Iron Man Fan Theories That Make Us Miss Tony Even More

Movies
Buffy Mote

Since Tony Stark made his final, heroic farewell in Avengers: Endgame (spoiler!), a void with the power of an Infinity Stone has been left in our hearts (or Arc Reactors, perhaps). Iron Man appeared in nine installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including three standalone films. We’ll always miss Tony’s signature goatee and tinted specs, but fortunately, there are some incredible fan theories to keep his legacy alive. Actually, some theorists think he continued to save the day after Endgame by leaving his mark with E.D.I.T.H. in Far From Home. Others speculate that Thanos was particularly concerned with Tony Stark because he misconceived the true power of Iron Man. Those theorists might be backed up by another claim that Howard Stark gave his son super soldier serum at a young age.

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If you’re a true fan of the MCU and miss Tony Stark as much as we do, then check out these explosive fan theories about Iron Man.

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The Evolution Of Iron Man’s Suits

I see a lot of comments on content having to do with Iron-Man’s suits, pointing out how borderline invulnerable they were at first, and eventually got weak. Point to Iron-Man one where he walks off a tank blast to Civil War where Cap does ample amounts of damage with his bare hands and shield.

My logic behind how this is possible is simple.

Stark trades in durability for speed and focuses on making his suits more capable throughout the MCU.

Take Iron-Man one. The Iron-Man suit was a suit of armor initially, and had very limited capabilities combat wise.

Iron-Man 2, we see Tony take damage easier but has lasers, missiles, machine guns, etc.

Iron-Man 3 and almost most noticeably, his suits take the most damage (breaks by a van slamming into it) but now his suits can come to him, fight on their own I.E autopilot, and are made, sometimes, with specific purposes.

This method begins to pay off, as Stark begins playing with nano-tech is Civil War. Ultimately, his suits reach maximum durability through this experimentation, as the Iron-Man suit is capable of withstanding concentrated energy blasts from the Power Stone in Infinity War.

I also feel Stark purposefully ditches so much armor on his suit because he knows he’s better with his suits. Tony knows that with more and more use with his suits, he’s becoming better at flying and dodging and fighting. This is illustrated perfectly in Civil War and Infinity War as he dodges, blocks, and is now doing complex flips and spins mid flight.

Why Falcon Says “I’m Sorry” To Iron Man

I was rewatching Winter Soldier today and when Cap comes to meet Sam at the veterans centre he asks him if he “lost” someone. Sam responds in the affirmative and says “my wingman”, going on to tell Cap how he lost him in a routine flight operation, and had to watch as he fell to the ground, without being able to help. (Of course at this point we assume they were both in aircraft/fighter jets and don’t know the two of them literally had a pair of wings each).

This exact scenario plays out for Tony in Civil War when Vision misfires, hitting War Machine, and Tony can do nothing but watch his wingman crash into the ground. Sam immediately lands, assuming the worst and knowing how Tony must be feeling. Of course Tony doesn’t react particularly well.

Not a particularly revealing theory but definite deliberate mirroring in the first two films by the Russos.

Harley Keener Was Meant To Be Tony’s Apprentice

Harley Keener (the kid from Iron Man 3) was supposed to fill the Spider-Man role until the Sony deal went through. He was going to be the Iron Lad and be the young hero mentored by Tony Stark that Peter Parker eventually became (Endgame Spoilers).

I believe that originally, Harley was going to fulfill the role that Peter Parker eventually took. Namely, a “sidekick” and surrogate son for Tony to mentor. There are several reasons I believe this.

Ty Simpkins (Harley’s actor) is signed for a three-film deal in the MCU. Seems a bit much for a character that would otherwise be a one-off. There was a good deal of buildup regarding Harley being a tinkerer like Tony, and there is a lot of development given to there being a father/son relationship between them. I remember that for a while after Iron Man 3 there was a lot of speculation as to when he would return, not if, because it seemed like a given that he would.

Time Travel Molded Tony Stark

Ok, so Howard Stark was a founder of Shield and a genius. In Endgame, Howard meets Tony and they have a conversation (the deleted scene also helps this case when Howard asks Tony to come work for him and Tony says he is working in “futures”) about his upcoming fatherhood. But Tony looks enough like his younger self in the BARF simulation, that there is a good chance that Howard (at some point) recognizes that Tony will one day become the man that he met; even if he can’t explain how.This would have large implications for what we know about the history of the MCU. It means that, as Tony grew up and Howard sees his brilliant son be the young Tony Stark we know, he begins to figure out that Tony is that guy he met all those years ago and will become a hero.

All of a sudden, this changes how Shield may have formed with Howard knowing that something bad is coming and that he will have to advance science as much as he can to ready the world for his son. It changes how we can view Howard’s invention of the new element and his statement that “you are my greatest creation” speech. He may have even recognized Cap once he is able to sit and reflect on what he saw. Now things like the way Howard used to talk about Cap to Tony makes complete sense, he is trying to tell his son “this is the best man I have ever known, trust him because you two are going to do something amazing together.” The more I think of it, the more I find little hints that just maybe, Howard was preparing Tony from a very early age and that inadvertently molded Tony into the exact opposite of what he saw Cap as… which exactly what he needed.

The Future Of Iron Man 3000

I’m sure this is very on the nose, but I haven’t seen it mentioned too much, so I figured I’d post.

I think Morgan Stark will star in her own standalone film titled Iron Man 3000. The character will succeed Peter Parker as a high school aged super hero, and Peter Parker will mentor her with his experience in the same role while he’s aging out.

There is foreshadowing of Morgan taking on the mantle by wearing the Rescue helmet and establishing a relationship with Happy.

Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ Mirrors Tony Stark’s Story

In the original Iron Man movie from 2008, the song is played over the end credits, and kind of spoils the MCU until Age of Ultron. The plot of the song goes, “”Iron Man” is about a man who travels to the future and witnesses the Apocalypse. On his way back, he is caught in Earth’s magnetic field, and turned to steel. When he comes back, he tries to warn the people about the Apocalypse, but they do not believe him, and shun him, so he takes his revenge by killing them all, thus bringing about the Apocalypse he saw.”

Avengers: Tony sees the massive fleet of aliens ready to destroy earth through the portal, he makes it back to earth but just barely, almost getting trapped in space. He sees the Apocalypse and is sent back to earth through a portal, resembling the magnetic field.

Iron Man 3: He develops PTSD, and, knowing the capability of the alien forces, becomes paranoid. His best friend and girlfriend don’t get why he’s acting this way. People do not understand his worries.

Avengers: Age of Ultron: Tony warns his fellow Avengers about what could happen if the aliens or some other force from space comes to earth, nobody but Banner listens to him and together they create Ultron, designed to protect the earth. However, Ultron (almost) brings about the apocalypse. He warns about the oncoming danger and isn’t listened to. He (with Banner) builds the very thing that almost ends all life on earth.

How Thanos Really Knows Tony Stark

After watching Infinity War multiple times, the point where Thanos recognizes Tony Stark is one of my favorite parts. When asked, Thanos says he does know Tony because he’s also cursed with knowledge.

A lot of people have pointed to Tony foiling Thanos’s plans in New York in the first Avengers as the reason why Thanos knows Stark. This is a pretty easy theory and maybe partially true. It’s even brought up a few times in the movie. Banner refers to Thanos as the guy that did New York. Tony references how Thanos has been in his head for years via PTSD.

But to be honest I don’t like this theory and doesn’t really make sense. Thanos has been known to send other people to do his dirty work and they fail him. Loki is one of them and while Tony played the largest part, it was the Avengers that took down Loki, yet he doesn’t recognize anyone else. Even if he does…say Thor (Which we don’t know if he did recognize him), he doesn’t show the same respect that he shows to Tony.

Tony Stark Is The Hero Of ‘Far From Home’

In Spider-Man: FFH, Peter is given a pair of AI glasses from Tony Stark. These AI glasses are a huge part of the plot, since it has billions of dollars worth of security protocols loaded into it. They were originally meant for Peter to use to keep Earth safe from any potential threat, since Iron Man is no more.

When Peter first uses these AI glasses we learn the AI’s name is E.D.I.T.H., which is an acronym for “Even Dead, I’m The Hero”. A very bitter-sweet, Tony Stark-ish joke that encapsulates Tony’s personality very well.

In the end of the film, Mysterio uses E.D.I.T.H. for his great illusion to look like a hero in front of the world. After Spider-Man stops him and Mysterio dies by his own hand, the glasses are returned to Peter and the end of the movie is carried out. Peter gets the girl and they swing off into the sunset. Happy ending, right?

That is, until the Mid-Credit’s scene.You all know what happened. Mysterio’s team sent out footage to the Daily Bugle revealing Spider-Man’s identity. Not only this, but Mysterio’s team doctored the footage to make it appear as though Spider-Man is evil, ordering drone strikes and murdering Mysterio.

Though it didn’t go down how he originally intended it to, Mysterio still achieved his ultimate goal.

Even Dead, I’m The Hero.

Why Thanos Fears Iron Man The Most

I believe it goes back to the O. G. Avengers movie — Tony was the one who delivered the nuke through the wormhole to destroy the Chitauri army (that Thanos sent)!

I will assume that Thanos didn’t have in-depth knowledge/awareness of the existence of nuclear technology prior to this event — because, why would he, and also bc we have no evidence that he does. With that assumption made, let’s look at this one event from Thanos’s perspective: you’ve just sent a massive army to invade New York City, and they’ve only just started to make their big mess…. when all of a sudden, a guy in a metal suit he built himself flies right toward your entire army through the wormhole you opened and f*ckin YEETS a tv-sized metal package toward your army, which proceeds to cause the biggest explosion you have ever witnessed, destroying your entire army INSTANTLY. All by himself. Within, what, only like an hour or two of this massive-scale alien invasion starting?

So, my theory is that when Thanos encountered Tony on Titan, he believed that Tony possessed the ability to end the fight instantly by ripping his body’s atoms apart and smiting him where he stood with ungodly levels of radiation — because that’s exactly what Tony did to the Chitauri, though Thanos of course doesn’t know that Tony didn’t actually create the 2012 nuke.

Tony Stark Surprised Scott Lang

Hear me out mates.

Scott Lang has no idea about the events of Infinity War. All he knows is that Captain America and team are on the run from the government and the only legal Avengers (according to the Sokovia accords) are Iron Man, Spider-Man, War machine, Vision and maybe Black Panther. Who he might find in the head quarters.

So when he comes out of the quantum realm and discovers that his friends have disappeared. He rushes to the Avengers head quarters to get help or information from Tony Stark .

Proof :- 1.He keeps introducing himself as Ant Man. We are centain that Steve Rogers and friends know him well.

2. In civil war when Tony comes to the prison to visit the captured avengers, he refuses to recognize Scott Lang. Hence Scott Lang keeps introducing himself as Ant Man.

Conclusion:- Scott Lang expected Tony Stark or the pro- Sokovia Accords Avengers in the Head quarters.

Why Tony Stark Fights Hand-To-Hand

We all know the aerial and destructive capabilities of an Iron Man suit aka War Machine. With these advantages Tony can pretty much just carpet bomb his opponent and levitates in safe distance. So why in almost every fight (especially later on in the franchise) did Iron Man choose to fight hand to hand? The answer I believe is because of his admiration towards Captain America and the desire to imitate his and his dad’s hero.

Ben Parker In ‘Iron Man’

During the press conference scene, Tony calls on a reporter he names as “Ben.” Retroactively, Spiderman 3 could explain that Ben Parker was a journalist with the Daily Bugle.

Peter working at a newspaper hasn’t been established yet, so if they go that route in SM3 they could use Ben’s previous employment at the Bugle as Peter’s drive for getting a job there.

Just a fun little theory!

Iron Man’s Suit Is Made Of Uru

This theory is specifically related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not the comic books.

I believe the element Tony was able to rediscover, and the element Howard knew about but couldn’t create, is none other than Uru, the metal used to make such objects like Mjolnir, Stormbreaker, and the Infinity Gauntlet. We see a drastic improvement in Stark Tech following Iron Man 2, and I believe Uru metal answers a lot of otherwise extremely convenient features of the Iron Man suit and Stark Tech in general.

I’ve seen the argument that the element he discovers is Vibranium, though I don’t believe this is the case. Ultron, a creation of Tony’s, specifically looks for Vibranium metal, and you’d think if he knows everything about Tony, he’d know that his suits contained Vibranium and would have taken some of Tony’s Vibranium instead of dealing with Ulysses Klaw. Also, while Jarvis is looking for a suitable replacement for the Palladium core, he explained that he had tried every known combination of elements. This would have included several attempts with Vibranium, as Vibranium was discovered as early as the 1940’s as shown in Captain America: The First Avenger.

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