Marvel's iconic hero Iron Man has had many different incarnations, been in many different games, movies, and tv shows, been involved in several significant events within the Marvel universe, and has inspired people both fictional and real. To sum it all up, he’s kind of a big deal. The armor clad hero is a favorite to many people, including yours truly, and there are many different reasons as to why that is; his genius, the style, the sheer bravado he has. I’d like to talk about why he’s my favorite superhero. And don’t worry, I won’t lecture you on my opinion of Civil War (2016), even though Tony didn’t deserve what happened.

Anthony Edward Stark, or more fashionably, Tony Stark has a multitude of aspects that make him up. Evident in the popular line from the Avengers movie (2012) “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

Tony Stark is in a world filled with super powered people, mutants, cosmic beings, and skilled fighters. To be a hero in the Marvel universe is dangerous, even with super powers, which Iron Man has none of. One could write a book about the many different motivations that goes behind various superheroes reasoning to be heroes. Such as Spider-Man with his all too famous line “With great power, comes great responsibility.” For Iron Man it’s different, he could just help make the world a better place with his mind and resources. But that’s not enough for him, he holds himself to a higher standard to help. So, in lieu of super powers, he uses his genius to go out in a suit of armor stand side by side with heroes to physically help the world.

One could argue that it is his ego that compels him to fight; but I think it’s a sense of selflessness, reckless for sure, the will to put himself in insanely dangerous situations. His lack of powers makes his choice to be a hero all the more courageous.

With Iron Man, I see no plateau for him. You can list what superheroes are capable of and what they’re not capable of. They have skills, or powers best suited for certain situations. Spider-Man, as powerful as he is, would be far less effective in an open field. Captain America only has zenith human stats, there is but so much he can do outside of a fist fight. I argue that Iron Man is one of the most versatile heroes, and that the only limit he has is technology which he has considerable domain over. He’s made hundreds of suits, if not thousands of them, that are capable of a multiple things. From his Hulkbuster to his arctic suit, there’s rarely a situation that Tony Stark hasn’t prepared a suit for.

With that in mind, Iron Man is utterly human, he has flaws just like the rest of us. They manifest in many ways, sometimes affecting him as a superhero. From his alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and paranoia, Tony Stark has had more than his fair share of damage to his psyche. He doesn’t get a magical recovery either, he struggles with it for a while. Tony shows us not only the strain of having these mental conditions, but also the symptoms of it, and hopefully what it takes to recover, or at least function with them.

One of the largest parts that causes the most problem is his guilt that he sometimes unfairly puts on himself. In one arc of his story, “Armor Wars”, he starts blaming himself for the actions of certain supervillains who use armor based his designs. Had he not made his armor, then these villains wouldn’t exist. He starts going after bad guys with armor designs matching his, and disabling them, which sounds all well and good but in the process accidentally kills one of them. Then he starts going after Mandroids (S.H.I.E.L.D agents who pilot suits like that of Iron Man). This vendetta of his ends with him wanting to give up being Iron Man, before realizing that there are threats that only he can face.

Why is Tony becoming zealously jealous of his armor a reason to like him you wonder? It all goes to show how anyone even a genius, a playboy, a billionaire, a superhero can suffer from deep unresolved issues, have panic attacks, be scared, even makes mistakes and hope to rectify them. That he’s still human. While I personally have never had the mental conditions he faces, I’m sure there are plenty of people who do whom can relate to it. I see him as a symbol of hope, that you can make it through whatever troubles you.