When Marvel released Iron Man as the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was a risky deal. For mainstream fans, Iron Man wasn't a top-line hero, although, in the comics, he was always one of the most important characters in the universe. He was also one of the most hated superheroes by many fans, which didn't bode well for the MCU.
Luckily, Jon Favreau fought hard for Marvel to cast Robert Downey Jr. and the actor helped change Iron Man into a character that remains one of the most popular in MCU history. To do this, the MCU had to make several changes to the character and his supporting players, and there are many fans today who mistake some Iron Man traits from the MCU with comic canon.
Tony Stark And Pepper Potts Were Meant To Be
When the first Iron Man movie came out, Tony Stark was clearly a womanizer. That was also shown in the flashback scenes in Iron Man 3. However, the underlying story of Tony from the first movie to his end in Avengers: End Game was that Tony and Pepper Potts were meant to be and fated to marry and have a child.
That is not, and it was never, Iron Man in the comics. Tony has dated just about everyone, from The Wasp and Black Widow to She-Hulk and Hellcat. He did date Pepper in the comics once, but she ended up marrying Tony's close friend Happy Hogan and they never got back together again.
The World Always Knew Tony Stark Was Iron Man
At the end of the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark told the world on the news that he was Iron Man. He started the next movie in a meeting with Congress and the world knew he was Iron Man from that point on. He never had a secret identity like many heroes. In the comics, the world also knows he is Iron Man.
However, the idea that they always knew is not Marvel Comics canon. The world didn't know he was Iron Man until decades into the character. For much of his career, the public thought that Iron Man was Tony Stark's bodyguard. The Avengers didn't even know he was Stark.
Iron Man's Parents
Tony Stark in the comics and the movies always had a significant problem. He never felt he could live up to the level of accomplishment of his father, Howard Stark. However, there were a couple of huge differences between the movies and the comics. First, in the comics, Howard and Maria adopted Tony and he was not their biological child.
The second difference comes with how they died. In the movies, fans saw that Winter Soldier killed Tony's parents. While someone killed his parents in the comics, it was never Bucky Barnes - that was just a storyline created for the movies.
Jarvis Was Always An AI For Iron Man
Fans who watched Agent Carter on ABC know that Howard Stark had a butler named Edwin Jarvis. He helped Peggy Carter in her early battles as part of what became S.H.I.E.L.D. However, when it comes to Iron Man, JARVIS was not a human in the movies, but an AI that helped him with his inventions until it finally came to life as Vision.
In the comics, there was not an AI named JARVIS. Also, Edwin Jarvis was not Howard Stark's butler. He worked for Tony Stark and the Avengers. The movie took the man in Tony's life and turned it into an AI.
Iron Man Created Ultron
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark began to play God, a role he often took on in the comics. In this case, Stark wanted to protect the Earth from another alien invasion without needing to use the Avengers to do so. He created a defense system in Ultron that had one prime directive - to protect the planet.
The problem is that the biggest threat to the planet is humans. Ultron decided to eliminate humans to save the Earth. In the Marvel Comics canon, Tony had nothing to do with Ultron. Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, made the robot with the same instructions. In the comics, Ultron even refers to Hank as his father.
Iron Man Has A Big Sense Of Humor
One of the things that make Iron Man so popular in the movies is the fact that he has a great sense of humor. Tony Stark is sarcastic with a habit of giving people nicknames, like calling Thor "Point Break" in reference to the movies. He is always cracking jokes and couldn't even stop when he was at a Congressional hearing.
That is not Tony Stark from the comics. In the comics, Iron Man is always very serious. He is dour, he is pessimistic, and he is someone who always rubs people the wrong way thanks to a bad attitude more often than not. Before the first movie, Iron Man was one of Marvel's most hated heroes, and that only changed thanks to Robert Downey Jr.
Iron Man Is Always Very Heroic
In the MCU, there were two heroes that stood above all others when it came to heroes protecting the Earth. These men were Captain America and Iron Man. While Cap was the good old boy American hero, Iron Man was the arrogant hero who was willing to rush headstrongly into action at all costs.
When Iron Man snapped his finger and sacrificed his own life, it fit his character perfectly. In the comics, Iron Man is much less heroic. He has done more bad things than good at times. He battled his own government at one point and then betrayed all the men he fought alongside at another. Iron Man is not an antihero, but he is not an honorable one either.
Tony Stark Is Very Self-Confident
If one thing defines Iron Man in his trilogy of movies, it is his self-confidence. The only time that he showed a lack of confidence was after Thanos snapped out most of humanity. He still came back around and helped lead the fight in the end and he was always arrogant and self-confident enough to know he could win any fight.
That is not comic book canon. Iron Man has more times than not doubted himself to the point of self-defeat. His alcohol use was only hinted at in the movies, but it destroyed his life and he even told Captain America that he couldn't go on without a bottle to ease the pain. In his most recent comic book run, he almost died more than once trying to prove to himself that he was good enough.
Tony Was Mostly Independent
The only time that Iron Man really showed in the movies that he was subservient was when he went to war with Captain America at the call of Ross and the U.S. Government. However, he had ulterior motives for that. When Nick Fury asked if he wanted to form the Avengers, he didn't care and when he was asked to help the government at the Congressional hearings, he passed on the offer.
This is not Marvel canon. Iron Man loves to be put in control. He loved running his own business at Stark International and did so until it was taken from him. He accepted a role from the U.S. President to run S.H.I.E.L.D. after Civil War and had no problem hunting down his friends and imprisoning them. In the comics, Tony had no problem with bureaucracy.
Iron Man's Relationship With Spider-Man
One of the most touching things in the MCU was in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Peter Parker struggled to get past the death of Iron Man. This is because it was Tony Stark who took Peter Parker under his wing and was a mentor, teaching Peter how to be a hero, and leading him by the hand from a teenage vigilante to being worthy of joining the Avengers.
However, he was never in this role in the comics, and Spider-Man and Iron Man's relationship was never anywhere near as close as it was in the movies. The two were allies and they worked together. Peter even worked with Iron Man to train new young superheroes, but he never needed or had Tony there to help him become a true hero.