Tony Stark was one of the biggest personalities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but even Iron Man himself was inspired by other big personalities from the real world – and here’s who they are. The MCU is now the most extensive superhero universe in film and TV/streaming, and it all began in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, which not only introduced Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark but it also set the tone for the subsequent movies. As the hero that kicked off the MCU, Iron Man became one of the leaders of the Avengers and the Infinity Saga, as well as a favorite of the audience.
In addition to starring in his own trilogy, Iron Man led the original Avengers team (alongside Steve Rogers/Captain America) in four major adventures, but he was involved in a major conflict with Captain America in Captain America: Civil War that fractured the team before its two biggest and most dangerous missions in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Iron Man’s time in the MCU came to an end in Avengers: Endgame after he sacrificed himself to save the universe, but he continues to be one of the most important characters in this connected universe as well as one of the biggest and most unique personalities in it – and with good reason, as he’s based on two notable real-life men.
Tony Stark was the MCU’s genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist who during his whole arc struggled to overcome his ego and inner demons, ultimately dying as a true hero, but the Iron Man found in the comics and the one in the MCU were inspired by two different but powerful (in different ways) men: Marvel Comics’ Iron Man was based on Howard Hughes, while the MCU’s version was inspired by Elon Musk, who even had a cameo appearance in Iron Man 2.
Iron Man was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby, and Lee shared on different occasions that Stark’s looks and personality were based on Howard Hughes. Lee explained that Hughes was “one of the most colorful men of our time”, as he was “an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase”, which is pretty much what can be said about Iron Man. Howard Hughes was a business magnate, engineer, pilot, film director, and philanthropist, known for big-budget productions like the 1932 version of Scarface and his interest in aviation and aerospace travel, forming the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932. Now, when it comes to the MCU’s version of Iron Man, while he clearly has some Howard Hughes influence like its comic book counterpart, the character was partly inspired by Elon Musk.
Speaking to Recode Decode (via Vox), Jon Favreau shared that, while the MCU’s Iron Man is not based on Elon Musk, the business magnate definitely influenced the big-screen version of Tony Stark. Favreau explained that Robert Downey Jr. told him there was somebody they should sit down and talk with, as that guy could give them “some insight into what it’d really be like to be Tony Stark”. Favreau stayed friends with Musk after that conversation and he even let them film Iron Man 2 as SpaceX for free, and Musk himself has a cameo in the movie in which he briefly mentions an idea for an electric jet to an always busy Tony. Iron Man certainly has a lot of both Howard Hughes and Elon Musk, with each one influencing the character in different aspects, and once you’re aware of these inspirations, it’s hard not to see them in Tony Stark.
