Few people thought Iron Man would work when Marvel Studios released it in 2008. After all, Iron Man wasn’t Marvel’s strongest or most popular character, so the film was a risk. Of course, everything worked well, and Iron Man grew in popularity both on and off the screen. Tony Stark and Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963, making the character more than half a century old.Throughout that period, the character has grown to be a key figure in the Marvel Universe, appearing in comic books, movies, graphic novels, video games, and other media. Below are the 15 interesting things about Iron Man that true fans don’t even know.AdvertisementAdvertisement: 8:11
1. Robert Downey Jr. Improvised ‘I Am Iron Man’
Source: Marvel Studio
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige:“It’s a fine line. If you’re changing something for no reason, that’s one thing, but if you’re changing something because you want to double down on the spirit of who the character is? That’s a change we’ll make. Tony Stark not reading off the card and not sticking with the fixed story? Him just blurting out, “I am Iron Man”? That seems very much in keeping with who that character is.”Advertisement
2. Stan Lee Made Iron Man As A Challenge For Himself
Source: Marvel Studio
He once said in an interview:“I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military… So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist… I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him… And he became very popular.”Advertisement
3. Stark Possesses Area 51
Source: Marvel Studio
Area 51, the classified military base where many people believe evidence of alien activity on Earth is hidden, has its own analogue in the Marvel Universe. Stark bought the military base from the government, according to Avengers #19. He then hides the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet using the base.The Reality Gem is eventually lost, and Area 51’s facilities are put to other uses. For the US Hulk Operations, it becomes Shadow Base Site B, and it’s likely that Stark utilizes it to test his armor or do anything else he wants away from prying eyes.Advertisement
4. Stark’s Arc Reactor Is Exceedingly Powerful
Source: Marvel Studio
The first Arc Reactor that Stark builds using palladium in the 2008 Iron Man film has a 3 gigajoule per second energy output. This is the chemical energy produced by burning 30 barrels of oil every minute. A comparison of watts is another method to look at comparable energy production.Stark’s Arc Reactor generates 3 gigawatts of power. Stark’s chest-piece power source is three times as powerful as a power plant capable of powering nearly 2 million homes, according to the world’s largest power plants, which run at around 1 gigawatt. It’s also impervious to EMPs, in addition to its crazy power output (electromagnetic pulses).Advertisement
5. Stark Totally Trusts Pepper With His Own Life
Source: Marvel Studio
Stark is aware of his armor’s destructive potential and understands the importance of having a way to halt him if something goes wrong. To that aim, he entrusts something deadly to Pepper Potts, but only to him.Pepper is given a remote shutdown mechanism by Stark that may render his armor completely inert if necessary. Giving her this remote demonstrates his trust in her and has aided Pepper’s development as a character since her debut as his secretary in the 1960s.Advertisement
6. At The Beginning Of ‘Iron Man,’ Stark’s Captors Uncover The Plot Of The Film
Source: Marvel Studio
Stark is kidnapped and ransomed through video at the start of Iron Man. His kidnappers virtually outline the entire plot of the film in the tape, as it is ultimately disclosed, although most people in the West were utterly unaware.His kidnappers are speaking Urdu, Pakistan’s major language, so anyone who understands Urdu knows everything right away. The conversation explains that the organization is linked to Obadiah Stane, which is a crucial piece of information given in the film’s third act… revealed in English, that is.Advertisement
7. His Suit Is Home To More Weapons Than Most Realize
Source: Marvel Studio
Iron Man’s armor, as well as the armor he creates for others, has featured the following over the years and in various forms of media: a proton cannon, the Omnibeam, the Pentabeam, the Multi-Beam, the Tri-Beam, Hyper-Velocity Impact, Smart Missiles, the Pulse Barrage, the Energy Blade, the Pulse Bolt, the Freeze Beam, the Unibeam, lasers, an M134 MinigunAdvertisement
8. Iron Man Has Made More Than 60 Versions Of His Suit
Source: Marvel Studio
One of the aspects of Iron Man that the movies get right is his desire to create new and better sets of armor. When he creates something new in the comics, it’s usually to combat a specific threat. His Hulkbuster armor is well-known, and he’s created a variety of different suits over the years.He’s produced Hydro Armor, Telepresence Armor, War Machine Armor, Prometheum Armor, S.K.I.N. Armor, Anti-Radiation Armor, Hypervelocity Armor, Space Armor, and the Iron Destroyer, in addition to the Hulkbuster and his normal armor configurations. Many of these variants have been recreated in the MCU, as shown in this helpful infographic.Advertisement
9. Stark Has A Couple Of Real-Life Parallels
Source: Marvel Studio
Stan Lee invented Tony Stark as a personal challenge, but he didn’t come up with the character out of thin air. He got his inspiration from a real-life figure: Howard Hughes. The intriguing industrialist was also used as a model for Stark’s father, Howard.Although Hughes inspired the Marvel Comics character, the MCU version is based on someone else. Elon Musk was the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr.’s version of the character. Due to a brief cameo appearance by Musk at the opening of Iron Man 2, the two actually meet in the sequel.Advertisement
10. Stark Isn’t The Richest Hero In The Marvel Universe
Source: Marvel Studio
According to Buddy Loans, which evaluated superheroes’ worth based on information from numerous sources, Stark is immensely wealthy, but he isn’t the wealthiest figure in the MCU. Stark’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $100 billion, which is a substantial sum of money. Still, it’s a pittance compared to T’Challa, aka Black Panther, the richest person in the Marvel Universe.T’Challa is reported to be worth $500 billion, five times more than Stark, because he is the king of Wakanda and hence the owner of the world’s entire supply of vibranium. To his credit, Stark is the Marvel Universe’s second wealthiest character.Advertisement
11. He Works With Wilson Fisk
Source: Marvel Studio
The Avengers assist in the defeat of a variety of supervillains, although they almost never do it without causing collateral damage. To deal with the situation, Tony Stark and Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin, form Damage Control, which is directed by Anne Marie Hoag. The company’s mission is to repair sites that have been destroyed by the Avengers.Stark owns half of the corporation and Fisk owns the other half, but Stark is never pleased working with Fisk. Damage Control has altered over the years, but it has always included superhumans like Hercules, Goliath, Monstro, and Speedball.Advertisement
12. Stark Is A Part Of The Illuminati
Source: Marvel Studio
The Illuminati convene before to the “Civil War” and resolve to transfer the Hulk away from Earth by spaceship. They beg him to help them with something in space, then deceive him into flying away to “be alone.” He ends up on Sakaar after things don’t go as planned.He goes on to become a gladiator and eventually a world leader. For a brief while, he is content, but as the ship carrying him there explodes, he loses everything. When he returns to Earth, he nearly wipes out the Illuminati, including Stark, who is no match for an enraged Hulk.Advertisement
13. Tony Stark And Pepper Potts Have Been An Item For More Than 50 Years
Source: Marvel Studio
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts take a while to become an item in the MCU, but at that time, the couple had been together for 50 years (on and off) in the Marvel Universe. She begins working as his assistant soon after his debut in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963. In Tales of Suspense #45, Virginia “Pepper” Potts makes her debut.She’s been by his side for years, and they’ve had a romantic relationship on occasion.Advertisement
14. He Pretends His Own Death
Source: Marvel Studio
Stark is said to have died after being shot by an ex-girlfriend. He’s gravely hurt and has problems with his back, making it impossible for him to move without his armor.To try to address the situation, he implants some technology into his spine, but this causes neurological damage, and his health deteriorates. Knowing the end is near, he organizes his affairs and dies. But it’s all a deception, and he doesn’t tell his buddies about it, so they think he’s gone.Stark even persuades his friend Rhodey to don the Iron Man armor in his place. Stark reappears after a few months.Advertisement
15. He Grapples With Drinking
Source: Marvel Studio
Stark’s journey to rock bottom is depicted in the story, and it is not a pleasant one. While highly inebriated, he lets his guard down and Justin Hammer takes over his armor remotely. While this is going on, his armor is used to kill a dignitary, which, while not his fault, would not have happened if he had been in a better position.Stark succeeds in overcoming his drinking problem, but it is not without difficulty. His struggle makes him accessible to a wide range of readers and demonstrates the character’s realism.
