Believe it or not, there was a time when Iron Man wasn't just obscure to the general non-comic reading populous, but there were multiple times when the comic reading populous hated the Iron Avenger. Let's take a closer look at what made Tony Stark so unlikable before the events of the film "Iron Man".
Created in 1963, Iron Man was one of the few Marvel characters who participated in war-related activities, obviously not in the same degree as Captain America. Tony Stark was created by Stan Lee to be everything the 60's youth despised. He was rich and famous, not limited to the struggles of the middle-class man. Not only did he manufacture weapons for the war, he pushed the technology of warfare, it didn't matter who got in the way as long as his pockets were full. And even when Tony Stark made the transition from being a weapons dealer to a superhero, it was only because his own bad karma blew up in his face. Literally.
Stan Lee has even said that he had dared himself to create such an unlikeable character, he stated that although the character was designed to be everything people hated the character was quite popular early on. The story that caught people's attention was the notorious "Demon in a Bottle" story in which Tony succumbs to his alcohol addiction after losing his company. During this story, Tony's friend James Rhodes-who would later become War Machine/Iron Patriot-took up the Iron Man mantle. "Demon in a Bottle" brought this infinitely wealthy, hip-swinging playboy back on our level. It proved that under all that armor Tony Stark can be just as vulnerable as us. This story is one of the many great examples of Marvel's record of creating relatable characters. This story then seems debunked when during "Armor Wars" various enemies of Stark get ahold of his many Iron Man armors, yet again putting Stark in a spot where he has to clean up his own mess.
Something you might notice about Iron Man, specifically in his films, is that every challenge he faces is triggered by his own mistakes. "Iron Man 1" Stark hunts down his own stolen weaponry and then fights his own business partner, "Iron Man 2" Stark fights a Russian villain because Stark's father stole tech from this Russian's father, "Iron Man 3" Stark fights a scientist-turned-terrorist who he humiliated in the past. Hell, look at "Avengers 2: Pym Not Included" Stark accidentally creates killer robot that he and his friends-the same friends he didn't converse with about this AI's creation-have to destroy. There's a large difference between cleaning up your own messes and being a mess. Like my ex. Oops.
Finally the story that made modern readers dislike Tony Stark was "Civil War". I've talked a lot about this story, but to put it simply: Iron Man endorses a Superhuman Registration Act that would reveal superhero identities, assign superheroes as government agents, and imprison any and all heroes who refuse to register. While Iron Man has his own side to help him enforce this law, Captain America leads a rebellion to oppose this act, claiming it is a violation of human rights. At that time comic book readers were free to choose their side-"freedom vs security" and all that-but the general consensus was that Tony Stark/Iron Man was the bad guy in the grand scheme of things, that he was going too far for the sake of security. Today's comic books like to ignore that event, but for a long time Iron Man was heavily judged for his major betrayal of heroism.
Of course "Civil War" will be given an adaptation in the next Captain America film, drawing in fans who love this unique story and fans who love superheroes fighting each other. The question I-the almighty Panel Biter-pose is this: Will people dislike Iron Man as much as comic readers did after the story, or will he be hated even more? Put down your RDJ mugs and hear me out, okay? Obviously, there are bound to be viewers who agree with what Stark is doing, but if Team Cap is meant to oppose Stark because of his turn against superheroes, won't that turn be far more effective when you consider how anti-governement Tony Stark has been in these films!? Think about all the times Stark's anti-government views have caused arguments in congress, classified documents of SHIELD being accessed and displayed for Stark's curiosity, think about War Machine/Iron Patriot being put together because the government wanted what Stark didn't want to give them. If Stark is so against authority, why would he work with the government to lock-up fellow heroes? If this altered version of the Marvel Universe has improved on anything, it has made Tony Stark an entertaining character beyond his much rolled over comic book series, and by using his cinematic personality to make him just as much as an effective antagonist as Loki or The Kingpin, Marvel Studios has either turned their poster boy into a symbol of change, or they've made Iron Man even more interesting than his comic book counterpart than we initially thought. Thanks for reading.
Oh yeah, he was a total asshole in "The Superior Iron Man" too. Good read, though. Check it out if you want to read a good Iron Man comic without falling asleep.
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