Anton Vanko

"Anton...what have you done?" "What any man would do in my position. Don't act so shocked, Howard. You should know better than anyone... It's all about money."

- Howard Stark and Anton Vanko

Anton Vanko is Soviet scientist who used to be partners with Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark in Stark Industries. They created the first Arc Reactor together. Anton Vanko is Ivan Vanko's father. Right after Anton's death Ivan started creating the first Whiplash armor.

Early Life
"Speaking of thieves, where'd you get this design? You look like you have friends in low places." "My father, Anton Vanko." "Never heard of him." "My father is the reason you're alive."

- Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko

Anton Vanko was born in the Soviet Union and grew up to become a brilliant scientist. In 1963 he defected from the Soviet Union to the United States of America where he first met Howard Stark, CEO of Stark Industries.

Betraying Stark
Together, Vanko and Howard Stark worked on developing the Arc Reactor technology under the title of 'The Unity Project'. However, they had an ideological disagreement. Anton wanted to use the research to make money, and Howard wanted to help humanity with it.

In 1967, Howard Stark took credit for all Arc Reactor research and Anton was deported back to the U.S.S.R. because Anton couldn't develop the technology on his own he was sent to Siberia for 15 years. He was able to return to Moscow following Premier Gorbachev’s call for democratization in January 1987, where he raised his son Ivan Vanko.

Death and Legacy
He was bitter and claimed before his death that it should be Ivan Vanko in Tony Stark's position instead and that Ivan should use what he had been taught. After Anton's death, Ivan began constructing the Whiplash armor and plotting his revenge on Stark.

Family

 * Ivan Vanko - Son

Enemies

 * Howard Stark - Former Business Partner turned Enemy

Trivia

 * In the comics, there are two characters named Anton Vanko, who were both enemies of Iron Man. One's alter ego was the Crimson Dynamo. The other's alter ego was Whiplash. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whiplash is Anton's son, Ivan. Crimson Dynamo appears in the non-canon video games Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 - The Official Game, and his real name is General Valentin Shatalov. This version of Anton Vanko is more similar to Igor Vanko.