Iron Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

"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."

- Stark in Iron Man 3

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark (born May 29th, 1970, in Manhatten, New York, USA), also known as Iron Man, is a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He not only invented the Iron Man Armor but wears the suit himself. He is the co-leader and one of the founding members of The Avengers. He is CEO of Stark Industries, which once sold highly sophisticated weapons systems technologies to the government defense organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D.. who uses them to maintain peace and order, but has pulled out his company away from weapons business. He is the titular main protagonist of Iron Man, and its two sequels as well as one of the titular main protagonists of the 2012 crossover film, The Avengers, and its 2015 sequel, Avengers: Age Of Ultron. He is the deuteragonist of Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.

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 own 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 was convinced to join 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 the world, only for his overconfidence to put his loved ones at risk and leave him nearly defenseless when his home was destroyed. Stark continued his mission, finding Aldrich Killian was behind the attacks and Trevor Slattery was a pretend Mandarin and 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 reassembled, Stark created new armors to fight the remnants of HYDRA and capture Wolfgang von Strucker.

Once the threat of HYDRA had been ended, at last, Stark, with the help of Bruce Banner, built Ultron as a peace-keeping A.I. to protect the world and allow the Avengers to retire. However, Ultron defected and chose to destroy all humanity instead. Through the work of the Avengers, Ultron was defeated, however not at massive civilian cost and many lives being lost. After the war, however, 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 help Thaddeus Ross and create the Sokovia Accords. However, Stark's strong support of the accords leads to a disagreement with his ally Captain America, who opposed the plans.

When Rogers then proceeded to further disobey his orders by protecting 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 all 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 destroy the Avengers in the process, forcing Rogers to go on the run while Stark focused his efforts on aiding Spider-Man's quest to become a hero.

Personality
"Steve Rogers: Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you? Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist. Steve: I know guys with none of that and worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing that you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you. Tony: I think I would just cut the wire. Steve: Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

- Steve Rogers telling Tony Stark he's not half as good a man as he thinks he is

Many people in the media think that Tony Stark is only just an egocentric playboy. But it is shown throughout the series that Tony does actually 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. Charming, brilliant, 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 pointed out: "A man that has everything, but has nothing".

Even though he can appear to be self-obsessed, Tony can also be a great 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 was also impressed by and almost immediately befriended Peter Parker, complimenting him on his Web Shooters, when he saw himself in the boy, when he sent Parker home, the latter thought that the former was upset, but in reality Stark was greatly impressed by the boy. And 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 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, he became distant and hardened towards his former teammates for their stubbornness despite letting them escape the Raft.

Tony is also known for being exceptionally intelligent and innovative, having built an 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 Steve Rogers that he would simply "cut the wire" if given the choice. This behaviour put him at odds with the majority of the Avengers during the 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 negotiatory 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 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 the Mark XLVI 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.

Before his kidnapping, Tony was a self-centered, arrogant person who didn't care for many people. During the following years, however, Tony has matured, gradually becoming more of a team player and becoming somewhat less arrogant. 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.

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 artificial intelligence so the only threats against Earth were from Earth. 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 events resulted in the deaths of over a hundred civilians which were in turn caused because of him which caused Tony to become more responsible, serious and hardened individual, if not withstanding the same mischievous, wise-cracking nature. This was seen during his visit to the Raft where he steadfastly refused to take Clint Barton's bait and be reduced to petty insults instead maintaining a calm and controlled exterior.

Compared to his fellow Avengers however, he was very forward thinking always seeing a "big picture", willing to take risks, compromise his morals and dabble in shades of grey to achieve results. As seen with the Sokovia Accords, Tony was willing to endure hardships in the present to build a better future. This behaviour often put him at odds with his fellow Avengers, especially Steve Rogers, who were content with the status quo.

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 behaviour extended to both allies and foes. During the Ultron Offensive, he fearlessly mocked Thor to his face for being short-sighted despite the Asgardian lifting him by the neck seconds earlier. After Ultron, he became better at controlling this aspect of his personality but never fully let go of it as seen when he argued with Steve Rogers in the JCTC headquarters.

Even after starting a new life as a superhero, Tony's showy personality has never fully changed - as shown in rendering 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 was much closer to his mother, Maria Stark, than to his father. During his fight with the Winter Soldier, avenging her was his priority. Tony defended Howard's memory, however, by stating the Captain America's shield was Howard Stark's property and that Rogers had proven unworthy of wielding the weapon by defending the Winter Soldier. Obtaining peace with his father also brightened Tony's opinions on authority figures as he showed a willingness to align the Avengers with United Nations by signing the Sokovia Accords.

Powers and Abilities
Tony Stark does not possess any superhuman powers. He used to have a scaled-down miniaturized version of the Arc Reactor that keeps the remaining shrapnel in his heart from killing him. However, after having the shrapnel removed, he no longer needs 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.

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. As such, it is crudely designed and bulky. It does have the necessary capacity, however, to help him escape his captors. It is bullet-proof, has two built-in flame-throwers, a rocket launcher, as well as rocket boosters for jumps. It is notable that this version of the armor, unlike the later Mark 2 and Mark 3 armors, does not have an on-board AI system or internal diagnostic display.

The helmet served only as a simple shield 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 especially bulletproof. To power the thruster boots, Stark reportedly siphoned the propellant fuel from four Stark S-class ballistic missiles into two Stark M-class mortars, creating two homemade fuel tanks, welded shut except for valves connecting fuel hoses that led down to the Mark I's legs.

The later model armors' helmet features a retractable visor that delivers a holographic, augmented-reality (AR) display to the wearer. The features of the helmet resemble a human face, with eyepieces and a mouth slit showing the point where the face plate meets the jaw.

The armor's primary weapon, as well as a mode of propulsion, are repulsors built into the hands and feet. The foot repulsors provide the majority of the propulsion force, while the hand repulsors are used as flight stabilizers. Given the intense heat and concussive pressure produced by the repulsors, the ones built into the hands are often used as weapons. When need be, the uni-beam repulsor built into the chest-piece can be charged to deliver a powerful, destructive blast.

The Mark II armor was built from basic titanium alloys, giving it a silver sheen. From the Mark III onward, he 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 parts of the armor hot-rod red to tone it down a bit without losing the flare he was known for. Later suits have colored a variety of colors, from blue to black to green and even yellow and purple.

Up through the design of the Mark XI, Stark stuck with a basic design and aesthetic, merely improving on the technology and increasing the capabilities. From the Mark XI onward, he began specializing the armor's 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 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 Leviathan) with ease. The Marks 8 through 42 proved to be equally powerful generation suits as they were able to battle nano tech-enhanced human soldiers who themselves had enough strength to match any of the armors.

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 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 too 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 enabled 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 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, 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 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 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).
 * Heads Up Display (HUD): The Heads-Up display shows important things for the suit. The Head Up Display of the Iron Man suit is powered by JARVIS, Stark's Artificial Intelligence. The Suit also has Defensive and Offensive sections, able to switch between the sections, resorting to missiles and lasers. The HUD can also be talked to, and JARVIS will reply to it. The HUD can scan people, missile identifications, make calls, give crucial suit credentials such as power. The HUD can also have 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.

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 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. 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 struck 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 a full-on assault from Chitauri forces ranging from their energy weapons to troops to their transports. 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, 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 moment's 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 several shots from repulsor blasts.
 * Lasers: A powerful weapon in the gauntlet wrists that can cut through any common metals with no apparent effort. However, it 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 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.
 * "I think you should lead with that next time."
 * ―War Machine[src]


 * Smart Mini-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 un-armored foot soldiers.
 * Missiles: Among the most proficient of the armor's weapon system is the 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. Stark was able to destroy a Leviathan by flying into its mouth and launching them throughout its body from missiles in compartments in the knees. He was able to use a missile hit by a repulsor to take down an attack.

Former Powers

 * 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 is fully unconscious. The Mark XLII almost attacked 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.

Abilities
''
 * ''"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night."
 * ―Maria Hill and Tony Stark


 * Genius Level Intellect: At age four Stark built his first circuit board, at age six his first engine, and at seventeen he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Stark is one of the smartest beings in the world, rivaled only by fellow geniuses like Bruce Banner, Henry Pym, and Helen Cho.
 * Master Engineer: Stark is a gifted engineer and has been able to make many complicated inventions at a young age. Even in a cave, with very few resources, Stark and Ho Yinsen were able to make the Mark I armor and a miniature Arc Reactor. Stark made his A.I. system, J.A.R.V.I.S., from scratch. He was also able to program his armors to fly to his body and the bodies of others. Stark was able to use simple supplies he got from a hardware store to build a home-made arsenal which he used to infiltrate the Mandarin's mansion.
 * Master Scientist: Stark is very resourceful and knowledgeable in many different fields of science, being 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 and to modify Maya Hansen's Extremis formula.
 * "I'm trying to do the job you were meant to do."
 * ―Pepper Potts[src]


 * Expert Businessman: At the age of twenty-one, Tony took over Stark Industries because both of his parents had died in a tragic car accident. Since then, Stark has helped the company grow, and get more business partners. 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 Tactician: Stark has made many split-second decisions that have saved people's lives. Despite preferring to work on his own, when it's necessary, Stark has proven to be a skilled and tactful leader.
 * Combatant: Stark is trained in unarmed combat by Phil Coulson and has become quite formidable on his own when the situation demands it. He was able to hold his own against James Rhodes, a Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Combat Pilot. He was also able to battle Thor almost to a standstill for a time while using the Mark VI armor. Tony further refined his hand-to-hand combat skills and become skilled in martial arts, being able to take down the guards at Aldrich Killian's Mansion with ease using a homemade arsenal, and holding his own to evade and confront the Extremis Soldiers and Aldrich Killian on the Norco.
 * 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 Afghanistan. It is arguable that the true "Iron Man" is not the armor, but Tony Stark himself.
 * Multilingualism: Stark is fluent in both English and French, speaking to the Prison Guard as he was escorted to see Ivan Vanko.

Appearances
In chronological order:
 * Iron Man
 * Iron Man: Security Measures
 * Iron Man: Fast Friends  (concurrent events)
 * Iron Man 2: Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron
 * Iron Man 2: Public Identity
 * Iron Man: Will Online Evils Prevail?
 * The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week  (concurrent events)
 * Iron Man 2
 * The Incredible Hulk  (cameo)
 * Thor  (mentioned)
 * Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (stock-footage)
 * The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII
 * The Avengers
 * Iron Man 3 Prelude  (concurrent events)
 * Thor: The Dark World Prelude (concurrent events)
 * Iron Man: The Coming of the Melter
 * Iron Man 3
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season One
 * Pilot  (mentioned)
 * 0-8-4  (mentioned)
 * FZZT  (mentioned)
 * Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle
 * Captain America: The Winter Soldier  (photo & mentioned)
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season One
 * Nothing Personal  (mentioned)
 * Season Two
 * The Writing on the Wall (mentioned)
 * Who You Really Are  (mentioned)
 * Avengers: Operation HYDRA
 * Avengers: Age of Ultron
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season Two
 * Scars  (mentioned)
 * Captain America: Civil War
 * Spider-Man: Homecoming
 * Avengers: Infinity War  (unreleased):

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, 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 Tetrodotoxine 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).
 * Some of the suits that Tony Stark wears don't seem to use Stark's Arc Reactor as a power source. Instead, the suits each have their own individual Arc Reactor as seen when Killian damages the one powering the Silver Centurian armor and Stark's remains 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.
 * The fight of Iron Man against Hulk under control of Wanda Maximoff is similar to the fight of Jason Lee Scott against Tommy Oliver under control of Rita Repulsa in the five-part long episode Green with Evil from the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, especially final part. While in the final part of episode Green with Evil, Tommy Oliver is defeated by Jason Lee Scott, Hulk is defeated by Iron Man.