Iron Man was the crown jewel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for many years, and fans all over the world grew extremely attached to the character of Tony Stark. Iron Man is a complicated hero who has many obvious flaws and personality defects, but he is lovable because he’s also a good person in many ways.
From his sarcasm and wit to his self-doubt and haughtiness, here are the best and worst traits that Iron Man possessed in the MCU.
Worst: Closed off
Tony Stark had a unique upbringing as an extremely rich and privileged individual. He was also a genius, and his parents, especially his father, didn’t have the best relationship with him.
While he was luckier than many children, he definitely has many issues when it comes to trusting people and letting them in. He struggled to form close relationships with anyone, and he kept people at arm’s length for most of his life.
Best: Open-minded
While Tony Stark spent many years being mostly a playboy who didn’t really care where his money came from, he had a life-altering experience when he almost died and saw the destruction that Stark Industries was wreaking on the world.
After this, he was willing to change his outlook and try to fix things. His willingness to change his mind was definitely one of his positive attributes.
Worst: Judgemental
Iron Man is known for being sarcastic and witty, and he definitely has some great one-liners that make fans laugh. While he doesn’t always try to come across as mean, he can be flippant and rude.
He’s somewhat judgemental of others, and he comments on what other people do and what they look like. He also makes snap judgments of people, such as Captain America, without really getting to know them.
Best: Generous
There’s no design that Tony Stark is one of the richest people in the universe of the MCU, and there is a myth surrounding a billionaire figure who gives away a lot of money to help the world. While this might be a fantasy that doesn’t always happen much in the real world, the fictional character of Tony Stark was generous.
He especially gave a lot to the people he was close to, and he would spend a lot of time as well as money coming up with ways to protect the Avengers and Pepper Potts.
Worst: Reckless
When Iron Man is first introduced in the MCU, fans got to see a more nitty-gritty side to the character. He was prone to party and drown his issues and sorrows in substances and hooking up.
He was also prone to being quite reckless and self-destructive, especially when he learned he could possibly die, and instead of dealing with this in a healthy way, he put his own life at risk.
Best: Compassionate
Given Tony Stark’s tough exterior and the fact that he uses his money and humor to keep his guard up, it might seem surprising that one of his more positive attributes is compassion.
Iron Man definitely uses this hard shell, both his literal suit and the figurative one, to protect himself because he has a sensitive side. He is prone to feeling guilt, and he does care about the suffering of others. He’s also a really caring father and husband.
Worst: Arrogant
Tony Stark has many of the things and attributes that society values the most including money, good looks, power, and intellect. So, given all of these things and the fact that he’s so privileged in society, it’s not surprising that he’s rather arrogant.
While he does become less arrogant over the course of the films, he can come off as a bit of an asshole at times, and he wouldn’t always be easy to get along with.
Best: Intelligent
One of the defining characteristics of Tony Stark is his intelligence.
While Shuri might be smarter than him in the MCU, she’s the only one to beat him out. Iron Man is a genius inventor with an extremely high IQ, and he’s able to use his high intellect to change the world in a variety of ways. Luckily, he learns to start applying himself to actually do good things.
Worst: Insecure
While Tony might just seem like an overall jerk at times, most of his bravado masks deep insecurity. He is afraid of others getting to know him because he doesn’t think he will be enough, and it’s clear he has a hard time with intimacy and authenticity.
He also worries a lot about others and has a lot of responsibility, and he definitely struggles with mental health issues including PTSD.
Best: Self-sacrificing
While at first Tony Stark was shown to be the Avenger who was least likely to sacrifice himself to save others, he proved pretty early on that he would die to save the world.
He took the warheads into the wormhole in the first Avengers film, and he ended up giving his life to right the universe at the end of Avengers: Endgame.