Iron Man is one of the most popular superheroes to come from Marvel comics, with no small part being due to the movie portrayal by Robert Downey, Jr. The fan-favorite Avenger has only shown romance with Pepper Potts on the big screen. While movie fans may be familiar with that relationship, there is more to the story in the comics.
Not to mention, Tony Stark has had many other romantic relationships, some worse than others. Most of them, however, are significant in Tony's history. While Iron Man is a great hero, he doesn't always have a great love life.
10 Kathy Dare
Kathy Dare was a fun-loving woman when she began a casual relationship with Tony Stark. However, she proved to be prone to jealousy. She grew extremely jealous of other women in Tony's life, even the ones with whom he had no romantic history. Tony would break up with Kathy only for her to respond by shooting him.
Tony Starks's death was faked while he recuperated from the gunshot, which left him paralyzed for some time. Kathy was overcome with grief over what she had done to Tony and died by suicide.
9 Indries Moomji
Tony Stark fell hard for Indries Moomji. Little did he know that that was Obadiah Stane's plan. Iron Man villain Obadiah hired Indries to seduce Stark and make sure he fell off the wagon. After posing as a bystander during a disaster that Iron Man would save her from, she began using pheromones to increase his attraction to her. She had been trained to make herself appear as attractive to men as possible.
Indries would continuously tempt Tony to drink during their relationship. When she eventually cruelly rejected him, he hit the bottle and completely fell off the wagon, leaving Stark Industries vulnerable to Obadiah Stane.
8 Joanna Nivena
Tony Stark was actually engaged to a woman named Joanna Nivena when he first became Iron Man. At the beginning of his days as the hero, Tony kept it a secret from Joanna and pushed her away. Eventually, he would tell her the truth, however.
Joanna would actually encourage Tony to use the Iron Man suit to become a hero. As he did, however, she realized that he couldn't be Iron Man and a good husband to her. Therefore, they ended their relationship.
7 Rumiko Fujikawa
Rumiko Fujikawa was the daughter of Kenjiro Fujikawa, who had taken over Stark Industries after Tony's apparent death. However, the latter would return and begin dating Rumiko. Rumiko entered the relationship in large part as a rebellion against her parents, who disapproved of Tony. Rumiko enjoyed the relationship with Tony, except for the fact that he was so busy, he hardly paid attention to her.
They ended the relationship and Rumiko slept with Tony's enemy, Tiberius Stone. She felt remorseful about sleeping with Stone and helped Stark get his company back as a way to make up for it.
6 Madame Masque
Madame Masque and Iron Man had quite a complicated relationship. Their initial attraction came to an end when she revealed she had feelings for Jasper Sitwell. However, when she returned to Stark Industries under the guise of Krissy Longfellow, they fell for each other again. Unfortunately, her criminal father, Count Nefaria, would return.
Masque tried to force Tony to save her ill father but he refused and they fought. Their encounter led to him accidentally destroying the equipment keeping Count Nefaria alive. Madame Masque would leave Tony and fully become a villain after this devastating loss.
5 Bethany Cabe
Bethany Cabe and Tony Stark became romantically involved shortly after she joined his security team. Their relationship had a rough patch, as he began drinking heavily as her late husband had. However, unlike her late husband, Tony asked for her help and eventually became sober.
When Cabe discovered her husband was indeed alive, she left Tony. She intentionally got herself arrested for espionage in an attempt to help her husband. She told Tony that she knew he was Iron Man and needed his help to rescue her husband.
4 Black Widow
Tony Stark fell for Natasha Romanov when she was a spy for the Russian government. After discovering she was a spy, they broke things off. However, Natasha would defect to the US and join the Avengers. As Black Widow, she became a close comrade and friend for Tony Stark.
The pair renewed their romantic interest in Russia, where they were battling Titanium Man. However, the relationship would proceed no further after this trip. They remain close comrades and Black Widow backed Iron Man during the first Civil War. Despite the relationship not going far, it is significant that the two Avengers had one at all.
3 She-Hulk
She-Hulk and Iron Man had a casual relationship consisting of on-again-off-again hookups. They enjoyed being together without being in a serious romantic relationship. What makes this relationship so significant is the parallels between the two and the double standard it forms.
Tony Stark was a womanizer and player who was famous for sleeping around. She-Hulk got around a lot too but she was quicker to be judged for it. This double-standard was thankfully acknowledged during their hookups, making it one of Iron Man's more significant flings.
2 Janet Van Dyne
Tony Stark's most recent relationship is with Janet Van Dyne, also known as The Wasp. After her marriage with Hank Pym fell apart, the two founding Avengers quickly got together. Captain America tried to get Tony Stark to end the relationship but he didn't.
Their first affair fell apart after Janet discovered that Tony was Iron Man. This information did not keep them from rekindling things after she filed for divorce from Hank Pym.
1 Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts is without a doubt the most well known of Iron Man's romantic partners. This is in no small part due to Gwyneth Paltrow's portrayal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What fans of the movies may not know, however, is that things didn't work out for Tony and Pepper in the comics.
Their romance was limited, as Pepper Potts would end up marrying Happy Hogan. Although Pepper had renewed feelings for Tony later, they would keep things platonic and continue working together.