In Phase 1, Tony Stark trucks along more or less intact. He almost dies a few times, to be sure, but every problem he faces early on is earthbound, comprehensible, and conquerable through his own wits.
The invasion of New York, on the other hand? That's different.
Seeing the powerful forces arrayed against Earth - seeing that, technologically, those forces outclass anything his own brilliant mind has yet devised - cracks Tony's spirit in a fundamental way. While he retains his technocratic hubris - his conviction that he can engineer his way out of catastrophe if he just works hard enough - he never again walks into a room with the breezy arrogance we saw in the opening act of The Avengers. Now, he is a more tortured character -- more anxious, more desperate, more plagued by the consequences of accumulated trauma.
As I said in my podcast with Matt, Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron - and the rest of the arc, really - present a Tony Stark who is driven by his fear.
So: let's talk about Iron Man 3 first. The MCU's Christmas movie is, I think, underrated. I get that people were expecting a different story. I get that people weren't prepared for the radical tone shift once Tony finally confronts the "Mandarin". But the emotional through line? I will never not love it. I will never not love a story that breaks a hero and forces him to rediscover the true source of his power.
I actually have more Iron Man 3 scenes on my playlist beyond what I've included here. I just figured I'd better curate or this post would get rather ridiculous.
There is so much to unpack here:
- Tony may be borderline manic and suffering from undiagnosed PTSD, but he still retains his "talent" (heh) for gift giving.
- Pepper's response to Tony's "gift" is precious. She's accepted there are things her boyfriend just sucks at.
- In an earlier scene, Tony jumps into his suit to avoid talking to Rhodey about his panic. Here, he initially uses the Mark 42 to keep Pepper away so he can stay cocooned in his workshop. He's using the armor to hide.
- The fact that, eventually, Tony is willing to admit to Pepper that he's struggling is a significant change. In Iron Man 2, he didn't tell Pep about the palladium poisoning until he'd already resolved it (leaving her to twist in the wind wondering why Tony was suddenly going off the rails).
- Tony states outright what I observed at the start of this post: New York has shocked his imagination and rattled his sense of the universe. As someone on the One Marvelous Scene playlist has correctly noted, he's having a normal human response to the realization that Earth is far from alone. "Gods, aliens, other dimensions -- I'm just a man in a can." Gah, that line gives me all the feels.
- Also: "But the threat is imminent, and I have to protect the one thing I can't live without. That's you." EVERY. FEELING. IN. THE. WORLD.
- Tony knows Thanos is coming, even if he doesn't know him by name, and he's at a loss. He feels his too mortal flesh is inadequate, so he obsesses with his tech because, as he says, it's what he knows. It's what he's comfortable handling.
This right here is yet more proof that, despite his raw brainpower, Tony's decisions aren't driven by his intellect; instead, he reacts on emotional, gut-level instinct. He is the heart of the Avengers, not the head. (Steve is the head; that's why he's the right one to take the lead. Steve says, "We need a plan of attack." Tony says, "I have a plan: attack." Steve is deliberate. Tony is rash.)
Once Tony's mansion is destroyed thanks to the reckless challenge above, we launch into the beaten and broken down act of the story. The armor Tony's been leaning on as an emotional crutch is now drained of its power -- and, oh God, his reaction when Jarvis fades away is insanely touching. "Jarvis? Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy." Ow, right in the heart! Tony loves his UI -- even if Jarvis occasionally gives him shade.
I'm largely ignorant of all the behind-the-scenes gossip for these movies, but I'm just going to assume that it was scenes like this that eventually inspired the Powers That Be to make Irondad and Spiderson a thing. RDJ's version of Tony Stark has amazing chemistry with kids, and Harley is exhibit number one. The casual snarkiness mixed with the genuine affection is just so endearingly -- different. I would include literally every Harley scene in this post if I had the space.
Here, we hit the crisis. It's one thing to survive without the armor in Rose Hill -- but to infiltrate the bad guys' central stronghold while effectively naked? Every fiber of Tony's being screams NOPENOPENOPENOPE in the most harrowing of the three panic attacks he suffers in this movie -- until too-pure-for-this-world Harley reminds Tony that he still has his ingenuity. This is the central lesson of Iron Man 3: Tony is not a hero because of his armor. He's a hero because of who he has become as a man.
(Oh, and one more thing before I move on to the next movie:
I think this might be the most outstanding fight sequence in the Iron Man trilogy. First off, Tony bluffing his way through the delay in his armor's arrival is absolutely hysterical -- though, granted, it's obvious he's crapping himself the whole time. Secondly, I love, love, love the fact that 80% of his armor doesn't even make it to Miami until the very end, thus forcing Tony to improvise with one boot, one gauntlet, and a gun. The fact that our hero is still largely exposed through the meat of the action really ups the stakes.)
Iron Man 3 ends with Tony removing his arc reactor and making the first of many resolutions to simmer down with the tech. But, alas, Tony is an addict. He just can't let go of what he saw on the other side of the wormhole -- and before too long, he's once again obsessively tinkering. By the time Age of Ultron rolls around, he's built the Iron Legion and the Hulk buster, launched a satellite in space, and begun to design an even more ambitious planetary defense system. All he needs now to go over the edge is a nudge. Enter Wanda.
Central moment number two: a vision of Tony's worst fear. (In next Wednesday's post, we'll be talking about its tragic realization. Gulp.)
Once again, can I emphasize how interesting Tony is? I have always been fascinated by characters who fall -- heroes undone by their flaws. Tony doesn't intend to create a murderbot, to be fair. He's 110% motivated by a genuine desire to protect our "vulnerable blue" planet from outside threats -- especially now that Wanda has put the whammy on him. But remember what I said before about Tony's tendency to fire before he aims? Yeah: here it is again in a much darker hue.
Rushing forward with Ultron without telling the team - and without pausing to consider the potential consequences - is one of the worst decisions Tony ever makes in his life as Iron Man. However, that doesn't change the fact that, as we all know now, he's a damned prophet in this scene. Dear readers, I present to you... Tony "Cassandra" Stark!
In my argument for why Ultron is, like Iron Man 3, an underrated movie, this scene (and the other scenes on the farm, for that matter) is my chief bit of evidence -- and a good way to close out this post. God -- Steve dancing around the issue instead of asking Tony directly what the hell he was thinking is just -- so Steve. He knows Tony has difficult feelings about him and is trying to avoid a brawl -- but nope, the argument happens anyway because Tony is edgy and guilt-ridden and tired and just wants to go home. Nay, Tony needs to go home -- but can't because only death or the eschaton will convince him to decommission his armor. (No wonder he tried to immanentize the latter.) And then, and then, and then -- Nick peels Tony away from the others and it all spills out. Tony doesn't just fear that everyone will die if he stops. He fears that his own actions have invited the coming apocalypse to Earth's doorstep. "It wasn't a nightmare. It was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on."
Feelings, I tell you. ALL the feelings.
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