Tony Stark is easily the most popular character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since his introduction in 2008's Iron Man, the character set itself apart from the usual superhero thanks to his quips, his wits, his sarcasm and his propensity to never take anything too seriously. He became the leading face of Marvel and the Avengers, the hero we followed through a decade of adventures, all the way to this year's Avengers: Infinity War. Then, on the other hand, you have Doctor Stephen Strange, a character who bears a lot of similarities with Tony Stark. Like Stark, Strange was an arrogant genius who was humbled and discovered a world of heroism. By all accounts, he could even become the leading face of the next phase of Marvel's plans, should Avengers 4 prove to be the last Iron Man adventure.

Since the characters had a lot of similar traits, fans couldn't wait to see the two clash in Avengers: Infinity War. Surely their two personalities would lead to some verbal fireworks and, as everyone anticipated, the first meeting between the two superheroes did not disappoint. The two sparred with quips, their egos getting the best of them. But as the two spent more and more time together, they soon proved to be willing to protect one another. It's the beginning of a solid friendship that was a fan-favorite even before the movie, one that began a while ago in the comics thanks to Stark declaring they were facial hair bros. Here, CBR lists the best Doctor Strange vs. Iron Man memes coming out of their first live-action team-up.

17 ANYONE FOR SHAWARMA?

This meme is obviously a clear reference to the end-credits scene of 2012's The Avengers. As viewers might recall, the film ended with Tony Stark kicking back with the rest of the Avengers, trying a shawarma place he had spotted during their battle with the Chitauri.

The picture is lifted from the Doctor Strange film, during a scene where Strange and Mordo chase Kaecilius in the streets of New York. Considering that both movies take place in the same cinematic universe and in the same city, then it would make sense for Strange to try a restaurant recommended by Tony Stark.

16 A HEARTBROKEN STARK

When Steve Rogers tells Tony Stark that Bucky is his friend in Captain America: Civil War, a furious Stark answered with “So was I.” This was appropriately brutal, as it signaled an end to the friendship of Steve and Tony – and this meme plays along with that very idea.

With a picture of Benedict Cumberbatch in his Sherlock Homes costume as seen in the BBC's Sherlock, the actor declares that he is the one and only Sherlock Holmes. But as fans know, Robert Downey, Jr. also played Sherlock Holmes in Warner Bros.' series of movies. Here, Stark reacts the only way he can, with heartbreak. After all, he, too, was Sherlock.

15 INSTA-BEST FRIENDS

What does it take for two different people to become best friends instantly? Not much apparently. This meme juxtaposes what Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey, Jr. have in common, as well as the characters they play. For one thing, both have power, one in the form of money, the other, magic.

Then, the two move on to bond over their similar facial hair. Finally, the trick is completed when both state that they played Sherlock Holmes, one on television and the other on the big screen. After that, both of them have enough in common to declare each other best friends with pure joy. Sorry, Cap.

14 THE COMIC RELIEF

This meme pokes fun both at the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as DC's various television series and movies. It compares both companies' tendencies to give similar traits to various characters. For example, DC often tries to make its characters darker and more brooding, in order to bring them closer to Batman.

The same can also be said for Marvel, who often mirrors the success of Tony Stark's humor into other characters. Case in point, Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange was quite similar to Tony Stark, where the two shared the same ego-fueled sarcasm. Like Stark, Strange is a dry character who isn't afraid of speaking his mind to comedic effect.

13 BUSINESS IN THE STREETS

Back when Avengers: Infinity War was filming in the streets of New York, first pictures started doing the rounds on the Internet; images featuring Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong. Clearly the four of them seemed to be enjoying their time together, as evidenced by shots of them having fun on the set.

But when we finally saw the movie, we saw the scene in question, and there was no fun to be had. Stark, Banner, Strange and Wong were facing the Black Order, and they had to protect the Time Stone. They were all business when the cameras were on. But when they were off, we know that they were having a great time.

12 STRANGE TEXT MESSAGES

As a medical doctor, Stephen Strange only had to go by his original title to find himself a superhero name. Doctor Strange, as Spider-Man himself says, sounds like a made-up name, but it's actually quite real. But leave it to Tony Stark to remind the good doctor of his intellectual superiority.

In this fun text message exchange between the two superheroes, we see that Tony, in his constant humility, reminds Doctor Strange that he has three PhD's. He tells him that even though he has all that to his name, he still doesn't call himself Doctor Stark -- even though that actually has quite a nice ring to it.

11 FACIAL HAIR BROS

In Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez' Invincible Iron Man run, Doctor Strange made a guest appearance to help Tony Stark deal with a magical threat. When the situation was finally resolved, Tony requested a high five from his “awesome facial hair bro,” a scene that would become iconic for the two characters.

Here, we see this very comic book page. However, Marquez's pencils were replaced by actual shots of the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing the scene to life in another way. Sadly, the scene didn't make it to live-action in Infinity War, but perhaps Avengers 4 will finally give the fans the scene they all want to see.

10 A SPIDER-MENACE

In Captain America: Civil War, we saw a mentor relationship start to form between Tony Stark and Peter Parker. Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War both continued to explore this relationship, to the point that Spider-Man and Iron Man have spent more time together on-screen than most other MCU superheroes.

This meme honors that bond at the expense of Doctor Strange. With the Cloak of Levitation on his back, Peter Parker apologizes to the Sorcerer Supreme, revealing that it was Tony Stark who put him up to it. This is definitely meant to be a nod to the bond all three superheroes formed fighting together on Titan, and it's something we could easily see happen on the big screen.

9 TIME LORDS

Here is another meme that pokes fun at the fact that both Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey, Jr. played Sherlock Holmes in different productions. By juxtaposing an image of the Sherlock/Watson duo of Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, the caption mentions that the super-sleuths are Time Lords.

For the uninitiated, Time Lords are a race of immortal beings featured in Doctor Who. The Doctor, himself the title character, is a Time Lord, and he has the ability to regenerate his body to take on the form of another to prolong his life. This meme is trying to tell us that both iterations of the Sherlock/Watson duo are the same, just different incarnations of an alien species.

8 QUITE THE BARGAIN

Tony Stark's annoyed face when he was taking part in a group conversation with Steve Rogers, Thor, Nick Fury and the rest of the Avengers in Joss Whedon's 2012 film became a meme of its own. The face came to represent all manner of annoyance, with Stark's expression adding the perfect emotion to all manner of complaints.

This meme takes on a whole new meaning with the sentence “When Doctor Strange says he wants to bargain,” considering that it calls back to the time-loop the Sorcerer Supreme created in his solo film. Stark's face perfectly represents Dormammu's feelings, who was clearly annoyed – just as Tony was when Cap and Thor had trouble understanding his references.

7 WHEN THOR IS LEFT OUT AGAIN

After the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, almost every Avenger once again showed up in Captain America: Civil War to settle the Sokovia Accords dispute. Almost every Avenger. In fact, Thor was nowhere to be seen, since he was off somewhere in space. His exclusion was even the source of his own little short movie, Team Thor.

Now, this meme takes things even further. With a picture of Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey, Jr. embracing, poor Thor realizes that he is once again left out from the next big Avengers reunion. But Thor shouldn't fret too much, because all three of them would star in Avengers: Infinity War.

6 WATSON CAN'T BELIEVE IT

Before Avengers: Infinity War was released, everyone only dreamed of what a team-up between Iron Man and Doctor Strange would look like. Luckily, Marvel fans got a brief taste of it when a picture of both actors seemingly getting along swimmingly surfaced. Instantly, fans simply couldn't wait any longer.

This is a meme that translates that very sentiment. With an image of Martin Freeman's Watson on his computer, everyone could easily describe how excited they were at the prospect of seeing Tony Stark and Stephen Strange share the screen. Plus, the fact that Freeman is also a part of the MCU only makes this meme even more timely.

5 THE TELEVISION SHOW WE NEED

It's a well-known fact that both Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey, Jr. played different iterations of Sherlock Holmes in the past few years. Both interpretations of the character were fan-favorites: Downey, Jr.'s period piece re-framed the super-sleuth as an action hero, while Cumberbatch's modern television series re-imagined Holmes in the days of Twitter.

While both were great in their own right, it's safe to say that all fans would want nothing more than to see a team-up event of both Sherlocks. This meme begs for just that, with a “poster” of the television show we all need, starring two of the world's biggest actors playing one of their most iconic roles.

4 CAPTAIN AMERICA WANTS TO HANG WITH THE COOL KIDS

When all four actors who play Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Bruce Banner and Wong were on set together, they looked to be having a whole lot of fun. In fact, one picture of all four actors during their lunch break did the rounds on the Internet, with all of them demonstrating how epic their time together really looked.

But fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe weren't the only ones wishing to be included in this epic lunch. Actor Chris Evans, who portrays Captain America in the Avengers movies, tweeted in response to the picture that he felt mightily betrayed by not being invited to the lunch. He certainly wasn't the only one.

3 A TONY STARK AI

Leave it to Robert Downey, Jr. to make as many possible references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a single sentence, all while helping a charity at the same time. The Iron Man actor once said that he would be willing to voice Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg's own AI program, like Tony Stark's very own JARVIS.

But he didn't stop there. He said he would do it only if Paul Bettany, who voices JARVIS, gets paid, and if he donates the money to a charity of Benedict Cumberbatch's choosing. “That's the right kind of STRANGE.” Indeed it is, but it's also pretty darn cool.

2 RDJ IS A CUMBERBATCH FAN

Just because Tony Stark and Stephen Strange's personalities clash on the big screen, that doesn't mean that the actors who play them don't get along. During a red carpet event, Cumberbatch was in the middle of an interview but couldn't give much of an answer because of screaming fans.

The fans only continued to shout, until one of them screamed “you're the best!” Of course, that person was Robert Downey, Jr. and Cumberbatch made sure everyone knew it. Or perhaps that wasn't him at all, and Cumberbatch was just messing with Downey, Jr. Either way, one more awesome exchange between facial hair bros.

1 STARK STANDS BY HIS BRO

There are many Civil War memes out there, but none come close to this one. There are many things that could lead to a fight between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, and the Sokovia Accords is not the main one. All it takes is a disagreement about which is the best Doctor.

Of course, Steve Rogers stands by Doctor Who, an old sci-fi show that's been around for a very long time. But Stark stands by his facial hair bro, and declares that Doctor Strange is, obviously, the best Doctor. This understandably leads to a battle of epic proportions, but at least we know which side Doctor Strange will be on. Or do we?