Instead, both are killed in a car accident-later revealed to be an assassination carried out by the Winter Soldier, who was mind-controlled by Hydra to steal the serum. On December 16, 1991, when Stark was 21, his parents went away to the Bahamas, but planned to stop at the Pentagon to deliver Super Soldier Serum Howard had redeveloped. A brilliant and unique child prodigy, Stark attended MIT for two years starting at age 14, and graduated summa cum laude at 17. This instead embittered Stark, who felt that his father was taking more pride in his creations than in his family. Seeing that his son could achieve great things, Howard tried to inspire him with constant talks about his own role in the creation of Captain America. Growing up under the eye of family butler Edwin Jarvis, his life was characterized by a cold and affectionless relationship with his father. Fictional character biography Early lifeĪnthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born on May 29, 1970, in Manhattan, New York to Howard Stark, a famous genius inventor and businessman, and Maria Stark, a socialite and philanthropist. Favreau was also attracted to Downey from his performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), with Downey frequently conversing with that film's director, Shane Black, about the script and dialogue in Iron Man. Ultimately however, Downey ended up being the choice the studio made for the first character in their ever-expansive cinematic universe. Jon Favreau, who was selected to direct the first Iron Man film, felt Downey's past made him an appropriate choice for the part, and that the actor could make Stark a "likable asshole," but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience. Feige, a self-professed "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s. In the mid-2000s, with a number of movies having been made from other Marvel properties licensed to other studios, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which included Iron Man. 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in The Avengers #1 (Sept. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase." The character's original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40, April 1963), and redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (Dec. Lee based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes, as "one of the most colorful men of our time. Lee wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership. Tony Stark first premiered as a comic book character, in Tales of Suspense #39 ( cover dated March 1963), a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby.
Īlternate versions of Stark from within the MCU multiverse appear in the animated series What If.? (2021), voiced by Mick Wingert.
The character and Downey's performance have been credited with helping to cement the MCU as a multi-billion-dollar franchise, with Stark's evolution often being considered the defining arc of the series. Stark is one of the central figures of the MCU, having appeared in eleven films as of 2022. Stark chooses Peter Parker as a successor.
However, Stark inevitably sacrifices his life to defeat Thanos and his army. He creates time travel, and the Avengers successfully restore trillions of lives across the universe. However, Stark rejoins the Avengers on a final mission to undo Thanos' actions. Following his failed Ultron Program, the internal conflict within the Avengers due to the Sokovia Accords, and Thanos successfully erasing half of all life in the Blip, Stark retires, marries Pepper Potts, and they have a daughter named Morgan. He becomes a founding member and leader of the Avengers. military, he has a change of heart and redirects his technical knowledge into the creation of mechanized suits of armor which he uses to defend against those that would threaten peace around the world. Initially the chief weapons manufacturer for the U.S. Stark is initially depicted as an industrialist, genius inventor, and playboy who is CEO of Stark Industries. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise-based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name-commonly known by his alias, Iron Man. Anthony Edward Stark, more commonly known as Tony Stark, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.