Avengers: Countdown to the Final Phase – How the Iron Man Journey Always Leads to Thanos

By Joshua Yehl

Starting today, we take a closer look at each of the founders of the MCU Avengers and how their stories led them to their final confrontation with Thanos. Iron Man and his journey at Avengers: Endgame are the first to be held today.

Iron Man launched the Marvel cinematic universe and, although it does not seem at first glance, his entire arc of characters led to an epic confrontation with Thanos. It took years for Marvel's first hero and villain to meet in person, but they actually fought for years in what amounts to an intergalactic game of chess where Tony did not even know about it. Identity of his opponent. As we prepare for the release of Avengers: Endgame, here's a look at Tony Stark's journey and how it all came to Mad Titan.

Absolute objectives

When Tony Stark revealed himself to the press as Iron Man at the end of his first film, he did not realize that he was declaring to the universe that he was assuming the post of first protector of the Earth. In the guilt of his family's lucrative arms-selling society, he pledged to rid the world of these weapons and put himself in danger rather than let others suffer.

Few people knew that this heroic philosophy would soon be put to the test unimaginable when it should not fight against guns and missiles that threaten lives, but a set of rainbow rocks cosmic ones capable of affecting the entire universe and being in existence enough crazy to use them.

Tony's first contact with Thanos

Although Loki was featured as the main antagonist of the Avengers' first film, the real villain was the crazy Titan himself, Thanos. Loki was only one performer, similar to the members of the Black Order, who used the spirit stone and the Chitauri army that Thanos had offered him. So when Tony played the game of sacrifice and guided the nuclear bomb through the portal to end the New York battle, he did not fail Loki, but Thanos as well.

It was at this point that Tony first learned that there was a more serious threat, although he did not know his name at the time, and that the threat threatening him would continue to haunt him for years.

Fight a villain who is not there

While dealing with "Mandarin" projects in Iron Man 3, Tony also struggled with an internal battle with his near-death traumatic experience. Tony Stark, usually cool, confident and confident, was the shadow of his former self, now tormented by nocturnal terrors and subject to anxiety attacks at the slightest outbreak.

Just like the real-world soldiers who return home after the war, Tony is psychologically scarred and forced to deal with the horrors of what has happened to him. Thanos put our hero on his knees without even being on the same planet.

Speaking of Thanos, here's what we can glean from Endgame trailers about his new weapon:

Tony's paranoia and his desire to protect have reached an all-time high in Age of Ultron. He had already begun to bring "peace in our day" by creating the Iron Legion, a team of robots to help with emergencies. They were a forerunner of Ultron, a dream project that would ideally put armor around the world. As cold as it sounds, it's the idea of ​​a protective armor that helps Tony sleep restless and restless at night.

It was the first sign that Thanos had forced Tony to see bigger – instead of trying to defend a city or country, Tony now wants to protect the entire planet. When the Avengers learn that Tony inadvertently created a killer robot, Tony explains himself, addressing the sky, the space, Thanos. "It's up there? It's the finale. "

To make matters worse, Ultron was the result of Mind Stone housed in Loki's staff, and that staff came from Thanos. Once again, even though Thanos was nowhere, the consequences of his machinations continued to touch Tony Stark's heart. The conflict with Ultron caused the Avengers to burst for the first time, pushing them to quell the center shortly thereafter.

The true instigator of the civil war

Iron Man changed the world when it was revealed to the public and since then, many very powerful people have started to appear around the MCU. One of them is Wanda Maximoff, who has powers that she woke up because of the mental stone, powers that she can not totally control, resulting in the death of civilians during a mission.

This is the last straw for Thunderbolt Ross, who supports the Avengers in a corner by forcing them to sign the Sokovia Agreements to give some measure of responsibility to the team. As far as Tony likes to resist the authority, the blood on his hands was too heavy and he surprised everyone when he became the face of the movement favorable to the recording.

When the dust of the civil war between the superheroes dissipated, half of the Avengers left the grid and Tony lost the partnership with Captain America. Very poignantly, Tony's best friend, Rhodey, was paralyzed from the waist up when he was accidentally hit by a Vision blast from Mind Stone.

That damn rock again. Had this war even taken place without her? It is a gift from Thanos that continues to weigh down Tony Stark's pain and misery.

We could play Iron Man in VR, and it was as sweet as it sounds. Discover our impressions by watching the video below:

Along came an iron spider

The story of Tony MUC is not so sinister, though. Among the new heroes was Spider-Man, Peter Parker, a young man with a very talented spirit. Tony saw great power in the young man and took his responsibility to help turn him into a true superhero. Throughout Tony's life, he considered his legacy as what Stark Industries, then the Avengers, would leave behind, but for the first time, he saw that his heroism could be conveyed through this incredible, spectacular young man.

Curiously, Infinity War first finds Tony jogging in the park with his fiance Pepper Potts, telling him how he dreamed they had a baby together. After raising Spider-Man to the rank of hero, it is not surprising that he wants to have his own child. But all this is put on hold when Dr. Strange arrives with information that will change the trajectory of Tony's life in a catastrophic way.

Day of the game

It is inside Sanctum Santorum that all of Tony's horrors in recent years have finally been baptized, with the kind permission of Bruce Banner: "Thanos. It's a plague, Tony. He invades the planets, he takes what he wants, he eliminates half of the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York, it's him!

Suddenly, all of Tony's pain, trauma, and sorrow become one and the same. Thanos. The one who invaded his home, wounded his friends and loved ones, broke his team and gave him so many sleepless nights. Thanos. The one he's built to defeat his darkly advanced nanotechnology armor. Thanos.

And what's the first thing Tony does? He begins to stretch. This is the time he is preparing. Previously, he could not take the wizard with the collar seriously, but he now realizes that it's the day of the match. It is therefore better to relax and build muscles because it is avenged.

The curse of Thanos

When Tony finally meets Thanos in person, nothing happens as he expected – in more ways than one. Despite all his efforts, he is not able to draw more than a drop of blood from Thanos. But also, this huge purple monstrosity really surprises Tony by calling him by name. "You're not the only one to have cursed with knowledge," Thanos told Tony, offering a bit of twisted respect. But Tony does not want respect, he wants to take revenge and put an end to this nightmare that has been going on for years, and he tells it to Thanos: "My only fate is that you are."

But the Mad Titan is too much for Tony, putting him with the same weapon designed to kill him. Dr. Strange breaks the protocol and exchanges the stone of time against Tony's life, Thanos escapes to Earth to complete the Gauntlet Infinity and execute the break, and Tony's pseudo-son turns to ashes in his hands. Tony's entire quest crushes and burns. All led to Thanos, and now Thanos won.

At least for the moment.

At least until Avengers: Endgame.

Joshua is the main feature editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you will want to follow it Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.