The Religious Affiliation of
Iron Man
Tony Stark

BELOW: Impressed by the way Thor saved his fellow Ultimates, Iron Man jokes that he will become a Norse god himself:

"Wha . . . ?" Tony's eyes rolled in Nick's direction... "Everyone?"

"Yeah," Nick said. "Thor got them out."

..."That crazy son of a b----. He did, huh?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, he did."

"Good for him... I'm going to quit this robot suit business and become a Norse god," Tony said through the chattering of his teeth.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 334. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: gods; Norse/Teutonic paganism; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Thor (Donald Blake)

BELOW: Nick Fury voices a hope he has about God putting an end to Tony Stark's penchant for verbal nonsense:

He'd lost Nick. "Sometimes I hope that God will one day decide that you can only shovel so much bullsh--," Nick said, "and then he's going to strike you dead."

"He might," Tony said. "He just might. But before he does, let's go into another room where I've set up a little presentation..."

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 8. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: God; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Nick Fury

BELOW: Captain America and Iron Man exchange banter, with Cap calling Stark a "libertine"; Captain America is unimpressed by Tony's penchant for alcohol:

"And where can a guy get a drink around here?" Tony added.

"Can't help you there," the tech said.

"Barbarians," Tony said. "Steve, I'm surrounded by barbarians. Including you."

"Sometimes it's tough being a libertine," Steve said.

"Tony's eyebrows shot up. "A joke from Captain Flag, so close to our final confrontation with the alien menace? A joke including the word libertine? Good Lord. I'm starting to think I'm having an influence on you."

Steve ignored this, not even wanting to contemplate the question of how he might influence Tony, and how any possible channel of influence might run both ways. "Instead of a drink, you ought to have something to eat..."

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 291. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: libertine; alcoholism; Hedonist; Captain America (Steve Rogers); Iron Man (Tony Stark)

BELOW: Tony mistakenly thinks Thor is quoting eddas (the primary source of Norse mythology, sometimes thought of as Norse/Teutonic scripture):

Thor took a deep breath, letting the smells of the land and the battle flood through him. As he exhaled, he said, "Here amid icebergs rule I the nations."

"Oh, God," Tony groaned. "Are we quoting eddas today?"

Thor shot him a grin. "No, that's Longfellow. He was a big fan of mine. Gotcha."

And then he raised Mjolnir and leapt down again, blood singing with the battle to come.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 302-303. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: scripture; Norse/Teutonic paganism; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Thor (Donald Blake); Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

BELOW: Captain America believes in the American people; he accuses Tony Stark of believing only in his "bank balance":

"...Who are 'the people,' anyway?"

"They're the ones I rode a Nazi rocket for," Steve said, moving even closer to Tony [Stark]. "They're the ones I got shot up with experimental chemicals for. They're the ones I pledge my life to, and if you're about to say that they don't know who I am and don't care what I've done, I'm here to tell you that doesn't matter. I believe in them. You don't believe in a damn thing except your bank balance."

"The people, huh?" Tony said. "Shouldn't you say der Volk?"

Faster than Fury could see, Steve leveled Tony with a pile-driver right hand...

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 84. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: belief; greed; patriotism; Captain America (Steve Rogers); Iron Man (Tony Stark); Nazis

BELOW: Nick Fury refers to Tony Stark's new Chitauri-detection technology as "voice of God network thingamajig":

I got a guerrilla ant army out there, Nick thought, but no way to control it until Tony gets his voice of God networking thingamajig set up.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 253. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: God; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Nick Fury

BELOW: Tony Stark expresses frustration at Thor's "hippie canards" when Thor reveals Tony's recent subterfuge to their other teammates:

"All except for the part about the amplifier being fake," Thor said.

Clint looked from Thor to Tony to Nick, and then back to Thor. "What?"

"Sure. Ask him. There is no amplifier. He showed it to us, then put out a distress call to get us to come save it. Only . . . what's the best way to put it, Tony? Would you call it instilling brand loyalty?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Tony said. "You and your hippie canards. It worked, didn't it? And aren't you the one who called down lightning in the middle of my headquarters, with my employees all over the place? You can shove your sanctimony, too."

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 269. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: Hippie; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Thor (Donald Blake); Mary Jane Watson

BELOW: In a bit of self-effacing reflection, Tony Stark thinks about his own lack of "moral fiber or ethical beliefs":

He pivoted in midair, reaching down. Thor would save himself, and Clint was a soldier . . . but he had to save Steve [Captain America]. Too many people needed Steve, and Tony Stark might have been a vain, alcoholic, dying playboy with no evident moral fiber or ethical beliefs, but he would have given his life in that moment to save Steve Rogers.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 331. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: belief; alcoholism; sacrifice; amoral; ethical; Non-Religious; Captain America (Steve Rogers); Iron Man (Tony Stark)

BELOW: Captain America considers Iron Man an "amoral boozehound":

A guy like that, Steve thought, everything done for him, everyone else bends over backward for him, and what is he? An amoral boozehound with a brain tumor. That's not the kind of person we need running things around here.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 115. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: alcoholism; amoral; Captain America (Steve Rogers); Iron Man (Tony Stark)

BELOW: Nick Fury knows that many important people in Washington, D.C. think of Tony Stark as an "alcoholic libertine":

Some of the agency types he was going to meet today were gung-ho about Tony's gizmo; some weren't; some were just professing outrage that an alcoholic libertine like Tony Stark had gotten hold of Chitauri tissue.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 16. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: libertine; alcoholism; Hedonist; Iron Man (Tony Stark)

BELOW: Tony Stark (Iron Man) contemplates the dark "secrets" of his fellow Ultimates:

Then again it wasn't like Banner was the only one whose character could be considered . . . murky. They all had secrets... Nick, our fixer, which of us will you throw under the bus the next time you need a favor from Capitol Hill? Banner's already gone. How long before you need another sacrificial lamb?

It won't be me, Tony thought.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 7. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: sacrificial lamb; Iron Man (Tony Stark); Nick Fury

BELOW: Homeland Security official Vince Altobelli refers to Tony Stark as a "dipsomaniac" (someone who drinks alcohol to excess):

Altobelli kept right on talking. "What I want to get on with is the question of how in the hell did Stark Industries, which is run by a for-Chrissake dipsomaniac playboy, get hold of Chitauri tissue?..."

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 19-20. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: alcoholism; Iron Man (Tony Stark)

BELOW: After the Hulk (as Bruce Banner) flees the battle against the Avengers, his ally Sub-Mariner finds yet another reason to hate humanity: Namor exclaims: "He DESERTED me... BETRAYED me! Now I realize NO human can be trusted! I despise you ALL!"

Source: The Avengers (vol. 1) #3 (Jan. 1964): "The Avengers Meet... Sub-Mariner!", pg. 25, panel 2. Written by Stan Lee. Art by Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman. See also: hate; betrayal; Iron Man (Tony Stark); The Sub-Mariner (Namor)