Iron Man 2: Iron Man

It seems like only yesterday that Iron Man flew into theaters and stole our hearts. Aww. The first film was enough of a rousing success that a sequel was warranted and this time, there's more of everything. Some of the new characters you may not be familiar with, so every Tuesday and Thursday until the film's release Omnicomic will be profiling one of the characters in the film.

Real Name: Anthony Edward “Tony” Stark

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)

Origin: While on a trip overseas to test a set of new weapons for the military Tony Stark’s convoy was attacked by a group of terrorists. During the battle a land mine exploded near Tony that sent shrapnel his way, lodging some close to his heart. After being taken prisoner by the terrorists he devises a plan with the assistance of another captive. The terrorists wanted the two prisoners to build them a weapon of mass destruction, but instead they build a suit that keeps the shrapnel from killing Tony Stark and helps them escape. This is where he gets the magnetic generator attached in his chest to keep the shrapnel from killing him and creates the first Iron Man suit to destroy the terrorist camp and escape.

Powers/ Abilities: The different versions of his Iron Man suits have a wide range of varying weaponry and gadgets. For his primary energy weapon he has the repulsor beams that can shoot a focused beam out of either palm in addition to repeling physical and energy-based attacks. The armor also packs a few more surprises such as sonic generators, explosive shell projectiles, mini-missiles, a magnetic field generator and can even generate an electric charge to knock off attackers.

Backstory: Born on Long Island, New York, Tony Stark was a man made to do great things. His parents Howard Anthony Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark owned Stark Industries, an international company that designed weapons for the military among other things. A boy genius that was naturally adept at building things, taking them apart and learn about machines, Tony graduated from MIT at the age of 19 with two masters that lead him to work with his dad at Stark Industries. Two years later his parents were killed in a car crash leaving him the company to run. Of course that doesn’t happen as he pushes most of the responsibilities over to his personal assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Potts.

After his brush with death and now relying on the suit to keep him alive, Tony Stark goes through different phases of his life. From the drinking self-destructive part (Demon in a Bottle) to eventually using his suit for good and fighting the evil of the world. Building better suits to help get the job done, Iron Man goes on to found The Avengers alongside other superheroes of the Marvel Universe. One of the more recent suits that Tony Stark designed has an artificial intelligence in it that can react at times faster than Tony can. During the famous Marvel Civil War, Tony Stark found himself on the side of the Superhero Registration Act fighting against Captain America.

Black Widow
Iron Maiden
Justin Hammer
Nick Fury
Pepper Potts
War Machine
Whiplash