With all the content in the MCU, there are plenty of theories to go along with it. Let’s take a look at five popular fan theories involving Tony Stark.
1. Fans were quick to point out that as the movies progress, Iron Man’s suits tend to become weaker. As the suits become weaker though, he becomes a bit more powerful. For example, think about Tony Stark’s suit in the first Iron Man movie. It’s clunky and doesn’t deal the most amount of damage, but it’s sturdy.
In later movies, Tony Stark takes a lot of damage, but can also deal incredible amounts of damage in return. His engineering evolves throughout different movies, showing that he is prioritizing combat and agility.
2. This is less of a theory, and more of a backstory towards character dialogue. When Captain America and Sam first meet, Sam mentioned losing a partner in a flight operation. At the time, the audience was led to believe that this was involving aircrafts, instead of a partner with an actual pair of wings.
Later, Sam apologized to Iron Man when War Machine was struck down by Vision in Civil War. Sam knew what it was like to lose a partner and felt sympathetic towards Iron Man.
3. In Endgame, we watched Tony Stark time travel to the past and meet his father, Howard. Chances are, Howard Stark recognized Tony as he grew up from this encounter. This theory suggests that Howard Stark knew his son and Captain America travel back in time as a result of something bad happening. With this knowledge, Howard Stark helped form S.H.I.E.L.D. and grow Stark Industries in preparation for this event.
4. Remember Harley Keener from Iron Man 3? Although he doesn’t appear for too long, he was originally set to become Tony Stark’s apprentice. We were shown that Harley was a ‘tinkerer’ who followed in Tony’s footsteps, but this idea vanished when the deal with Sony for Spiderman went through. This deal solidifies Peter Parker as Spiderman for Stark’s apprentice.
At the end of Endgame, we see Harley return at Tony Stark’s funeral. Given the three-film contract that the actor signed, there is a chance we will see more of Harley, playing the role of Iron Lad. Interestingly, Iron Lad is also an alias of Kang the Conqueror, who is set to be the next super villain.
5. It’s no secret that Tony Stark loves ‘80s metal. Many fans have pointed out that Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ reflects Marvel’s Iron Man. The song describes a man who travels into the future to witness the apocalypse. As he is returning to the present, the man is turned into steel and is mocked for babbling about a fictional apocalypse. Eventually, the man causes the apocalypse himself.
In the first Avengers movie, Stark going through a portal and essentially witnesses the apocalypse. Afterward, he develops PTSD and becomes paranoid. This causes him to create Ultron who almost creates an apocalypse.
