Iron Man is a superhero character co-created by Stan Lee and developed by Larry Lieber. It was designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby and was published under Marvel Comics.
Iron Man, as Tony Stark first appeared in the comic series Tales of Suspense in issue #39, released in 1963. Eventually, in 1968, Iron Man starred in his first comic series called ‘Iron Man.’
The Birth of Iron Man
Tony Stark is the brilliant and wealthy son of an industrialist and weapon manufacturer, Maria and Howard Stark. Growing up, Tony had shown potential in the technological invention and is naturally following his father’s footsteps. After his parent’s untimely death, Tony had inherited the Stark Industry. He built up weapons for wars that were beyond what other companies were creating.
After he decided to go overseas for a consultation on weapon contract, an improvised explosive attached to his vehicle brought him to the brink of death. Stark then woke up as a prisoner of a warlord named Wong-Chu, where he was ordered to build weapons. Aside from being held captive, Stark found out that the shrapnel was stuck near his heart. With the help of the fellow captive, Ho Yinsen, an engineer, they constructed a magnetic device that kept the shrapnel from reaching Stark’s heart.Yinsen and Stark also built a huge armor suit that would later be called ‘Iron Man.’
The first suit gave much room for improvement, but it still did what Stark couldn’t do on his own. Yinsen sacrificed his life for the last preparation, and Stark wears the Iron Man suit to escaped and returned to the United States. Subsequently, Tony built a new, streamlined armor suit – the first of many updated versions that he had created. It now has complete access to his equipment and is the armor he uses to combat threats against the world.
Iron Man’s Suit, His Powers, and Abilities
Stark has created various numbers of new suits and upgrades over the years. However, among the Iron Man models, the majority of iterations contain some offensive and defensive abilities. The main weapon contained in each suit were the repulsor rays that use energy pulses in order to repel and disrupt the enemy. Also, there are the booster jets that allow Stark to fly faster than any fighter jet.Aside from the repulsor rays and booster jets, Iron Man has a helmet that enables Stark to have a 360-degree vision. This also allows Stark to access information about his enemies and his surroundings. Besides, the unibeam, a weapon located at Stark’s chest, can project dazzling light and can also be used as a strong force beam than the repulsor ray in his hands.
Each of the suits that Stark has created offers a wide variety of sophisticated telecommunications and artificial intelligence capable of piloting Stark to safety. Aside from Stark’s all-purpose suit, he also developed armors with specializations, depending on the scenarios. Some of these include the ‘Hulkbuster armor,’ that allows Iron Man to stand toe-to-toe with Hulk, as well as suits used for underwater, deep-space explorations and stealth suits.One common thing about Iron Man’s latest suits was the integration of Extremis. It is an advanced genetic manipulation that enables the human body to heal and regenerate from damages. Stark had used this to extraordinarily combine his mind and body to the armor. With the armor stored inside him, he can now gear-up in just a few seconds. However, even if the Extremis is powerful, it is also vulnerably exposed to hacking.
It is an unarguable fact that Iron Man’s suit is powerful and stylish. However, it wouldn’t be invented if Stark wasn’t an imaginative genius in mathematics, physics, chemistry, or even computer science and electrical engineering. Tony Stark is known to be one of Marvel’s most intelligent characters. In fact, at the age of 17, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with advanced degrees in engineering and physics. In addition, he eventually expanded his expertise from artificial intelligence to quantum mechanics.
Iron Man in Films
Iron Man has been one of the founding member of The Avengers superhero squad and has been part of several iterations from his own separate comic book stories. Aside from his publication history, Iron Man was also adapted to various animated TV shows and movies. Marvel released the Iron Man films, starring Robert Downey including in, The Unbelievable Hulk (2008), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).
Being one of the most famous superheroes of all time, Iron Man has his own film series aside from the comic book series where he was featured. These films were Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), and Iron Man 3 (2013).
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man (2008) is a film based on the Marvel character of the same name. It was produced by Marvel Studios, directed by Jon Favreau, with the writers, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Matt Holloway, and Art Marcum.
Iron Man was portrayed by actor Robert Downey, together with Terrence Howard, Shaun Toub, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Iron Man (2008) tells the story of how the world-famous industrialist and master engineer, named Tony Stark became the superhero named, ‘Iron Man.’
Iron Man 2 (2010)
After the commercial success of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel Studios announced a sequel, which was released in 2010. Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Justin Theroux, Iron Man 2 sets off once again with the previous cast from Iron Man 1. While Downey ‘s performance, and the film’s action sequences, musical score, and visual effects, generally received positive feedback from the critics, many saw it as inferior to the first one released in 2008. However, Iron Man 2 grossed over USD 623.9 million and became the world’s seventh highest-grossing film of 2010.
Iron Man 2 follows the story of Tony Stark as he resists the US government’s call to hand over his Iron Man technology. At the same time, a Russian scientist named Ivan Vanko plotted an attack against the Stark family using his own version of the technology.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
After the Iron Man 2 that was released in May 2010, director Favreau chose not to return for a third film. As a result, the film was directed by Shane Black from a screenplay written by Drew Pearce. Iron Man 3 stars Robert Downey as Iron Man and Tony Stark, along with the others, namely, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, and Stéphanie Szostak.
In Iron Man 3, it follows the story of the brilliant industrialist named Tony Stark as he fights an enemy that knows no boundary. When Stark sees that his enemy has destroyed his world, he embarks on a quest to find the culprit.