Iron Man

"I've got a lot of apologies to make. Nothing's been the same since New York. I experience things, and then they're over. I can't sleep, and when I do I have nightmares. Honestly, there's a hundred people who want to kill me. I hope I can protect the one thing I can't live without."

- Iron Man

Anthony Edward Stark, called Tony by his friends, is a self-proclaimed eccentric genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. He is also an armored superhero known as Iron Man. Fresh off from defeating enemies the world over, Stark reluctantly agreed to serve as a consultant to Nick Fury's peacekeeping intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D..

Now, with a global crisis on the horizon and the fate of the world in the balance, Stark must power-up his Iron Man armor to save the world, and become a member of The Avengers.

Early life
"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 from the newsreels."

- Tony Stark

Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark was born on Friday, May 29, 1970 to Howard and Maria Stark. When he was four years old, he made his first Circuit Board. When he was almost seven he built an engine. When Tony was seventeen he graduated MIT at the top of his class.

At the age of twenty-one, his parents died in a car crash. Later, he inherited Stark Industries.

At some time he met James Rhodes, and they became best friends.

Creating Demons
On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, attended a Science Conference in Switzerland where he arrogantly avoided crippled scientist Aldrich Killian, who wanted Stark's backing in his endeavour Advanced Idea Mechanics. Stark purposely told Killian to meet him on the rooftop of the building with the intention of not turning up. This lead Killian to wait all night while Tony slept with Maya in her room.

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 Tony and Rhodes went to a weapon demonstration at the Yuma Proving Ground. Pepper gives the weapon's specifics to the generals while Tony and Rhodes go to a night club. Tony enjoys the company of two girls while Rhodes tries to convince him not to go to Afghanistan. Tony is then attacked by a man whose girlfriend he previously seduced, but Rhodes easily defeats the attacker. Later, Tony, Rhodes, and the girls go to Tony's house.

Last Day of Freedom
"You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?" "Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint." "And what do you say to your other nickname, the Merchant of Death?" "That's not bad."

- Christine Everhart and Tony Stark

After a whole presentation of Tony's successful past, Rhodes is given the honor of presenting Apogee Award to Tony at Caesars Palace. When Obadiah Stane gives Rhodes a signal saying that Tony wasn't there to receive it, Obadiah takes the reward, in Tony's honor. Shortly after the award ceremony, Rhodes brings Tony the award while he is gambling in the casino inside of Caesars Palace. Rhodes gets very angry at Tony for not being present for the award. Right when Tony is about to leave the hotel, Christine Everhart tries to interview him for Vanity Fair. Stark deflects her questions with some swift quips and the two end up spending the night together at Tony's oceanfront house. In the morning Tony begins working on one of his cars. Pepper, his assistant reminds him about his trip to Afghanistan. He gets to the plane 3 hours late. He and Rhodes soon get drunk and have a small party on the plane. Tony presents his newest weapon, the Jericho Missile.

Afghanistan
"You got a family?" "Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?" "No." "So you're a man who has everything, but nothing."

- Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen

During the business trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, the Jericho Missile, Tony's convoy is attacked. One of his own company's bombs lands near him and explodes. The blast causes him to lose consciousness and embeds several pieces of shrapnel in his chest, one fragment dangerously close to his heart.

He wakes up some time later with an electromagnet attached to his chest. Hooked up to a car battery, the electromagnet keeps the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Tony has been captured by the terrorist group Ten Rings, who order him to build a Jericho missile for them. Instead, he and fellow captive Ho Yinsen secretly build a power armor fueled by a miniature Arc Reactor, a smaller version of a power source previously invented by Tony's father. The arc reactor supplies energy to an electromagnet which prevents embedded shrapnel from reaching Tony's heart, which would kill him. Dr. Yinsen is killed in the ensuing escape attempt when he stalls the guards to buy Tony enough time to power up the suit. Using the suit, Tony kills several terrorists, destroys their weapons stockpile, and escapes, though his suit is destroyed as he crashes in the desert.

Upon being picked up by the Air Force and returning to the United States, Tony declares that his company will, for the time being, no longer manufacture weapons. His father's friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane, tells him that this move is blocked by the board members shortly after.

Marks II and III
"Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics..." "Uh, yeah, tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check, start listening in on ground control." "Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations required before an actual flight is..." "Jarvis... sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."

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

Tony retreats from public view, focusing on the design of his new power suit, refining its size and flight capability. He asks Pepper Potts to help him take his old arc reactor out and to put in a new one. During his first public appearance since his return to the United States, he is accosted by Christine Everhart, who shows him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of terrorist groups, including the Jericho missiles he refused to build for them. He also discovers that Obadiah has been supplying weapons to both the U.S. troops and the terrorists, as well as being the one to shut Tony out of the board while he recovers.

Faced with the realization of what his company has done, Tony dons the power suit and flies to Afghanistan, rescuing Yinsen's village from the Ten Rings. In destroying their weapon stockpiles, he accidentally draws the attention of the United States Air Force and his friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. Two F-22 Raptors are ordered to take out the unknown target, and during the confrontation one of the Raptors loses its left wing when it accidentally collides with Tony. The pilot ejects shortly afterwards, but his parachute jams. Tony dives down to help the pilot release his parachute before escaping.

Betrayal
"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

Determined to make amends for his mistakes, Tony sends Pepper to find the shipping records of Stark Industries, so he can track down the illicit shipments and destroy them. While hacking into the system, she discovers that it was Obadiah who hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony, but they had reneged on the deal when they realized who the target was. She also discovers that Obadiah has recovered the power suit prototype and has reverse-engineered his own version. However, his team of scientists, not possessing Tony's genius, cannot engineer the miniature arc reactor to power the new suit.

Obadiah, upon realizing Pepper's discovery, steals Tony's arc reactor from his chest to power his new suit, leaving Tony to die.

Using his first reactor, which was not designed to power his latest armor, Tony battles with Obadiah atop Stark Industries and the surrounding streets, defeating him when the full-sized arc reactor that powers the lab is deliberately overloaded by Pepper.

Meeting with Coulson
After fighting Obadiah, Rhodes tries to get Tony into an ambulance to see if he got any internal injuries. The ambulance was a fake one sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to get Tony. Now that they could finally get to talk to Tony. Phil Coulson talks to Tony after they drop him off. Phil reviews Tony's fighting strategy of his fight with Iron Monger on a projector screen. He tells him he needs to become a real fighter and that he will be trained by skilled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

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

The next morning, Tony's alter ego is dubbed "Iron Man" by the press.

Tony holds a press conference where his S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts advise him to state that Iron Man is Tony's bodyguard. However, he instead announces that he actually is Iron Man.

Meeting 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." "Ah." "I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

- Nick Fury and Tony Stark

One night, Tony arrives home and is greeted by a mysterious visitor standing by the window. He reveals himself as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., warns him that he is not the only 'super hero' in the world and wants to discuss with Stark about the Avengers Initiative, however Stark has no interest in the Initiative.

Stark Expo '10
Starting the Expo "Okay, give me a smooch for good luck, I might not make it back!" "Go get 'em, boss!" "You complete me!"

- Tony Stark and Pepper Potts

Six months after revealing his identity to the world and helping maintain world peace. Tony appears as Iron Man at the grand Opening of the Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows, New York City, continuing the legacy his father started.

Unfortunately, Tony's life isn't as good as it appears as he is faced with two threats. One in the form of his own heart, it seems the ARC Reactor palladium core is poisoning him causing him a slow painful death due to over uses of the Iron Man armor.

Meeting with Senator Stern
"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." "Well, you can forget it. 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? You're a senator. Come on."

- Ben Stern and Tony Stark

The second threat is from a senate committee hearing, led by Senator Ben Stern, demanding that Tony release the technology of the Iron Man armor for military application. Tony refuses believing that it's not in the best interested of the American people for the military to posses that they'll use as a weapon that could very well be used against America. Senator Stern tries to turn Tony's best friend Lt. Colonel James Rhodes against him in effort to force him. Competitor Justin Hammer tries to plead his case in the matter, Tony takes this opportunity to embarrassed both Justin and Stern with a collection of video footage of Justin and others around the world attempting to recreating the technology. Tony arrogantly states that it will be years before anyone will be able to successfully recreate the tech.

Making Pepper CEO
Tony returns to his home where he and J.A.R.V.I.S. try to find a solution in finding a new power source for the Arc Reactor. Uncertain of his outcome of survival Tony appoints his former personal assistant Pepper Potts (CEO of Stark Industries), replacing her with Natalie Rushman.

Tony meets Ivan Vanko
"What's the point of owning a race car if you can't drive it?"

- Tony Stark

Growing increasingly despondent and thrill-seeking as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, Tony races at the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ivan Vanko who has constructed an arc reactor of his own, along with whip-like energy weapons attacks Tony. With the aid of Pepper and Happy Hogan who hands him his portable briefcase armor. Tony dons the Mark V armor and defeats Ivan.

Afterward, Tony pays Ivan a visit in a French prison to find out how he acquired the technology, During the conversation Ivan reveals that he's 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. Ivan blames the Stark family for his family's fate, and seeks revenge. Ivan also mentions he's fully aware of Tony's current heart poisoning, saying it's a terrible way to die.



Tony's Birthday party
Tony heads back home with Pepper to celebrate his upcoming birthday. On route home, Tony attempts to tell Pepper the truth behind his current series of reckless acts. Wanting to escape from all his current problems Tony tries to convince Pepper to take a detour in Italy. Unfortunately, due to the media pressure of the recent incident in Monaco with Whiplash has everyone on edge demanding that Tony turn over the technology now. Ivan escapes prison thanks to Justin who intends to use Ivan's knowledge of Tony's technology to create his own army of armored warriors to discredit Iron Man. Tony throws what he believes will be his last birthday party and gets drunk while wearing the Iron Man armor and indulges in dangerous activities, forcing his friend, Rhodes, to intervene. Rhodes dons Tony's Mark II armor and after almost destroying Tony's house in the resulting fight, delivers the armor to the military.

Rediscovering the element
"What do you want from me?" "What do we want from you? Uh-uh. 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 in the southwest region to deal with."

- Tony Stark and Nick Fury

The next day, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Tony, revealing Natalie as undercover agent Natasha Romanoff and that Howard was a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder.

Fury gives Tony some of Howard's old material to aid in finding a cure for the palladium poisoning. A hidden message in the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo proves to be a diagram of a new element's atomic structure. With the aid of his computer J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony synthesizes the new element and cures himself. Afterward, Ivan contacts Tony, revealing he is still alive and still set on revenge. Tony dons the Mark VI armor and files off to the Expo.

The Final Battle with 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

At the Expo, Justin unveils his military drones, captained by Rhodes in a heavily weaponized version of the Mark II armor known as the War Machine armor. Tony as Iron Man arrives to warn Rhodes, but Ivan seizes control of both the drones and Rhodey's armor, setting them to attack Iron Man. Pepper has Hammer arrested while Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan and Agent Romanoff race to Hammer's Queens facility. Ivan has left, but Natasha turns over control of the Mark II armor to Rhodes.

Eliminating the other drones, Tony and Rhodes are confronted by Ivan in his new, more powerful suit of armor. He is defeated when Tony and Rhodes fire repulsor rays at each other, triggering an explosion beside Ivan. Too injured to continue the fight, Ivan ignites his and his drones' self-destruct bombs, killing himself. Tony races to save Pepper amid a series of explosions. Pepper quits her position as CEO, and she and Tony kiss. Rhodes departs with the Mark II armor without serious objection from Tony.

Not a suitable Candidate
At a debriefing, while showing news footage of another superhuman event, Fury informs Tony that while Iron Man is a suitable candidate for the "Avengers Initiative", Tony himself is not. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants Tony in a consultant position, to which Tony agrees on the condition that Senator Stern present himself and Rhodes with their medals for bravery.

The Consultant
"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." "Stark." "General." "You always wear such nice suits."

- Tony Stark and Thaddeus Ross Keeping with his job as Consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony was tasked with preventing General Thaddeus Ross from releasing Emil Blonsky onto the Avengers Initiative, ordered by the World Security Council. Tony arrived at a Bar where he found a Drunken Ross. The two exchanged insults before Stark told him that a team is being made, etc. It is unclear what else they talked about except that Tony annoyed Ross so much that the latter tried to have him removed from the Bar, to which Stark bought and arranged to be demolished. The task was complete with Ross refusing to release Blonsky from his custody.

Making the New War Machine Armor
"Nevertheless, you, James Rhodes, are never wearing the Mark II armor again...because I made this for you instead."

- Tony Stark

Some time later, Tony retrieved the War Machine armor and striped it of the Hammer Industries weapons. When Rhodes arrived, Tony informed him he'll never wear that armor again - because he made him a new one.

Initiation
"It's good to meet you, Dr. 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."

- Iron Man

After Loki infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. and steals the Tesseract, Nick Fury decides it's time to re-establish the Avengers Initiative. Agent Coulson travels to the newly built Stark Tower where Tony and Pepper are celebrating the successful creation of a new, clean energy source. Tony is informed of Coulson's presence at Stark Tower by J.A.R.V.I.S. to which he informs him that he has "reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark" and refuses to see him. Coulson enters the building anyway and informs Tony that the Initiative is now active, and they need him to come in, handing Stark holographic screens with information about Captain America, Thor, Bruce Banner and Loki.

Capturing Loki
Stark suits up in his Mark VI armor and travels to Germany where he finds his old acquaintance, Natasha Romanoff in a jet overlooking the newly unfrozen Captain America in the middle of a battle with the hostile god, Loki.

Stark jets right in and blasts Loki with his repulsors and stands tall next to the Captain forcing Loki to surrender. After escorting Loki onto the Quinjet, the team head back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier. Stark comments on Steve's fighting skills and subtly mocks him. The Quinjet is then surrounded by a storm and attacked by Thor, who breaks in and grabs Loki before he flies away. Stark immediately pursues them.

While Thor threatens Loki atop a mountain, Tony blasts straight into him, hurling him onto the forest floor. Stark refuses to let Thor get close to Loki, and the two began a battle.

During the fight, Thor summons lightning to his hammer, Mjølnir, and electrocutes Stark only for J.A.R.V.I.S. to inform him that his suit is at 400% capacity, allowing him blast Thor off his feet. The armor takes a beating during the battle as Thor easily begins to crush one of the gauntlets with his bare hands. The fight is broken up by Captain America who, after matching Mjølnir with his Shield, manages to stop Thor. They take Loki back to the Helicarrier where Tony meets Bruce Banner and discuss the Tesseract but not before Tony plants a hacking device and allows J.A.R.V.I.S. to begin searching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database to find out their secrets. Tony and Bruce find out that S.H.I.E.L.D. were trying to harness the Tesseract's powers to create weapons of mass destruction, during a huge argument with Fury, Romanoff, Rogers, Banner and Thor, Loki's brainwashed troops cause an explosion on the Helicarrier in order to break Loki out. Stark suits up as Iron Man and begins to fix the ship from the outside with the aid of Steve.

Battle of New York
"What have I to fear?" "The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" type thing." "Yes, I've met them." "Yeah. Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here: Your brother, the demigod; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

- Loki and Tony Stark

Upon fixing the ship and fighting off some of Loki's troops, the duo learns that Banner had transformed into the Hulk and escaped from the ship, as well as Thor being ejected from the Helicarrier by Loki who escaped and murdered Agent Coulson. Fury informs the two that the Avengers Initiative was so that the isolated individuals could become something more and that Coulson died still believing this. Stark takes his death hard and works out where Loki is planning his attack. Iron Man, Captain America, Natasha and Hawkeye (now free from Loki's mind control) travel to Stark Tower where Tony finds Loki has installed a device powered by the Tesseract.

Tony takes off his armor and begins to "threaten" Loki, secretly putting on two metal bracelets moments before Loki throws him out of the window, as he falls he orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to deploy his new Mark VII suit which jet-packs out through the window after him and forms around him moments before he hits the ground. Stark flies back up to Loki and blasts him backwards in the name of Agent Coulson. Tony is however confronted by Loki's device which opens a portal into space where Loki's army of Chitauri fly into New York and begin their war against Earth. Iron Man is joined by his team mates as they begin to battle the alien menace. Tony begins to chase after a Leviathan, a giant alien serpent and the war ship to dozens of Chitauri. When he is notified of Banner's arrival on the field, Tony leads the serpent towards him so Bruce will transform into the Hulk and defeat it. Tony lands on the ground alongside his fellow heroes, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow. The team are then confronted by hundreds of Chitauri who fly in through the portal as well as several more Leviathans. Rogers gives out orders and instructs Tony to take to the skies and take out more Chitauri. Tony even takes out a Leviathan by flying head first into it mouth and launching missiles from the inside.

After a long battle, the team are still outnumbered and learn that Natasha has found a way to close the portal. Stark hinders this as Fury has instructed him that the World Security Council have sent a missile in to blow up Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and flies it up through the portal and blows up the Chitauri Mother-ship, losing power in the process and falling unconscious back through the portal just before it closes. As Stark falls back to earth, he is caught by the Hulk who lands with him back on the ground.

Rogers and Thor run over to the lifeless Iron Man who appears to be dead, only for Hulk to scream in his face, waking him up. The team reform and make sure that Loki surrenders. The Avengers then make sure Loki is taken back to Asgard by Thor along with the Tesseract. A few hours later, Stark and the rest of the Avengers went to a shawarma restaurant where they eat silently. The team then disbands and go their separate ways. Tony is later seen with Pepper Potts on Stark Tower ready to rebuild after the damage that was done. The Stark sign on the side displays only one remaining letter, "A".

The Iron Legion
After the battle, Tony invited Rhodes to his workshop in Malibu. Seeing that not even the combined powers of Iron Man and War Machine would be enough to protect the Earth from the next threat from the Nine Realms, Tony showed Rhodes several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled. He called them the "Iron Legion".

Nightmares
About one year on from the Battle of New York; Tony tested the Mark XLII, which was built so that he could summon various pieces of the armor when needed. Meanwhile, Rhodey has his suit repainted by the American government who have now ranamed him Iron Patriot. Tony meets with Rhodey at a Bar where he mocks the Iron Patriot name when two kids ask him to sign a drawn picture of him dirverting the nuclear missile to the portal. The picture depicts Tony near-death experience in the Battle of New York which leads for him to have an anxiety attack forcing him to leave the bar in his suit. Back at his house, Pepper approached Tony about his insecurities, claiming he has bee pulling away. Tony stated that he had been having trouble coping after his near-death experience in New York, claiming that 'aliens' and 'other dimensions' are too much for him to handle and that he can't sleep without having nightmares. Pepper stated that his obsessiveness over his technology were a distraction. Later that night, Tony had visions of himself going against the Chitauri, causing him to go into distress. Pepper tried to wake him until his armor appeared, coming to Tony's aid, seeing Pepper as a threat. Tony awoke and deactivated the armor, apologizing to a terrified Pepper who leaves 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 message to the Mandarin

Meanwhile, a string of bombings by terrorist the Mandarin left intelligence agencies bewildered at the lack of forensic evidence. When Happy Hogan was caught in one such attack, Tony issued a public threat to the Mandarin.

Later that day, Maya Hansen; Tony's old lover, confronted Tony at his home, warning him about the effects of his recent public warning. Pepper appeared and told Tony that it was time for them to leave until they are attacked by several helicopters, lead by Eric Savin. Tony signaled his armor onto Pepper, protecting her. Once Pepper had gotten Maya to safety, Tony summoned the armor back to himself, fending off the several helicopters surrounding him. After being out gunned, Stark was pulled into the ocean while his home demolished over him, barely escaping. Stark found himself in rural Tennessee after J.A.R.V.I.S. followed his initial flight plan to find the Mandarin. Lacking the power to return to California, the world at large believed him to be dead. Tony sent a private call, hoping for Pepper to hear. Apologizing for putting her in harm's way, Tony stated that he cannot return home yet.

Back to Basics
"You can take away my suits, you can take away my home, but there's one thing you can never take away from me: I am Iron Man."

- Tony Stark

Stark broke into a work-shop belonging to a 10-year old Harley (and his family). Tony enlisted Harley's help in finding the truth behind the terrorist bombings. Seeking information, Stark set up a meeting with the wife of a recently killed (Extremis-infected) soldier. Once being handed valuable information regarding her husband's death, Tony was attacked by Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin. Barely escaping from Brandt, Savin confronted Stark, threatening to kill Harley. Harley used a device given to him by Stark earlier, blinding Savin for a few moments in which the two were able to escape. With Harley's assistance, Stark tracked down the Mandarin's location in Miami - as the suit is recharging, Harley suggested that Stark builds his own gadgets if he had to defend himself.

Infiltrating the Mandarin's home, Stark discovered that the Mandarin is not really a terrorist, rather a British actor employed by Killian to act as a threat to America, covering up Killian's test-subjects/Extremis program. Tony is however knocked unconscious by Savin who takes Tony to Killian. Being held in captivity, he witnessed Killian murder Maya and discovered that he has captured Pepper and is currently infecting her with Extremis. Summoning his Mark XLII all the way from Harley's House, Stark escaped captivity and defeated several guards.

Tony reunited with Rhodes who revealed that Savin had taken control of the Iron Patriot armor, intending to launch an attack on President Ellis aboard Air Force One. Remotely controlling his armor, Stark flew aboard the Plane and killed Savin by blasting a hole through his chest. He then exited the plane and saved the surviving passengers and crew but was unable to rescue Ellis from Killian who already exited him from the plane in the Iron Patriot armor.

Stopping Killian
Stark and Rhodes traced Killian to an impounded oil drilling platform where he intended to kill Ellis on live television. Sneaking in, they were attacked by several Extremis soldiers. Over-powered, Stark summoned all 42 armors to their aid (controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S.). Tony found Pepper under wreckage when Killian unexpectedly attacked him and began burning through his suit, forcing Tony to eject from it before he summoned another. Coming to Pepper's aid once again, Tony was unable to reach her and watch as she fell into a pit of fire to a certain death. Enraged, Stark engaged in a fight with Killian.

As Killian proved his Extremis abilities could cut through the armor with ease, Stark again exited his suit to avoid defeat. Standing over a platform, Stark, now armorless, awaited the Mark XLII but is deflated when it simply crashed into a wall. As Killian began to boast of himself, Tony summoned the Mark XLII onto Killian, trapping him. Tony then ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to let it self-destruct while he escaped. Jumping into another suit, Tony escaped the explosion and crashed to the ground. Suddenly, Killian emerged from the flames, still intent on Tony's death, revealing himself to be the true Mandarin. Just before he could make an attack, Pepper struck him to the ground, still alive due to the Extremis. Using a repulsor she took from a stray Iron Man suit, she was able to finish Killian off.

A Step Further
Shocked at Pepper's image, Tony apologized and promised to find a cure for her. Tony, seeing Pepper worried about their future, ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all his remaining armors in Operation: Clean Slate protocol. Surrounded by the subtle explosions in the sky, the two embraced. Later, Tony underwent surgery to have the shrapnel removed from his heart and threw his arc reactor into the ocean, vowing that no matter what, he is Iron Man even without the armor or the arc reactor.

Therapy session with Dr. Banner
"Are you actively napping?" "I was..I drifted." "Where did I lose you?" "Elevator in Switzerland."

- Tony Stark and Bruce Banner

Some time later after the events, Tony then recounted everything that had happened to Bruce Banner who had fallen asleep during the tale, telling Tony that he wasn't that kind of doctor. Tony ignored this comment and began telling the story all over again much to Bruce's dismay.

Powers and Abilities
Tony Stark does not possess any superhuman powers other than the scaled-down miniturized version of the Arc Reactor that keeps the remaining shrapnel in his heart from killing him. However, by the end of Iron Man 3, he has the shrapnel removed, no longer needing the Arc Reactor in his chest. Nonetheless, his high-tech battle armor provides him with superhuman strength, endurance, durability, and a variety of onboard weapons. Combined with his extraordinary intelligence, it makes Tony Stark one of the most formidable superheroes on the planet and a force to be reckoned with.

Known Iron Man Armors
Tony uses an advanced high tech armor to become Iron Man. The armor allows him to fly and contains various weapons for battle. He frequently improves the armor, giving it upgrades for battles and to perfect the systems. Iron Man wears a sophisticated suit of body armor containing various offensive weaponry. He has a number of suits aside from the current model. Some are mission-specific or prototypes for testing, others are older models kept for nostalgia or for research. He has developed a special briefcase to carry his armor in. As the multi-billionaire head of a global corporation and a genius-level inventor, Stark can procure or develop additional technology as needed as possible. The Iron Man Armor is arguably one of the most powerful forms of weapons technology developed by Tony Stark 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 suit, however, 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 Vanko while he was just utilizing just the Whiplash harness and Stark relying on his repulsors. The Marks VI and VII proved to be the most powerful generation suits used by Stark. They were powerful enough to battle hordes of Hammer drones, Vanko with his own advanced armor, survive and battle two Asgardian gods (Thor and Loki, respectively) and hordes of alien foot soldiers and large transports (the Levithan) with ease. The Marks 8 through 42 proved to be equally powerful generation suits as they were able to battle nanotech-enhanced human soldiers who themselves had enough strength to match any of the armors.
 * Mark I
 * Mark II
 * Mark III
 * Mark IV
 * Mark V
 * Mark VI
 * Mark VII
 * Iron Legion
 * Mark XLII

Support Powers

 * Flight: One of the armor's most important features is its ability of flight. The armor can reach speeds 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 time of The Avengers, the Mark VII armor's flight system was improved with additional boosters on the back. It enables the armor to quickly evade enemy attacks and go faster than ever. Also this gives Tony the ability to better able himself, to shoot while in flight, due to the fact that he doesn't have to use his hands to keep him stabilized all the time now. He was able to reach Tennessee from California in a matter of a few hours.
 * Superhuman Strength: When utilizing the armor, it increases his physical abilities to superhuman levels, chief among them is his strength. Tony, inside his armor, is capable of overpowering normal humans, punching them with sufficient force to launch them great distances. It also enables him to tear through most objects such stone walls and most metal objects with ease, lift most objects such as cars and other vehicles with ease. It has also enable him to tear through unmanned battle drones and alien ground troops. His strength can be increased when powered by a sufficient energy source. It is unknown how strong he is in the armor, but it has also enabled him to battle superhuman opponents like Thor or Loki. Most importantly, it can enable him to perform unique feats of strength such as pushing one of the Helicarrier's turbine fans. He was able to battle Extremis-enhanced humans to a standstill like Savin. However, Killian proved to be powerful enough to match Tony in his suit, if not slightly surpass him.
 * Superhuman Reflexes: While not on order of someone with genuine superhuman physical abilities, particularly superhuman speed and reflexes, nonetheless, the armors have motors for movement. It is shown to be extremely fast and responsive in flight, and during combat.
 * 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 have 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, included a loudspeaker. The armor is powered by a miniature arc reactor and has an on-board 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 also able to absorb and convert nearby or far away energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity, or even drain energy directly into the batteries for recharge. In The Avengers, Thor strikes it with a full lightning strike from Mjolnir to Stark, but Stark is 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 vacuums or underwater, providing its own life support, it is also shielded against radiation. The armor shows to capable of operating underwater, but not designed for deep space travel (However, he now has a specialized armor to help with that situation the next time).

Defensive Powers

 * Durability: The armor is made up of a strong light weight Titanium Alloy, with interlocked plates for the shell, and a chest plate protecting the arc reactor. It shows to withstanding 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 a 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. And most importantly, the fights with the Hammer Drones and Whiplash taking minor damage. Most of all, it protects the wearer from the effects of extreme g-forces. It even allows him to withstand some of Thor's attacks, although it was starting to take damage. Both he and Thor were striked in their heads with Captain America's shield to get their attention and stop them from fighting; there was no damage either. He was able to withstand the force of the turbine from the Helicarrier's engines when he got it to work again after removing the debris blocking it. It also able to withstand full-on assault from Chitauri forces ranging from their energy weapons to troops to their transports. The Mark 42 was able take damage from having most of Tony's house collaspe on him at the bottom of the ocean and being hit by a Mack truck (although, Tony was not in the armor and was remote controlling it).

Offensive Powers

 * Repulsors: A particle beam weapon in the palm gauntlets. It can repel physical and energy-based attacks. Early repulsors needed time to recharge after use, but because of the new arc reactor they become able to fire at a moments notice. The repulsors show to be strong enough to kill regular humans with one strike, destroy most 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. It also enabled him to take down two of the three attacks copters that destroy his house and take out Extermis-enhanced soldiers with ease.
 * Unibeam: A more powerful version of the repulsor beams. 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 to kill Savin after the many times Savin had taken at several shots from repulsor blasts.
 * Lasers: A powerful weapon in the gauntlets that can cut through any common metals with no apparent effort, it however is not strong enough to penetrate a Leviathan's shell. It shows to be very proficient against the Hammer Drones but for one-time use. It has been improved and has 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 Mini-guns: Small anti-personnel guns in the shoulders that can target individual targets at once and fire at a moments notice. It's proved to be highly effective against unarmored foot soldiers.
 * Missiles: Among the most proficient of the armor's weapon system is carrying missiles. The armor holds 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. Tony is able to destroy a Leviathan by flying into its mouth and launching them throughout its body from missiles locating in compartments in the knees. He was able to use a missile hit by a repulsor to take down an attack copter and Pepper used one in the same manner to apprantently kill Killian.

Other Abilities

 * Direct Cybernetic Interface: Thanks to the state-of-the-art microchips Tony injected into his left forearm, he can now mentally control the Iron Man armor with his thoughts. This is similar to how Tony can instruct his armor to assemble at his own will after undergoing the Extremis process in the comics.
 * Armor Link: Tony can mentally command the armor with his thoughts even when he fully unconscious. The Mark XLII almost attack Pepper in bed when Tony was having a nightmare. Pepper's screams woke Tony in time to shut down the armor. Tony remotely controlled the Mark XLII aboard Air Force One and battled Eric Savin. After he defeated him, the Mark XLII saved the surviving passengers and crew, while Tony was on a speed boat with Rhodey searching for Killian.
 * Armor Summon: Thanks to the new repulsor flight system, individual pieces of the armor can self-assemble themselves on to Tony or others.Tony is able to remotely summon the Mark XLII to Pepper for her to wear after his home is attacked by the Mandarin's forces. Tony summons the Iron Legion to fight against Aldrich's Extremis solders at the oil drilling platform. Tony is forced into confronting Killian, whom he attempts to defeat by ordering the suit to assemble it's self on Killian and then self-destruct. This fails to kill him. Pepper intervenes, using her new Extremis abilities to finish off Killian once and for all.
 * Industrial Genius/Expert Engineer: Quite apart from the powers granted him by the suit, Stark is an inventive mechanical engineering prodigy, constantly creating new technology and looking for ways to improve it. His intelligence is classed as above average genius. He is one of the smartest people on Earth. Furthermore, this extends to his remarkable ingenuity dealing with difficult situations such as difficult foes and deathtraps where he is capable of using his available tools like his suit in unorthodox and effective ways such as creating the armor that would make him famous; the Iron Man Armor which became recognized as one of the most unique but powerful weapon systems on Earth  and escape from the Ten Rings. He also has the ability to learn something new like becoming an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics overnight. He is an excellent engineer and mechanic capable of fixing almost, if not all, machinery. When Extremis soldiers Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin attacked him, Tony improvised and used his innovative skills and knowledge with different equipment and technology to outsmart them and seemingly escape, killing Brandt. Later on, Tony was able to use simple supplies he got from a hardware store to build a home-made arsenal which he used to inflitrate the Mandarin's mansion. When Aldrich kidnapped Pepper and forcefully injected her with Extremis, Tony was able to remove the Extremis from her body.
 * Expert Businessman: Stark is extremely well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attentions 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 U.S. military for years. He is known for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, 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.
 * Expert Tactican: He is a brilliant tactician capable of quickly formulating new strategies and plans should the situation change.
 * Skilled Combatant: Stark was trained in unarmed combat by Happy Hogan and has become quite physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it. He is also a great melee fighter while in the armor as a single punch is as strong as a solid steel ball traveling at 3,500 Ft./sec. Although nowhere skilled as the most skilled and trained members of the Avengers, nonetheless, Iron Man can battle Thor almost to a standstill, granting two things: one, Thor is an ancient superhuman god with extraordinary powers and two, Thor is one of the greatest warriors alive, an highly trained combatant with thousands of years of combat training and experience. After the events of New York, Tony further uses his hand-to-hand combat skills and shown using martial arts. Tony was able to take down the guards at the Mandarin's mansion with ease, with the help of a homemade arsenal.
 * Indomitable Will: As evidenced by his serious bout with alcoholism and recovery, Stark is possessed of tremendous strength of will, never giving up and emerging from defeat even stronger such as his captivity and escape in Afganstian. It is arguable that the true "Iron Man" is not the armor, but Tony Stark himself.

Friends, Family, and Allies

 * Howard Stark - Father
 * Maria Stark - Mother
 * Pepper Potts - Lover and former assistant
 * Christine Everhart - Former Love Interest
 * James Rhodes/Iron Patriot - Best Friend
 * Happy Hogan - Personal Driver and Friend
 * Ho Yinsen - Fellow Captive in Afghanistan and Friend
 * The Avengers
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America - Teammate
 * Thor - Teammate
 * Bruce Banner/The Hulk - Teammate
 * Natasha Ramonoff/Black Widow - Former Assistant and teammate
 * Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Teammate
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury - Teammate
 * Phil Coulson - Teammate
 * Maria Hill - Teammate
 * Maya Hansen - Former Love Interest and friend

Enemies

 * Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger - Former business Partner turned Enemy
 * Ivan Vanko/Whiplash
 * Justin Hammer
 * Loki
 * Ten Rings
 * Mandarin
 * Raza
 * Abu Bakar
 * Omar
 * A.I.M.
 * Aldrich Killian
 * Eric Savin
 * Ellen Brandt
 * Chitauri
 * Hammer Drones

Video game only

 * Controller
 * Titanium Man
 * Melter
 * Kearson DeWitt
 * Ultimo
 * Crimson Dynamo
 * Maggia
 * Madame Masque
 * Blacklash

Behind The Scenes

 * Robert Downey Jr. was uncredited for his appearance in The Incredible Hulk.
 * Before Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony, Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise 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. According to Jon Favreau, Clive Owen 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 Whedon to make Stark the lead revealing 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."

Trivia

 * When Tony Stark calls Rhodes, the ringtone is the original Iron Man theme song from the 1966 TV series.
 * So far, every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that Bruce Banner was in, Tony was in as well.