The Reason When It Comes To The Avengers And Marvel, Tony Stark Will Always Be The Man

It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been more than two years since the death of Tony Stark in the MCU. Here we are, hearing of a cameo as Iron Man by Tom Cruise and left to wonder what that means for the future of the Iron Man character. However, let’s not forget the journey of the original Iron Man, Tony Stark.

What Marvel did casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man was arguably their biggest payoff of the series. Whether we’ll ever see as intriguing an arc again is questionable. They might bring in Tom Cruise for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse Of Madness, but after what RDJ and Marvel did with Iron Man, there may never be as impressive a character arc in the MCU, again.

I Am Iron Man

When it comes to story and character arcs, perhaps none within the MCU have been as interesting to follow as that of Tony Stark. When you look back at Iron Man, Tony Stark was an out-of-control billionaire. He was rich, egotistical, and a bit of a narcissist.

When he’s suddenly taken hostage in a middle eastern country, he awakens to find his life will never be the same. The startling epiphany of his world is that he’s a weapons mogul and his weapons kill innocent people. Injured, seeing the front lines of war, and facing his legacy, Tony makes it home with a different view of the world than when he left.

By the end of Iron Man, Tony is well on his way to becoming something more than before the explosion. Tony is getting visits from Nick Fury. Tony is going through the hero's journey. At the end of Iron Man, his exploits have created a lot of questions.

There Was An Idea

Tony had a genius-level apex intellect. Stark’s extreme intelligence and brilliance and polymath and science made him one of the smartest humans in the world. Stark’s I.Q. possibly was more than 200, being rivaled by only Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Hank Pym, Shuri, And Helen Cho. Stark was known by the nickname “The Da Vinci Of Our Time.” Iron Man’s intellect is his greatest and most formidable ability, extending itself to his unparalleled scientific, engineering, hacking, combat, and business skills. His skills make him the most eclectically intelligent member of the avengers.

Even after being deemed initially unfit for the Avengers Initiative, Nick Fury and Black Widow still respected Stark’s genius enough for him to be recruited as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. With all of Stark’s quirks, it was Captain America that deemed Tony, not the guy to make the sacrifice play.

Age Of Ultron

By the time Tony is facing Ultron, he’s already being plagued by the memories of the visions Scarlett Witch put into his head. Seeing all of his friends dead at his feet has a profound effect on him, causing him to believe that Ultron is the very thing needed to assure a “suit of armor” around the world to protect from another invasion.

Tony’s vision becomes Ultron, and then it becomes the Vision, with help from the mind stone taken from Loki’s scepter.

With help from Vision, Iron Man and the Avengers dispatch Ultron and his horde of robotic creations. Not before losing the city of Sorkovia in the movie, and damming them all to government oversight under the eye of General Ross. Tony’s days as a weapons mogul long behind him, he now longs for a day when they can end the fight and go home. It’s something that he fails to see as his mind is stuck on the memories of the battle of New York and what he saw when flying a nuke thru a portal into space.

Retiring Before War

The Tony Stark we see at the beginning of the Infinity War is a very different Stark than in the first Iron Man. His days as Iron Man have given him a new appreciation for a simpler life and he’s trying to enjoy that life with Pepper Potts, as they head towards an eventual wedding.

Things aren’t to be that simple for a hero that’s still afraid of what’s coming. Tony’s never stopped worrying about the invasion of New York and what might be next. He even wears an Iron Man suit with his running suit as he and Pepper go for a jog.

Not to be the guy that doesn’t go to help a friend, or when called, Tony is pulled back into the fray as Iron Man as Bruce Banner makes his first appearance on earth since the events of Age Of Ultron. He’s seen what’s coming and he and Doctor Strange know they’ll need his help. Bruce learns quickly that the Avengers broke up, “Like a band,” but not quickly enough as Thanos and his minions are hot on the trail of the infinity stone in Dr. Strange's pendant.

When Tony jumps into battle against Thanos’s henchmen, he’s aided by Spiderman and Woo, as they try to retrieve Dr. Strange. Iron Man and Spiderman end up going into space aboard one of Thanos’s ships and Tony, not knowing if he can make it back or not, tries to calm Pepper.

By Infinity War Iron Man has gone from being the peace bringing idea of a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist to being the suit of armor worn by a hero that cares more about the world than himself. As thin of a relationship as they have by Infinity War, even Captain America calls Iron Man “Earth’s best defender.” Tony’s growth as a character isn’t done, however.

“We’re in the endgame now.”

— Dr. Strange

A Hero’s Destiny

Considering everything that Iron Man had done for the world and everything that Tony Stark put himself through, seeing Tony happy with Pepper and their daughter filled the need we have to see the hero get their just rewards. But, Tony wasn’t the guy to let his friends down, no matter what.

Tony, the genius that he is, put’s together time gear for the team to go back in time, retrieve the time stones before Thanos, and fix what Thanos had done to the universe. Only in a superhero franchise would this be a thing, and it was interesting to see the band of earth’s mightiest heroes grappling with time travel. Ah, the paradoxes.

“You mess with time it tends to mess back.”

— Tony Stark/Iron Man

Thanos from the past followed them to the future and perhaps the biggest on-screen battle in the superhero genre of movies was born. It’s an insane battle that culminated after a decade of movies being released, fifty hours of the story being told, and billions of dollars being made.

Dr. Strange warned Iron Man/Stark in Infinity War that there was only one way they would win. And, in that last bit of heroism that would be talked about in history books for a millennium if it were real, Iron Man stopped Thanos.

When Tony planned for this day, his journey had come full circle. He knew what mattered to him. He had the purpose that he was lacking at the very beginning of the story. He knew what it was to be a hero, and despite how heartbreaking it would be to leave behind what he was giving up, Tony knew that it was the only way they’d be safe. Snapping away Thanos and his armada with the infinity stones meant he wasn’t going home.

Final Thoughts

Tony Stark, The Iron Man, proved everyone that doubted him wrong in the end. He absolutely was the guy. When push came to shove, Iron Man knew what needed to be done and made the ultimate sacrifice for his family, his friends, and his world.

Starting as a cocky, cavalier, playboy Tony Stark leads the Avengers alongside a god and a super-soldier. Yet, he was just a man. Sure, he was an intelligent, brilliant, gifted man. But, he was human. We saw the sins of a decadent wealthy man and we saw the best in what men can be in the story arc of Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr., as Iron Man, and Marvel, took us on an intriguing journey of a hero that displayed growth, wisdom, and maturity, despite his many flaws through the years.

Iron Man is a great example of what an intriguing story arc looks like in cinema and we can only hope that Marvel can continue telling stories with such rich characters in phase four and phase five plans in the MCU.

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