Iron Man
Anthony Edward Stark, the son of wealthy industrialist and head of
Stark Industries,
Howard Stark, and
Maria Stark, is born on
Long Island. A boy genius, he enters
MIT at the age of 15 to study
electrical engineering and later receives Master's degrees in electrical engineering and physics.
[23] After his parents are killed in a plane accident, he inherits his father's company.
Tony Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by the enemy led by
Wong-Chu,
who then orders him to design weapons. However, Stark's injuries are
dire and shrapnel is moving towards his heart. His fellow prisoner,
Ho Yinsen, a
Nobel Prize-winning
physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructs a
magnetic
chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart, keeping
him alive. In secret, Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and
construct a
suit of
powered armor,
which Stark uses to escape. But during the escape attempt, Yinsen
sacrifices his life to save Stark's by distracting the enemy as Stark
recharges. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers and heads back to
rejoin the American forces, on his way meeting a wounded American
Marine fighter pilot,
James "Rhodey" Rhodes.
Back home, Stark discovers that the shrapnel fragment lodged in his
chest cannot be removed without killing him, and he is forced to wear
the armor's chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his
heart. He must recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the
shrapnel killing him. The cover for Iron Man is that he is Stark's
bodyguard and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company, such as
Communist opponents
Black Widow, the
Crimson Dynamo and the
Titanium Man, as well as independent villains like the
Mandarin,
who eventually becomes his greatest enemy. No one suspects Stark of
being Iron Man as he cultivates an image as a rich playboy and
industrialist. Two notable members of Stark's supporting cast at this
point are his personal chauffeur
Harold "Happy" Hogan and secretary
Virginia "Pepper" Potts,
to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity. Meanwhile,
James Rhodes finds his own niche as Stark's personal pilot, revealing
himself to be a man of extraordinary skill and daring.
The comic took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as opposition rose to the
Vietnam War.
[1]
This change evolved in a series of stories with Stark profoundly
reconsidering his political opinions and the morality of manufacturing
weapons for the military. Stark, however, shows himself to be
occasionally arrogant and willing to let the ends justify the means.
[24][25]
This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in
his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his personal fortune
not only to outfit his own armor, but also to develop weapons for
S.H.I.E.L.D. and other technologies such as the
Quinjets used by the Avengers, and the image inducers used by the
X-Men.
Eventually, Stark's heart condition is discovered by the public and treated with an artificial
heart transplant.
[volume & issue needed]
Later on, Stark expands on his armor designs and begins to build his
arsenal of specialized armors for particular situations such as for
stealth and
space travel.
[26] However, Stark develops a serious dependency on
alcohol.
[27] The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark discovers that the national security agency
S.H.I.E.L.D.
has been buying a controlling interest in his company in order to
ensure Stark's continued weapons development for them. At the same time,
Stark's business rival
Justin Hammer hires several supervillains to attack Stark.
[28] At one point, the Iron Man armor is even taken over and used to murder a diplomat.
[29] Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities.
[30]
Eventually Stark and Rhodes, who is now his personal pilot and
confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although Hammer
would return to bedevil Stark again.
[31] With the support of his then-girlfriend,
Bethany Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on alcohol.
[32] These events were collected and published as
Demon in a Bottle. Even as he recovers from this harrowing personal trial, Stark's life is further complicated when he has a confrontation with
Doctor Doom that is interrupted by an opportunistic enemy sending them back in time to the time of
King Arthur.
[33] Once there, Iron Man thwarts Doom's attempt to solicit the aid of
Morgan Le Fay,
and the Latverian ruler swears deadly vengeance - to be eventually
indulged sometime after the truce needed for both to return to their own
time.
[34] This incident was collected and published as
Doomquest.
Some time later, a ruthless rival,
Obadiah Stane,
manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result,
Stark loses control of Stark International to Stane, becomes a homeless
alcohol-abusing vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who
becomes the new Iron Man for a lengthy period of time. Eventually,
Stark recovers and joins a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark
concentrates on new technological designs, including building a new set
of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as
Iron Man but steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the
armor not having been calibrated properly for his use. Eventually Rhodes
goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don a replica of his original armor
to stop him. Fully recovered, Stark confronts Stane who has himself
designed a version of armor based around designs seized along with Stark
International, dubbing himself 'Iron Monger'. Defeated in battle, Stane
rather than give Stark the satisfaction of taking him to trial, commits
suicide.
[35]
Shortly thereafter, Stark regains his personal fortune, but decides
against repurchasing Stark International until much later; he instead
creates Stark Enterprises, headquartered in
Los Angeles.
Late 1980s and 1990s
In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about
disabling other armored heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were stolen by his enemy
Spymaster.
His quest to destroy all instances of the stolen technology severely
hurts his reputation as Iron Man. After attacking and disabling a series
of minor villains such as
Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the government operative known as
Stingray.
The situation worsens when Stark realizes that Stingray's armor does
not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly "fires" Iron Man while
covertly pursuing his agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help
disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable the armor of the
S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the
Mandroids, and disabling the armor of the
Guardsmen, in the process allowing some of the villains that they guard to escape. This leads the
United States government
to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw. Iron Man then travels to
Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet
Titanium Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S., he faces an enemy commissioned by the government named
Firepower.
Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man's demise, intending
to retire the suit permanently. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates
a new suit, claiming that a new person is in the armor.
Stark's health continues to deteriorate, and he discovers the armor's
cybernetic interface is causing irreversible damage to his
nervous system.
His condition is aggravated by a failed attempt on his life by a
mentally unbalanced former lover which injures his spine, paralyzing
him. Stark has a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his
mobility. Still, Stark's nervous system continues its slide towards
failure, and he constructs a "skin" made up of artificial nerve
circuitry to assist it. Stark begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron
Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the
telepresence
suit proves inadequate. Stark then designs a more heavily armed version
of the suit to wear, the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit", which
becomes known as the
War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in
suspended animation
to heal as Rhodes takes over both the running of Stark Enterprises and
the mantle of Iron Man, but using the War Machine armor. Stark
ultimately makes a full recovery by using a chip to reprogram himself
and resumes the Iron Man identity. When Rhodes learns that Stark has
manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and
the two friends part ways, Rhodes continuing as War Machine in a solo
career.
The story arc "The Crossing" reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the
Avengers' ranks, due to years of manipulation by the time-traveling
dictator
Kang the Conqueror. Stark, as a sleeper agent in Kang's thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of
Crystal and
Quicksilver's daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara, the female
Yellowjacket, then Amanda Chaney, an ally of the Avengers (the miniseries
Avengers Forever later
retcons these events as the work of a disguised
Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months).
Needing help to defeat both Stark and the ostensible Kang, the team
travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Anthony Stark from an
alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man
suit in order to aid the Avengers against his older self. The sight of
his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to regain
momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop
Kang. The young Stark later builds his own suit to become the new Iron
Man, and, remaining in the present day, gains legal control of "his"
company.
During the battle with the creature called
Onslaught, the teenaged Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. However,
Franklin Richards preserves these "dead" heroes in the "
Heroes Reborn"
pocket universe, in which Anthony Stark is once again an adult hero;
Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the forms he is
most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn
adult Stark, upon returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with
the original Stark, who had died during "The Crossing", but was
resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Anthony Stark possesses the
memories of both the original and teenage Anthony Starks, and thus
considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the
law firm
Nelson & Murdock,
he successfully regains his fortune and, with Stark Enterprises having
been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark's death, sets up a
new company, Stark Solutions. He returns from the pocket universe with a
restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark demands a
hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught
incident. Cleared of wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.
2000s
At one point, Stark's armor becomes sentient despite fail-safes to
prevent its increasingly sophisticated computer systems from doing so.
Initially, Stark welcomes this "living" armor for its improved tactical
abilities. However, the armor begins to grow more aggressive, killing
indiscriminately and eventually desiring to replace Stark altogether. In
the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another heart
attack. The armor sacrifices its own existence to save its creator's
life, giving up essential components to give Stark a new, artificial
heart. This new heart solves Stark's health problems, but it does not
have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on
periodic recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that
he temporarily returns to using an unsophisticated early model version
of his armor to avoid a repeat incident. He dabbles with using liquid
metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that forms into a protective shell
around his body, but eventually returns to more conventional hard metal
armors.
During this time, Stark engages in a romance with
Rumiko Fujikawa (first appearance in
Iron Man
(vol. 3) #4), a wealthy heiress and daughter of the man who had taken
over his company during the "Heroes Reborn" period. Her relationship
with Stark endures many highs and lows, including an infidelity with
Stark's rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because the fun-loving Rumiko
believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends
with Rumiko's death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in
Iron Man (vol. 3) #87.
In
Iron Man (vol. 3) #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals
his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that by doing so, he has
invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government
duplication, since those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would
be used by an
employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark himself. When he discovers that the
United States military is again using his technology, Stark accepts a
Presidential appointment as
Secretary of Defense instead of confronting them as he did before. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used.
In the "
Avengers Disassembled" storyline, Stark is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against the
Latverian ambassador at the
United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced
Scarlet Witch,
who destroys the Avengers Mansion and kills several members. Stark
publicly stands down as Iron Man, but actually continues using the
costume. He joins the Avengers in stopping the breakout in progress from
the Raft and even saves Captain America from falling.
[36] Tony changes the Avengers base to
Stark Tower[37] The
Ghost, the
Living Laser and
Spymaster reappear and shift Iron Man from standard superhero stories to dealing with
politics and
industrialism.
[38]
New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, Stark had started participating with a group of leaders including the
Black Panther,
Professor X,
Mister Fantastic,
Black Bolt,
Doctor Strange, and
Namor. The goal of the group (dubbed the
Illuminati
by Marvel) was to strategize overarching menaces, in which the Black
Panther rejects a membership offer. Stark's goal is to create a
governing body for all superheroes in the world, but the beliefs of its
members instead force them all to share vital information.
"Civil War"
In the
Civil War storyline, after the actions of inexperienced superheroes
The New Warriors
result in the destruction of several city blocks, including the
elementary school, in Stamford, Connecticut, there is an outcry across
America against super-humans. Learning of the Government's proposed
plans, Tony Stark suggests a new plan to instigate a
Superhuman Registration Act.
The Act would force every super-powered individual in the U.S. to
register their identity with the government and act as licensed agents.
The Act would force inexperienced super-humans to receive training in
how to use and control their abilities, something in which Tony strongly
believes. Since his struggle with alcoholism, Stark has carried a
tremendous burden of guilt after nearly killing an innocent bystander
while piloting the armor drunk. Reed Richards of the
Fantastic Four and Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym both agree with Stark's proposal; unfortunately, not everyone does. After
Captain America
is ordered to bring in anyone who refuses to register, he goes rogue
and gives those opposed to registration a figurehead to rally behind,
leading to a destructive "
superhero civil war".
The War ends when Captain America surrenders to prevent further
collateral damage and civilian casualties, although he had defeated
Stark by defusing his armor. Stark is appointed the new director of
S.H.I.E.L.D.,
[39] and he organizes a new government-sanctioned group of
Avengers, while the New Avengers team, under the de facto leadership of
Luke Cage, continues to defy the Super-Human Registration Act and operate underground.
[volume & issue needed] Shortly afterwards, Captain America is assassinated while in custody,
[volume & issue needed] leaving Stark with a great amount of guilt and misgivings about the cost of his victory.
[volume & issue needed] He then states that "it wasn't worth it".
[volume & issue needed]
Tony Stark served as one of the pallbearers at the memorial service
for Captain America, along with Ben Grimm, Ms. Marvel, Rick Jones,
T'Challa and Sam Wilson.
[40]
"Secret Invasion"
In the "
Secret Invasion" storyline, after Tony Stark survives an encounter with
Ultron taking over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by
Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a
Skrull posing as
Elektra.
Becoming keenly aware of the upcoming invasion of the Skrulls, Tony
gathers the Illuminati and reveals the corpse to them, declaring that
they are at war. After
Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by
Namor,
a squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other
Illuminati members and destroy the area, killing all the Skrulls.
Realizing that they are incapable of trusting each other, the members
all separate to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.
Stark is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent a
secret infiltration and invasion of Earth by the shape-shifting alien
Skrull race, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a virtual monopoly on worldwide defense.
[41] After the invasion, the U.S. government removes him as head of
S.H.I.E.L.D. and disbands the
Avengers, handing control of the
Initiative over to
Norman Osborn.
"Dark Reign"
With his Extremis powers failing, Stark uploads a virus to destroy
all records of the Registration Act, thus preventing Osborn from
learning the identities of his fellow heroes and anything that Osborn
could possibly exploit, including repulsor generators. The only copy of
that database remaining is in Stark's brain, which he is trying to
delete bit by bit while on the run in one of his extra armors.
[42]
As Norman Osborn has him hunted as a fugitive, Stark travels worldwide
on his quest to wipe out his mental database, going so far as to inflict
brain damage
on himself in order to ensure that the relevant information is wiped as
a suicide attempt could damage the wrong parts of his brain while
leaving Osborn with enough material to salvage the right information.
When Osborn personally catches up to the debilitated Stark and beats him
savagely,
Pepper Potts
broadcasts the beatings worldwide, costing Osborn credibility and
giving Stark public sympathy. Stark goes into a vegetative state, having
previously granted
Donald Blake (alter ego of the Norse-god superhero Thor) power of attorney.
[43]
A holographic message stored in Pepper's armor reveals that Stark had
developed a means of 'rebooting' his mind from his current state prior
to his destruction of the database, with Blake and Bucky resolving to
use it to restore him to normal despite Stark's offer in the message to
stay in his current state if it would make things easier and Pepper's
own uncertainty about the fact that Tony can come back when so many
others cannot. Meanwhile, in Stark's subconscious, he is trapped in a
scenario where figments of his own mind are preventing him from moving
on and returning to the waking world. When the procedure fails to work,
Bucky calls in Doctor Strange, who attempts to and succeeds in restoring
Stark back to consciousness. However, it turns out the backup Stark
created was made prior to the Civil War, and as such he does not
remember anything that took place during the event, although he still
concludes after reviewing his past actions that he would not have done
anything differently. His brain damage means that he is now dependent on
an arc reactor to sustain his body's autonomous functions such as
breathing, blinking and a heartbeat due to the brain damage he sustained
rendering it impossible for him to do those himself.
[44]
2010s
"Siege"
Main article:
Siege (comics)
In the "
Siege" storyline, Tony Stark is seen under the care of
Dr. Donald Blake and
Maria Hill. When the two spot the attack on Asgard, Blake tells Maria to run away with Stark.
[45] Hill leaves Stark to assist Blake, now as
Thor, after his ambush by
Osborn and his attack dog the
Sentry. Hill rescues Thor and brings him back to Broxton to recuperate. When Osborn declares
martial law and unleashes
Daken
and the Sentry on Broxton to root out Thor and Hill, Thor reveals
himself to defend the town. Hill returns to Tony Stark's hiding place to
move him to a safer location and are joined soon after by
Speed of the
Young Avengers, who holds a certain
indestructible suitcase
that Edwin Jarvis had given Captain America earlier. Hill orders Speed
to surrender when Stark stops her and asks Speed to give him the case.
While Osborn is battling the
New Avengers,
Stark appears in a variant of his MK III armor and proceeds to disable
Osborn's Iron Patriot armor. Osborn orders the Sentry to annihilate
Asgard, rather than allow the Avengers to have it, which the Sentry
does, practically leveling the city before the horrified eyes of Thor.
After Asgard falls, literally, Stark stands alongside his fellow heroes,
as the now armor-free Osborn exclaims they are all doomed and he 'was
saving them from him' pointing up towards a
Void-possessed Sentry hovering over them.
[46] As the Void tears apart the teams, Loki gives them the power to fight back through the
Norn Stones.
When the Void kills Loki, Thor's rage-fueled blows rattle the creature.
Tony then tells Thor to get the Void away from Asgard, which he does.
Tony then drops the commandeered H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier 'as a bullet',
subduing the Void. When Robert Reynolds begs to be killed, Thor denies
the request, but is forced to when the Void resurfaces. Sometime later,
the Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and Tony is given back his
company and armory. As a symbol for their heroics and their new unity,
Thor places a remaining Asgardian tower on Stark Tower where the
Watchtower once stood.
[47] Tony later attends a private funeral for Robert Reynolds.
[48]
"Heroic Age"
In the 2010-2011 "Stark: Resilient" storyline, Tony builds a new
armor, the Bleeding Edge, with the help of Mister Fantastic. This new
armor fully utilizes the repulsor tech battery embedded in his chest to
power Tony's entire body and mind thus allowing him access to extremis
once more. Furthermore, the battery operates as his "heart" and is
predominantly the only thing keeping him alive.
[49]
Later, Tony announces that he will form a new company, Stark Resilient.
He states that he will stop developing weapons, instead, he plans to
use his repulsor technology to give free energy to the world. However,
Justine and Sasha Hammer create their own armored hero, Detroit Steel,
to take Stark's place as the Army's leading weapons-builder. Stark's
plan consists of building two repulsor-powered cars. However, the
Hammers try to foil his efforts. The first car is destroyed by sabotage,
while Detroit Steel attacks Stark Resilient's facilities while Tony
tests the second car. Through a legal maneuver, Tony is able to get the
Hammers to stop their attacks and releases a successful commercial about
his new car.
[50]
Fear Itself
In the 2011
Fear Itself storyline, Earth is attacked by the Serpent, an evil Asgardian,
[volume & issue needed] who is later revealed to be Thor's uncle.
[volume & issue needed] In Paris, Iron Man fights
Grey Gargoyle,
who has become Mokk, Breaker of Faith and one of the Serpent's Worthy.
Mokk leaves Iron Man unconscious and transforms Detroit Steel into
stone. When Iron Man awakens, he sees that Mokk has turned all the
people in Paris into stone and left.
[volume & issue needed]
To defeat the Serpent's army, Tony drinks a bottle of wine - thus
'sacrificing' his soberiety - to gain an audience with Odin, who allows
Tony to enter the realm of Svartalfheim. There, Tony and the dwarves of
Svartalfheim work to build weapons the Avengers can use against the
Worthy.
[51]
Tony upgrades his armor with uru-infused enchantments and delivers the
finished weapons to the Avengers, who use them for the final battle
against the Serpent's forces. Iron Man watches as Thor kills the
Serpent, but dies in the process. After the battle is over, Tony melts
down the weapons he created and repairs Captain America's shield, which
had been damaged in the battle, and gives it back to Captain America,
telling him that the shield is now stronger.
[52]
During a subsequent argument with Odin about the gods' lack of
involvement in the recent crisis, Odin gives Tony a brief opportunity to
see the vastness of the universe the way he sees it, before, as thanks
for Tony's role in the recent crisis, he restores all the people that
the Grey Gargoyle killed during his rampage.
[volume & issue needed]
Return of the Mandarin
After "Fear Itself", Stark is subpoenaed by the U.S. government after
evidence of him using the Iron Man armor while intoxicated surfaces.
Mandarin and Zeke Stane upgrade some of Iron Man's old enemies and send
them to commit acts of terrorism across the world, intending to
discredit Iron Man. General Bruce Babbage forces Stark to wear a tech
governor, a device that allows Babbage to deactivate Stark's armor
whenever he wants. To fight back, Tony undergoes a surgical procedure
that expels the Bleeding Edge technology out of his body and replaces
his repulsor node with a new model, forcing Babbage to remove the tech
governor off his chest. He announces his retirement as Iron Man, faking
Rhodey's death and giving him a new armor so that he becomes the new
Iron Man.
[53]
In the Volume 5 series, Tony Stark has hit a technological ceiling.
After the death of Dr. Maya Hansen and destroying all of the Extremis
Ver. 2 kits (which were being sold to the black market) Tony decides
that the Earth is not safe without him learning more from what's in the
final frontier. He takes his new suit, enhanced with an artificial
intelligence named P.E.P.P.E.R. and joins Peter Quill and The Guardians
of the Galaxy
Armor
The Bleeding Edge Armor, like the Extremis Armor before it, is stored in
Stark's bones, and can be assembled and controlled by his thoughts.
Iron Man possesses
powered armor
that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array
of weapons. The armor is invented and worn by Stark (with occasional
short-term exceptions). Other people who have assumed the Iron Man
identity include Stark's long-time partner and best friend
James Rhodes; close associates
Harold "Happy" Hogan; Eddie March; and (briefly)
Michael O'Brien.
The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but Iron
Man's standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays
that are fired from the palms of his
gauntlets.
Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the
uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts (that pick up
kinetic energy along the way; so the farther they travel, the harder they hit); an
electromagnetic pulse generator; and a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360 degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-
freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and manipulating
magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and projecting 3-dimensional
holograms (to create decoys).
In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized
suits for
space travel,
deep-sea diving,
stealth, and other special purposes. Stark has modified suits, like the
Hulkbuster
heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to his
so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability
enough to engage the Incredible
Hulk in a fight. A later model, designed for use against
Thor, is modeled on the
Destroyer
and uses a mystical power source. Stark develops an electronics pack
during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark
technologies, will burn out those components, rendering the suit
useless. This pack is ineffective on later models, however. While it is
typically associated with
James Rhodes, the War Machine armor began as one of Stark's specialty armors.
The most recent models of Stark's armor, beginning with the Extremis
Armor, are now stored in the hollow portions of Stark's bones, and the
personal area networking implement used to control it is implanted in
his forearm, and connected directly to his
central nervous system.
Powers
For a time, due to an artificial nervous system installed after he
suffered extensive damage to his natural one, Stark had super-humanly
acute sensory perceptions as well as extraordinary awareness of the
physical processes within his own body.
[volume & issue needed]
After being critically injured during a battle with the
Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with a
modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the
Extremis process).
[volume & issue needed] By rewriting his own biology, Stark is able to save his life, gain an enhanced
healing factor,
and partially merge with the Iron Man armor, superseding the need for
bulky, AI-controlled armors in favor of lighter designs,
technopathically controlled by his own brain. His enhanced technopathy
extends to every piece of technology, limitless and effortlessly due to
his ability to interface with communication satellites and wireless
connections to increase his "range". Some components of the armor-sheath
are now stored in Tony's body, able to be recalled, and extruded from
his own skin, at will.
During the "
Secret Invasion" storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shutdown by a virus,
[volume & issue needed] forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations.
[volume & issue needed]
Furthermore, Osborn's takeover of the few remaining Starktech factories
(with Ezekiel Stane systematically crippling the others) limits Tony to
the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.
[volume & issue needed]
After being forced to "wipe out" his brain to prevent Norman Osborn
from gaining his information, Tony Stark is forced to have a new arc
reactor, of
Rand
design installed in his chest. The process greatly improves his
strength, stamina and intellect. However, the procedure left him with
virtually no autonomic functions: as his brain was stripped of every
biological function, Tony is forced to rely on a digital backup of his
memories (leaving him with severe gaps and lapses in his long-term
memory) and on software routine in the arc reactor for basic stimuli
reaction, such as blinking and breathing.
[54] However, the
Bleeding Edge package of armor and physical enhancement is now equal in power, if not a more advanced, version of the old Extremis tech.
[49]
Skills
Tony Stark is an inventive genius whose expertise in the fields of
mathematics,
physics,
chemistry, and
computer science rivals that of
Reed Richards,
Hank Pym, and
Bruce Banner, and his expertise in
electrical engineering and
mechanical engineering
surpasses even theirs. He is regarded as one of the most intelligent
characters in the Marvel Universe. He graduated with advanced degrees in
physics and engineering at the age of 17 from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
[55] and further developed his knowledge ranging from
artificial intelligence to
quantum mechanics
as time progressed. His expertise extends to his ingenuity in dealing
with difficult situations, such as difficult foes and deathtraps, in
which he is capable of using available tools, including his suit, in
unorthodox but effective ways. He is well respected in the business
world, able to command people's attention when he speaks on economic
matters, having over the years built up several multi-million dollar
companies from virtually nothing. He is noted for the loyalty he
commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as for his
business ethics. Thus he immediately fired an employee who made
profitable, but illegal, sales to
Doctor Doom.
[56] He strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.
At a time when Stark was unable to use his armor for a period, he received some combat training from
Captain America and has become physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it.
[volume & issue needed] He received further hand-to-hand combat training from
Happy Hogan (a professional
boxer) and
James Rhodes (a
United States Marine Corps combat pilot).
[volume & issue needed]
In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On
multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing
them amid corporate takeovers.
[57]
Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space
Infinity Gem to safeguard.
[58]
It allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move
any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space.
Iron Man has not used it on any occasion, even after the Secret
Invasion and his fugitive status.
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