Iron Man: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Him In The Comics (& 5 Times We Hated Him)

To say that Tony Stark is a complex individual would be the understatement of the century, as the man known as Iron Man has now proven that he really runs the gambit of fan opinions. Though he’s one of the most revered superheroes of all time nowadays, there was a time when he was one of the biggest villains.

Trying to narrow down every terrible thing that Iron Man has done would be quite a chore for fans, but what’s more difficult is finding moments where they really felt bad for him. There are some tragic moments for Tony though.

10 Felt Bad: Nearly Dying In Civil War II

Civil War II is a case of diminishing returns. Though the original Civil War has many critics, it’s sequel makes the original’s downsides look like upsides. In Civil War II, Iron Man is pitted against a far more unlikeable Captain Marvel than usual.

The nadir of the story came at the end when Captain Marvel punched Iron Man so hard that it put him in a coma. This opened up the door for Riri Williams to become Ironheart, but that came at the cost of Iron Man being out of action for a long time.

9 Hated Him: Murdering The Supreme Intelligence

For a team with such box office potential, The Avengers don’t really have a lot of classic stories to their name. “Operation: Galactic Storm” is one of those stories, however, this one shows Tony in a more sinister light than usual.

Almost serving as a precursor to Civil War, “Operation: Galactic Storm” saw Captain America and Iron Man split over whether or not to kill the leader of The Kree Empire (known as The Supreme Intelligence). In the end, Iron Man gets his wish, putting an end to The Supreme Intelligence’s existence.

8 Felt Bad: Being Given A Nose

Unlike a lot of times the fans felt bad for Tony, the period of time when Iron Man’s armor included a nose was due to an incident in the real world. According to a few interesting reports, Stan Lee was walking around the office when he saw a picture of Iron Man and commented that he probably needed a nose on his helmet.

Stan Lee’s words were taken to heart by the people working at Marvel Comics, so they added a nose to Iron Man’s helmet. Though fans hated the addition, it was Stan Lee who actually had the nose nixed as Lee actually responded negatively to the change once he got a good look at it.

7 Hated Him: The Crossing

If anyone is looking for an example of everything wrong with comics in the 1990s, they could do a lot worse than “The Crossing.” One of the most reviled stories to ever be told in the pages of Iron Man, “The Crossing” reveals that Tony has been a sleeper agent working for Kang The Conqueror, pitting him against The Avengers.

When all hope seems lost, The Avengers decide to diminish hope even further by going back in time and recruiting…a teenage Tony Stark. At the end of “The Crossing,” adult Tony dies and Teen Tony becomes the new Iron Man. Needless to say, this didn’t last too long.

6 Felt Bad: When Scarlet Witch Embarrassed Him During A UN Meeting

With WandaVision having received critical acclaim, many fans are curious about The Scarlet Witch. Though Scarlet Witch’s fragile psyche is common knowledge nowadays, when Avengers: Disassembled was first released, it was seen as a huge shaking up of the status quo.

Among the incidents that took place in Avengers Disassembled, one of the first saw Wanda turn Tony Stark drunk during an important meeting with The United Nations. The outcome of this is a major blow to Iron Man and his friends as The Avengers have their UN charter revoked.

5 Hated Him: Restoring Daredevil’s Vision

In the comic event Axis, heroes became villains and villains became heroes. Iron Man was among the heroes that were turned and while he did a lot of terrible things, the worst was brought out in him when he started selling the Extremis 3.0 virus.

As fans recall, Tony was seen to exploit the public after he released the Extremis app that promoted better health and regenerative abilities among other things. However, there was a catch. It only lasted 24 hours, with users having to pay $100 to reactivate it, which meant many into debt or delved into crime. To show how far Tony had fallen, the billionaire was also seen to interject the Extremis virus into Daredevil without his permission, temporarily restoring his vision. No one could believe he could be so cruel.

4 Felt Bad: His Origin Story

Though Tony is a bit of a warmonger in his origin story, the way he becomes Iron Man adds a sense of tragedy to the character. In Tales of Suspense #39 from 1963, Tony Stark makes his debut by being caught in a trap in the heat of The Vietnam War.

That trap would cause a piece of shrapnel to snake closer to his heart than he would like, so he and his cellmate, Ho Yinsen, craft armor to escape and save his life. This origin serves to portray Tony as a sympathetic figure, but it also serves to set up some of Tony’s self-destructive tendencies.

3 Hated Him: Armor Wars

After discovering the someone stole his armor designs, Tony Stark goes on a crusade to reclaim all the armors based on those designs. At first, the premise of “Armor Wars” seems noble on Tony’s part. However, that is until he starts attacking armored heroes and even his fellow Avengers.

Tony attacks Stingray, a government-sponsored hero who has nothing to do with any of this. This one incident snowballs until Tony attacks Captain America, SHIELD, and more. He is then kicked out of The Avengers, which is a far more tame punishment than what he deserves.

2 Felt Bad: Demon In A Bottle

“Demon in a Bottle” is Iron Man’s most famous story, but it is also one that really put Tony through the wringer. The winner of  “Favorite Single Comic Book Story” by the Eagle Awards, the readers discovered that Tony had developed a problem with alcohol after Justin Hammer caused his armor to malfunction and kill an ambassador.

Even when Tony beat Hammer, the businessman was seen to have problems with alcohol long after. “Demon in a Bottle’s” shadow would linger over Iron Man for decades, with elements of the story being incorporated into Iron Man 2, although it was done very loosely.

1 Hated Him: Civil War

Before fans felt bad for Tony Stark in Civil War II, they despised him in the original Civil War. When the villain Nuke blows up in the middle of Stamford, Connecticut, killing 600 people by the way, the government begins the Superhero Registration Act headed up Iron Man.

Iron Man didn’t have a whole lot of character prior to this event, but Civil War turned many fans against the Avenger. For a long time, Iron Man was the most hated character in comics, something that Robert Downey Jr. would change.

About The Author

Seth Rector
(172 Articles Published)

Ever since he was a young lad, Seth Rector has had a love for all things that reek of geek. Movies, tv shows, comic books, and video games are what he considers his wheelhouse. A writer at heart, Seth says he’s over the moon now that he can write about what he loves. When he isn’t writing for Screen Rant, he is putting his film degree from Lights Film School to good use by working on future film projects.

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