Robert Downwey Jr.‘s iconic portrayal of Iron Man establishes the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the first hero introduced into the franchise, Iron Man proved to be a pivotal figure in the early stages of the MCU. Tony Stark served as a leader, a financial backer, and a tech genius for the Avengers, with his narrative arc taking precedence over many others in the timeline.
Even after his death, Iron Man’s legacy carries on through every MCU movie, but not always in the best way. Although Tony Stark’s character arc underwent a heroic transformation, all the terrible acts done by him cannot be forgiven.
10. Iron Man’s Birthday Party Could Have Killed Someone
Tony Stark entered into a self-destructive phase in the Iron Man sequel as he was sick with palladium poisoning. During his birthday bash, Stark decided to wear his Iron Man suit to entertain the crowd, shooting lasers toward his guests as a party trick. Stark’s lack of control due to his inebriated state demonstrates his disregard for his responsibility as a hero in the earlier parts of his MCU story, making the moment one of his least thought-out in the entire franchise.
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9. Iron Man Recruited A Teenager Into The Avengers
During the events of the Civil War, Tony Stark recruited Peter Parker when he was only 15. For his benefit, he put the life of a minor in danger. This is made even worse by Iron Man’s understanding of the extent of Spider-Man’s powers: he has no healing factor or anything to protect him from the potentially lethal powers of other heroes, meaning that Iron Man directly and willingly endangered the life of a child. Although later he devised a Spider suit with full functionality only to protect Peter Parker, still that does not justify him involving Peter Parker in a life-threatening situation.
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8. Iron Man Treated Aldrich Killian Poorly
Tony Stark always faced the demons of his past, few villains were not his fault and few wanted to take revenge on Tony Stark because of his arrogant behavior. One of them was a young Aldrich Killian, whom Stark ignores and sends him to the roof for a meeting that he never intended to keep. Killian develops his technology into Extremis, which he then uses to get revenge on Iron Man.
7. Iron Man Calls Out The Mandarin Putting Innocent Lives At Risk
Tony Stark’s initial actions are motivated by sheer arrogance and callous behavior. A hero needs to be grounded, calculative, and decisive, Iron Man had none of these qualities and on multiple occasions risked the lives of innocent people. In a heightened emotional state after Happy Hogan was almost killed by one of the Mandarin’s attacks, Stark calls out the terrorist villain by announcing his home address on live TV. This impulsive decision leads to Iron Man’s house being destroyed and nearly getting Pepper Potts killed, almost making things drastically worse.
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6. Iron Man’s Lack Of Trust Lead To The Events Of Civil War
Being a team player requires trust to begin with, and Tony Stark had a hard time trusting his fellow Avengers, especially Captain America. Tony Stark and Steve Roger’s rivalry came up in the Civil War when Stark refused to believe his long-time friend, Bucky. Although Iron Man justified his stance, it still does not count that his decision to dismiss Cap’s distrust out of hand turned out to be incredibly rash. This seems unlikely because Tony Stark has trusted Cap previously as well, so this just seems out of spite.
5. Tony Stark Built His Entire Fortune On War
Tony Stark’s wealth stems from creating weaponry, meaning that his profits essentially come from warmongering. His realization of this is the start of his hero journey, but still, countless people are killed by weapons created by Stark, and the Avenger’s technology. Stark’s original lack of morals at the beginning of his hero arc is a key part of his story, but that doesn’t make the shady nature of his fortune any better.
4. Iron Man Regularly Treated Captain America With Contempt
Iron Man regularly treated a fellow prominent Avenger with utter hatred, belittling and poking fun at Captain America. Stark often made clear his feelings that Steve Rogers was naive and idealistic. Stark’s treatment of a fellow Avenger makes him seem incredibly arrogant, and though Robert Downey Jr. manages to pull off the role, it’s still pretty irresponsible behavior from a supposedly admirable hero.
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3. Iron Man Turned His Fellow Avengers Into Fugitives
‘Civil War’ witnessed Iron Man make up a couple of questionable decisions and was the most controversial story in the MCU. One of these decisions includes the Sokovia Accords, pushing for superhero registration in direct opposition to many of his Avengers teammates. Stark used the platform to endorse the Accords and turned his teammates into fugitives, making the morally questionable decision seem incredibly cold-hearted and unexpected.
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2. Tony Stark Neglected Pepper Potts
Initially, Pepper Potts was introduced as Tony Stark’s assistant, whom he undervalued. It took him several stories and films to finally acknowledge her presence and rectify his behavior. He was at first shown as quite the player, and he wasn’t respectful of how he treated women. He didn’t pay attention to Pepper as well forgetting the fact she was allergic to strawberries. Their dynamic relationship feels outdated with Pepper portrayed as the nagging woman who wants her boyfriend to settle down.
1. Tony Stark Created Ultron
The worst thing created by Iron Man is sadly unintentional. While attempting to protect the Earth, Stark created Ultron, an artificial intelligence who decided that his only course of action was to destroy humanity. Marvel’s TV shows offered some insight into the potential threat Ultron posed to reality, meaning that Stark’s creation will forever be the worst thing he ever did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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