Why Iron Man Is Traumatized By Loki's Attack More Than His Kidnapping

Why was Tony Stark (Iron Man) more traumatized by Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) invasion of Earth in The Avengers than when he was kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Iron Man? Before he sacrificed his life to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his invasion of Earth in Avengers: Endgame, Tony's story had been one of epic growth and evolution that was also undercut by his fraying mental health issues, which really started in The Avengers and not in Iron Man.

In Iron Man, Tony was riding high as a global celebrity who was considered the most brilliant inventor on Earth when he was abducted by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, which was a plot engineered and bankrolled by Obediah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Stark was nearly killed by the attack on the U.S. Army convoy but his life by a man named Yinsen (Shaun Toub), who built a crude electromagnet to keep shrapnel from piercing Tony's heart. The Ten Rings forced Tony to build a weapon for them but, instead, Stark created his first Iron Man suits which he used to kill his captors and save himself. Tony soon returned to the United States, built a superior set of high-tech suits, and became Iron Man.

One would think that Stark would have lingering trauma from being violently kidnapped by insurgents, held hostage for 3 months, and nearly dying, but Tony used that experience to fuel his transformation into a superhero. The billionaire playboy's kidnapping began his new creation myth. In truth, despite his dire circumstances, Tony never surrendered his control during his ordeal. Tony was heroically able to trick and manipulate the Ten Rings into giving him the means to save himself, and Stark had Jinsen as an ally throughout, although his friend died during Tony's escape. If Tony was indeed harboring trauma, he was able to subsume it in his drive to become Iron Man, which made him into an even bigger celebrity. Bottom line, Tony was able to maintain control over his circumstances throughout his trials in Iron Man, and that fed his infamous ego and kept him at an even keel.

Tony Stark sits next to his suit in Iron Man 3

What Tony endured in The Avengers was a different story; to end the Battle of New York, Iron Man flew a nuclear missile through a wormhole and into deep space. But before he unleashed the nuke to destroy Loki's Chitauri invasion fleet, Stark was struck with fear at the overwhelming size and scope of the alien invasion force. And Tony assumed he was going to die; he had made the decision to sacrifice himself and Stark was shocked that he miraculously survived. But that entire ordeal left Tony deeply scarred, and several subsequent MCU movies dealt with the fallout of Stark's survival in The Avengers.

Tony was clearly suffering from PTSD in Iron Man 3 and he got no help when he reached out to Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Stark was so fearful of all of the enemies that could attack Earth that he decided what was needed was "a suit of armor around the world", which led to the grave mistake of creating Ultron (James Spader). The fact that Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) gave Tony a vision of his worst nightmare coming true in Avengers: Age of Ultron made his emotional state even worse. Tony was obviously coping with mental health issues during Captain America: Civil War, and he revealed to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) that Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) left him, which, compounded with the Avengers breaking up because of the Sokovia Accords, left Tony feeling vilified and more alone than ever.

Ultimately, the fallout from the Battle of New York and the events that transpired afterward made Tony see how little control he truly had, which made him attempt to assert control even harder, creating even more problems. Tony did have personal bright spots, like becoming Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) mentor and, after Thanos killed half of all life in the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, Tony was one of the few who found salvation in Avengers: Endgame by marrying Pepper and becoming a father to Morgan Stark (Lexi Rabe). While Tony Stark survived a horrific kidnapping in Iron Man, he turned that into a positive that launched him into his destiny as a superhero. Alternately, Iron Man spent the remainder of his life coping with his trauma from The Avengers, which he was finally able to put to rest when Tony gave his life to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame.

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