MARVEL COMICS: Marvel Cinematic Universe Bio Tony Stark (Iron Man)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark was born on Friday, May 29, 1970 to Howard and Maria Stark. Growing up, Tony's father would constantly talk about his friend Captain America, so that he could inspire Tony to do great things in life. Howard hired a butler named Edwin Jarvis before Tony was born. Jarvis watched over Tony until he died. When he was four years old, he made his first Circuit Board. When he was almost seven he built an engine. When Tony was seventeen he graduated MIT at the top of his class.zzzGrowing up Tony had issues with his father, who Tony has said never told his son that he loved him. Since Tony was so young, Howard never was able to tell him his plans for him.zzzOne thing about Tony's childhood that annoyed him was his nanny that cared for him until he was 14.zzzAt the age of twenty-one, his parents died in a car crash. For a few months Obadiah Stane, a family friend, took over the company since Tony was too young to be CEO. A few months later, he inherited Stark Industries, becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company. After building a custom mansion, Tony made a A.I. system that helped out in the house. He named the system "Just a Rather Very Intelligent System", shortened J.A.R.V.I.S., after his butler. zzzAt some time he met James Rhodes, and they became best friends. As Rhodes aged he joined the United States Airforce and became the liason between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces.zzzTony made Stark Industries thrive into becoming one of the most advanced companies in the world, making technology that seemed futuristic to most.zzzzCreating Demons On New Year's Eve in 1999, Stark, with his scientist paramour Maya Hansen, attended a Science Conference in Switzerland where he arrogantly avoided a gifted but crippled scientist, Aldrich Killian, who wanted Stark's backing in his endeavor Advanced Idea Mechanics. Stark purposely told Killian to meet him on the rooftop of the building with the intention of not turning up. This lead Killian to wait all night while Tony slept with Maya in her room, leading him to despise Stark. zzz Tony and Rhodes went to a weapon demonstration at the Yuma Proving Ground. Pepper gives the weapon's specifics to the generals while Tony and Rhodes go to a night club. Tony enjoys the company of two girls while Rhodes tries to convince him not to go to Afghanistan. Tony is then attacked by a man whose girlfriend he previously seduced, but Rhodes easily defeats the attacker. Later, Tony, Rhodes, and the girls go to Tony's house. zzzBefore his kidnappingLast Day of FreedomAfter a whole presentation of Tony's successful past, Rhodes is given the honor of presenting Apogee Award to Tony at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When Obadiah Stane gives Rhodes a signal saying that Tony wasn't there to receive it, Stane takes the reward, in Tony's honor. Shortly after the award ceremony, Rhodes brings Tony the award while he is gambling in the casino inside of Caesars Palace. Rhodes gets very angry at Tony for not being present for the award. Right when Tony is about to leave the hotel, Christine Everhart tries to interview him for Vanity Fair. Stark deflects her questions with some swift quips and the two end up spending the night together at Tony's ocean front house. In the morning Tony begins working on one of his cars. Pepper, his assistant, reminds him about his trip to Afghanistan. He gets to the plane 3 hours late. He and Rhodes soon get drunk and have a small party on the plane. Tony presents his newest weapon, the Jericho missile, to the military spectators and demonstrated its capability.zzzBecoming Iron ManKidnapping During the business trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, the Jericho missile, Tony's convoy is attacked. One of his own company's bombs lands near him and explodes. The blast causes him to lose consciousness and embeds several pieces of shrapnel in his chest, one fragment dangerously close to his heart. zzz He wakes up some time later with an electromagnet attached to his chest. Hooked up to a car battery, the electromagnet keeps the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Tony has been captured by the terrorist group Ten Rings, who order him to build a Jericho missile for them. Instead, he and fellow captive Ho Yinsen secretly build a power armor fueled by a miniature Arc Reactor, a smaller version of a power source previously invented by Tony's father, Howard Stark, and Anton Vanko. The Arc Reactor supplies energy to an electromagnet which prevents embedded shrapnel from reaching Tony's heart, which would kill him. Dr. Yinsen is killed in the ensuing escape attempt when he stalls the guards to buy Tony enough time to power up the suit. Using the suit, Tony kills several terrorists, destroys their weapons stockpile, and escapes, though his suit is destroyed as he crashes in the desert from a malfunction in the flight system.zzzUpon being picked up by the Air Force and returning to the United States, Tony declares that his company will, for the time being, no longer manufacture weapons. His father's friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane, tells him that this move is blocked by the board members shortly after.zzz Tony retreats from public view, focusing on the design of his new power suit, refining its size and flight capability. He asks Pepper Potts to help him take his old Arc Reactor out and to put in a new one. zzzDuring his first public appearance since his return to the United States, he is accosted by Christine Everhart, who shows him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of terrorist groups, including the Jericho missiles he refused to build for them. He also discovers that Stane has been supplying weapons to both the U.S. troops and the terrorists, as well as being the one to shut Tony out of the board while he recovers.zzz Faced with the realization of what his company has done, Tony dons the power suit and flies to Afghanistan, rescuing Yinsen's village from the Ten Rings. In destroying their weapon stockpiles, he accidentally draws the attention of the United States Air Force and his friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. Two F-22 Raptors are ordered to take out the unknown target, and during the confrontation one of the Raptors loses its left wing when it accidentally collides with Tony. The pilot ejects shortly afterwards, but his parachute jams. Tony dives down to help the pilot release his parachute before escaping. zzzDuel of Los Angeles Determined to make amends for his mistakes, Tony sends Pepper to find the shipping records of Stark Industries, so he can track down the illicit shipments and destroy them. While hacking into the system, she discovers that it was Stand who hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony, but they had reneged on the deal when they realized who the target was. She also discovers that Stane has recovered the power suit prototype and has reverse-engineered his own version. However, his team of scientists, not possessing Tony's genius, cannot engineer the miniature Arc Reactor to power the new suit. zzzStane, upon realizing Pepper's discovery, steals Tony's Arc Reactor from his chest to power his new suit, leaving Tony to die.zzzUsing his first reactor, which was not designed to power his latest armor, Tony battles with Stane atop Stark Industries and the surrounding streets, killing him when the full-sized Arc Reactor that powers the lab is deliberately overloaded by Pepper.zzzMeeting with CoulsonzzzAfter fighting Stane, Rhodes tries to get Tony into an ambulance to see if he has any internal injuries. The ambulance was a fake one sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to get Tony. Now that they could finally get to talk to Tony, Phil Coulson talks to Tony after they drop him off at a small theater. Collison views Tony's fighting strategy from his fight with Iron Monger on a projector screen. He tells him he needs to become a real fighter and that he will be trained by skilled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.[4]zzzI am Iron Man The next morning, Tony's alter ego is dubbed "Iron Man" by the press. zzzTony holds a press conference where his S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts advise him to state that Iron Man is Tony's bodyguard. However, he instead announces that he actually is Iron Man.zzzMeeting FuryOne night, Tony arrives home and is greeted by a mysterious visitor standing by the window. He reveals himself as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., warning him that he is not the only 'super hero' in the world and wanting to discuss with Stark about the Avengers Initiative. However Stark has no interest in the Initiative.zzzArmored Adventures When Nick Fury sent a team of U.S. Navy SEALs to board a ship controlled by the Ten Rings in the port of Aden, Iron Man suddenly appeared and attacked the terrorists. Though the Seals were outnumbered by the terrorists, Iron Man had no problems with killing all the terrorists and saving the Seals. Later, back in his house, Tony talked with Pepper Potts about his latest action. zzzPartnership with Gorani Insurance When Tony came to Germany to a meeting with the representatives of Gorani Insurance, a company that was financially backing most of his foreign factories, to talk about the new rates, he encountered a roadblock in the German autobahns. The policemen then told him that some thieves have stolen paintings worth over 100 million dollars. Later, he encountered a girl with a small problem―a flat car tire. He helped her to change the tire but when he asked her for her phone number, she said he'll have to wait until fate brings them back together. zzz After the girl left, Tony saw a vehicle in the forest that matched the description of the van that thieves used in their robbery. He decided to check and saw the whole gang. Though he didn't bring his entire Iron Man Armor, he had the left glove and used it to defeat and capture all of the thieves. Tony then called the police, who arrested the criminals, and then he took the paintings back to the museum, but doesn't take any reward for returning the paintings. He then rushes to arrive on time to his meeting.[6] Later, when he arrived at his postponed meeting, he was reunited with the girl he met in the autobahns, and discovered that she is Evetta Gorani, the vice president of Gorani Insurance, who was eventually going to take the mantle of president from her father, Michael. Michael told Tony that the museum that owned the stolen paintings was insured by Gorani Insurance. When he asked Evetta again for her phone number, she said they'll "negotiate" after the meeting.zzzDealing with a Public IdentityTony Stark continues to help ensuring peace in the world while also removing Ten Rings terrorists, including saving a U.N. peace keeping mission that was under attack. Stark would also help General Ross in saving the pilot of the Aerodynamic Marvel that crashed in the Congo. Senator Stern also expressed his concerns of the Iron Man suit as a topic in national security.zzzStark Expo '11 Six months after revealing his identity to the world and helping maintain world peace, Tony appears as Iron Man at the grand opening of the Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows, New York City, continuing the legacy his father started. zzzUnfortunately, Tony's life wasn't as good as it appeared. Stark was facing a double threat. The first (and possibly worst of the two) was in the form of his own heart: the Arc Reactor Palladium core was poisoning him, causing him a slow painful death due to over uses of the Iron Man armor.zzzMeeting with Senator Stern The second threat is from a senate committee hearing, led by Senator Stern, demanding that Tony release the technology of the Iron Man armor for military application. Tony refuses, believing that it's not in the best interest of the American people for the military to possess and that they'll use as a weapon that could very well be used against America. Senator Stern tries to turn Tony's best friend Lt. Colonel James Rhodes against him in an effort to force him. Competitor Justin Hammer tries to plead his case in the matter; Tony takes this opportunity to embarrass both Hammer and Stern with a collection of video footage of Hammer and others around the world attempting to recreate the technology. Tony arrogantly states that it will be years before anyone will be able to successfully recreate the tech. zzzMaking Pepper CEOETony returns to his home where he and J.A.R.V.I.S. try to find a solution in finding a new power source for the Arc Reactor. Uncertain of his outcome of survival Tony appoints his former personal assistant Pepper Potts CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman.zzzDuel of Monaco Growing increasingly despondent and thrill-seeking as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, Tony races at the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ivan Vanko who has constructed an Arc Reactor of his own, along with whip-like energy weapons attacks Tony. With the aid of Pepper and Happy Hogan who hands him his portable briefcase armor. Tony dons the Mark V armor and defeats Ivan. zzzAfterward, Tony pays Ivan a visit in a French prison to find out how he acquired the technology, During the conversation Ivan reveals that he's the son of Anton Vanko, who collaborated with Howard Stark on the first Arc Reactor but was deported back to the Soviet Union and died in poverty. Ivan blames the Stark family for his family's fate, and seeks revenge. Ivan also mentions he's fully aware of Tony's current heart poisoning, saying it's a terrible way to die.zzzTony's Birthday party Tony heads back home with Pepper to celebrate his upcoming birthday. On route home, Tony attempts to tell Pepper the truth behind his current series of reckless acts. Wanting to escape from all his current problems Tony tries to convince Pepper to take a detour in Italy. Unfortunately, due to the media pressure of the recent incident in Monaco with Whiplash has everyone on edge demanding that Tony turn over the technology now. zzzIvan escapes prison thanks to Justin who intends to use Ivan's knowledge of Tony's technology to create his own army of armored warriors to discredit Iron Man. Tony throws what he believes will be his last birthday party and gets drunk while wearing the Iron Man armor and indulges in dangerous activities, forcing his friend, Rhodes, to intervene. Rhodes dons Tony's Mark II armor and after almost destroying Tony's house in the resulting fight, delivers the armor to the military.zzzRediscovering the element The next day, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Tony, revealing Natalie as undercover agent Natasha Romanoff and that Howard was a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder. zzzFury gives Tony some of Howard's old material to aid in finding a cure for the palladium poisoning. A hidden message in the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo proves to be a diagram of a new element's atomic structure. With the aid of his computer J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony synthesizes the new element and cures himself. Afterward, Ivan contacts Tony, revealing he is still alive and still set on revenge. Tony dons the Mark VI armor and files off to the Expo.zzzBattle in Stark Expo At the Expo, Justin unveils his military drones, captained by Rhodes in a heavily weaponized version of the Mark II armor known as the War Machine armor. Tony as Iron Man arrives to warn Rhodes, but Ivan seizes control of both the drones and Rhodey's armor, setting them to attack Iron Man. Pepper has Hammer arrested while Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan and Agent Romanoff race to Hammer's Queens facility. Ivan has left, but Natasha turns over control of the Mark II armor to Rhodes. zzzEliminating the other drones, Tony and Rhodes are confronted by Ivan in his new, more powerful suit of armor. He is defeated when Tony and Rhodes fire repulser rays at each other, triggering an explosion beside Ivan. Too injured to continue the fight, Ivan ignites his and his drones' self-destruct bombs, killing himself. Tony races to save Pepper amid a series of explosions. Pepper quits her position as CEO, and she and Tony kiss. Rhodes departs with the Mark II armor without serious objection from Tony.zzzNot a suitable Candidate At a debriefing, while showing news footage of another superhuman event, Fury informs Tony that while Iron Man is a suitable candidate for the "Avengers Initiative", Tony himself is not. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants Tony in a consultant position, to which Tony agrees on the condition that Senator Stern present himself and Rhodes with their medals for bravery. A couple of hours later, Tony got his wish and took the job as consultant. zzzThe Consultant Keeping with his job as consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony was tasked with preventing General Thaddeus Ross from releasing Emil Blonsky onto the Avengers Initiative, ordered by the World Security Council. Tony arrived at a Bar where he found a drunken Ross. The two exchanged insults before Stark told him that a team is being made, etc. zzzIt is unclear what else they talked about except that Tony annoyed Ross so much that the latter tried to have him removed from the bar, to which Stark bought and arranged to be demolished. The task was complete with Ross refusing to release Blonsky from his custody.zzzMaking the New War Machine Armor Some time later, Tony retrieved the War Machine armor and striped it of the Hammer Industries weapons and turning it back into the Mark II. When Rhodes arrived, Tony informed him he'll never wear that armor again because he made him a new one with better technology and weaponry. zzzWar for Earth After Loki infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. and steals the Tesseract, Nick Fury decides it's time to re-establish the Avengers Initiative. Agent Coulson travels to the newly built Stark Tower where Tony and Pepper are celebrating the successful creation of a new, clean energy source. Tony is informed of Coulson's presence at Stark Tower by J.A.R.V.I.S. to which he informs him that he has "reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark" and refuses to see him. Coulson enters the building anyway and informs Tony that the Initiative is now active, and they need him to come in, handing Stark holographic screens with information about Captain America, Thor, Bruce Banner and Loki. zzzCapturing Loki Stark suits up in his Mark VI armor and travels to Germany where he finds his old acquaintance, Natasha Romanoff in a jet overlooking the newly unfrozen Captain America in the middle of a battle with the hostile god, Loki. zzzStark jets right in and blasts Loki with his repulsers and stands tall next to the Captain forcing Loki to surrender. After escorting Loki onto the Quinjet, the team head back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier. Stark comments on Steve's fighting skills and subtly mocks him. The Quinjet is then surrounded by a storm and attacked by Thor, who breaks in and grabs Loki before he flies away. Stark immediately pursues them.zzz While Thor threatens Loki atop a mountain, Tony blasts straight into him, hurling him onto the forest floor. Stark refuses to let Thor get close to Loki, and the two began a battle. zzzDuring the fight, Thor summons lightning to his hammer, Mjølnir, and electrocutes Stark only for J.A.R.V.I.S. to inform him that his suit is at 400% capacity, allowing him blast Thor off his feet. The armor takes a beating during the battle as Thor easily begins to crush one of the gauntlets with his bare hands. The fight is broken up by Captain America who, after matching Mjølnir with his Shield, manages to stop Thor.zzzTraveling in the Helicarrier They take Loki back to the Helicarrier where Tony meets Bruce Banner and discuss the Tesseract but not before Tony plants a hacking device and allows J.A.R.V.I.S. to begin searching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database to find out their secrets. zzzAttack on the Helicarrier Tony and Bruce find out that S.H.I.E.L.D. were trying to harness the Tesseract's powers to create weapons of mass destruction and Steve found out that S.H.I.E.L.D. was using HYDRA technology to learn how to harness it. During a huge argument with Fury, Romanoff, Rogers, Banner and Thor, Loki's brainwashed troops cause an explosion on the Helicarrier in order to break Loki out. Stark suits up as Iron Man and begins to fix the ship from the outside with the aid of Rogers. zzzBattle of New York Upon fixing the ship and fighting off some of Loki's troops, the duo learns that Banner had transformed into the Hulk and escaped from the ship, as well as Thor being ejected from the Helicarrier by Loki who escaped and murdered Agent Coulson. Fury informs the two that the Avengers Initiative was so that the isolated individuals could become something more and that Coulson died still believing this. Stark takes his death hard and works out where Loki is planning his attack. Iron Man, Captain America, Natasha and Hawkeye (now free from Loki's mind control) travel to Stark Tower where Tony finds Loki has installed a device powered by the Tesseract. zzz Tony takes off his armor and begins to "threaten" Loki, secretly putting on two metal bracelets moments before Loki throws him out of the window, as he falls he orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to deploy his new Mark VII suit which jet packs out through the window after him and forms around him moments before he almost hits the ground. Stark flies back up to Loki and blasts him backwards in the name of Agent Coulson. Tony is however confronted by Loki's device which opens a portal into space where Loki's army of Chitauri fly into New York and begin their war against Earth. zzz Tony fights off the Chitauri and tries to call War Machine, who tells Tony that he is too busy fighting soldiers working for the Ten Rings, but will come to help as soon as possible.[10] Iron Man is joined by his teammates as they begin to battle the alien menace. Tony begins to chase after a Leviathan, a giant alien serpent and the warship to dozens of Chitauri. When he is notified of Banner's arrival on the field, Tony leads the serpent towards him so Bruce will transform into the Hulk and defeat it. Tony lands on the ground alongside his fellow heroes, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow. The team are then confronted by hundreds of Chitauri who fly in through the portal as well as several more Leviathans. Rogers gives out orders and instructs Tony to take to the skies and take out more Chitauri. Tony even takes out a Leviathan by flying head first into its mouth and launching missiles from the inside. zzzTony asks Thor if he has ever seen Game of Thrones, saying he reminds him of it. Thor asks him how he can joke around during a war, but is then eaten by a Leviathan. In a rage, Thor uses Mjølnir to get out of the Leviathan.zzzOne way trip After a long battle, the team are still outnumbered and learn that Natasha has found a way to close the portal. Stark hinders this as Fury has instructed him that the World Security Council have sent a missile in to blow up Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and flies it up through the portal and blows up the Chitauri Command Center, losing power in the process and falling unconscious back through the portal just before it closes. As Stark falls back to earth, he is caught by the Hulk who lands with him back on the ground. Rogers and Thor run over to Iron Man who appears to be dead, only for Hulk to scream in his face, waking him up. The team reform and make sure that Loki surrenders, who they take to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.zzzA few hours later, Stark and the rest of the Avengers went to a shawarma restaurant where they eat silently, but are soon interrupted by War Machine, who arrived too late to aid in the battle.zzzThe next day, the Avengers then make sure Loki is taken back to Asgard by Thor along with the Tesseract. The team then disbands and go their separate ways. Tony is later seen with Pepper Potts on Stark Tower ready to rebuild after the damage that was done.zzzThe Iron Legion After the battle, Tony invited Rhodes to his workshop in Malibu. Seeing that not even the combined powers of Iron Man and War Machine would be enough to protect the Earth from the next threat from the Nine Realms, Tony showed Rhodes several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled. He called them the "Iron Legion". zzzThe Melter A year after the Battle of New York,  Tony was presenting how he can now charge his armor from solar energy at Stark Tower, when he is suddenly attacked by a villain called the Melter. The Melter quickly defeated Iron Man and announced he was going to sell his designs in a few days. zzzTwo days later, Melter attacked again and defeated War Machine. This made Tony and Rhodey to confront Melter together and they defeated him and put him in the custody of the United States Military.zzzKillian's War Six months after the Battle of New York; Tony tested the Mark XLII, which was built so that he could summon various pieces of the armor when needed. Right after testing the new armor, Tony went to go watch television, only to see that the Mandarin has made another attack to threaten the United States. Meanwhile, Rhodes has his suit repainted by the American government who have now renamed him Iron Patriot. zzzTony meets with Rhodey at a bar where he mocks the Iron Patriot name when two kids ask him to sign a drawn picture of him diverting the nuclear missile to the portal. The picture depicts Tony near-death experience in the Battle of New York which leads for him to have an anxiety attack forcing him to leave the bar in his suit.zzzIM3 Back at his house, Pepper approached Tony about his insecurities, claiming he has been pulling away. Tony stated that he had been having trouble coping after his near-death experience in New York, claiming that gods, aliens, and other dimensions are too much for him to handle and that he can't sleep without having nightmares. Pepper stated that his obsessiveness over his technology is a distraction. Later that night, Tony had visions of himself going against the Chitauri, causing him to go into distress. Pepper tried to wake him until his armor appeared, coming to Tony's aid, seeing Pepper as a threat. Tony awoke and deactivated the armor, apologizing to a terrified Pepper who leaves him alone in bed. zzzThreatening the Mandarin"My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm going to come and get the body. There's no politics here it's just good old fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me."―Tony Stark message to the MandarinMeanwhile, a string of bombings by terrorist the Mandarin left intelligence agencies bewildered at the lack of forensic evidence. When Happy Hogan was caught in one such attack, Tony issued a public threat to the Mandarin.[3]zzzDestruction of Tony Stark's Mansion The next day, Maya Hansen; Tony's old lover, confronted Tony at his home, warning him about the effects of his recent public warning. Pepper appeared and told Tony that it was time for them to leave until they are attacked by several helicopters, lead by Eric Savin. Tony signaled his armor onto Pepper, protecting her. Once Pepper had gotten Maya to safety, Tony summoned the armor back to himself, fending off the several helicopters surrounding him. After being out gunned, Stark was pulled into the ocean while his home demolished over him, barely escaping. Stark found himself in rural Tennessee after J.A.R.V.I.S. followed his initial flight plan to find the Mandarin. Lacking the power to return to California, the world at large believed him to be dead. Tony sent a private call, hoping for Pepper to hear. Apologizing for putting her in harm's way, Tony stated that he cannot return home yet. zzzBack to BasicsStark broke into a work-shop belonging to a 10-year old Harley Keener (and his family). Tony enlisted Harley's help in finding the truth behind the terrorist bombings. Seeking information, Stark set up a meeting with the mother of a recently killed (Extremis-infected) soldier. Once being handed valuable information regarding her husband's death, Tony was attacked by Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin. Barely escaping from Brandt, Savin confronted Stark, threatening to kill Harley. Harley used a device given to him by Stark earlier, blinding Savin for a few moments in which the two were able to escape. With Harley's assistance, Stark tracked down the Mandarin's location in Miami - as the suit is recharging, Harley suggested that Stark builds his own gadgets if he had to defend himself.zzzFinding Killian Infiltrating the Mandarin's home, Stark discovered that the Mandarin is not really a terrorist, rather a British actor employed by Aldrich Killian to act as a threat to America, covering up Killian's test-subjects/Extremis program. Tony is however knocked unconscious by Savin who takes Tony to Killian. Being held in captivity, he witnessed Killian murder Maya and discovered that he has captured Pepper and is currently infecting her with Extremis. Summoning his Mark XLII all the way from Harley's House, Stark escaped captivity and defeated several guards. zzzSaving the Air Force One Crew Tony reunited with Rhodes who revealed that Savin had taken control of the Iron Patriot armor, intending to launch an attack on President Matthew Ellis aboard Air Force One. Remotely controlling his armor, Stark sent it aboard the Plane and killed Savin by blasting a hole through his chest. The armor then exited the plane and saved the surviving passengers and crew but was unable to rescue Ellis from Killian who already exited him from the plane in the Iron Patriot armor.[3] zzzBattle on the Norco Stark and Rhodes traced Killian to an impounded oil drilling platform where he intended to kill Ellis on live television. Sneaking in, they were attacked by several Extremis soldiers. Over-powered, Stark summoned the Iron Legion to their aid (controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S.) except the Mark XLII, which was running late after trying to save the president in Air Force One. Tony found Pepper under wreckage when Aldrich unexpectedly attacked him and began burning through his suit, forcing Tony to eject from it before he summoned another. Coming to Pepper's aid once again, Tony was unable to reach her and watch as she fell into a pit of fire to a certain death. Enraged, Stark engaged in a fight with Aldrich Killian. zzzAs Killian proved his Extremis abilities could cut through the armor with ease, Stark again exited his suit to avoid defeat. Standing over a platform, Stark, now armor-less, awaited the Mark XLII but is deflated when it simply crashed into a wall. As Killian began to boast of himself, Tony summoned the Mark XLII onto Killian, trapping him. Tony then ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to let it self-destruct while he escaped. Jumping into another suit, Tony escaped the explosion and crashed to the ground. Suddenly, Aldrich emerged from the flames, still intent on Tony's death, calling himself the true Mandarin. Just before he could make an attack, Pepper struck him to the ground, still alive due to the Extremis. Using a repulser she took from a stray Iron Man suit, she was able to finish Aldrich Killian off.zzzTony apologized to Pepper and promised to find a cure for her. Tony, seeing Pepper worried about their future, ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all his remaining armors in Operation: Clean Slate protocol. Surrounded by the subtle explosions in the sky, the two embraced.zzzA Step FurtherTwo days later, Tony underwent surgery to have the shrapnel removed from his heart. He went back to the wreckage of his mansion that same day, and threw his Arc Reactor into the ocean, vowing that no matter what, he is Iron Man even without the armor or the Arc Reactor and his armors. He also took the remains of his Dum-E robot, to repair it. After this, Tony retired from the hero "business" for at least a year but continued to work as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. and run Stark Industries.[3]zzzTherapy session with Dr. Banner A year after his battle with Killian, Tony retold the story to Bruce Banner who had fallen asleep during the tale, telling Tony that he wasn't that kind of doctor. Tony ignored this comment and began telling more stories of his life, much to Bruce's dismay who went to sleep again.