@wolverine08 said:

you answered your own question: the terrible writing that made "tony" a villain. he was already a jerk, cw tripled that. but really all things aside, i hate him mostly because of his relationship with spider-man. consider (and if not, you are a hypocrite to begin with) someone a friend, upgrade his costume but record every move, put brain wave readers in it and what-not, discover the secret of spider-sense, collect enough info to predict all his moves? now. with friends like tony, you dont need enemies.

just finished secret invasion and i LOVE how that event completely thrashed iron man. bwahahah! him and maria hill and all freaking shield!!! good freaking riddance.

Civil War, and the fact that non comic fans love him.

He's been one of my favorite characters for well over a decade. I love his new popularity, it's really giving him a lot more exposure.

There is a difference between being somewhat of a jerk, and a full on villain. Which Civil War tried to paint Tony as.

@wolverine08 said:

he is not a villain. he just act like a lawful good paladin and tries to smite those who do not acknowledge his god, even if a friend. actually, no, he think himself as the god... i am a futurist blablabla... i can see what wil happen in future blablabla... i put u in this prison in negative zone until you register for your own good... i give you this new costume spidey, and now i take it along with your secrets... this is not evil, this is not villany. this is just freaking god complex.

no, the writing here awesome. they were very, very successful at making me hate him. i didn't hate skrulls in secret invasion more than i hate iron man in cw. it's the final i dont like in this event. cap surrendering doesnt make sense, as i explained earlier.

wow, sorry for bumping this thread again, but I have not really read any Iron Man comics for years and having only seen him in the films, didn't realise how disliked he was by comic book fans! In the films, he is a jerk, but man he saves the world in the Avengers Assemble and you get the feeling that deep down he is alright...maybe I had better not buy a copy of Civil War after all, because it might alter my view of one of my favourite Marvel Characters!

Iron Man is my favorite character. I personally havent really sensed any hate towards Iron Man. People seem to love him.

Love Iron Man and I love Gillen's series.

Civil War was awful IMO

Late to the board here, but I'm still a bit miffed about Civil War to be honest. I get that he was written to be the asshole, but all a characters popularity comes down to is how they have been written in recent history.

I also find the playboy thing, which I liked in the movies, translates as being a bit swarmy/douchey in comic books.

I hate him because he's an irresponsible, alcoholic jerk who does so many bad things (Civil War, anyone?). I don't know what story it was, but I know of that time when he lost his whole company to Stane due to alcoholism, and I read about one time where he got drunk and fired all his employees at a party. He's also unfunny, doesn't kick a**, and doesn't stand for anything good (three things that I want at least one of in my favorite heroes). Though I got into comics in 2011, I can't imagine how terrible the Registration Act period was for fans (especially since IM was everywhere and in charge of all these heroes). I do like RDJ's character in the movies, though, because he's different from the comics version.

I think if you've been reading the Fatal Frontier online comic for him that's been going on, you can find all of the worst aspects of the character laid out for everyone to see. Pretentious, unnecessarily secretive, arrogant, unrealistic, and stuck in the past; all things that sum up the character and traits people dislike.

@doomnaut: pfft, yeah right. Iron man is a douche bag.

Wow there are more detractors than I thought. It seems the general reason for this hate is because of his arrogant behavior and his questionable acts in Civil War. Now Iron Man is far from my favorite character, but I am a fan and here's why.

Tony represent a general demeanor of in humanity the modern world. He started out as a rich self-centered playboy who only cared about glory and with no real purpose in life, but after a traumatic experience, realized that his negligence hurts people, and decides to use his smarts and money for something better. Sure he's still an arrogant playboy, but he also represents today's humanity's ambitions and potential for good, and the ability to use this potential to its maximum. He is inspirational because no matter all the issues that he's gone through, he always uses it as fuel, learns from his mistakes, and moves forward, and beyond, to not only atone for his mistakes, but also achieve a level of good that no one thought is possible. Sure he can be arrogant sometimes, but for some, that is part of his charm, he is just the type of loveable jerk, where you are annoyed by him yet you can't help but admire him.

At the end of the day, Tony is human, he is suceptible to mistakes, but that never holds him back, instead, he pushes forward, through sheer will. That is what Tony is all about, humanity's sheer will to better themselves and go beyond what they thought they could achieve, and finally leave a legacy that can help future generations. The suits, the money and the swag is all flash, but Tony is Iron Man because he has an Iron will to succeed and be better.

Mainstream appeal to hopeful new Marvel fans will probably make Iron Man the bridge to Marvel Comics, coupled with the fact that the Avengers as a team are being massively exposed to the general public.

A new age of Iron Man's insane boost in popularity may probably garner new Iron Man readers, thus Iron Man may become a high-seller for Marvel Comics.

Hopefully the decade that follows will see his exposure translate to high sales for Marvel Comics for both the Iron Man and the Avengers franchises.

But Marvel has to get serious with his books; otherwise, those efforts will prove hard to push.

Why do so many viners hate Iron Man? Weird, mega popular character out there now due to the comics, but not loved by comic book fans, so it seems!

They don't.

Because we don't

@extremis: Ummmmm we don't?

I myself like Iron Man but I think one reason was actually in Tony's very conception as a character. Stan Lee has said he wanted to make a character that everyone (meaning comic fans of the 1960s) would hate then shove his many sympathetic sides and heroic character in their faces until they loved him. However when you make a character that people are meant to hate (at least at first), there will come those who you can't turn.

I just consider it part of Tony's character that he can be a brash, arrogant, manipulative jerkass, but that's just his flaws as a person. Others might not see it that way and they have every right to, but that's just my take.

People blame Tony for Civil War, but at least Tony thought about what he was doing. Captain America was opposed to Superhuman Registration Act even though the whole reason it was brought about was because the people wanted it. Just ironic because Cap is supposed to stand for democracy and the way he acted wasn't in line with that at all. This guy explains it pretty well:

sometimes he's annoying.

i liked emh iron man the best. he was cool, calm, mature and smarter.

Because they are tolls who don't know nothing.

@fadetoblackbolt: Iron Man's a pr*ck, always has been.

Wrong. Iron Man wasn't a "prick" up until that moment when Mark Millar decided that he can write Iron Man. Mark Millar doesn't understand Iron Man at all. His perception of the character is completely wrong and subjective, which isn't a surprise, since this is the same guy who thought Iron Man 3 was a great movie. Iron Man, before Ultimates and Civil War, was the most kind, empathetic, well-rounded person that you can imagine, that was always putting needs of others above his own. And it wasn't only about his life as a superhero. As Tony Stark, he still was very kind and likable, unlike what Marvel is doing right now with him in comics.

This is true Tony Stark. Not Downey Jr., not Mark Millar's Tony Stark. This! The guy who randomly hugs his employee because he glad to see her.

@x35, No, he is not. Only late comic book storylines have extrapolated the idea of Stak’s a**hole-ish behavior. Specifically, Civil War storyline. Comic books that came before that have never explored that angle of the character, since that angle was never present in the character up until terrible Ultimates run by Mark Millar that portrayed Tony Stark as a narcissistic, one-dimensional caricature with no depth.

There is so much wrong with your post, I can't even start... First of all, I guess in your first sentence you are referring to the Armor Wars? Tony Stark didn't betray anyone in that story. The main reason why he became paranoid with an idea that his technologies can be used for destructive deeds was BECAUSE he was afraid that life of innocent people will be threaten by that. It was all caused by his selfless heroism. He was even willing to die just to accomplish the mission. It shows his desperation to make world a better place. It isn't about ego or something else.

He faked his death because he needed to protect himself and his friends from his enemies (typical excuse for a superhero). Then he apologized after that and said that he did it only to protect Rhodey and others. He even said that he would rather die than risk his friendship with Rhodey.

Every other reference that you've presented are related to the later stories that came after Civil War and took influence from it, which have ruined the character of Tony Stark completely, or movies that influenced the comics, which also kinda ruined character of Tony Stark, so I'm not going to defend his actions from those storylines, since those stories were intentionally written without any respect for the character.

How about the time when he went into Vietnam to help soldiers with the equipment. But after their camp was attacked, and all the soldiers were killed, he found a little blind kid in the middle of war zone whose people also were killed. It was the first time when he realized that war is not black and white, and there is never a clear definition between who is good and bad. And then, at the end of issue he said next thing:

Would a selfish man say something like that?

How about the time with when he got a nervous system damage. When he was dying from nervous system damage and was trying to cure himself, he fell in love with Dr. Su Yin. But when he find out that she has a crippled husband, he decided to leave her alone, thus he sacrificed his own desires and needs because he knew it will be wrong to take the only person that that poor man has.

His old fiance, Joanna, that was with Tony only when he started as Iron Man, have left him because she wanted a family, and with lifestyle that Tony has it would be impossible for them to have a family. She left him at the most crucial moment of his life, and Stark was angry at her for a long time, but then they met again when Joanna was already married and with kids, and Tony saw it, and he was truly happy for her new life.

Is that a behavior of an egotistical, self-obsessed man?

How about the times when Tony Stark completely lost his company and all his savings and became a useless bum with nothing, that was hanging out on the filthy streets in search of booze without a penny in his pocket. The most tragic of this was, that, despite such an obvious problems associated with drinking, Stark refused to admit to anyone that he has a problem with alcohol and that he is a chronic alcoholic. One day he met the homeless alcoholic women, who, as it turned out, was pregnant. Her name was Gretil. Tony even once said that he loves her, though he was then drunk as ever. And then one day she came to Tony, who was trying to find shelter in the street during a terrible blizzard. She went into labor, and she asked Tony to help her. But they could not get to the hospital, as Tony did not have a cent, and they could not even go to the taxi. They were alone on the streets, that were full of snow, trying to somehow keep warm from the deadly cold. Tony wanted to stifle his personal pain, trying to drown it in a cheap liquor, when, suddenly Greta went into labor. And so, on the unbearable cold, brazed and confused, Tony Stark decided to take birth, Oddly enough, but Tony was able to take birth safely, and he did not cause the child any harm. But, unfortunately, only a moment later, Gretil died. Her last words to Tony were about him taking care of the child. Tony kept his promise. He put the baby at the breast over and covered him with his jacket and put his arm around Greta and then lost consciousness. And so the three of them were embracing on a terrible cold, until they were found. Doctors managed to save both, the baby and Stark, even though both could die at any moment if they were brought to the hospital a minute later. After this incident, Tony Stark has finally admitted his problem associated with alcohol, and he promised that he would try to get rid of addiction and try to become a better person than he ever was. And then the entire run was about Stark finding the best qualities in himself and trying to become a better person.

How about these examples? Does that look like a behavior of a self-obsessed egomaniac that hates everyone and everything?

And he makes a big deal of his alcoholic addiction BECAUSE IT IS A BIG DEAL. Alcoholism completely ruined his life and his relationships with people. It should be an important aspect. But he never mentions his problems with alcoholism just so people can pity him. It's his eternal struggle with which he has to deal every day. In short, Tony Stark in pre-Civil War era - not an asshole. Tony Stark in Ultimate Universe, in MCU, and in post-Civil War - is an asshole. It's simple.

And then it all came back after the second and the third movie, which ruined Iron Man once again.

@black_claw:

Good joke, pal... Comic book Iron Man may not be "awesome", because he is humorless and downbeat, but he is for sure much more complicated, well-written, likable, empathetic, multifarious character than in those mediocre movies in which he's been lately. Downey Jr's version pales in comparison to him on every level.

"He's a founding member of the Avengers": Yes

"He's one of the absolute smartest characters in the entire Marvel Universe": read Hickman New Avengers and re-think about it

"He's the best engineer in the Marvel Universe": maybe

"More simply, he's heroic": More simply, no, he isn't

And this totally outclass the rest. I'm not interested in read of a smart person, of a great engeneer or an Avengers, founder or not... I'm interested in reading an hero. And Tony Stark isn't an hero for my from so many, many, many years...

@thatlyn_yoaeg_ill_rymmin: And Tony Stark isn't an hero for my from so many, many, many years...

The guy who said, "I will avenge those whose lives have been taken by the arrogance of men like I once was -- Or I will die trying", is clearly not a hero, right?

Note the fact, Stark is saving all those people during the time when he was crippled after he's been shot by his ex-girflriend. He thought that he'll never walk again. Despite all that, he didn't give up being Iron Man.

Tony Stark is a hero. At least in older comics.

Iron Man is awesome.

I don't HATE him he's a good character it's that sometimes I find him extremely annoying. And his personality doesn't make it any better.

Because they think that he's a street leveler and get pissed off when they are informed that he can beat their favorite character.

@flazam: when did he sleep with gamora in the movies?

Currently, basically what Noone said. It's pretty sad and quite odd lol It's not just CV but mainly here is where that happens.

It really seems like the vast majority of this website is biased against him...

I personally kinda like comic Tony (I disliked him in Civil War though) but not MCU Tony.

I prefer the Tony from the comics far more than the RDJ one.

Also what Zhang said:

@zhangthong12 said:

@fadetoblackbolt: Iron Man's a pr*ck, always has been.

Wrong. Iron Man wasn't a "prick" up until that moment when Mark Millar decided that he can write Iron Man. Mark Millar doesn't understand Iron Man at all. His perception of the character is completely wrong and subjective, which isn't a surprise, since this is the same guy who thought Iron Man 3 was a great movie. Iron Man, before Ultimates and Civil War, was the most kind, empathetic, well-rounded person that you can imagine, that was always putting needs of others above his own. And it wasn't only about his life as a superhero. As Tony Stark, he still was very kind and likable, unlike what Marvel is doing right now with him in comics.

This is true Tony Stark. Not Downey Jr., not Mark Millar's Tony Stark. This! The guy who randomly hugs his employee because he glad to see her.

I personally don't hate Robert Downey Jr and I think his performance was great. That said I hate the MCU and how they made nearly everything about Ironman.

Now about the comics: the old Tony Stark pre-Avengers Disassembled was a good person. With the exception of Armour wars and several other bad decisions that Tony Stark was a hero. A flawed one but a hero.

However the current Tony Stark with everything he's done isn't a hero. He's just an A-hole who thinks he is.

People who defend his actions in the Civil War(both the comics and movies) justify him and the government as what they were doing was right. What you have to realise is that in the comics and the MCU the US government and the world governments are corrupt and can be infiltrated and controlled by the villains like HYDRA.

In the comics the Weapon + program performed inhumane and horrific experiments with government permission and funding. Do you really think these people should be given power over superheroes? They shouldn't even be in office.

The SHRA/SRA/Sokovia Accords were a terrible idea created by terrible people. Anyone who supported them was insane.

I'll never understand why anyone likes the current Tony Stark. I like the early Tony Stark and the one from the Armoured Adventures animated series but nearly every other version is terrible.

I always admired him in the comics and considered him maybe even the most important Avenger considering he represents all that a human can achieve with his smarts.

Exactly how I see it tbh^ He is like the peak of human potential. Everything was done with his own tech and intelligence yet he is in the league of the super heavyweights of Marvel

He is hated because writers don't respect him or his true character, so he gets portrayed as more of an asshole than he should

Because is he is only a street level character who gets wanked in Comic Vine being a mid level character for all of his high ends feats from advanced armors that doesn't normally use; but for some reason when it comes to Batman he gets downplayed a lot in Comic Vine for just being a street level character despite all the high ends feats from advanced suits he also has even though we all know Batman would whoop Iron Man's ass in a fight if they are both suitless/armorless.

@thealmightyoz: Lol at street level Iron Man. I'm sorry it takes 4 days for Bruce to do something Iron Man could do in mere HOURS

@fridaystarkk said:

thealmightyoz: Lol at street level Iron Man. I'm sorry it takes 4 days for Bruce to do something Iron Man could do in mere HOURS

bruh

@fridaystarkk said:

@thealmightyoz: Lol at street level Iron Man. I'm sorry it takes 4 days for Bruce to do something Iron Man could do in mere HOURS

Really? You are using crossover? According to this crossover, even though Iron Man is more "advantage" than Batman at using technology, it's funny of how Iron Man needs to use advanced armors to beat mid level characters yet Batman just in his standard suit can fight herald level characters. So this crossover can lie as much as they want to.

@thealmightyoz: Did you come to Iron Man forums just to troll this hard? Typical Batman stan.

Ah yes typical Iron Man stan. I can post more feats of standard Bat-Suit Batman handling his own against foes that Iron Man in his mach one Iron Man Armor could never pull off in his entire life, but I guess I already proved my point here.

Why do people hate Iron-Man? Actually, I like the character. Since the MCU movies, the character has become more important to Marvel. But let's be honest, there is a long history of bad writing associated with the character that makes him look like a massive jerk. Just a few things he's done: he killed an Avenger (Yellowjacket 2), he killed Quicksilver's babysitter, tortured innocents, dated Hank Pym's ex-wife shortly after their break up, created an armor suit that wanted to have sex with him, made Clone Thor who killed Goliath, wrestled a teen X-Man while both were naked, created armored sentinels which captured a lot of Avengers, imprisoned heroes during civil war - and I haven't even mentioned his alcoholism, which he has used as an excuse a million times for treating others like crap.