Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Deputy Director
 * Edwin Jarvis † - Former Butler of the Stark Family
 * J.A.R.V.I.S. - Creation, Former Partner, Assistant and Close Friend
 * F.R.I.D.A.Y. - Creation, Partner and Assistant
 * Karen - Creation and Appointed Assistant to Spider-Man
 * Christine Everhart - One Night Stand
 * Ho Yinsen † - Fellow Captive, Friend and Savior
 * Ronald Coultrap
 * Ralph Vats
 * Avengers - Teammates and Friends
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Former Assistant (as Natalie Rushman)
 * James Rhodes/War Machine - Best Friend and Military Liaison
 * Vision † - Creation and Friend
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man † - Recruit and Mentee
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America - Former Team Leader, Close Friend and Rival
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon †
 * Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch † - Former Enemy and Enthraller
 * Thor
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk - Collaborator, Colleague and Close Friend
 * Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver † - Former Enemy
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation)
 * Nick Fury † - Former Director, Recruiter and Friend
 * Phil Coulson - Former Liaison and Friend
 * Jasper Sitwell †
 * Galaga Guy †
 * Damage Control
 * Anne Marie Hoag
 * Oracle Corporation
 * Larry Ellison
 * Elon Musk
 * Maya Hansen † - Former Love Interest
 * Wu
 * Helen Cho - Friend
 * Harley Keener - Friend
 * Gary
 * Mrs. Davis
 * Erik Selvig
 * Matthew Ellis
 * Laura Barton - Hostess
 * Thaddeus Ross
 * Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
 * Everett Ross
 * Sharon Carter
 * T'Challa/Black Panther † - Temporary Situational Ally
 * May Parker - Hostess
 * Masters of the Mystic Arts
 * Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange † - Rescuee, Rival and Savior
 * Wong
 * Guardians of the Galaxy
 * Peter Quill/Star-Lord † - Temporary Enemy
 * Drax the Destroyer † - Temporary Enemy and Former Attempted Victim
 * Mantis † - Temporary Enemy
 * Nebula

Enemies

 * Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger † - Former Business Partner and Attempted Killer
 * Ten Rings - Kidnappers
 * Raza †
 * Abu Bakaar †
 * Omar †
 * Lina - Love Interest turned Enemy
 * Rodriguez - Ally turned Enemy
 * Hammer Industries
 * Justin Hammer - Rival
 * Hammer Drones
 * Ivan Vanko/Whiplash † - Attempted Killer and Rival
 * Loki †
 * Chitauri
 * Leviathans
 * A.I.M.
 * Aldrich Killian † - Former Fan turned Enemy and Attempted Killer
 * Eric Savin † - Victim
 * Ellen Brandt † - Victim
 * Trevor Slattery
 * Ponytail Express
 * HYDRA
 * Wolfgang von Strucker †
 * List † - Victim
 * Senator Stern
 * Bruno Horgan/Melter
 * Ultron † - Creation, Enemy and Attempted Killer
 * Ultron Sentries †
 * Ulysses Klaue † - Former Acquaintance
 * Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier † - Temporary Ally and Attempted Victim
 * Scott Lang/Ant-Man - Situational Enemy
 * Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Former Teammate turned Situational Enemy
 * Helmut Zemo
 * Adrian Toomes/Vulture
 * Mac Gargan
 * Thanos - Attempted Killer and Attempted Victim
 * Black Order
 * Cull Obsidian † - Attempted Killer
 * Ebony Maw † - Attempted Killer and Victim

Trivia

 * When Tony Stark calls Rhodes, the ringtone is the original Iron Man theme song from the.
 * He considers calling his autobiography "A Cheap Trick and a Cheesy One-Liner".
 * Tony Stark's official net worth stands on $12.4 billion.
 * With the exception of Thor: Ragnarok, every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that Bruce Banner was in, Stark was in as well. That theme continues in any film they are mentioned. In Thor, Dr. Selvig mentions a "pioneer in Gamma radiation" and when the Destroyer arrives Agent Coulson questions if it is "Stark's". Vaguely relevant in Captain America: The First Avenger, Stark's father is involved in Project Rebirth, the same program that is recreated by Banner in The Incredible Hulk. During the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, both Stark and Banner are mentioned twice: Stark is mentioned as the engineer behind the turbine systems of Project Insight and "Iron Man" is part of the bargain Fury has with Pierce over delaying Project Insight, while Agent Sitwell lists "Bruce Banner" in his Zola Algorithm monologue and Fury mentions Banner as the mind behind Tetrodotoxin B.
 * The reason why Tony's arc reactor changes from an inverted pyramid back to a circular shape in The Avengers is because Director Joss Whedon personally disliked it, so most likely it was only kept in future films to honor continuity (although the inverted pyramid remains within the circular arc reactor if one simply looks close).
 * Starting with the Mark IV (and expecting the Mark V), the armors no longer use Stark's Arc Reactor as a power source. Instead, the suits each have their own individual Arc Reactor as seen when Killian damaged the one powering the Silver Centurion armor and Stark's own Reactor remained unscathed.
 * Tony Stark bookends the Battle of New York. He was the first to shoot back when the Chitauri began streaming through the portal, and ended the battle by hitting the Chitauri Command Center with a nuclear missile.
 * Stark is prone to dramatic pauses followed by an unemotive "Son of a bitch" in the event of an epiphany, as demonstrated when he realized Loki was seeking to use Stark Tower to mount his assault on New York and the revelation Helmut Zemo had framed The Winter Soldier for murder.
 * Stark has a prototype shield of Captain America.
 * Stark's de-aged appearance in Captain America: Civil War is based on Robert Downey, Jr.'s appearance in the 1987 film .
 * Hawkeye mockingly calling Stark "The Futurist" is a reference to a studio album that Robert Downey, Jr. made in 2004.
 * Method Man mentions Iron Man in his song "Bulletproof Love" in the Luke Cage episode Soliloquy of Chaos.
 * According to his S.H.I.E.L.D. file, Tony can speak English, Spanish, Italian, and Dari.
 * In the comics, Tony Stark is a member of the Illuminati, a group made of the smartest and most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, including Blackagar Boltagon, Stephen Strange, Bruce Banner, Medusa, Hank Pym and T'Challa.
 * Tony has his own flavor of ice cream called Stark Raving Hazelnuts, which Doctor Strange states as being "a bit chalky".

Behind the Scenes

 * Robert Downey, Jr. was uncredited for his appearance in The Incredible Hulk.
 * Before Robert Downey, Jr. was cast as Tony,, and  were interested in playing Iron Man. Cruise, in particular, was going to act in and produce the film. Cage played another Marvel superhero in Ghost Rider. Hugh Jackman was originally offered the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in Iron Man, but at the end, Robert Downey, Jr. was cast in the role instead. According to Jon Favreau,  and Sam Rockwell are among the actors that were considered for Tony Stark during pre-production. Rockwell would appear in Iron Man 2 as Justin Hammer.
 * Favreau had planned to cast a newcomer in the role but ultimately chose Downey (a fan of the comic) because he felt the actor's past made him an appropriate choice for the part.
 * "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye," the director explained. "He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character who is having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl." Favreau also felt Downey could make Stark a "likable asshole", but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience. Downey had an office next to Favreau during pre-production, which allowed him greater involvement in the screenwriting process. He brought a deeper sense of humor to the film not present in previous drafts of the script.
 * Downey stated that he initially pushed Joss Whedon to make Stark the lead in The Avengers, "Well, I said, ‘I need to be in the opening sequence. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.’ He was like, ‘Okay, let’s try that.’ We tried it, and it didn’t work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and, the theme are the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus."
 * A recurring theme in the Iron Man films is birthdays. In Iron Man it is Pepper Potts' birthday; in Iron Man 2, it is Tony Stark's birthday, and in Iron Man 3, it is Christmas (Jesus Christ's birthday). It can even be said that in The Avengers it is the "birth" of The Avengers and in Avengers: Age of Ultron it's the "birth" of Ultron and Vision.
 * Throughout The Avengers, Tony is seen wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt, a reference to the band's song "". Despite the fact the song was created with no link to the Marvel comic, the Iron Man film series have often adapted the song to use in film and advertisements. However, in the novelisation of the first film, Stark chooses the name himself rather than being given it by the press, naming his alter-ego after his favorite song.
 * Actor Simon Williams portrays Tony Stark in-universe. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 features a poster for a biopic of Stark, which is an obvious parody of the poster for the film  starring  in the.
 * Richard Cetrone, Greg Fitzpatrick, Mike Justus, Oakley Lehman, Daniel Stevens, Clay Donahue Fontenot, Glenn Foster, Paul Vallespi, Tanner Foust, Trevor Habberstad, Douglas Robson, Ben Wright, Kofi Yiadom and James Young were stunt doubles for Robert Downey, Jr. in the role of Iron Man.
 * Brian Schaeffer was a stand-in for Robert Downey, Jr. in the role of Iron Man.