title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song made his acting debut in the 2008 period film "A Frozen Flower". The following year, he appeared in the couple-swapping segment "Believe in the Moment" of omnibus "Five Senses of Eros" and continued to take on small but notable roles in "Triple" and "Will It Snow for Christmas?".


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song also became a regular host of KBS Friday music program "Music Bank" from 2009 to 2010. He then appeared in the 2010 medical drama "OB & GY", and animal movie sequel "Hearty Paws 2".


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song's breakthrough came in the fusion historical drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" where he played the role of an 18th-century Joseon-era rich, indolent playboy. Despite stable but unspectacular ratings, the drama became a cult hit and his on-screen "bromance" with actor Yoo Ah-in was popular with viewers. Song also joined the cast of variety program "Running Man" from 2010 to 2011.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song later released the book "Beautiful Skin Project", a bestselling health and beauty guide for men (which was re-released in Japan in 2013). In late 2010, he went on a bicycling tour around Sydney, which aired two episodes on TV via ELLE, an offshoot of the eponymous fashion magazine. Moreover, a TV special of the actor's trip to Japan entitled "I'm Real: Song Joong-ki" aired two parts in early 2011. Song later became an MC for jTBC audition program "Made in U".


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2011, Song starred as a jobless deadbeat in the romantic comedy "Penny Pinchers". His acting performance was praised by critics, declaring him a "charismatic, swoon-worthy leading man with a viable presence."


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song took on the role of the young king Sejong in "Deep Rooted Tree" (2011). Critics praised Song's performance, calling it a portrayal of a genius who "realizes the futility of power early in life" and hides in his books to cope with growing up under the rule of his tyrannical father Taejong. Song received the PD Award at the 2011 SBS Drama Awards for the role.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: He later narrated the six-part documentary "Tears of the Antarctic" for MBC program "Tears of the Earth" (2012), which focuses on pressing environmental issues on the planet and donated his entire salary to charity. He reprised his role as the narrator when the series was re-edited and released in theaters as "Pengi and Sommi" (2012). "The Korea Times" highlighted his talking baritone when addressing his narration role. He later went on a fan-meeting tour called "Song Joong-ki Asia Fan Meeting Tour – THRILL & LOVE", holding fan meetings in Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song described 2012 as a "phenomenal year" for his career. He played the titular character in fantasy romance film "A Werewolf Boy", which premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. In preparation for his role, Song watched nature documentaries and observed stray dogs on the streets to learn how to mime and imitate the body movements of an animal. He also repeatedly watched Tim Burton's 1990 romantic fantasy "Edward Scissorhands", Matt Reeves' 2010 vampire flick "Let Me In", and Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings". The film was screened at the Busan International Film Festival, and became the most successful Korean melodrama of all time, with more than 7 million tickets sold.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: The same year, he took on his first leading drama role in television, "The Innocent Man." His assured and nuanced portrayal of an antihero received praise from critics and audience. The drama attracted high ratings, which along with the impressive box office run of "A Werewolf Boy", cemented Song's image in the press as the "savior" of the melodrama genre both on the big and small screen. Song won Top Excellence Award (Actor) at the 20th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards, 1st K-Drama Star Awards and the 2012 KBS Drama Awards.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In February 2013, after his contract with entertainment agency Sidus HQ expired, Song announced that he would be joining Blossom Entertainment.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Prior to his enlistment for his mandatory military service, Song held a fan meeting on August 17, 2013. He then enlisted on August 27 at the 102nd draft camp in Chuncheon. He served in an infantry unit assigned to patrol and conduct reconnaissance missions along the DMZ and was discharged on May 26, 2015.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song made his small screen comeback in "Descendants of the Sun" alongside actress Song Hye-kyo, playing a military officer. The drama was incredibly popular in Korea with a peak viewership rating of 41.6% and in Asia, where it was viewed 2.5 billion times on iQiyi. The drama reestablished Song as a leader of the Hallyu, and he topped popularity polls in Asia.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song was made the Korean Tourism Honorary Ambassador by the Korea Tourism Organization to actively promote Korean tourism worldwide. He was the first actor to be invited to the nationwide live prime-time news show "KBS News 9". He was also listed as one of the Top 100 Future Generation of Leaders, at #34. He became the face of over 30 brands in 2016 alone and was one of the recipients of Korea's "Brand of the Year" award. Song won the "Daesang" (or "Grand Prize"), the highest award for television, at the 30th KBS Drama Awards and the 5th APAN Star Awards as well as the Best Actor (TV) award at the 11th Seoul International Drama Awards and the 29th Korean Producer Awards for his acting performance. He then embarked on a series of sold-out Asian tour spanning 10 different cities, where he met more than 60,000 fans.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song was then cast in the period action film "The Battleship Island" (2017). He stars alongside actors So Ji-sub and Hwang Jung-min and portrays a member of the Korean independence movement, who sneaks onto Hashima Island to rescue a fellow member.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song made his small screen comeback in the historical fantasy drama "Arthdal Chronicles", which premiered on tvN in 2019. The drama was a reunion project with his "Descendants of the Sun" co-star Kim Ji won.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In January 2020, Song left Blossom Entertainment and signed with History D&C, a newly launched talent management and content production company founded by former SidusHQ executive Hwang Ki-yong.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2021, Song starred in the science fiction film "Space Sweepers" alongside Kim Tae-ri, directed by Jo Sung-hee, which was released exclusively on Netflix on February 5, 2021. The movie debuted at No. 1 on Netflix, dominated daily top 10 rankings in 80 countries and gathered more than 26 millions household viewers during the first 28 days of its release. He also starred as the titular character in the series "Vincenzo" alongside Jeon Yeo-been, which was released on February 20, 2021, on Netflix and tvN. It became the 6th highest-rated drama in tvN history after its finale, and is currently the 9th highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history. The series was also vastly popular on Netflix, ranking 4th on Forbes most-viewed Korean series on Netflix in 2021.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2022, he is set to act in the criminal thriller film "Bogota" alongside Lee Hee-joon and Kwon Hae-hyo, which will be directed by Kim Seong-je, as well as a series adaption of the popular web novel "Reborn Rich" directed by Jeong Dae-Yoon.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song has primarily been known for his "flower boy" or "pretty boy" image, with his theme song being "Pretty Boy" by M2M. He majored in business administration at Korea's Sungkyunkwan University and worked as an active anchor of the campus broadcaster. He was called the school's "ulzzang" (best face) and "umchina" or "mom's friend's son" (perfect son). Dr. Jun Sung, author of "Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption", cited Song as the embodiment of "soft masculinity."


title: Song Joong-ki

text: His In 2011, after effectively playing the younger version of King Sejong in "Deep Rooted Tree" that made him trend in web portals, he earned the title "good actor Song Joong-ki." Song has been hailed as "the savior of melodrama" in his home country and called "Korea's DiCaprio" after the hit drama "The Innocent Man" and most watched melodrama movie "A Werewolf Boy" in 2012. In 2016, two years after his mandatory military service, the 'Song Joong-ki syndrome' was coined upon his portrayal of the dashing Army Captain Yoo Shi-jin in "Descendants of the Sun". He was made the Korea Tourism Organization's Honorary Ambassador, topped popularity polls in Asia, and became the CF King. In China, the public safety Weibo page and the Chinese government has had to issue statements cautioning against overindulgence of the actor and the drama, citing cases of plastic surgery, domestic violence and divorce as a direct result. However, Song insisted that he never wanted a meteoric rise in popularity. He said: "It's inevitable that popularity fades. That's why I must always be prepared."


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Former journalist Kim Young-ho said that he is more than just a Hallyu star and called him "a man of character." He stated: "He is humble, well-mannered and very polite. Even after he rose to stardom, there was no change in his demeanor and he's still humble." Actor So Ji-sub described him as "a manly man without any pretense." Other personalities in South Korea that have been vocal of his good manners include Gummy, DinDin, Park Hoon, Kim Jong-kook, Onew, Moon Chae-won, Park Bo-young, Jo In-sung, and Lee Kwang-soo. He is also known for his regular donations to several causes and participation in philanthropic acts.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song considers it his "responsibility" to be aware of his influence on fans that expanded overseas. He said: "I could have never made it to such a position without the help of many others. I think the effort and hard work of my predecessors, staff members, and fans have contributed to such a result. Thus, I do have a sense of responsibility. I want to live up to my reputation as a Korean citizen, actor, and person. I will try my best to be modest but confident at all times." In 2017, when asked about starring in "The Battleship Island" that shows the sensitive subject of Korean-Japanese history, he expressed that it was a small expression of his beliefs.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: After years of aversion to social media, Song opened his official Instagram account under the username “hi_songjoongki” on February 14, 2021, directly managed by his agency History D&C. When interviewed for "KBS News 9" in 2016, Song revealed that it was challenging for him to keep up with the latest technology, including social media. His fancafe, established in early 2006, became his way to communicate with his official fandom named "Ki Aile," which means "Ki's wings." Song said the fans were like his wings for they lift him up, emotionally and financially, by voting for him and buying the products he endorses as well as watch all his movies and TV shows.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2010, Song and Park Shin-hye were chosen as PR ambassadors for the 17th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF).


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2011, Song was chosen as the ambassador for the Good-hearted Library Project, a talent donation campaign by the Standard Chartered that allows the public to participate in the production of audiobooks for the visually impaired.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2013, Song and Ha Ji-won were appointed as honorary ambassadors of medical tourism by South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare. They appeared in regional cities on behalf of Medical Korea as they promote greater international co-operation for medical technology and positive medical tourism.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2016, Song was chosen as the honorary ambassador and promotional model for Korean tourism under South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song has been a celebrity advocate for cancer-stricken children since 2011. This was later known in early March 2016 through the announcement made by the Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation (KCLF) on their official blog. For the past 5 years, more than 10 children have received treatment secretly donated by him. According to KCLF, he has participated in the "Yellow Ribbon Campaign" to raise awareness about childhood cancers. Furthermore, he has given rice wreaths from press conferences and his pay generated from narrating the documentary "Tears of the Antarctic". This has inspired his official fan club Ki Aile to celebrate his birthdays by donating transplant fees to help patients with leukemia and cancer. Song has since made donations to KCLF every year. Song also took part in lending his voice for the visually impaired.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: In 2015, during his military service, he donated 100 million won to the UNICEF Korea Committee to help the children and victims of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. In 2016, Song donated all of his proceeds from being featured on the May 13 episode of "Hurry Up, Brother", a Chinese version of "Running Man", to a Chinese charity organization. Song has also donated a portion of his profits from the "2016 Asian Fan Meeting Tour" to a foundation that helps those affected by 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In addition, his revenues from Seoul and Thailand fan meetings were all donated to an unnamed charity. Subsequently, Song donated 20 million won to the House of Sharing in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, a shelter for elderly women who were forced into being comfort women by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The actor was likely influenced while filming his movie "The Battleship Island", a period action film about Korean workers under Japanese rule. Later in July 2017, his fans donated to the same center. In 2019, Song has donated 30 million won for the victims of wildfire in Gangwon Province. From 2020 to 2021, Song made donations for coronavirus prevention. On 2 August 2021, Song participated in the promotion of the annual dance festival Korea International Accessible Dance Festival (KIADA) for persons with disabilities while being quarantined. On 26 October 2021, Song received the Presidential Commendation Award for his generous contributions over the years.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Song had endorsed deals in nearly every industry such as healthcare, cosmetic, clothing, food, travel and tourism, telecom, electronics and retail. He first appeared in a television commercial of Dunkin' Donuts in May 2008. After starring in drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" in 2010, Song became the face of fashion brands EZIO and TBJ, casual clothing brand AD HOC with Min Hyo-rin, sports brand Le Coq Sportif with IU, as well as foods Pizza Etang, a popular pizza in South Korea and Ottogi Snack Ramen. In the digital and technology sector, Song was chosen for the brand Xbox 360 Kinect because of his "childlike, innocent, and healthy" image that matches the new hands-free game controller and LG XNote with Shin Min-a in 2011. Song was also appointed as the official ambassador of the skincare Tony Moly and FUJIFILM polaroid for two consecutive years. Subsequently, he appeared in restaurant brand Sonsoo's advertisement as a prodigy cook alongside Song Seung-heon and Yoon Sang-hyun. Song was also chosen as the new model of the dairy brand Seoul Milk.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Soon after starring in drama "The Innocent Man" and film "A Werewolf Boy" in 2012, Blossom Entertainment reported that Song was on his way to become the next CF King with 10 endorsement deals under his belt. For two years in a row, he was the main model for the global soda brand Sprite. From 2013 to 2016, he was the endorser of the water purifier brand Ruhens. In February 2019, Ruhens selected Song as their endorser again.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: Following the release of the pan-Asian hit drama "Descendants of the Sun" in 2016, Song became the modelling face of more than 30 international and local products. The Korea Broadcast Advertising Promotion Corporation (KOBACO) "2016 Consumer Behavior Survey" picked Song as the best model to represent South Korean brands. Some of his ad include Baskin Robbins, LG Household & Health Care, KT, Forencos, Jeju Air, Hite Jinro, Cuchen, as well as lucrative Chinese products like Proya with Zhang Ziyi, Tencent, and VIVO. Song also worked with Park Bo-gum as brand models for Domino's Pizza and LINE Pay Card. In February 2017, Song was announced as the brand ambassador of the online market place "11Street" of SK Planet in Thailand. He was paired with Thai actress Mew Nittha on TV, digital, and outdoor ads on the busiest Bangkok Mass Transit System stations in Chit Lom, Siam and Phrom Pong. Cheil Tailand reported that it was a successful campaign as its Facebook page exceeded 1 million views upon its launching. In April 2018, Song was revealed as the new endorser of Hyundai LIVART, a Korea-based lifestyle culture company. They chose Song as its advertising model only 14 years after actress Kim Nam-joo in 2004.


title: Song Joong-ki

text: On July 5, 2017, Song and "Descendants of the Sun" co-star Song Hye-kyo announced through their respective agencies that they were engaged. They married in a private ceremony on October 31, 2017, at Youngbingwan, Hotel Shilla in Seoul, amid intense media interest across Asia with his closest family and friends. On June 26, 2019, the couple announced their divorce, which was finalized in July 2019.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in "Tales of Suspense" #39 (cover dated March 1963), and received his own title in "Iron Man" #1 (May 1968). In 1963, the character founded the Avengers superhero team with Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and the Hulk.


title: Iron Man

text: A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, philanthropist, inventor and ingenious scientist, Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a mechanized suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually publicly reveals himself to be Iron Man.


title: Iron Man

text: Initially, Stan Lee used Iron Man to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and industry in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have shifted to contemporary matters.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man has headlined various comic book series. Throughout most of the character's publication history, he has been a founding member of the Avengers.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man has been adapted for several animated television shows and films. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark was portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the films "Iron Man" (2008), "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), "Iron Man 2" (2010), "The Avengers" (2012), "Iron Man 3" (2013), "" (2015), "" (2016), "" (2017), "" (2018), and "" (2019); while Mick Wingert voiced the character in the animated series "What If...?" (2021).


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man's Marvel Comics premiere in "Tales of Suspense" #39 (cover dated March 1963) was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby. In 1963, 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. Lee said:


title: Iron Man

text: He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well. Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting." Lee based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes, explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase." "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes," Lee said.


title: Iron Man

text: While Lee intended to write the story himself, a minor deadline emergency eventually forced him to hand over the premiere issue to Lieber, who fleshed out the story. The art was split between Kirby and Heck. "He designed the costume," Heck said of Kirby, "because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts." In a 1990 interview, when asked if he had "a specific model for Tony Stark and the other characters?", Heck replied "No, I would be thinking more along the lines of some characters I like, which would be the same kind of characters that Alex Toth liked, which was an Errol Flynn type." Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in "Tales of Suspense," which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character's original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40 April 1963). It was redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (December 1963) by that issue's interior artist, Steve Ditko, although Kirby drew it on the cover. As Heck recalled in 1985, "[T]he second costume, the red and yellow one, was designed by Steve Ditko. I found it easier than drawing that bulky old thing. The earlier design, the robot-looking one, was more Kirbyish."


title: Iron Man

text: 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.


title: Iron Man

text: From issue #59 (November 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in "Tales of Suspense" were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. Lee and Heck introduced several adversaries for the character including the Mandarin in issue #50 (February 1964), the Black Widow in #52 (April 1964) and Hawkeye five issues later.


title: Iron Man

text: Lee said that "of all the comic books we published at Marvel, we got more fan mail for Iron Man from women, from females, than any other title ... We didn't get much fan mail from girls, but whenever we did, the letter was usually addressed to Iron Man."


title: Iron Man

text: Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in "The Avengers" #1 (September 1963) as a founding member of the superhero team. The character has since appeared in every subsequent volume of the series.


title: Iron Man

text: Writers have updated the war and locale in which Stark is injured. In 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. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film "The Invincible Iron Man", in which the armor Stark uses to escape his captors is not the first Iron Man suit.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 industry's role in the struggle. Tony Stark's real-life model, Howard Hughes, was a significant defense contractor who developed new weapons technologies. Hughes was an icon both of American individualism and of the burdens of fame.


title: Iron Man

text: Historian Robert Genter, in "The Journal of Popular Culture", writes that Tony Stark specifically presents an idealized portrait of the American inventor. Where earlier decades had seen important technological innovations come from famous "individuals" (e.g., Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers), the 1960s saw new technologies (including weapons) being developed mainly by the research teams of "corporations". As a result, little room remained for the inventor who wanted credit for, and creative and economic control over, their own creations.


title: Iron Man

text: Issues of entrepreneurial autonomy, government supervision of research, and ultimate loyalty figured prominently in early "Iron Man" stories—the same issues affecting American scientists and engineers of that era. Tony Stark, writes Genter, is an inventor who finds motive in his emasculation as an autonomous creative individual. This blow is symbolized by his chest wound, inflicted at the moment he is forced to invent things for the purposes of others, instead of just himself. To Genter, Stark's transformation into Iron Man represents Stark's effort to reclaim his autonomy, and thus his manhood. The character's pursuit of women in bed or in battle, writes Genter, represents another aspect of this effort. The pattern finds parallels in other works of 1960s popular fiction by authors such as "Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), and Norman Mailer, who made unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity."


title: Iron Man

text: After issue #99 (March 1968), the "Tales of Suspense" series was renamed "Captain America". An Iron Man story appeared in the one-shot comic "Iron Man and Sub-Mariner" (April 1968), before the "Golden Avenger" made his solo debut with "Iron Man" #1 (May 1968). The series's indicia gives its copyright title "Iron Man," while the trademarked cover logo of most issues is "The Invincible Iron Man."


title: Iron Man

text: This initial series ended with issue #332 (September 1996). Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Jeph Loeb authored a second volume of the series which was drawn primarily by Whilce Portacio and Ryan Benjamin. This volume took place in a parallel universe and ran 13 issues (November 1996 – November 1997). Volume 3, whose first 25 issues were written by Kurt Busiek and then by Busiek and Roger Stern, ran 89 issues (February 1998 – December 2004). Later writers included Joe Quesada, Frank Tieri, Mike Grell, and John Jackson Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering starting from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434. The next Iron Man series, "Iron Man" vol. 4, debuted in early 2005 with the Warren Ellis-written storyline "Extremis", with artist Adi Granov. It ran 35 issues (January 2005 – January 2009), with the cover logo simply "Iron Man" beginning with issue #13, and "Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.", beginning issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by "War Machine, Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.", which led to the launch of a "War Machine" ongoing series.


title: Iron Man

text: "The Invincible Iron Man" by writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, began with a premiere issue cover-dated July 2008. For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both volume four and volume five simultaneously. This "Invincible" volume jumped its numbering of issues from #33 to #500, cover dated March 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968.


title: Iron Man

text: After the conclusion of "The Invincible Iron Man" a new Iron Man series was started as a part of Marvel Now!. Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Greg Land, it began with issue #1 in November 2012.


title: Iron Man

text: Many Iron Man annuals, miniseries, and one-shot titles have been published through the years, such as "Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man" (February 1996), "Iron Man: The Iron Age" #1–2 (August – September 1998), "Iron Man: Bad Blood" #1–4 (September – December 2000), "Iron Man House of M" #1–3 (September – November 2005), "Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan" #1–4 (December 2005 – March 2006), "Iron Man: The Inevitable" #1–6 (February – July 2006), "Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War" (February 2007), "Iron Man: Hypervelocity" #1–6 (March – August 2007), "Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin" #1–6 (November 2007 – April 2008), and "Iron Man: Legacy of Doom" (June – September 2008). Publications have included such spin-offs as the one-shot "Iron Man 2020" (June 1994), featuring a different Iron Man in the future, and the animated TV series adaptations "Marvel Action Hour, Featuring Iron Man" #1–8 (November 1994 – June 1995) and "Marvel Adventures Iron Man" #1–12 (July 2007 – June 2008).


title: Iron Man

text: Anthony Edward Stark is the son of Howard Stark, a wealthy industrialist who leads Stark Industries, and Maria Stark. A boy genius, he enters MIT at 15 to study engineering and later receives master's degrees in engineering and physics. After his parents are killed in a car accident, he inherits his father's company.


title: Iron Man

text: Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by enemy forces led by Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu orders Stark to build weapons, but 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. In secret, Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and construct a suit of powered armor, which Stark uses to escape. 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 rejoins the American forces, on his way meeting a wounded American Marine fighter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 story that Stark tells the news media and general public is that Iron Man is his robotic personal bodyguard, and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company (e.g., Communist opponents Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Titanium Man), as well as independent villains like the Mandarin (who becomes his greatest enemy). No one suspects Stark of being Iron Man, as he cultivates a strong public image of being a rich playboy and industrialist. Two notable members of the series'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, ultimately revealing himself to be a man of extraordinary skill and daring in his own right.


title: Iron Man

text: The series took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as public (and therefore, presumably, reader) opposition rose to the Vietnam War. This change evolved in a series of storylines featuring Stark reconsidering his political opinions, and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the U.S. military. Stark shows himself to be occasionally arrogant, and willing to act unethically in order to 'let the ends justify the means'. This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his vast personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor, but also to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.; other technologies (e.g., Quinjets used by the Avengers); and the image inducers used by the X-Men. Eventually, Stark's heart condition is publicly discovered when he was summoned for a Congressional hearing and Stark collapsed when his chestpiece's power failed, causing a heart attack. Stark was medically examined, which revealed his hidden equipment, and was hospitalized, forcing Pepper to have Happy don his employer's armor to pose as Iron Man to protect his boss's secret identity. Eventually, that specific medical issue was resolved with an artificial heart transplant, which still required the chestplate for some time to support the replacement organ.


title: Iron Man

text: Stark expands on his armor designs and begins to build his arsenal of specialized armors for particular situations such as for space travel and stealth. Stark also develops a serious dependency on alcohol in the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. 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, it is revealed that several minor supervillains armed with advanced weapons who had bedeviled Stark throughout his superhero career are in fact in the employ of Stark's business rival, Justin Hammer, who begins to plague Stark more directly. At one point in Hammer's manipulations, the Iron Man armor is taken over and used to murder a diplomat. Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities. 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. 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. 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. 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 indulged sometime after the two return to their own time. This incident was collected and published as "Doomquest."


title: Iron Man

text: 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 alcoholic vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man. 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 armor based on designs seized along with Stark International, dubbing himself the 'Iron Monger'. Defeated in battle, Stane, rather than give Stark the satisfaction of taking him to trial, commits suicide. 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.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 the stolen technology—originally called "Stark Wars" but is more commonly known as the "Armor Wars"—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, as well as the armor of the Guardsmen. In the process, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes allow some of the villains in the Vault to escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw, and severely sours Stark's relationship with Steve Rogers (Captain America, who was in his "Captain" persona at the time). Iron Man 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 a new person is in the armor.


title: Iron Man

text: Soon after, Stark is nearly killed by Kathy Dare, a mentally unbalanced former lover. She shoots him dead center in his torso which injures his spine, paralyzing him. Stark undergoes special surgery to have a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility. Unbeknownst to the industrialist, the nerve chip is a clandestine means by which to gain control over his body. Rival businessmen the Marrs Twins and their cohort Kearson DeWitt are behind the machinations in what came to be known as "Armor Wars II." After several successful tests by DeWitt at manipulating Stark, Tony finds that using his Encephalo Armor can counteract DeWitt's controls. In response, DeWitt suddenly releases his control resulting in excruciating agony throughout Stark's body. The constant "battle" for control of Stark's nervous system and subsequent abdication on DeWitt's end lead to massive nerve damage throughout Tony's body. 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 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, although he uses the War Machine armor. Stark eventually makes a full recovery by using a chip to create an entirely new (artificial) nervous system, and resumes as Iron Man in a new Telepresence Armor. When Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and the two friends part ways. Rhodes continues on as War Machine in a solo career.


title: Iron Man

text: The Avengers story arc "The Crossing" reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the team's 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 "Avengers Forever" limited series retcons these events as the work of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months.


title: Iron Man

text: Needing help to defeat both Stark and 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 remains in the present day.


title: Iron Man

text: During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenage Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. Franklin Richards preserves these "dead" heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe, in which 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 Stark, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he 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.


title: Iron Man

text: 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. 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.


title: Iron Man

text: During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa, 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 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.


title: Iron Man

text: 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, and its defective nature nearly causes a disaster in Washington, D.C. which Iron Man barely manages to avert, Stark accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 Avengers Mansion and kills several members. Stark publicly stands down as Iron Man, but continues using the costume. He joins the Avengers in stopping the breakout in progress from the Raft and even saves Captain America from falling. Tony changes the Avengers base to Stark Tower. The Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster reappear and shift Iron Man from standard superhero stories to dealing with politics and industrialism.


title: Iron Man

text: "New Avengers: Illuminati" #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, Stark had participated with a secret group that included 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.


title: Iron Man

text: In the "Civil War" storyline, after the actions of inexperienced superheroes the New Warriors result in the destruction of several city blocks in Stamford, Connecticut, there is an outcry across America against superhumans. Learning of the Government's proposed plans, Tony Stark suggests a new plan to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act. The Act would force every superpowered individual in the U.S. to register their identity with the government and act as licensed agents. The Act would force inexperienced superhumans 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. While Reed Richards and Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym both agree with Stark's proposal, not everyone does. After Captain America is ordered to bring in anyone who refuses to register, he and other anti-registration superheroes go rogue, coming into conflict with the pro-registration heroes, led by Iron Man. 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., and organizes a new government-sanctioned group of Avengers. Shortly afterwards, Captain America is assassinated while in custody. This leaves Stark with a great amount of guilt and misgivings about the cost of his victory.


title: Iron Man

text: To tie into the 2008 "Iron Man" feature film, Marvel launched a new "Iron Man" ongoing series, "The Invincible Iron Man", with writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca. The series inaugural six-part storyline was "The Five Nightmares", which saw Stark targeted by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Stark's former nemesis, Obadiah Stane.


title: Iron Man

text: In the "Secret Invasion" storyline, after Tony Stark survives an attempt by Ultron to take over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra. Realizing this is the start of an invasion by the Skrulls, Tony reveals the corpse to the Illuminati and declares 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.


title: Iron Man

text: Stark is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent the secret infiltration and invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a virtual monopoly on worldwide defense. 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.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 use, including his repulsor generators. The only copy of the database is in Stark's brain, which he tries to delete while on the run from Osborn. Stark goes so far as to inflict brain damage on himself in order to ensure that the relevant information is wiped. When Osborn 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 superhero Thor) power of attorney. 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. Meanwhile, Stark is trapped in his subconscious, where figments of his own mind prevent him from returning to the waking world. When the procedure fails to work, Bucky calls in Doctor Strange, who succeeds in restoring Stark back to consciousness. 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 he is now dependent on an arc reactor to sustain his body's autonomous functions.


title: Iron Man

text: In the "Siege" storyline, Tony Stark is seen under the care of Dr. Donald Blake and Maria Hill when Asgard is attacked. Thor is ambushed by Osborn and the Sentry, but rescued by Hill. Osborn declares martial law and unleashes Daken and the Sentry on Broxton to root out Thor and Hill. Hill returns to Stark's hiding place to move him to a safer location and are joined by Speed of the Young Avengers, who has a set of Iron Man's MK III armor that Edwin Jarvis had given Captain America. While Osborn is battling the New Avengers, Stark appears and disables Osborn's Iron Patriot armor. Osborn orders the Sentry to annihilate Asgard, rather than allow the Avengers to have it. After Asgard falls, Stark stands alongside his fellow heroes, as Osborn exclaims they are all doomed and he 'was saving them from him' pointing up towards a Void-possessed Sentry. As the Void tears apart the teams, Loki gives them the power to fight back through the Norn Stones. The Void kills Loki, enraging Thor. Tony tells Thor to get the Void away from Asgard, which allows Tony to drop a commandeered H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier on the Void. Thor is forced to killed Sentry when the Void resurfaces. Sometime later, the Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and Tony is given back his company and armor. As a symbol for their heroics and their new unity, Thor places an Asgardian tower on Stark Tower where the Watchtower once stood.


title: Iron Man

text: In the 2010–2011 "Stark: Resilient" storyline, Tony builds the Bleeding Edge armor with the help of Mister Fantastic. This new armor fully uses 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 the only thing keeping him alive. Tony announces he will form a new company, Stark Resilient. He states that he will no longer develop weapons, but will use his repulsor technology to give free energy to the world. 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. 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.


title: Iron Man

text: In the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Earth is attacked by the Serpent, the God of Fear and the long-forgotten brother of Odin. In Paris, Iron Man fights Grey Gargoyle, who has become Mokk, Breaker of Faith, one of the Serpent's Worthy. Mokk leaves Iron Man unconscious and transforms Detroit Steel and the citizens of Paris into stone. To defeat the Serpent's army, Tony drinks a bottle of wine (thus 'sacrificing' his sobriety) to gain an audience with Odin, who allows Tony to enter the realm of Svartalfheim. Tony and the dwarves of Svartalfheim build enchanted weapons. 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 broken by Serpent, and gives it back to Captain America. 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. As thanks for Tony's role in the recent crisis, Odin restores all the people that the Grey Gargoyle killed during his rampage.


title: Iron Man

text: In the storylines "Demon" and "The Long Way Down", Stark is subpoenaed by the U.S. government after evidence surfaces of him using the Iron Man armor while under the influence. 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 Rhodes's death and giving him a new armor so that he becomes the new Iron Man. This leads into the next storyline, "The Future", in which the Mandarin takes control of Stark's mind and uses him to create new armored bodies for the alien spirits inhabiting his rings, but Stark allies himself with some of his old enemies, who have also been imprisoned by Mandarin, and manages to defeat him. The final issue of this storyline concluded Matt Fraction's series.


title: Iron Man

text: In the ongoing series that premiered in 2012 as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Tony Stark has hit a technological ceiling. After the death of Dr. Maya Hansen and the destruction of all of the Extremis Version 2 kits that were being sold to the black market, Tony decides that the Earth is not safe without him learning more from what is 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 after helping them thwart a Badoon attack on Earth.


title: Iron Man

text: Tony Stark's personality is inverted during the events of "AXIS", bringing out more dark aspects of himself like irresponsibility, egotism and alcoholism. Stark relocates to San Francisco and builds a new, all-white armor. He supplies the citizens of San Francisco with the Extremis 3.0 app, a version of the techno-virus that offers beauty, health or even immortality, free. When every person in the city viewed Iron Man as a messiah for making their dreams come true, he ended the free trial mode and started charging a daily fee of $99.99, causing many to resort to crime to pay for the upgrade. Daredevil confronts Stark at his new Alcatraz Island penthouse, but is easily brushed off. Iron Man uses Extremis 3.0 to temporarily restore Daredevil's sight, just to prove his point. Daredevil deduces that Stark had added Extremis to the water supply and the phones only transmit an activation signal, but Stark subjects Murdock to minor brain damage to prevent him from sharing this revelation with others.


title: Iron Man

text: After discovering that new villain Teen Abomination is the son of Happy Hogan, Stark decides to help him, but this minor act of redemption is too late for Pepper Potts, who attacks Stark with the aid of an AI based on Stark's mind. This culminates in a confrontation between the two Starks, as Stark calls on the unwitting aid of all 'infected' with the Extremis upgrade while the AI uses Stark's various old armors to attack him. Although Stark technically wins the battle as he destroys his other armors and deletes the AI backup, Pepper states that she plans to reveal the truth about his goals with Extremis, bluntly informing him that if he continues his Extremis upgrade project, he will have to do it alone, accepting his fate of being regarded as a monster by all who know him.


title: Iron Man

text: During the "Time Runs Out" storyline, an attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had created to destroy incursive Earths results in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis. After the Cabal are apparently killed, the Illuminati free Tony, who is forced to flee due to the Illuminati's unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they meet Rogers and the Avengers. When the Shi'ar and their allies arrive to destroy Earth, the Avengers and the Illuminati unsuccessfully try to retaliate. Iron Man uses Sol's Hammer to destroy the fleet. The incursions continue, and Rogers confronts Stark about what he knows. A fight ensues between them and Stark admits that he had lied and had known about the incursions all along. During the final incursion, Earth-1610's S.H.I.E.L.D. launches a full-scale attack on Earth-616, during which Stark and Rogers are crushed by a Helicarrier.


title: Iron Man

text: After the events of the "Secret Wars" crossover, Stark returns to his normal self with no signs of his inverted personality. Eight months following the return of the universe as seen in the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" event, Tony works in his laboratory non-stop after his position as an innovator had been put in doubt. Because an M.I.T. student reverse-engineered some of his technology, Stark develops a new armor which can change shape according to the situation he would find himself. When Stark's new AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. informs him that Madame Masque has broken into the ruins of Castle Doom, he travels to Latveria to investigate and runs into some revolutionaries who are then defeated by a man in a suit. To his amazement, Iron Man's armor computer identifies him as Doctor Doom with his face restored. Doctor Doom claims that he wanted to help Iron Man.


title: Iron Man

text: After learning from Doctor Doom that Madame Masque has taken a decoy of the Wand of Watoomb, Tony Stark confronts Madame Masque. Upon learning that Madame Masque is not allied with Doctor Doom, Tony is attacked by her with a burst of energy that damages his armor. F.R.I.D.A.Y. manages to gain control of the suit and takes Tony to a safe location. Iron Man tracks Madame Masque to Marina del Rey. After finding a tape recorder with her messages, Tony is attacked by several black silhouettes with swords.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man escapes the ninjas that are attacking him and manages to defeat most of them, but they kill themselves before he can interrogate any of them. Iron Man and Doctor Doom arrive at Mary Jane Watson's newest Chicago night club Jackpot when Madame Masque attacks it. As Mary Jane distracts Madame Masque by knocking off her mask, Iron Man and Doctor Doom discover that Madame Masque is possessed by a demon. Doctor Doom is able to perform an exorcism on her.


title: Iron Man

text: Doctor Strange arrives and tells Iron Man he will take Madame Masque with him to fix her metaphysically and then hand her over at S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man also informs him of Doctor Doom's help who had left the scene some time ago. Three days later, Iron Man offers Mary Jane a job to make up for the damage to her nightclub. After speaking with War Machine, Tony Stark meets up at a diner with Amara Perera when they are unexpectedly joined by Doctor Doom who wanted to make sure that the demonic possession that affected Madame Masque has not affected Stark or Amara. Stark shows Mary Jane the demonstration on the people that he will be working with. They are interrupted by F.R.I.D.A.Y. who tells Tony that War Machine is missing. Before heading to Tokyo, Tony receives from Mary Jane the emergency number for Peter Parker. In Tokyo, Iron Man is contacted by Spider-Man at War Machine's last known location as he is being observed by ninjas.


title: Iron Man

text: During the "Civil War II" storyline, Iron Man protests the logic of using precognitive powers to stop future crimes after the recently emerged Inhuman Ulysses predicted Thanos's attack on Project Pegasus. Three weeks later, Iron Man is summoned to the Triskelion after War Machine is killed in battle against Thanos. When Iron Man learns that War Machine and the Ultimates used Ulysses's power to ambush Thanos, he vows to stop anyone from using that power again. Iron Man infiltrates New Attilan and makes off with Ulysses. At Stark Tower, Iron Man vows to find out how Ulysses's precognition works. The Inhumans attack Stark Tower but are stopped by the Avengers, the Ultimates, and S.H.I.E.L.D. During the confrontation, Ulysses has another vision which he projects to Iron Man and everyone present, showing a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the defeated superheroes. The heroes confront Banner, who is killed by Hawkeye. Barton claims that Banner was about to transform and Banner had previously asked Hawkeye to kill him if he should turn back into the Hulk. Tony is disgusted at this use of Ulysses's power. When his analysis of Ulysses brain is completed, Tony reveals that Ulysses does not actually see the "future", but simply assembles large quantities of data to project likely outcomes. While Danvers continues to use the visions as a resource, Tony objects to the concept of profiling people. This results in a stand-off when Tony's side abducts a woman from custody after Ulysses's visions identified her as a deep-cover HYDRA agent, despite the lack of supporting evidence.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man learns that his biological mother was actually Amanda Armstrong, who had given him up for adoption and that his biological father was a Hydra double agent named Jude. S.H.I.E.L.D. had Armstrong's baby adopted by Howard and Maria Stark.


title: Iron Man

text: In July 2016, it was announced that Tony Stark would hand off the mantle of Iron Man to a 15-year-old girl named Riri Williams. Riri is an MIT student who built her own Iron Man suit out of scrap pieces and, as such, attracted Stark's attention. Early depictions of Williams' suit depict it without the Arc Reactor, but leaves the power source for the suit unclear. Another Iron Man-based series titled "Infamous Iron Man" debuted featuring Doctor Doom sporting his version of the Iron Man armor. This is revealed to be the result of serious injuries sustained by Stark during his final confrontation with Captain Marvel. Danvers' beating leaves Stark in a coma, but he is left alive due to unspecified experiments Stark has carried out on himself over the years.


title: Iron Man

text: Following the revelation that Stark experimented on himself at the end of "Civil War II", Beast concludes that the only option is to let the experiments do their job in healing Tony and recover on his own. In "Invincible Iron Man" #1, an employee of Stark sends Riri Williams an artificial intelligence housing a copy of Tony Stark's consciousness to help her control and mentor in her own version of the Iron Man armor. This AI is directly copied from Tony's brain, granting sentience, with Williams commenting on Stark existing as a "techno-ghost". As an AI, Stark can walk around as a hard-light object and gains the ability to remote control his vast armory of Iron Man suits. In "The Mighty Captain Marvel" #3, the Tony Stark AI goes to Antarctica and visits Captain Marvel with the intent on settling their differences from the Second Civil War, she apologizes to him for her regrets, reconciles with him eventually and they become allies once more. Then in Secret Empire, the Tony Stark AI suits up as Iron Man once again and learns of Captain America's betrayal to Hydra and how he ended up like this. As Hydra tightens its grip across America, the Tony Stark AI leads a team known as the Underground to find the Cosmic Cubes to restore Rogers to his normal self. When things start to escalate, Tony and his crew go rogue and in search for answers for the Cube. As Iron Man and the Underground search for them they are intercepted by Captain America and his Hydra team. With both teams encountering each other, they are captured by the Ultron/Hank Pym hybrid, who forces both teams to sit at a dinner table. During "dinner", Ultron reveals information about the Hydra Avengers – such as Odinson working with Hydra to reclaim Mjolnir, Scarlet Witch being possessed by Chthon, and Vision being affected by an AI virus. Ultron argues that he is doing this because the Avengers have become less of a family over the years as so many of them jump to obey Captain America or Iron Man, despite past experience confirming that this is not always a good idea, but Tony counters that the only reason the team failed as a family was because of Hank's abuse towards Wasp. Enraged, Ultron is about to kill everyone, but Ant-Man is able to calm him down by arguing that Hank remains his own inspiration. Ultron allows the Underground to leave with the fragment, arguing that neither side should have an advantage over the other. Back in America, Hydra Supreme has put Namor in a position where he will be forced to sign a peace treaty that gives Rogers access to the Cosmic Cube fragment in Atlantis, but Hydra Supreme muses that he is unconcerned about who will acquire the fragments, as he has an inside man in the Underground. After the Mount was attacked by Thor and the resurrected Hulk led by Hydra, the Underground evacuated the civilians thanks to Hawkeye and the rest of the heroes. Captain America and Iron Man fight as the Mount collapses around them. The Tony Stark AI initiates the Mount's "Clean Slate Protocol", and blows up the Mount, killing Madame Hydra, then apologizes to Steve Rogers about their past differences, but the A.I survives and, in the aftermath, helps the heroes pull the pieces back together to take down Hydra. When Iron Man confronts Hydra Supreme, he and the other heroes are easily overpowered by him and watch the original Captain America defeat his Hydra self and into celebrating their victory.


title: Iron Man

text: Mary Jane Watson and other Stark employees find that Stark's body has completely vanished from its pod, despite tests taken mere hours ago showing no sign of improvement or brain activity. It was discovered that Tony Stark's comatose body was taken to the Stark Industries Complex in Dover. Upon awakening when his biological systems rebooted, Tony Stark went into hiding until he fully recovered. Wanting to make sure that James Rhodes was in a similar state that he was in, Tony Stark exhumed his body from Arlington Cemetery and kick-started the biological systems in him. Afterwards, Iron Man and War Machine fought Hood to keep Stark Industries from falling into Hood's hands where he switched to a version of his Extremis armor. Then he proceeded to defeat Jude when he turned up alive.


title: Iron Man

text: During "The Ultron Agenda" arc, Iron Man went up against the Ultron/Hank Pym who begun a plan to merge humans with robots while taking up the name "Ultron Pym." Iron Man was briefly fused with his armor. After using Stark Unlimited's atomic separator on himself, Iron Man figured out that Hank Pym was dead the moment he accidentally fused with Ultron. Not wanting to prove Tony right, Ultron Pym surrendered to Iron Man and the Avengers. As it turned out that Iron Man actually died during the "Civil War II" storyline, Arno Stark used this to his advantage to acquire Stark Unlimited through a merger with Baintronics. With the combined resources, he built the Iron Man Armor Model 66 as his attempt to recreate the Godbuster Armor. Now having a new destiny, Arno Stark became the latest person to take on the Iron Man mantle.


title: Iron Man

text: Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated AI at the start of the "Iron Man 2020" storyline, Tony Stark became Mark One and started to establish the A.I. Army which also consists of Albert, Awesome Android, Egghead II, H.E.R.B.I.E., M-11, Machine Man, Machinesmith, Quasimodo, Super-Adaptoid, Walking Stiletto, the Dreadnoughts, a Sentinel, several Constructo-Bots, several Nick Fury LMDs, and an unnamed bomb disposal robot. This group of robots and androids want to obtain equal rights with organic beings through whatever way possible. Mark One provided them with a hideout on Floor Thirteen, a solid light construct that can only be accessed by robots and androids. With the establishment of Floor Thirteen, Mark One keeps the A.I. Army safe from their enemies and oppressors. Tony Stark was restored to normal thanks to his allies. Then he placed Arno into a virtual reality when he found that Arno's illness was returning as the virtual reality showed Arno leading the charge in defeating the Extinction Entity.


title: Iron Man

text: 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). It's also constantly improved upon and Stark develops many specialized versions of the armor. 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; (briefly) Michael O'Brien and Riri Williams.


title: Iron Man

text: 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).


title: Iron Man

text: 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 Hulk in a fight. A later model, created with the help of Odin and the Asgardian metal Uru, is similar to the Destroyer. 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. While it is typically associated with James Rhodes, the War Machine armor began as one of Stark's specialty armors.


title: Iron Man

text: 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 into his forearm, and connected directly to his central nervous system.


title: Iron Man

text: The Extremis has since been removed, and he now uses more conventional armors. Some armors still take a liquid form, but are not stored within his body. His Endo-Sym Armor incorporates a combination of the liquid smart-metal with the alien Venom symbiote, psionically controlled by Stark.


title: Iron Man

text: Post-"Secret Wars", Stark uses a more streamlined suit of armor that uses nanotechnology to shape shift into other armors or weapons.


title: Iron Man

text: After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the Extremis process). 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.


title: Iron Man

text: During the "Secret Invasion" storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shut down by a virus, forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations. Furthermore, Osborn's takeover of most of the few remaining Starktech factories, with Ezekiel Stane systematically crippling the others, limits Tony to the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.


title: Iron Man

text: 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. 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. 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.


title: Iron Man

text: Considered to be one of the most powerful non powered humans on the planet, Tony Stark is a highly intelligent inventor and scientist as well as being a successfully wealthy businessman in charge of his own company.


title: Iron Man

text: 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) 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. For instance, in Stark's final confrontation with Obadiah Stane, the villain managed to have Stark's companions in an unconscious state in a room with motion sensors; when Stark entered the room, Stane warned him that the slightest move would trigger a fatal electrical current to his hostages, thus forcing Stark to stay still and slowly die of dehydration lest he wants his friends to die. However, while Stane was confident that such a trap was inescapable, Stark is able to outwit and defeat its mechanism in seconds, thus freeing the hostages and allowing him to continue the battle against Stane.


title: Iron Man

text: As the CEO of Stark Industries, Stark 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 multimillion-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. He strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.


title: Iron Man

text: Considered to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet, the success of Stark Industries provides Tony with a seemingly bottomless revenue stream that allows him to not only enjoy a life of luxury further build up his company but also allows him to fund his superhero activities. Even before becoming Superhero, Tony often purchased the most expensive clothes, cars, houses and other luxury items money can buy. After becoming a hero, Tony began using his vast wealth to continue superhero activities by building his Iron Man suit and later creating an arsenal of other suits that serve multiple purposes. Stark also provides funding to several peacekeeping organizations and superhero teams among them being S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.


title: Iron Man

text: 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. In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them amid corporate takeovers.


title: Iron Man

text: Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space gem to safeguard. It allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space.


title: Iron Man

text: The rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, titled his 1996 debut solo album "Ironman", and has since continued to use lyrics related to the Iron Man comics and samples from the animated TV shows on his records. He has adopted the nickname Tony Starks as one of his numerous alter-egos, and was featured in a scene deleted from the "Iron Man" film.


title: Iron Man

text: Paul McCartney's song "Magneto and Titanium Man" was inspired by the X-Men's nemesis and the original version of the Iron Man villain. Another Iron Man villain, the Crimson Dynamo, is mentioned in the lyrics to this song.


title: Iron Man

text: Two Iron Man-themed trucks compete in the Monster Jam monster truck racing series. Debuted in Atlanta on 9 January 2010, they are driven by Lee O' Donnell and Morgan Kane.


title: Iron Man

text: In 2015, University of Central Florida engineering student Albert Manero, who builds and donates affordable 3D-printed bionic limbs to those in need, constructed a bionic arm based on Iron Man's suit for 7-year-old Alex Pring, a superhero fan who was born with a partially formed right arm. He then delivered the Iron Man arm to Pring with the help of Robert Downey Jr. in character as Tony Stark.


title: Iron Man

text: For Major League Baseball Players Weekend in August 2018, New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres designed his custom cleats after Iron Man's suit.


title: Iron Man

text: A TV show demonstrated a hovering bullet-mitigating suit with some of the official Marvel design features in 2019.


title: Iron Man

text: Ice hockey players Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Yanni Gourde of the Seattle Kraken participated in a ceremonial puck drop featuring Iron Man and a boy from the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, as part of 'Marvel Super Hero Night'.


title: Iron Man

text: In 2019, a statue representing the character in his Iron Man armor was erected in Forte dei Marmi, Italy.


title: Iron Man

text: "" features a 17th-century Spanish Iron Man named Lord Iron. Taken captive in the Holy Land during the English / Spanish war, he is forced to make weapons for them after being tortured by David Banner, the later Hulk of that world. He needs his massive armor to survive. The armor is powered by "lightning bottles" and provides him with super-strength and invulnerability as well as several electricity-powered


title: Iron Man

text: With his Moorish associate, Rhodes, Lord Iron is assigned by King James to put an end to the traitors and witchbreed in the New World. Instead, he realizes he has let bitterness consume him, and makes his peace with Banner. He is last seen using his armor to power the colony's printing press.


title: Iron Man

text: Iron Man 2020 features Arno Stark as a mercenary in the employ of Sunset Bain. In 2012, Arno had traveled to the past in an effort to save his family from a madman's bomb. All he needs are the retinal patterns of the bomb maker, but he runs into the original Blizzard who mistakes him for the "real" Iron Man/Tony Stark. Not having time to deal with this threat, Arno kills Blizzard. While attempting to scan the retinal patterns of the young terrorist, Spider-Man snatches the scanner with his webbing and asks IM 2020 what he is doing. The two battle one another (Arno is "against the clock") when suddenly Arno is pulled back to his time to discover the bomb had a design flaw and exploded prematurely. His wife, son, employees, and factory have all been destroyed.


title: Iron Man

text: Tony Stark and Doctor Doom are brought to the year 2093 by Merlin to stop a plot by a primarily robotic Doom and the Iron Man of 2093, Andros Stark. Andros is a psychotic madman and uses his grandfather Arno's armor. Tony defeats Andros while wielding the legendary sword Excalibur.


title: Iron Man

text: Andros Stark/Iron Man 2099 voiced by Alessandro Juliani would later be adopted into the second season of "" with him being from the year 2099 and traveling back when Tony was a teenager before inventing an AI named "Vortex". Vortex dooms the entire human race with Andros donning a futuristic suit (classed "Hyperspace Mark XL") and the Extremis to kill Tony/Iron Man but goes to S.H.I.E.L.D. for assistance. Andros destroys Iron Man with his ultra-beam, afterward, Hawkeye managed to implant the virus on Andros's armor, and realized that all this is because Tony was trying to save himself by using the virus to stop Andros using his nano-virus which is actually the original seed for the Vortex virus. He travels back in time for a short moment to warn Iron Man that his nano-virus chips were actually the Vortex virus. He quickly destroys the last nano-virus arrow, saving Andros. As a result of this change in the timeline, the future was saved and because of this, Andros is erased from existence after saying his last words to his grandfather.


title: Iron Man

text: The Iron Man of 3030 is Tony Stark's biracial granddaughter, Rhodey Stark (named after Stark's close friend James Rhodes). She travels to the present in order to help the Avengers save Earth from a rogue planet that had been fired from the future, and departs after warning her grandfather that his life is in danger.


title: Iron Man

text: In "Adam Warlock" #2 (1972), Peter Parker's counterpart on Counter-Earth mentions that "the heart of Tony Stark beats unscathed".


title: Iron Man

text: In the "Age of Apocalypse", Tony Stark is an agent of the Human High Council. The injury that compromised his heart is caused by the attack of a mutant.


title: Iron Man

text: Officially code named Iron Man, he prefers the name Steel Corpse. Iron Man was infected by a disease, thought to be of mutant origin, that bonded him permanently to his armor. Not only can he never remove the armor, the disease is causing the armor to slowly consume his flesh, meaning that one day Tony Stark will cease to exist and only the armor will be left. He works with this reality's version of the Avengers to exterminate all mutants, but eventually rebels against his purpose when a 'Trojan horse' in the armor nearly drives him to kill innocent mutant children, forcing his teammates to kill him.


title: Iron Man

text: In the sword and sorcery world of the miniseries, Iron Man's counterpart is Ironheart, one of the Champions of the Realm. A powerful warrior, he wears a huge suit of grey armor.


title: Iron Man

text: In "Bullet Points", Iron Man is Steve Rogers, who, due to the assassination of Dr. Abraham Erskine occurring earlier than in the mainstream Marvel universe, never receives the Super-Soldier formula. Instead, he agrees to be bonded to the prototype 'Iron Man' armor despite the intense physical pain and discomfort this will cause. Rogers is later killed fighting an alternative version of the Hulk. Tony Stark, in this reality a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., expresses a desire to continue in Rogers' footsteps as Iron Man, but is rejected owing to a heart condition. He later disobeys this command and adopts the mantle upon the arrival of Galactus.


title: Iron Man

text: The 2015 "" series has a version of Tony Stark that won Civil War with nearly everything working out in his favor. Five years later, Tony has donned the Iron Patriot armor and is the President of the United States. He and his Mighty Avengers team are kidnapped by Maestro and placed onto Battleworld, where Maestro alters their memories to believe the remaining heroes are unregistered and need to be taken in. Their fight is interrupted by that universe's Thunderbolts (led by Steve Rogers). In the next issue, the Mighty Avengers battle the Thunderbolts and Renegade Champions, during which Tony kills Steve and reveals that the reason the Civil War went completely in his favor was because he used the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet. When he tries to use it again on Battleworld, it does not work because he is in a different dimension, and he is killed by Maestro.


title: Iron Man

text: In the alternative reality of "Earth X", Tony Stark builds a headquarters that protects himself from a plague that grants all humans superpowers. Afterwards, he builds the Iron Avengers. His headquarters is revealed to be a giant armor, based on the old Godzilla fighting mecha, the Red Ronin, which he uses to delay the Celestial attack until the coming of Galactus, sacrificing his life in the process. In "Paradise X", he becomes part of the angelic Avenging Host of Marvel's "Paradise", with an Iron Man motif.


title: Iron Man

text: In the continuity of Earth-691, Tony Stark is devastated by the horrors of the Martian invasion and jettisons his technology into space. It is found by a primitive alien race who use it to become an interstellar menace calling themselves the Stark, who subsequently clash with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the 31st century. "Standard" continuity Iron Man (Earth-616) encountered his "creations" when a cadre of rational, scientific members of the Stark called the Programmers bring Tony Stark to the future to help them solve various planet-wide problems.


title: Iron Man

text: On Earth-818 which was conquered by Multiversal Masters of Evil member Black Skull, Tony Stark was forced by Black Skull to build the War Machines to build his army. He would later escape from Black Skull's clutches and become Ant-Man where he formed a resistance that involved Vision, Moon Knight (Mariama Spector), Wonder Man, and Infinity Thing. Ant-Man later led the resistance in rescuing Robbie Reyes from Black Skull while being assisted by a robotic ant named Shellhead. With help from the granddaughters of King Thor, Robbie, his Deathlok companion, and the resistance defeated Black Skull and his counterparts. Afterwards, Ant-Man showed the granddaughters of King Thor the Mjolnir he found. After the granddaughters of King Thor bring rain to Earth-818, Ant-Man joins Robbie and his Deathlok companion on their quest while Wonder Man and Infinity Thing work to rebuild Earth-818.


title: Iron Man

text: Arriving in an unnamed reality, Ant-Man of Earth-818, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion follow the signal of that reality's T'Challa to an active star. After Ghost Rider drives his car through the active star to retrieve a vibranium cocoon, T'Challa emerges from it and takes the name Star Panther. Looking for other allies, Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and his Deathlok companion enlist Captain Ape-Merica from Earth-8101, the Captain America from Earth-71912, Cap-Wolf from Earth-666, Yeoman America from Earth-398, and a U.S. Agent variant of Steve Rogers to train the powerless Steve Rogers variants and a Weapon America version of Steve Rogers in a prison-like training ground. They next plan to recruit a Steve Rogers from Earth-4479 who was a drifter that got caught in a gamma bomb explosion. Ant-Man accompanies Ghost Rider on a trip to Earth-56377 where they pick up its Thor who wields the Iron Fist move and the Mjolnir that has followed him ever since Thor had been unworthy to lift it.


title: Iron Man

text: Traveling with Ghost Rider and his Deathlok companion, Ant-Man recalls with them on how they found Star Panther, the Thor who became the "God of Fists", the all Steve Rogers army that was dubbed the Howling Commandos, and the Carol Corps. Ant-Man is surprised that the last pillar that they have to complete is Iron Man and that they need an Iron Man in their group. They go to unnamed alternate realities where they find an alcoholic Iron Man who crashed trying to avoid them, a Tony Stark that mostly did his work in a junkyard who is already dead because people thought he was a witch, a Tony Stark in Godkiller armor who is not interested in protecting the Earth as it consumes a planet, 30 Tony Starks who use their armors as robot bartenders, two dozen Tony Starks who flew into the sun either on purpose or by accident, 50 Tony Starks who are in catatonic states, and others who went mad. After a visit to a Tony Stark who is a perfectionist trying to build the perfect armor even though his captors have been dead for 10 years, the next visit was to an elderly Tony Stark who ran a repair shop until he was too old and died in Ant-Man's company. Ant-Man then threw some alcohol into the Hell Charger's trunk and returned to the perfectionist Tony Stark's reality and introduces him to the Godkiller Tony Stark and the other Tony Stark variants they successfully recruited as they all say hi to the perfectionist Tony Stark.


title: Iron Man

text: Following a mission where Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, and Deathlok have helped Captain Fury against the Goblin Corps, the three of them are informed that their time is up and to head to Avenger Tower at Infinity's End. Ant-Man of Earth-818 is looking forward to meeting Avenger Prime. After Ghost Rider gets word that another Spirit of Vengeance has fallen, he subdues Ant-Man and Deathlok in chains and takes off. By the time they catch up with Ghost Rider on an unidentified world, he was already engaging Doom Supreme as Ant-Man shrinks him. When Dark Phoenix goes on the attack, Deathlok tells Ant-Man to get Ghost Rider away as he buys them some time.


title: Iron Man

text: Ant-Man and Robbie Reyes arrive at Avengers Tower in the Quarry of Creation where they find it under attack by the members of the Council of Red. As the Hell Charger drives into some of them, Ant-Man learns from Robbie that he can't transform into Ghost Rider.


title: Iron Man

text: In the continuity of Earth-2122, the home of Crusader X, where the British won the American Revolution and still control North America, Anthony Stark is a member of a group called the Sons of Liberty. In this reality, Stark is willing to kill innocent people.


title: Iron Man

text: In the continuity of Earth-3490, Tony Stark was born a woman (Natasha Stark) rather than a man; Stark's superhero alter-ego in this universe is Iron Woman. The Civil War between superheroes in Earth-3490 was averted due to the fact that Stark and Steve Rogers (Captain America) are romantically involved, and have since married.


title: Iron Man

text: In the miniseries "", which is set in a future where Reed Richards' technology has launched humanity into a golden age, Tony Stark has died long ago - but his consciousness survives, 'hopping' from artificial body to artificial body. Most of the bodies shown in the miniseries resemble Iron Man armors, often being identical to existing armors. One notable exception was the bulky, stocky space-armor which played an important role in the battle of humanity's heroes versus several alien armadas.


title: Iron Man

text: Born to Howard and Maria Stark, the heads of the powerful business conglomerate Stark Industries, Tony Stark grew to be an imaginative and brilliant inventor. He worked with his father from an early age, and surpassed his father's technical brilliance by the age of 16. Stark became the key supplier of hi-tech weaponry used to fight mutants, and was on the verge of a technological breakthrough when the Mutant-Human war came to an end. The suits are powered down to become part of a game called Robo Death Match, a television sport with giant robots fighting each other. Stark Industries scored its biggest victory when it secured the Sentinel production contracts, pushing major competitor, Jason Wyngarde, out of business. Erik Magnus and Sebastian Shaw awarded Tony the contract under the condition that he would hire Beast and Forge as observers. McCoy became a key contributor along with Doctor Pym on The Vision project. Tony secretly worked on a special project beneath Stark Industries: a brand new suit of hi-tech armor he planned to use as his new Robo Death Match suit.


title: Iron Man

text: During the "Infinity Wars" storyline, where the universe was combined in half, Iron Man was fused with Thor creating Iron Hammer. Sigurd Stark was the fifth richest person on the world thanks to his genius about technology, however due to his lack of memories before five years, taunted him driving to drink. After going through the Norvegian, he was attacked by some Dark Elves, led by Krimson Kurse (fusion Crimson Dynamo and Kurse). He got poisoned by an arrow, slowing killing him and taken by the Elves to aid their other prisoner Eitri (fusion of Eitri and Ho Yinsen) in order to build powerful weapons for the Elves. Then, Sigurd became friend with Eitri and together build an armor, that prevented the poison from killing Sigurd, along with a hammer in order to escape the Dark Elves. However, during their escape Eitri is killed and after Sigurd defeated the Elves and Krimson Kurse, he discovered that Krimson was his lost friend who had turned into a Thrall to be a servant to Dark Elves and after that he mercy killed his friend. Sigurd then decided to the All-Father on Asgard to seek help into defeating Malekith (fusion of Malekith and Mandarin) and with the help of his AI assistant H.E.I.M.D.A.L.L. (fusion of Heimdall and J.A.R.V.I.S.) opened the B.I.F.R.O.S.T. and went to Asgard. When travelling, he remembered his old memories: his true name was Stark Odinson, who due to his arrogance, his father Howard Odin (fusion of Howard Stark and Odin) banished his son to Earth where he would learn to how is like to be a mortal. Upon arriving, Malekith had trapped the Aesir and had allied with Madame Hel (fusion of Madame Masque and Hela) and Stane Odinson (fusion of Loki and Obadiah Stane). Luckily, Iron Hammer was able to defeat Malekith and Odin allowed his son to become a god again. However, Sigurd refused, feeling better as a human.


title: Iron Man

text: In Marvel and DC's Amalgam Comics, Stark is merged with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan into the Iron Lantern. "Hal Stark" wears a suit resembling a green Iron Man armor, powered by a Green Lantern battery.


title: Iron Man

text: In the miniseries "JLA/Avengers", Iron Man aids the Avengers in the battle against Starro the Conqueror. Afterwards, he creates a dimensional alarm in order to tell when invaders from another dimension come into their universe. After a brief scuffle with the JLA in the Savage Land, the Avengers are confronted by Metron, who gives Tony a Mother Box. Using this, Tony is able to get the Avengers to Metropolis, where the Avengers confront the JLA again. The Avengers escape, but Tony and Hawkeye manage to take Green Lantern's Power Battery before they leave, with Tony able to stop the Flash in his tracks. The two later take down Captain Atom and Green Arrow in order to collect the Casket of Ancient Winters. Tony then leaves and arrives to save Photon and Quasar from Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, allowing them to take the Spear of Destiny. After the battle in the Savage Land, Tony is one of the Avengers and is clueless as to the dimensional shifts that are happening around him. After Cap and Superman attack each other, Tony ends up in Metropolis. When the two worlds are briefly corrected by the Grandmaster, Tony is shown his true future with his alcoholism and his defeat by Obadiah Stane. Accepting this, he aids the JLA and the Avengers in the final battle and helped build the ship that took them to Krona's base. During the battle, he teams up with Kyle Rayner to create a weapon to use against their enemies and the two are shown to be impressed by one another, Kyle expressing his awe at Tony's engineering prowess and Tony asking Kyle where he could get a Green Lantern ring.


title: Iron Man

text: In the one-shot "Iron Man: The End", an aging Tony Stark works on his greatest creation, a space elevator called "Big Jump." Stark faces retirement due to age and the physical toll of an illness, no longer allowing him to run his business "Stark Universal" and continue to be Iron Man. This leads to the need to groom a replacement.