Iron Man has always been one of the more important heroes in the Marvel Universe, but his star skyrocketed with the 2008 release of his first movie. Since then Iron Man has become one of the biggest heroes in the world. It helps, of course, that's he played by the boundlessly charming and talented Robert Downey Jr.
The movies make Iron Man look like the greatest hero of them all... but the comics paint a much different picture of the Armored Avenger. Iron Man has made a lot of mistakes over the years, and when someone as important as him makes mistakes, the consequences ripple outward, affecting numerous people. This list is going to take a look at some of his mistakes and what we can learn from them.
10 His Arrogance
There's no two ways about it- Tony Stark is an arrogant man. A very, very arrogant man. Now, this arrogance isn't entirely unfounded- he's an intelligent, talented, and rich man. However, his arrogance has gotten him in a lot of trouble over the years, making his life much harder.
The lesson here is to be humble. It's okay to have faith in one's abilities, but to take it as far as Iron Man does constantly can lead to very bad places.
9 Keeping Secrets
After the Kree-Skrull War, Iron Man feared for the Earth's survival. So, he brought together a group of the most important leaders in the heroic world - Mr Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Professor X, Black Bolt, and Namor - and formed the Illuminati. This group would meet in secret and make the big decisions for the heroes of the world, as well as secretly take care of threats they felt only they could take care of. Of course, the whole thing eventually blew up in all of their faces.
Iron Man didn't trust his friends and that turned out very badly. He tried to consolidate all the important decisions to one group and when everyone found out how little he trusted them, it wasn't a good look for him. Trusting those around you is very important.
8 Taking Too Much Responsibility For Himself
This one is a corollary to the last entry, but it's important enough that it needs to be its own entry. Iron Man has always taken too much responsibility for himself. There are several reasons for this, he feels like he's the best one for the job and he'd rather be the one to take the blame if it all goes bad. While this seems noble, it also leads to overwhelming stress and poor decision making.
When one is surrounded by as many competent people as Iron Man is, taking all of the responsibility is a huge mistake. Trusting only one's own skills is a surefire recipe for disaster, as having multiple viewpoints are the best ways to solve problems.
7 Biting Off Way More Than He Can Chew
Iron Man has been known to overextend himself and think that his technical skills can solve any problem when that's not always the case. While this isn't always a huge mistake, it can lead to disaster sometimes. Take Avengers Vs. X-Men. Iron Man thought he could build a suit of armor that would stop the Phoenix Force, a primordial force of creation. It couldn't and he ended up splitting the power among five of the X-Men, leading to a lot of very bad things.
Iron Man's confidence in his skills can lead to some very bad places. Sometimes, one has to realize that their skills, as great as they are, don't always lend themselves well to every problem.
6 The Armor Wars
At one point, Tony Stark got mad about people copying his armor and using his technology without his permission, so he went on a quest to destroy any technology that was based on his but not built by him. Putting himself at odds with not only villains, but also the US government and his fellow heroes, this whole situation cast Iron Man in a bad light.
Stark wasn't mad that people had stolen creations of his - he was mad that people had used his tech as an inspiration. This is an extremely childish act and verges on monopolizing technology. It's okay for other people to base their work on someone else's, in fact, it's pretty much the basis for all human achievement. Don't be like that - let others build off the things you do.
5 Supporting The Military-Industrial Complex
The Stark family made their money off selling weapons and propping up a system that has caused an untold amount of suffering over the years. The morality of being in the weapons business is gray, at best. At worst, it makes one culpable in the sometimes terrible acts that the weapons are used for. Eventually, Stark would change his business, but for years, he was fine with supplying to weapons to anyone who would pay for them.
4 Flip-Flopping
Iron Man has done a lot flip-flopping over the years, but the thing that he's flip-flopped the most about is his secret identity. There will be times when he tells the world that he's Iron Man then something bad happens and he has to go to extraordinary lengths to walk that decision back and make up for the damage it caused.
Making a decision and sticking to it, regardless of the consequences, is very important. Yes, bad things can happen, but that doesn't mean that one should change their mind. Learning to mitigate one's mistakes while staying true to the decisions one makes is very important.
3 Screwing Up S.H.I.E.L.D.
After Civil War (stayed tuned!), Iron Man was made Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he was terrible at it. It didn't help that he spent too much of his time in the public eye with the Avengers, basking in the approval of the populace and his victory over his friends. While the Skrull takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D. had started before his tenure, he knew something was rotten in the organization and if he had been paying attention, he may have been able to stop all of that.
Stark's desire for praise and acclaim made him shirk very important parts of his new responsibilities. Don't do that. Being a glory hound is bad.
2 Betraying His Friends
Ah, Civil War. That time that Tony Stark came out of the fascist closet and decided that obeying the government regardless of how wrong it could be was more important than his friends. The list of terrible things that Iron Man did during this time is staggering, and it all comes from a simple act - going against his friends.
Don't betray your friends for power and prestige. Don't betray your friends because you think you're the best person for the job. Don't give into authority when its wrong and self-serving.
1 Alcoholism
Iron Man's alcoholism was a terrible thing. Addiction is never pretty and while it definitely has a mental health component, it also starts with a decision. Iron Man took his drinking way too far and it made him make a lot of bad decisions, including killing a man on national TV.
Drinking can lead one down some terrible roads, so if one is going to drink, they should be smart about it. The road to addiction is a slippery slope.