T H E I R O N M A NANTHONY HOWARD STARK ♦ FORMER BILLIONAIRE, GENIUS VAGRANT ♦ UNKNOWN ♦ STARK INDUSTRIESC H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:"Witty Quote"Anthony Howard Stark was just your usual yuppie billionaire with a host of unrequited daddy issues and a massive ego complex. Receiving a nobel prize at the bright age of 14 and being the CEO of a multi-billion dollar transnational corporation tends to do that to you. Nights of alcoholic binging and mornings of playboy models in his bed helped blind Tony from the mounting controversies and accusations of weapons trafficking that Stark Industries was partaking in for a time.
In 2020, during a routine charity visit to a VA hospital, he was shot by Matthias Mallen, a Afghanistan War veteran and a vocal activist who claimed that his squad mates were murdered by weapons manufactured by Stark Industries in the hands of terrorists. Fortunately, with the miracle of 21st century medicine, Stark could survive with the assistance of a miniature implanted magnet containing the deadly bullet still lodged within his chest. The experience changed Tony as he was forced to reconsider everything his father’s company stood for. After sifting through the internal databases of Stark Industries for two weeks, he brought damning evidence to his trusted friend and advisor, Obidiah Stane, and asked for his assistance in reforming the company for the better.
A day later, Tony Stark’s mansion was on fire.
To this day, the young billionaire is believed to be dead. However, there are now unconfirmed reports of a lone individual attacking Stark Industry warehouses and military complexes. Witnesses claim they saw a man clad in a large suit of high tech armor. Stark Industries, under the direction of CEO Obidiah Stane, have directly accused the man of being a terrorist and have issued a federal manhunt for this mysterious man. Meanwhile, the media have taken to calling him….
The Iron Man
Iron Man was originally an exploration of America's military-industrial complex and the surrounding cold war politics in the era in which the character was originally developed in. Since then, Iron Man has been examined in the context of 9/11 and post-War on Terror politics. Now, in this politically fraught timeline, I only feel that it's right to do a re-exploration of Iron Man and not the bog-standard billionaire CEO that we've seen done a billion times throughout the comics.
I think one of the major themes of this version is paranoia and intrigue. Tony literally is on the run, can't trust anyone and has to untangle the deep web of conspiracies and lies that his father's company has crafted. Furthermore, it's just interesting to do a version of Tony that doesn't have the backing of Stark Industries to bulldoze through any issue. It's going to be a journey of humbling himself whilst learning to overcome his solipsistic worldview of his mission to bring down Stark Industries and look at the bigger picture.C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:
obidiah stane - CEO of Stark Industries and the man behind Tony's assasination attempt
christine everhart - anchor of the AlternativeS A M P L E P O S T:Tony grimaced in disgust as the smell of soft solder filled the small interior of his cramped van. Beads of sweat ran down his hands as the micro-solder gun shook for a moment in his grip. He breathed to steady it and depressed the trigger, watching intently as the hiss , his muscles tense from the hours he had sat down concentrating on this one single task. Watching it drip on the circuit plate, he waited for the bead to cool, carefully observing for any signs of splitting. He blew on the barrel of the gun and rested it on a coiled stand.
“ Only 900 more transistors to go, Tony, “ he muttered to himself. He scratched the back of his head and looked up at the massive table in front of him. The Model 1 MK 2.1 armor was spread out on the table like a gutted fish. The gun metal grey boron-iron composite shell, dented and scarred from his latest raid on Stark Industries, was strewn across haphazardly. Copper wires beaded with capacitors cascaded out of the back of each armor piece. Inside each piece was a complex, chromatic maze of motor transistors making up a network that allowed the suit to respond to his movements and his to the suits. It was a brutalistic solution but simplistic enough for his current resources to manage. Any attempt to suture individual motor units would require a 3D CAD machine and those would be locked up in the deepest levels of Stark RnD. All he had was a couple of hundred dollars and the best DIY stores America had to offer.
He took a cloth soaked in motor oil to wipe the sweat off his head, only to pause at the sight of that helmet. The terrible helmet that had plagued his dreams. It was hanging off a coat nook and already, that glared visor and frowning grilled breaths were urging him for his rage. To unleash his fury on the worth. To make a bee line to Stark Tower and pound that crook, Obidiah Stane, into mulch until he was nothing more than -
Tony closed his eyes and curled up in his seat. The blisters on his skin had long healed but he could remember the sticky, agonizing heat that coated his arms and legs. He didn’t scream but he could still hear her screams. The screams that said his name, both in pleasure and pain.
Stane would pay, but there was no use dwelling on the past further. He needed a distraction. Taking the remote in hand, he flicked on the tube TV he managed to scrounge from the back alley of an electronic thrift shop and continued to work on repairing the Model 1.5. The familiar three note jingle of WHIH news greeted his ears as the voice of Christine Everhart spoke through the speaker scratchedly.
“ Another report has emerged of the criminal dubbed as the Iron Man who has been identified as the individual responsible for the attack on an armored transport convoy belonging to Stark Industries at 1:45 AM, September 14th in Corona, Los Angeles. All personnel remain unharmed but corporate representatives of Stark Industries have publicly stated that more than 500 million in company assets were lost in yet one of another series of attacks that have been plaguing the company. Authorities are asking any and all individuals in the Orange County area to report sightings of the Iron Man…..”
A smirk grew on Tony Stark’s as Everhart continued to describe his attack on the convoy. It was one of his first raids that managed to go off without any major hitches. It was also his first raid that he discovered Stark Industries was now dabbling into rail gun armaments. His eyes momentarily flickered at the huge metal scar that was rent in the upper portion of his chestpiece. The next sentence from Everhart nearly made him drop his solder gun.
“ We now have an exclusive interview with the CEO of Stark Industries, Obidiah Stane. Mr Stane, you’ve made multiple condemnatory statements in the past on Iron Man and his activities towards Stark Industries. In light of this recent attack, I must note that Stark Industries has fallen nearly 40% in shares and there is increasing concern amongst stakeholders about the stability of the company. Will the fallout of this lead to any change in Stark Industries' approach towards Iron Man?”
The camera panned to the left towards Obidiah. His cheeks were puffy and his white goatee had been cut angularly to the root. The skin on his bald head stretched pallidly and as always, there were his crinkled slate eyes that gave the air of a geriatric grandpa but there was a frigid coldness within them if you looked deep enough.
“ Well, Christine. Stark Industries' position on the Iron Man has been very clear since the beginning of his attack last May. We will continue to cooperate with authorities on identifying the individual responsible for this attack whilst increasing our security measures where appropriate.”
“ Mr Stane, many of your security measures towards the Iron Man have been deemed by government officials to be a gross breach of civilian privacy and public safety. There have been multiple concerns about the proliferation of Stark Industries drones within state police and their safety. Are you taking the opportunity to use Iron Man to advance an arms race?”
“ I find arms race to be a loaded phrase, Chrstine,” Obidiah laid back, shaking his head despondently. “ I find an arms revolution to be the more correct term. Stark Industries drones are precise, have escalation protocols adhering to US Municipal Law directly encoded in them and as always, retain superior decision-making power relative to their human counterparts. We need appropriate countermeasures to deal with a novel threat in the making towards the citizens of this country.”
Tony closed his eyes, clenching his grip around the solder gun, before continuing on. The interview passed by in a blur for the next 20 minutes in blissful ignorance. Just as he was about to continue soldering the other shoulder pauldron, Chrstine’s next question made him pause mid-work again.
“ Tomorrow marks the 2nd year anniversary of Tony Stark’s mysterious death. Despite a two-month search, investigators say that no body was found in the incident. I know you and Mr Stark had quite a close relationship, Mr Stane. What are your thoughts, if you have any?”
“ Me and Tony were more than just friends,” Tony watched in rank disbelief as Stane wiped an invisible tear underneath his cheek. “ He was a son. I watched his father die in that horrific car accident 50 years ago. Now, I have to watch it all over again. I only hope to do right by Howard and Tony as CEO of Stark Industries and continue to live by the values they inspired within the company.”
“ How do you respond to rumors that Tony Stark may yet be still alive?”
“ Oh, please, I thought this wasn’t a sensationalist news network,” Obidiah scoffed before leaning towards Christine with a faint air of menace. “ I was there for his funeral. As far as I’m concerned, Chrstine, he’s dead and hoping for him to appear like a unicorn is a pipe dream. As a company, he have to move on from his death, just like he would have wanted - “
The TV blew apart in a spark of burnt diodes and charred silicon. Tony hadn’t even noticed he’d raised one of his gauntlets up. He breathed slowly, the red fading from his vision, as the repulsor lens on his palm flickered shut with a low whine. He set his arm down, lips pursed in consideration, before standing up and grabbing his helmet.
There was time to repair later.
It was time to get back to work.
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