Iron Man is the superhero who launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe to greatness. Along the way, Iron Man became the most popular and successful hero of the entire new MCU world. He was charismatic, outgoing, funny, and heroic, and it wasn’t until Captain America: Civil War that he showed anything near to his comic book counterpart.

  • Iron Man has been dead for three years now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his legacy lives on. In the latest She-Hulk series on Disney+, Hulk still seems to be mourning his friend’s death. Fans will also get a dose of armored action when Riri Williams shows up in the MCU as Iron Heart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in November. While this teenager with a brilliant mind and the same tech skills as Tony Stark might not replace the beloved Marvel icon, she can at least honor his memory. Armor Wars is also coming, so Marvel fans who miss Iron Man should get a lot of familiar action over the next couple of years.

The Iron Man in the movies and the comics are very different heroes. While Robert Downey Jr. made Tony Stark his own, he did so in a way that changed so much about the comic book character, eliminating most of his unlikeable characteristics and glossing over what has always made Iron Man a problematic hero in Marvel Comics.

Iron Man Became An AI In The Comics

There are many ways in which comic books can bring a hero back to life. In the Iron Man comics, Marvel went out of its way to make his resurrection as unique to him as possible. Iron Man died while battling Captain Marvel in Civil War 2, an event where Carol Danvers decided to arrest people before they committed crimes based on a precog Inhuman.

While it put Iron Man back on the right side of the battle this time, it ended the same for him as it did for Captain America in the comic story of the first Civil War. However, Stark knew he would die one day, so he saved his consciousness as an AI and it kicked in when he died, allowing him to continue on after his death. Sadly, it seems Stark never had this contingency plan in place in the Iron Man movies.

Relationship With Pepper Potts Is Different

In the MCU, the entire arc had Tony Stark realize that Pepper Potts was the most important thing in his life. Their love story began in the first Iron Man movie and finished with them married with a child when Iron Man sacrificed himself and died. It was a massive moment and their love was one of the best in the MCU.

Not so in the comic books. Not only were Tony Stark and Pepper Potts never meant to be, but Stark had bigger and better relationships with other women throughout his history in the comics. As for Pepper, she actually married Tony Stark’s best friend Happy Hogan, although they ended up divorced. Eventually, Happy and Pepper reconciled, but then he died during the Civil War storyline.

Iron Man Has a Brother In The Comics

In the MCU, Tony Stark was an only child, and therefore the sole owner of Stark International, although he almost lost the company more than once. However, in the comics, he had a brother, and it was all due to Howard Stark’s manipulations of his son and family. Maria Stark had pregnancy complications and Howard wanted to ensure he had a child, so he sought help from an alien race.

The baby was born thanks to the alien’s help, but his health degenerated, and the Starks hid the child at the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice. They adopted a different child to cover it up in Tony Stark. Decades later, Tony learned about his brother Arno, and the two attempted to build a relationship, which all failed when Arno attempted a robot revolution and his brother had to stop him.

Tony Stark Led S.H.I.E.L.D. In The Comics

In the MCU, Tony Stark was anti-authority for much of his existence there. That is why it was so hard to fathom how he could side so quickly with the U.S. government and the superhero registration act in the movies. He talked back to Congress, refused to let anyone control him, and then signed on the line and battled his former Avengers friends when told to.

The big difference is that, when Iron Man took the registration side in the comics, no one was surprised. He was always highly unlikable in the comics and taking the side of the government over his own friends wasn’t that surprising. When Civil War ended, Tony Stark even took over as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a position of power he held until Norman Osborn took over after Secret Invasion.

James Rhodes Was Iron Man Before War Machine In The Comics

There was one point in Iron Man 2 when his close friend James Rhodes came and demanded he turn over his armor because he had grown reckless. That didn’t happen and Rhodes ended up getting his own War Machine armor from the U.S. military, becoming his own hero. In the comics, Rhodes is also War Machine, but he wasn’t at first.

Instead, Tony Stark quit his role as Iron Man after slipping to alcoholism. At this point, he gave Rhodes his armor and James became the new Iron Man in Marvel Comics. He hid this from everyone, including the Avengers, when Iron Man re-joined that team. When Tony returned, he took the role back and that is when Rhodes became War Machine.

Iron Man Was Adopted By Maria & Howard Stark In The Comics

Iron Man was the son of industrialist genius Howard Stark and Maria Stark, and he grew up with the same brains and intellect of his parents. He also had some issues since his dad always pushed him aside for his work-related duties and Tony Stark grew up resentful.

Howard Stark’s comics character changed drastically. Tony was not Howard and Maria’s biological son, and he was actually adopted by the couple. He still grew up with high intelligence, but it changed his dynamic with his parents. Other changes included Winter Soldier not killing them in the comics and Howard selling his soul to Mephisto for success.

Iron Man’s Secret Identity

At the end of the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark revealed he was Iron Man, and his secret identity ended on the spot. From the beginning of his career as Iron Man, the public knew who the man behind the mask was. That is not what happened in the Iron Man comics canon.

Tony kept his identity a secret for many years, telling the public that Iron Man was his personal security and a bodyguard. He didn’t even tell the Avengers he was Tony Stark and said that Stark was just their benefactor. In later years, he revealed his identity, but for a very long time, no one knew Tony was Iron Man.

Jarvis Is A Butler In The Comics

Edwin Jarvis was Howard Stark’s butler in the television series Agent Carter. He was a major ally to Peggy Carter and helped her in her missions through the two seasons of that series, he was one of the best characters in Agent Carter. In the present-day MCU, JARVIS was Tony Stark’s AI.

In the comics, Edwin Jarvis was Tony Stark’s butler. He was also the butler at the Avengers Mansion for many years and took care of all the team members throughout his tenure there.

Iron Man Didn’t Create Ultron

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner created Ultron with the hope that it would become a first line of defense against threats to the Earth. Instead, Ultron decided the biggest threat to Earth was humans and set out to exterminate them.

The story in the comics was similar, but it wasn’t Iron Man who created Ultron there. Hank Pym created Ultron. Pym was a founding member of the Avengers as Ant-Man, and he had the same thoughts for Ultron, only for it to turn on him and try to wipe out humanity.

Tony Stark’s Dating Life

Tony Stark had a clear trajectory in the movies. While he played the role of a millionaire playboy in the first two movies, it was clear that his endgame was Pepper Potts. The two ended up getting married and having a daughter before Iron Man sacrificed himself to save the world.

In the comics, things were different. Iron Man and Pepper Potts were never destined to be together. As a matter of fact, in the last two years alone, Iron Man has dated both The Wasp and Patsy Walker’s Hellcat.

Iron Man Isn’t That Funny In The Comics

In the movies, Iron Man is a very funny superhero. While he has moments where he is deadly serious, such as when he is fighting his friends in Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man is just as ready to insult someone and crack an inappropriate joke at any given time.

This is not the Iron Man from the comics. In Marvel Comics, Iron Man is deadly serious most of the time. He is dour and grim through many of his best storylines and is often the last person who will crack a joke.

Demon In A Bottle

In Iron Man 2, the MCU almost went in the direction of one of Iron Man’s best comics, but it kept from really pushing Tony Stark over the edge. This is the “Demon in a Bottle” story arc, and it had Tony battling his addiction issues rather than a supervillain.

This was a huge part of Tony’s life in comics. His battle with addiction cost him his company and forced him to quit as Iron Man for a long time. Even in 2021 comics, Tony is still coping with these issues, and this is something he never really faced in the movies.

Different Armors For Different Uses

In the MCU, Iron Man was always trying to make his armor better. He had a ton of armors in his home, but he was always upgrading to the next best version, always trying to get better as he went. However, his armor was always just upgraded versions with the Hulk Buster as his only specialty armor.

That is very different from the comics. In the books, he had different armors for different uses. Some armor was made to fly in outer space. Some were made for going underwater. And he had his Extremis armor he could put on with just a thought.

Iron Man Was Almost A Villain In The Comics Civil War

In Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man had to see the effect of the Avengers’ battles to understand that they needed to be held responsible for their actions. While the registration act was still dangerous, making superheroes government weapons, Tony’s plans were always coming from a good place.

In Marvel Comics, Tony did a lot of bad things during the Civil War. He created a prison in the Negative Zone and locked up anyone who wouldn’t sign on. He used Thor’s DNA to create a clone that killed Goliath. In the end, Iron Man got Captain America killed and realized it wasn’t worth it.

The Illuminati

Tony Stark went over the line in the comics when he joined a super secret organization known as the Illuminati. This group included men like Iron Man, Reed Richards, Namor, Black Blot, Black Panther, and Professor X, and they did what they could to protect the world - but often made things worse.

They caused the Secret Invasion. They knew the Incursion was coming that would destroy the world and hid it from everyone until it was too late. They even mind-wiped Captain America to hide their agenda. Iron Man in the movies was a genuine hero. In the comics, he was always operating in shades of gray.

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