IRON MAN

Real Name: 
Anthony Edward Stark
Universe/Timeline: 
Marvel Universe
Status: 
Active
Additional Status Info: 
Avengers
Category: 
Exotic Technology User
Alias: 
Iron Knight, War Machine, Crimson Dynamo, Cobalt Man, Randall Pierce, Hogan Potts, Richard Franco, Mark One, Black King.
Nationality: 
American
First Appearance: 
Tales of Suspense #39
Powers & Abilities: 
Iron Man armor employs nano-technological reconfiguration protocols to provide superhuman strength, reaction time, durability, repulsor blasts, uni-beam, thermal and electromagnetic field manipulation, cloaking to become fully invisible or hide the presence of the armor, microscopic shape-shifting panels to assemble new weapons and features on command, on-board interactive computer and Artificial Intelligence assistance, etc.
Affiliation: 
Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Avengers (Initiative), Force Works, The Initiative, S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark International, Stark Resilient, The Illuminati, Hellfire Club, Unknown Champions, Queen's Vengeance, Guardians of the Galaxy (616), Space Friends, Circuits Maximus
Avengers Membership: 
Founder. Avengers (1st series) #1.
Notes: 

Iron Man II was James Rhodes, III was Teen Tony, IV was Victor von Doom. Other temporary wearers of Iron Man or Stark armor include Weasel Willis, Eddie March, Happy Hogan, Carl Walker, Bethany Cabe, Riri Williams, etc.

Tony Stark's history is fraught with health problems. His armor was originally a pacemaker and electromagnet to keep shrapnel from penetrating deeper into his chest and heart muscles. He received a transplant of synthetic heart tissue in Iron Man (1st series) #19, which eventually led to him not needing the chestplate at all anymore.

His health problems returned when Kathy Dare shot him through the spine in #242, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. A bio-chip implant in #248 restored his mobility, but it was later revealed to be compromised by Kearson DeWitt and the Marrs Twins, allowing them to remotely override Stark's nervous system. Armor Wars II from #258-266 covered this affliction, leading to the revelation that he was suffering from a degenerative and fatal nerve disorder thanks to his enemies. Stark faked his death in #284 to go into cryo-suspension until his team could find a cure. Stark received an entirely new artificial nervous system, mentally programmed by him, in #288. However, this Stark was mentally corrupted by Immortus and died in Avengers (1st series) #395.

Tony Stark was revived from the ashes out of his teen Tony and Heroes Reborn counterparts in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4 and Iron Man (3rd series) #1, mentally clear and absent and health concerns. However, he suffered a heart attack fighting his Sentient Armor, who experienced sympathy and fed an artificial Ultron-coded heart into his chest in Iron Man (3rd series) #30-31. Stark once again relied upon outside power sources to charge his heart.

Stark completely rebooted his physiology with Extremis in Iron Man (4th series) #5, giving him perfect health and enhanced interactivity with his armor. When the Skrulls implanted a virus in StarkTech in Secret Invasion #2, however, Stark's Extremis physiology crashed, leaving him damaged and unable to access his full capabilities. Over Invincible Iron Man (1st series) #8-24, Stark completely wiped his own mind, then rebooted by installing a RepulsorTech arc reactor in his chest. He was self-sufficient and enhanced again, but damage to the reactor would shut down his entire physiology.

After suffering serious injury fighting Captain Marvel in Civil War II #8-9, Tony's altered biology began to shut down. Placed in stasis for months, Tony's biology was completely rewritten and rebooted again, giving him a fully healthy but unenhanced physiology over the course of Iron Man (1st series) #593-600. Because both his body and mind have been completely replaced with copies over the years, Iron Man questioned whether he was an artificial intelligence, or even qualified as the original Anthony Stark anymore, but made peace with his changes in Iron Man 2020 #6.

Last Updated: 
20th October 2023 by Monolith