Iron Man is a founding Avenger, a billionaire philanthropist, a former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and one of the most beloved heroes in the Marvel Universe. Tony Stark became Iron Man after shrapnel from one of his own company’s bombs got lodged in his chest and near his heart. He built a reactor to implant in his own chest to keep the shrapnel from moving to his heart and killing him. The reactor also powered his Iron Man armor, though he later had it and the shrapnel removed.
Iron Man has had a long history as a superhero, and, many times, he’s crossed the line. Either Tony was angered or circumstances got too dire, and he was pushed over the edge. After all, he may be iron, but he’s still a man.
10 Attacking Stingray And Captain America During Armor Wars
During the Armor Wars story by David Micheline, Bob Layton, Mark D. Bright, and Barry Windsor-Smith, Iron Man discovers that the villain Spymaster sold Stark Tech designs to corporate rivals as well as several supervillains throughout the world. Iron Man makes it his personal mission to hunt down all others using his technology and destroy it.
This leads him into conflict with S.H.I.E.L.D., fellow superhero Stingray, and even Captain America. He brutally attacked Stingray, and he used an electric shock to temporarily paralyze Cap. This was one of the earliest major fractures in their relationship.
9 Waging War With Captain Marvel During Civil War II
The Second Superhuman Civil War centered around a young Inhuman named Ulysses who could predict the future with perfect accuracy. Captain Marvel wanted to use this as a tool to stop villains before they act, but Iron Man saw that as profiling and a great overstepping of what a superhero should be.
What undermined the conflict is that there seemed to be any number of middle grounds that could be taken instead of these polar opposite decisions in regard to Ulysses. Regardless, Carol and Tony rallied armies of superheroes, beat the tar out of each other, and it ended with Captain Marvel putting Iron Man in a coma and Ulysses ascending to the status of deity.
8 Joining Up With The SHRA And Waging War With Captain America During Civil War
When the United States government passed the Super Hero Registration Act, Iron Man was one of the first to openly support it, though he was soon followed by Mister Fantastic and Yellowjacket. Iron Man became the leader of the task force intended to hunt down unregistered heroes, and this led to war with Captain America and the First Superhuman Civil War.
The war between Iron Man and Cap was brutal, and it ended with Steve Rogers being arrested but assassinated by the Red Skull in custody.
7 Empowering Baron Zemo To Greatly Expand His Thunderbolts Team
During the Civil War, Iron Man made an alliance with Baron Zemo and the Thunderbolts. He empowered Zemo to greatly expand the Thunderbolts team as official allies of the Initiative. This baffling move seemingly gave Baron Zemo an army at his disposal.
That army was intended to bring in other villains and hunt down more unregistered heroes. However, this turned out to everyone’s benefit, as Zemo’s Thunderbolts were pivotal in stopping the Grandmaster when he came to Earth to harvest a Wellspring of Power.
6 Creating A Cybernetic Clone Of Thor With Mr. Fantastic And Yellowjacket
Another line-crossing act that Iron Man committed during the Civil War, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym used the DNA of Thor and cybernetic technology to create a clone of Thor dubbed “Ragnarok.” This monstrosity fought Captain America and his allies. During one skirmish, Ragnarok went berserk and killed Goliath, aka Bill Foster.
Ragnarok was later destroyed by Hercules, but it was rebuilt and used in the Siege of Asgard by Norman Osborn. For this violation of trust, Thor pummeled Iron Man upon his return.
5 Becoming The Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D. And Leading The Initiative
For Iron Man’s service during the Superhuman Civil War, he was made the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the absence of Nick Fury. Tony Stark used his company’s proprietary technology to upgrade S.H.I.E.L.D., and he also headed up the Fifty-State Initiative, which put government-trained superheroes in all fifty states.
This mad power trip came back to bite Iron Man, as the Skrulls invaded soon afterward, using backdoors in Stark Tech to render S.H.I.E.L.D. helpless during their Secret Invasion. In the fallout, the U.S government was looking for someone to blame, and Iron Man made the perfect target. He became a fugitive and had to go on the run.
4 Co-Founding The Illuminati And Operating With Them For Years
Years and years ago, Iron Man, Namor, Professor Xavier, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, and Black Bolt formed the Illuminati. This was intended to shape the future of the superheroes of Earth from the shadows and deal with certain threats before they became too dangerous.
This was, again, another insane power trip on the part of Iron Man and all others involved, and their actions would shape the future of the Marvel Universe as well as cause massive problems for the Illuminati themselves down the line.
3 Launching The Incredible Hulk To A Far Off Planet
One of the greatest sins of the Illimunati was betraying the Hulk and launching him into deep space. Bruce Banner saw many of these men, particularly Namor, Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange, as friends. The Hulk landed on the planet Sakaar, where he became a gladiator, liberator, and king. Unfortunately, this was all stripped from him when the reactor of the ship that brought him to Sakaar detonated and killed most of the population.
Hulk then returned to Earth to exact his revenge on the Illuminati in an event called World War Hulk.
2 Wiping Captain America’s Memory Of The Illuminati With Doctor Strange
When the Incursion crisis began, Captain America had discovered the Illuminati and became a party to their plans. Black Panther and Beast of the X-Men also joined around this time. However, it became apparent that the Illuminati might have to make some heinous decisions to stop an Incursion from destroying their world–namely, destroy another Earth to save their own.
Captain America couldn’t believe they were even considering such an action, and Iron Man had Doctor Strange mind-wipe Cap and eject him from the group in retaliation.
1 Keeping The Incursion Crisis A Secret From The Rest Of The World
Even worse, Iron Man and the Illuminati kept the Incursion events a secret from the rest of the world, their colleagues in the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers included. It took Captain America accidentally having the mind-wipe undone by the Orb and an eye of Uatu the Watcher for the Incursions and the actions of the Illuminati to be revealed.
This led to an all-out war between Steve Rogers’ Avengers and the Illuminati, and this prevented anyone from discovering a solution to the Incursions. That is to say, no one but Doctor Doom was able to find a way to save at least a few parts of the Multiverse.