Iron Man, Tony Stark, is a fictional character who appears in American comic books. He plays the character of a wealthy businessman and engineer. He experienced a severe chest injury when he was kidnapped. His kidnappers were forcing him to come up with a destructive weapon. Rather than creating the weapon, Tony Stark develops a powered suit of armor for the purpose of saving his life and escaping captivity. He then enhances his suit with weapons and other technological devices he created by use of his company known as the Stark Industries. He utilizes the suit and successive versions in protecting the world as Iron Man, while first hiding his real identity.
The character of Iron Man is played by Robert Downey Jr. This character is present in comic books and different animated television shows as well as direct-to video films. However, Tony Stark is not simply Tony Stark, except when he is played by a person who will relapse at any particular time. Additionally, the Iron Man story as narrated in the Downy Jr. films is now the definitive take on the character, that is, in Iron Man 1, 2 and 3 and in The Avengers. It has been argued that for a comic book character who has been present for more than 50 years, it appears not fair to delete half a century of history in favor of something that is hardly 5 years old. However, this is the power of a hugely widespread film franchise. Consequently, if the films are the first experience with the character, people expect everything they believe about the Iron Man story to be to be correct and applicable to other recapitulations of the character. Downey Jr.’s films have turned out to be faithful to the comic books as compared to other superhero franchises. However, there are still some differences, ranging from main to minor storylines that the film seems not to have yet (Duncan & Smith, 2013).
One example of such discrepancy would be disclosing the identity of Iron Man in the film. Super heroes tend to have a secret identity, and they appear to have an obsession with it as they frequently die and come back to life. Therefore, to a dilettante, it was quite stunning when Iron Man cliff annoyed its audience by having Tony Stark step in front of a platform and proclaim in front of national television viewers that he was the Iron Man. The usual super heroes do not willingly disclose their identities to any person, let alone the whole world. However, before Stark goes on the stage, he is heard telling Terrence Howard, who is playing the version of James Rhodes, that he does not think he is not really sold on the story they had created, where he would allege that Iron Man was simply his body guard. In the comics, there was a crafty reference to the fact that till 2003, as far as the comic books’ world, Iron Man was the body guard and a corporate symbol of Tony Stark. This involved many storylines in which certain bad things would happen, which would be the mistake of Iron Man, either collateral damage or deliberate evil-doings as a result of being influenced by a bad person (Duncan & Smith, 2013). However, Stark was free to whore his way through Eastern Europe as far as the government of the United States was concerned, as they did not have any clue that he and Iron Man were the same person. Ultimately, people close to Stark such as Pepper Potts would know his secret, but this was not disclosed to the world. When Stark finally let out his secret, the President of the United States appointed him to be the Secretary of Defense. As would be anticipated, Iron Man resigned from that job one year later. Iron Man 2 has a joking reference to this unfolding story, when Stark is called before the Armed Services Committee. He answers to a proposal from Don Cheadle version of Rhodes that Iron Man should be folded into the existing chain of military command with the phrase, ‘I am not a joiner, but I will consider Secretary of Defense… if ask nice’ (White, 2010).
Another difference between the Iron Man movie and the cone from the comic books is the character of Pepper Potter being able to become a cyborg, who is capable of flying and possesses her own Iron Man armor suit. Pepper’s basic super power in the Iron Man films to the present day has been mainly described as “sass with a side of Olympic –grade eye –rolling”. She is seen to be running across a glass surface when putting on high-heels without getting hurt or falling as the Iron Man movie comes to an end. In Iron Man 3, Pepper is shown at a certain point putting on the Iron Man armor. In the comic, Pepper is a straight super-hero on her own. During the time when the first Iron Man film was being released, the comics had Pepper at near death by Stark’s enemy who saves her in the similar manner he saved himself, that is, providing her with a new electronic chest implant. He also provides her with extra cybernetic enhancements which make her more cyborg than human. Stark also constructs a special set of armor for her, which she gives the name Rescue and regularly uses in doing superhero things. Then the computer program which controls Rescue falls in love with her, making it get very complex. However, prior to that robot-on-woman act, Pepper is a suitable superhero. Pepper’s eventuality in one of the suits of Iron Man in Iron Man 3 is seemingly a tribute to Rescue (Duncan & Smith, 2013).
Our outstanding writers are mostly educated to MA and PhD level
In the film, Stark has an interconnected computer program with which he is able to make interactions with. This is because he removed the heart of Alfred and put it in the machine. He names it J.A.R.V.I.S. and utilizes it in controlling the Iron Man suit armor, and also as a friend who he can have a conversation with when he is lonely. In the comics, Edwin Jarvis is one of the many friends that Stark has; he plays the role of his butler and serves Stark with loyalty, especially after the death of his parents and after Stark’s transformation into Iron Man. The personality of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the film is demonstrated after Jarvis’s character in the comics. However, the idea of the presence of a computer program with a ghostly voice, which is making interactions with Stark instead of an actual being, is created in the films. Therefore, the comic books incorporated the automated version of J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Rescue armor of Pepper, which she is able to control through conversations with J.A.R.V.I.S. in a manner in which Downey Jr. does in the films. Other films, such as The Avengers and other animated series, have incorporated the film version of J.A.R.V.I.S. into their own form of Iron Man (DiMare, 2011).
In the comics, many people had gained access to Stark’s armor designs, which prompted him into figuring out a way out to bring to an end to the misuse of his armor technology. Stark came up with a way of disabling the armors of any other person who used technology on the basis of his design. Stark even disabled SHIELD armors, which were referred to as Mandroids, which he had created for their application, and which made governments pursue Iron Man as an enemy and a danger to the society. Tony avoided to be captured through deceiving them into believing that Iron Man had become rascal. He finally fakes the death of the rascal Iron Man and then comes back to action in the new Iron Man armor, alleging to be a completely different individual behind the mask. For example, in the Golden Avenger, Stark developed a gold-colored type of armor with an array of improvements to the original armor for the purpose of making the armor less scary to the general public (White, 2010). This new armor had a technology that enabled it to be folded up and kept in his briefcase during its inactive period. The chest line had been streamlined to allow it be worn under normal cloths to make it less visible. It also had a metallic exterior to ensure that it provided similar protection as the previous suit did. The original armor was gray and had a chest plate that was built around to protect him. The armor would protect him from physical attacks, certain energy forms, and excessive temperatures, among others. All the devices of the armor used to be controlled manually, and Stark built the golden armor to supplement the defects of this original armor (Thomas, 2011).
In the movies, the intelligence of Tony Stark enables him to be in a position of upgrading his armor designs frequently. He has recently injected himself with Extremis technology virus with the aim of saving his life. As a result, the inner layers of his suit became capable of being stored in the hollows of his bones, and he also became capable of controlling the suit using his mind by use of direct brain impulses. He is also able to make connections remotely to any communication instruments such as computers all over the world. Stark also became able to generate organs because of the enhancement. Extremis enabled Stark to interface with his armor in a quicker and more efficient way, leading thereby to dramatic increment of his response time. When he does not have his armor, Stark is regarded as being above the peak person and displays superhuman level of strength, speed, and reflexes. The abilities of Iron Man are also changing frequently due to his constant technological enhancements of the armors. Generally, he possesses super strength because of the make of his armor. The precise amount of his strengths is not known, but it appears that he is in a position of lifting and pressing more than 100 tons. His armor is also very durable and able to endure a lot of punishment. Stark’s armor has a muscularly designed matrix of crystallized iron improved with magnetic fields on top of layers of other metals like titanium. This gives him the ability to endure high caliber bullets easily. The armor also helps the Iron Man in flying at high speeds because of the rocked driven boots (Thomas, 2011).
Another difference between the Iron Man in the comics and in the movies is that the comics show Obadiah Stane as being not a close friend to Stark who even tries to seize him by using physical attacks and dirty deceits. The movie version of Iron Man depicts Stane as a close friend of Stark’s parents who even assisted in bringing up Stark. Also, the film has adopted a romantic chemistry between Stark and Pepper. This chemistry is developed in the first and the second films prior to their starting a relationship when Iron Man 2 is coming to an end. The comics, however, depict Pepper as romantically admiring Stark from a distance, and she falls for Stark’s assistant and chauffer, Hogan, who she gets married to.
This way, Tony Stark has developed a range of armors that he uses as Iron Man. The way they appear and their abilities continue to evolve as Stark upgrades his technology, both in the film and in the comics. His constant change of technology in his armors is effective in upgrading his protection in both the comics and the film. For example, in the movies, the intelligence of Tony Stark enables him to be in a position of upgrading his armor designs frequently. He has also injected himself with Extremis technology virus with the aim of saving his life. In the comics, he upgraded from the gray armor to the golden armor, which helped him to avoid scaring the public and also disclose his armor by putting it on top of the normal cloths he would be wearing. In both the film and the comics, Stark’s armor is also very durable and able to endure a lot of punishment. The armor also helps the Iron Man in flying at high speed because of the rocket driven boots.
There are, however, several differences between the comic Iron Man and the film Iron Man. For instance, in the comics, Stark discloses his identity as the Iron Man in front of the whole world as he made his announcement in front of a national television. In the comics, however, Stark discloses his identity but later; his close friends discover his secret. He later discloses his secret, and the President makes him the Secretary of Defense. In the film, Stark interacts with an interconnected computer program called J.A.R.V.I.S., and he utilizes it in controlling the Iron Man suit armor and also as a friend who he can have a conversation with when he is lonely. In the comics, Edwin Jarvis is one of the many friends that Stark has and plays the role of his butler who serves Stark with loyalty. Another difference between the Iron Man movie and the cone from the comic books is the character of Pepper Potter being able to become a cyborg who is capable of flying and possesses her own Iron Man armor suit. The relationship between Stark and Pepper is also another difference in the comics and the film, with the films depicting them as being romantically involved while the comics showed Pepper married to the chauffer of Stark. The character of Iron Man has, therefore, been played in many comic films and has also been re-established in movies. Downey Jr.’s films have turned out to be faithful to the comic books as compared to other superhero franchises. However, there are still some differences, ranging from main to minor storylines that the film seems not to have yet as they have been discussed and illustrated above.