Iron Man has been back in the news lately, thanks to increasing speculation that there could be a fourth standalone movie in the series. While we’ve long known that Robert Downey Jr. would continue to play the MCU’s most popular hero in ensemble Avengers films, it’s been assumed that the Iron Man series basically wrapped up with Iron Man 3. However, when Downey Jr. himself posted a photo on social media showing himself with some of Marvel’s top executives (and Tom Holland, their brand-new Peter Parker), rumors kicked into gear.
That has us thinking back on past Iron Man films, which really still stand as some of the best that Marvel Studios has produced. But now that it’s been a little while since we’ve seen the character anchoring his own story, there’s also something amusing about looking back at his films. Frankly, the MCU and Downey Jr.’s version of Tony Stark/Iron Man is pretty absurd—in a delightful kind of way. So just for fun, and (hopefully) in celebration of an Iron Man 4, here’s a look at four completely ridiculous things about this enormously enjoyable character.
His Expenses
We all know that Tony Stark is off-the-charts wealthy, and in the films, his riches may as well be infinite. But they’re actually not, and judging by actual estimations of his estate, he probably should have gone broke some time between Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3. And after guessing about $7.52 billion for Tony Stark’s net worth, they noted that his suit alone costs $100 million. And let’s remember, by the end of Iron Man 3 he’d made about 100 suits (okay, slight exaggeration– maybe). It’s nuts that these films have started depicting Stark producing new suits like he’s 3D-printing aluminum cans.
Ignoring The Military
This one is kind of tied together with the idea of Iron Man’s expenses being bonkers, but after a while, it’s flat-out silly that Stark doesn’t offload some of his production costs to the U.S. military. We know why he doesn’t, in a way. In a funny write-up about some of the most insane quotes from Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, we’re reminded of his mind-blowingly arrogant line, “I’ve successfully privatized world peace.” You can’t exactly make that claim if you’re letting the military pay for your suits. But, come on: he should totally let the military pay for his suits. Once it becomes clear how devastatingly effective the Iron Man armor is, Stark could probably work out a deal to get a branch of the defense department to foot the bill for his continued creation of suits. That way he could preserve that net worth, if not enhance it!
He Created An Element
This one pretty much takes the cake, and in a way it’s actually easy to brush over. In case you’ve forgotten, there comes a point in Iron Man 2 at which Tony Stark basically needs to find a new way to power his suit, and simultaneously himself. No such source of energy exists, so he does what any world-class technological engineer would do: he sets about creating one. But rather than have Stark come up with some sort of infinite battery or something of the like, Marvel opted to have Stark spend a few hours in his basement creating a particle collider and, with said collider, inventing a new element. “Congratulations sir, you have created a new element,” a quote by J.A.R.V.I.S., may still be the most ridiculous line in the entire MCU.
The Concept Of Hulkbuster
A lot of Marvel fans and comic lovers went nuts when the Hulkbuster armor debuted in Avengers: Age Of Ultron. And yes, this is one thing taken straight from the comics, rather than Downey Jr.’s or Marvel Studios’ interoperation of the character. But it still ranks up there with the silliest aspects of the Iron Man we’ve come to know and love. The idea is kind of fun—a massive Iron Man suit capable of going toe-to-toe with the Hulk in all his fury. The problem is that it kind of defeats the whole purpose of an Iron Man suit to begin with. The thing is supposed to enhance Stark’s strength to take on most any enemy, has the firepower to bring down an army, and the maneuverability to weave up, down, and in between skyscrapers in seconds. It just seemed a little preposterous that he needed to make a Hulk-sized suit to take on the Hulk.
With the exception of that last point, all of these only help to make Tony Stark/Iron Man more amusing and endearing. Now, here’s hoping Iron Man 4 comes our way so we can learn more about the depths of this character’s lovely absurdity.
