Whiplash

"Now, the true history of Stark name will be written. What your father did to my family over 40 years, I will do to you in 40 minutes." "Sounds good. Let's get together and hash it out."

- Ivan Vanko and Tony Stark

Ivan Vanko was an enemy of Iron Man. He sought revenge on the Stark family for the ruin and humiliation of his own though his failed attempt was at the cost of his own life.

Early Life
Ivan Vanko is the son of Anton Vanko, a Russian physicist who helped Howard Stark design the Arc Reactor, but was deported from the United States when Howard Stark accused him of espionage. Ivan was also convicted of selling Soviet-era weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan and served 15 years in Kopeisk prison. Anton Vanko fell into poverty and alcoholism, and also abused his son for many years. Ivan became knowledgeable in the fields of physics and mechanical sciences, and adopted his father's hatred for the Stark family.

Becoming Whiplash
"If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him, there will be blood in the water, the sharks will come. All I have to do is sit back and watch as the world consumes you." "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."

- Ivan Vanko and Tony Stark

After the death of his father, Ivan Vanko began work on a replica of the arc reactor. Ivan constructed an exoskeleton, powered by a miniature arc reactor, to use against Tony Stark in an effort to discredit him.

Duel of Monaco
Vanko attacked Stark during the Monaco Grand Prix, using his Whiplash harness to destroy several cars in the race, but Stark defeated him using Iron Man suit, and Vanko was sent to prison. While in custody, Vanko was asked by Tony why he didn't sell his technology to make money. Vanko replied that he wanted to remove Stark's awe from the people and demonstrate that Iron Man could be defeated. Ivan also deduced that Tony was being poisoned by the palladium in his arc reactor saying, "Palladium in the chest, painful way to die."

Making an Alliance with Justin Hammer
"This isn't a helmet, this is a head... Ivan, what's going on?" "Drone better." "Drone better? What, why drone better? Ivan, I got an order for suits, not drones!"

- Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko

Later, Vanko escaped from prison with the help of Stark's rival Justin Hammer, who also orchestrated the faking of Vanko's death in the prison break. Hammer and Vanko then made a deal in which Vanko was to build armored suits like the Iron Man armor in exchange for Hammer Industries resources. Vanko changed the terms of the deal however, when he retrofitted Hammer's existing armor technology from wearable suits into unmanned drones.

Battle at Stark Expo
Vanko was locked up in Hammer Industries Headquarters, having enraged Hammer with the unexpected change. Hammer's plan to unveil the drones during the World Stark Expo went ahead, although Vanko powered the drones up and altered the simple unveiling to a full-blown demonstration. Vanko killed his guards and remotely assumed control of the drones, as well as the War Machine armor worn by James Rhodes.



Death
As a lengthy fight involving Stark armors and the Hammer drones progressed, Vanko abandoned the factory and got involved in an armored suit of his own. The superior bulk and capabilities of his suit initially outmatched the combined efforts of Stark and Rhodes, but working together they soon found a way to beat him. As he lay wounded in the remains of his armor, Vanko revealed that he had concealed self-destruct devices in his suit as well as all of the Hammer drones. His dying words were, "You lose."

Relationships

 * Anton Vanko - Father
 * Justin Hammer - Ally turned enemy
 * Iron Man - Enemy
 * War Machine - Enemy
 * Howard Stark - Enemy

Trivia

 * The Ivan Vanko character is an combination of elements from Iron Man villains Whiplash and the Crimson Dynamo.
 * Vanko's last name came from Anton Vanko, who is Ivan's father. Anton was the original Crimson Dynamo in the comics. In the beginning of the film Anton dies.
 * Marvel Comics created a new version of Whiplash named Anton Vanko in the Mainstream Universe that was similar to this character, shortly before the release of Iron Man 2 as the Ivan Vanko version of Whiplash was not similar to any other one of the other characters named Whiplash in the comics.
 * Vanko's fake ID and alias on the Monaco Grand Prix track use the name B. Turgenev, a reference to the second Crimson Dynamo, Boris Turgenev.