“And I…. am Iron Man”
A line that still brings tears to the eyes of every die-hard Marvel Fan, even a year and a half after Endgame. This year has seen a record low in theatrical movie releases (next to nil), and a general drop in content released in the entertainment industry. It is a stark contrast to last year, which saw Avengers:Endgame become the highest grossing movie of all time. In a year that has been so grim and a dark for extended periods of time, it seems fitting to talk about the one hero, the legend, the icon, who started the MCU, a continual source of joy and entertainment around the world, and who is one of the most popular superheroes to ever exist – Iron Man.
Origins
Iron Man's Marvel Comics premiere was in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover-dated March 1963). In 1963, Stan Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero. He wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership.
Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark’s personality was based on Howard Hughes, an adventurer, inventor, and multi-millionaire. Although Stan Lee wanted to write the story himself, he couldn’t do so, and instead Larry Leiber, a scripter working with Stan Lee, wrote the first Iron Man story.
After issue #99 of Tales of Suspense, the series was renamed Captain America and Iron Man made his solo debut with Iron Man #1(May 1968). The original Iron Man title explored Cold War themes, as did other Stan Lee projects in the early years of Marvel Comics. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk respectively focused on American domestic and government responses to the Communist threat, Iron Man explored the industry's role in the struggle.
In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents. Lee later regretted this early focus. Throughout the character's comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism (as in the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline) and other personal difficulties.
The character had a constant origin story from the beginning, however, the locale and setting of the incident was constantly updated by the writers.n the original 1963 story, it was the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War, and in the 2000s updated again to be the war in Afghanistan. Stark's time with the Asian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ho Yinsen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yinsen building the original armor together.
Pre--2000s
Before the 2000s, the character of Iron Man goes went through a myriad of ups and downs, facing a slew of villains, like Doctor Doom, the Mandarin, Crimson Dynamo, and even some of the current avengers like Hawkeye and Black Widow.
Iron Man was always as much about the Iron Man armor as it was about Tony Stark, and the comics in the 1980s highlighted that very well, as it showed his personal battles with Obadiah Stane, Justin Hammer, and eventually even S.H.I.E.L.D.
During all these times, he also established himself to be a crucial member of, yes, you guessed it, The Avengers, which is a far bigger organization in the comics than what is shown in the movies. This era of comics gave Iron Man the rich character depth he has today, with the stakes getting higher with each comic.
The Avengers story arc, The Crossing, proved to be a particularly daunting challenge for the character, as he is revealed to be a traitor in the ranks of the Avengers. The pre-2000s era also saw the development of some of the most iconic Iron Man suits, including War Machine and the Telepresence Armor.
Laying the groundwork for the future storylines, these storylines created and fleshed out the character we know and love as Iron Man today. This was the age where Tony Stark became a household favourite among comic book readers.
The 21st Century
Post the turn of the century, Iron Man continued his reign as one of the favorites in Marvel Comics. He started playing central roles in several major storylines, “Secret Invasion”, “Dark Reign” and most prominently in “Civil War”. Recent times have also seen him develop some of the most cutting edge armor he ever built, with the EXERMIS armor and the Bleeding Edge armor being amongst them. The Bleeding Edge armor served as inspiration for Iron Man’s suit in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
A transition into a time without Iron Man unofficially began with the events of Civil War II. Although the series received mixed reviews overall, Iron Man had a key role to play in it, by the end of which he was severely injured and was left in a comatose state.
In 2016, it was announced that Tony would be passing on the Iron Man armor to a 15 year-old MIT student, Riri Williams. Post this, Tony survived as an AI, helping Riri perfect the Iron Man suit as well as being able to remotely pilot most of his previous suits. Another alternative ending for Iron Man has him grow old, and retire as Iron Man, thus requiring him to groom a successor.
However, although Iron Man has generally seen a downward slope in his comic book career over the past decade, his popularity has skyrocketed in the time due to one very prominent thing he helped create, something we are all very well aware of, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Iron Man in the MCU
It all began with that one movie in 2008. Marvel characters hadn’t enjoyed box office success unlike their DC counterparts such as Superman and Batman, with the only exception being Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. However, all of that changed with Iron Man in 2008. The movie that gave birth to the MCU, that really kickstarted the massive adventure that spanned 22 movies and 11 years, Iron Man gave birth to this fantastic saga.
Iron Man’s success can be attributed to many factors, but one of the biggest factors was, undeniably, Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark. He effortlessly slipped into the character of the bratty, genius, billionaire that Tony Stark is, and gave us one of the most memorable on-screen superheroes ever.
Iron Man’s story arc loosely followed that of in the comics, but, with Robert Downey Jr.’s powerful performances, it felt more lifelike and more real than everything that had been written about the character till that point. The MCU’s Iron Man had become a pop culture icon in the modern world even before the last two Avengers’ films hit the theaters, but with the completion of his character arc in the movies, it has cemented his position in pop culture history.
Tony Stark, a character who was initially supposed to be unlikeable to the Marvel readership, has become a worldwide icon and a favorite amongst fans across the planet over the course of his journey. Iron Man’s story isn’t a typical superhero’s journey. It had its fair share of ups and downs, it made Iron Man feel human, feel relatable and it made him a believable character. Along with an intense dose of sci-fi, Tony Stark’s story is a human one, one with his greatest achievements, his darkest falls, his victories, and his crushing defeats.
Tony Stark is not the strongest superhero out there. He’s probably not the most idealistic. But he was, is, and always will be one of the most iconic characters to have ever been created.
He is Iron Man.
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