Canon Point: Towards the very end of the movie. Loki’s army is destroying Manhattan and more of them are still coming through a portal between our world and deep space. In a last-ditch effort to stop them, Director Fury’s superiors send a nuclear missile towards the island, which Tony grabs and drives into the portal. Kind of a two-birds-one-stone deal to stop Manhattan from becoming a gigantic pothole, but it also exceeds the limits of his suit. He will be taken the moment after the Chitauri mother ship explodes and Tony loses consciousness.
Character Age: Mid-to-late thirties, probably 38 or 39 by this point. Character Suitability:
Personality: Billionaire, genius, philanthropist, playboy. Tony Stark is the man that hacks into a PA system just to make his own theme music, and hates being handed things. And when a man tries to kick him out of a bar, he buys the bar, instead. His charisma is unstoppable. Tony Stark is very charming, and most dangerously of all, he’s aware of it. If he walks into a room and wants people to take notice, everyone is going to look at him. Loki and Beyoncé combined don’t have enough diva power to match him. He loves classic rock and heavy metal (bands such as, but not limited to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Def Leppard). He's a never-ending fountain of pop culture references, even the most obscure kind (referring to Thor as "Point Break" due to his resemblance to Patrick Swayze's character in the like-titled movie). And he seems vaguely educated in the Bible, due to the Jonah reference in the Avengers, and the Jericho missile in Iron Man, presuming Tony was the one that named it.
His attention span for things that don't interest him or he deems unimportant is about as long and extensive as a fly in a room full of dry shit, but as often as Tony drags his heels about early meetings, or turns up three hours late to previously scheduled appointments, he becomes focused and near-obsessive about the things that matter to him. Whether it’s his next mission as Iron Man, or a new project he’s been working on, he’s ready to trade food and sleep for gallons of coffee and all-nighters in his workshop.
Beneath the armor he has another protective exoskeleton surrounding his feelings. He doesn’t let people in so easily, even his now-girlfriend Pepper Potts. He uses his charm and sarcasm to keep people at an arm’s length. One notable example being the death of Phil Coulson: Tony is very obviously affected by his death, but calls Coulson an idiot for getting himself killed. And when he almost dies in space, his first reaction is to deflect from the moment and ramble. Not to say the humor is not legitimate: even when Tony is alone, and he's just talking to himself (note: he does this, quite often), he's cracking jokes at the expense of his surroundings.
This, the nature of his work, and the eccentricities he’s cultivated, makes Tony a very solitary creature. There are people he rubs elbows with at parties, the members of his staff, and the questionable women he sleeps with, but there are only a handful of people he’s truly close to—and his machines. Tony talks to his machines. He even made an AI to talk back to him.
There is Colonel James Rhodes (or “Rhodey,” as Tony prefers to call him), the liaison between the military and Stark Industries in the department of acquisitions. It's never outright specified in the films exactly how far back Tony and Rhodes go, or what events took place that led to them becoming friends and business partners. What is obvious is that Tony trusts him, and that trust seems to go both ways. Of course this doesn't stop Tony from driving Rhodes up the wall. Rhodes is the sensible one in the friendship (though granted most anyone seems sensible next to Tony Stark), often castigating Tony for his lax and irresponsible behavior, even referring to himself once as Tony’s babysitter, which is not entirely untrue, considering how many times he's had to clean up after Tony did something impulsive. More than once Rhodes has had to put his foot down with Tony, but even after they had a physical fight in Iron Man 2, Rhodes was able to quickly set aside his frustrations, and fight alongside Tony in the upgraded Mark II machine that he took from him.
It also bears mentioning that Rhodes has Tony listed as “the Starkster” in his cell phone, whether he intentionally gave him that nickname, or Tony put it there, himself, and Rhodes never got around to changing it.
Then of course, there is Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Tony’s personal assistant, who isn’t his right-hand woman as much as the right half of his brain walking and talking. Clearly she’s been with him for a long time, as she knows everything that helps get Tony through his life, from his business to his social security number. This makes him somewhat co-dependent on her, and at one point, he confides in her that she’s the only person he has. Later she confirms that the situation is mutual. Naturally, being the love interest in a superhero story, he’s had to save her on more than one occasion (though to be fair, she’s also bailed him out of a few life-threatening situations), and despite the fact that he can’t even remember her allergy to strawberries, Pepper means a great deal to him.
There is more than just a spark of attraction between them: both Pepper and Tony dance around each other, flirting and then drawing back (Pepper considering their professional situation, and Tony having enough sense to follow her lead), until the end of Iron Man 2, when they finally act on their feelings and get together. So by the time the Avengers rolls around, Pepper and Tony are an established couple. And despite his flirtatious nature, and his bedroom being purported to have had more female traffic than a (something), he seems fully devoted to her. In the final act of the movie, there is a nuclear weapon sent to destroy Manhattan that Tony redirects into a space portal, knowing it could mean a one-way trip, and he wouldn’t be able to escape. Pepper is the one that he calls.
However, despite Tony’s glorious lack of social tact, he does find it within him to be decent to other people (sometimes). In the first movie, he calls Pepper into his workshop to help him replace his arc reactor, and while she is stressed out about the process, even making a mistake that sends Tony into cardiac arrest at one point, he calmly and very kindly talks her through it. A similar scenario emerges in the Avengers when the helicarrier is attacked, and Tony is left alone with Steve to help him fix the propellers. He’s able to work with Steve and remain calm and patient despite Steve’s technological impairments and their heated exchange of words beforehand. And judging by his exchange in the Humvee and the way he interacts with crowds, he knows how to make people feel comfortable around him.
Tony Stark | MCU: The Avengers | Reserved
Character Age: Mid-to-late thirties, probably 38 or 39 by this point.
Character Suitability:Personality: Billionaire, genius, philanthropist, playboy. Tony Stark is the man that hacks into a PA system just to make his own theme music, and hates being handed things. And when a man tries to kick him out of a bar, he buys the bar, instead. His charisma is unstoppable. Tony Stark is very charming, and most dangerously of all, he’s aware of it. If he walks into a room and wants people to take notice, everyone is going to look at him. Loki and Beyoncé combined don’t have enough diva power to match him. He loves classic rock and heavy metal (bands such as, but not limited to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Def Leppard). He's a never-ending fountain of pop culture references, even the most obscure kind (referring to Thor as "Point Break" due to his resemblance to Patrick Swayze's character in the like-titled movie). And he seems vaguely educated in the Bible, due to the Jonah reference in the Avengers, and the Jericho missile in Iron Man, presuming Tony was the one that named it.
His attention span for things that don't interest him or he deems unimportant is about as long and extensive as a fly in a room full of dry shit, but as often as Tony drags his heels about early meetings, or turns up three hours late to previously scheduled appointments, he becomes focused and near-obsessive about the things that matter to him. Whether it’s his next mission as Iron Man, or a new project he’s been working on, he’s ready to trade food and sleep for gallons of coffee and all-nighters in his workshop.
Beneath the armor he has another protective exoskeleton surrounding his feelings. He doesn’t let people in so easily, even his now-girlfriend Pepper Potts. He uses his charm and sarcasm to keep people at an arm’s length. One notable example being the death of Phil Coulson: Tony is very obviously affected by his death, but calls Coulson an idiot for getting himself killed. And when he almost dies in space, his first reaction is to deflect from the moment and ramble. Not to say the humor is not legitimate: even when Tony is alone, and he's just talking to himself (note: he does this, quite often), he's cracking jokes at the expense of his surroundings.
This, the nature of his work, and the eccentricities he’s cultivated, makes Tony a very solitary creature. There are people he rubs elbows with at parties, the members of his staff, and the questionable women he sleeps with, but there are only a handful of people he’s truly close to—and his machines. Tony talks to his machines. He even made an AI to talk back to him.
There is Colonel James Rhodes (or “Rhodey,” as Tony prefers to call him), the liaison between the military and Stark Industries in the department of acquisitions. It's never outright specified in the films exactly how far back Tony and Rhodes go, or what events took place that led to them becoming friends and business partners. What is obvious is that Tony trusts him, and that trust seems to go both ways. Of course this doesn't stop Tony from driving Rhodes up the wall. Rhodes is the sensible one in the friendship (though granted most anyone seems sensible next to Tony Stark), often castigating Tony for his lax and irresponsible behavior, even referring to himself once as Tony’s babysitter, which is not entirely untrue, considering how many times he's had to clean up after Tony did something impulsive. More than once Rhodes has had to put his foot down with Tony, but even after they had a physical fight in Iron Man 2, Rhodes was able to quickly set aside his frustrations, and fight alongside Tony in the upgraded Mark II machine that he took from him.
It also bears mentioning that Rhodes has Tony listed as “the Starkster” in his cell phone, whether he intentionally gave him that nickname, or Tony put it there, himself, and Rhodes never got around to changing it.
Then of course, there is Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Tony’s personal assistant, who isn’t his right-hand woman as much as the right half of his brain walking and talking. Clearly she’s been with him for a long time, as she knows everything that helps get Tony through his life, from his business to his social security number. This makes him somewhat co-dependent on her, and at one point, he confides in her that she’s the only person he has. Later she confirms that the situation is mutual. Naturally, being the love interest in a superhero story, he’s had to save her on more than one occasion (though to be fair, she’s also bailed him out of a few life-threatening situations), and despite the fact that he can’t even remember her allergy to strawberries, Pepper means a great deal to him.
There is more than just a spark of attraction between them: both Pepper and Tony dance around each other, flirting and then drawing back (Pepper considering their professional situation, and Tony having enough sense to follow her lead), until the end of Iron Man 2, when they finally act on their feelings and get together. So by the time the Avengers rolls around, Pepper and Tony are an established couple. And despite his flirtatious nature, and his bedroom being purported to have had more female traffic than a (something), he seems fully devoted to her. In the final act of the movie, there is a nuclear weapon sent to destroy Manhattan that Tony redirects into a space portal, knowing it could mean a one-way trip, and he wouldn’t be able to escape. Pepper is the one that he calls.
However, despite Tony’s glorious lack of social tact, he does find it within him to be decent to other people (sometimes). In the first movie, he calls Pepper into his workshop to help him replace his arc reactor, and while she is stressed out about the process, even making a mistake that sends Tony into cardiac arrest at one point, he calmly and very kindly talks her through it. A similar scenario emerges in the Avengers when the helicarrier is attacked, and Tony is left alone with Steve to help him fix the propellers. He’s able to work with Steve and remain calm and patient despite Steve’s technological impairments and their heated exchange of words beforehand. And judging by his exchange in the Humvee and the way he interacts with crowds, he knows how to make people feel comfortable around him.