Both as Tony Stark and as his hero alter-ego Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.’s character was one of the most important figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Infinity Saga. Appearing as the franchise’s first introduced hero in 2008’s Iron Man, Tony Stark went on to define the earliest days of the MCU, with RDJ’s charismatic and sharply comedic performance cementing him as one of the franchise’s most important and beloved characters. The strength of that performance makes it hard to consider any other actors playing Iron Man, and makes his MCU story seem entirely unforgettable to many fans. However, the MCU itself seems to often overlook some of Tony Stark’s major accomplishments in the franchise.
While he might be best known for inventing some incredibly powerful Iron Man suits, Tony Stark also created numerous other incredibly innovative technologies during his time in the MCU. He repeatedly proved that he possessed one of the most brilliant inventive minds in the MCU, and his many powerful creations are clear proof of his technological prowess. However, the following are all remarkable Tony Stark inventions that the MCU has since either overlooked or forgotten to attribute to Stark in the years since he first created them.
Not all of Tony Stark’s MCU inventions were good. When it comes to MCU heroes who create their own villains, Iron Man is something of a repeat offender. However, no instance of accidental villain creation is worse than the unintended invention of Ultron. Initially designed as an incredibly advanced artificial intelligence capable of protecting the entire Earth from powerful threats, Ultron’s sentience saw him swiftly become one of the most dangerous villains in the entire MCU.
Bizarrely, the franchise seems to have forgotten all about Tony Stark’s inventive misstep in creating Ultron. With Ultron beaten, the characters of the MCU conveniently forgot all about the time Tony Stark created a being intent on eradicating humanity, instead choosing to focus on the many incredible technological developments he pioneered that didn’t cause massive loss of life. While it’s probably better that the MCU leaves Ultron’s creation out of Tony Stark’s legacy, it still serves as an example of something he invented that the franchise chooses to ignore — at least until Ultron makes his long-awaited return, that is.
Captain America: Civil War marked a major shift in Tony Stark’s characterization, but it also saw him develop some incredible tech. Stark’s best friend, James “Rhodey” Rhodes, had long been the owner of an MCU Iron Man suit, but the hero known as War Machine suffered a severe injury in Civil War that saw him paralyzed from the waist down. Stark’s answer was to invent advanced mechanized leg braces to help his friend quite literally get back on his feet.
While the invention might not be anywhere near as outlandish as some of Stark’s MCU creations, it’s still an incredible piece of technology that could change the lives of many disabled people with mobility issues. We can imagine that the leg braces aren’t cheap to build, but they fully restore Rhodey’s ability to use his legs, which is a pretty incredible feat of science. While it’s a development that could do a huge amount of good in the world, the MCU has mostly forgotten all about this particular Stark invention.
Iron Man 2 might not be the most popular of Marvel movies, but it’s nonetheless an incredibly important chapter in the eponymous hero’s story. It not only further established Iron Man as one of the most important characters in the franchise, but also saw Tony Stark invent multiple Iron Man upgrades in the MCU. By far the most impressive was Stark being able to synthesize an entirely new element, building on the back of work done by his father years before.
Let’s not kid ourselves: creating an entirely new element is a huge deal. The potential of this element is also outlined by Iron Man 2, explaining that it can be used for the betterment of humanity in multiple ways. However, outside of it being used to resolve Tony Stark’s palladium poisoning, the element is never mentioned again, nor is Stark’s feat of scientific wonder, which by all rights should have been considered his crowning achievement by any logical metric.
Over the years, there have been many great time travel movies, but Avengers: Endgame outperformed them all, and without even using its time travel as the most crucial element of its plot. The movie sees the surviving Avengers striving to undo Thanos’ victory in Infinity War, eventually working out they can use time travel to collect the Infinity Stones. This simply needs Tony Stark to apply himself a little, and, with the added help of Pym tech, Stark is able to invent an accurate and reliable way to travel through time.
Time travel is perhaps the greatest scientific discovery in the MCU to date, and it can be directly attributed to Tony Stark. However, the potentially universe-breaking nature of the technology means that the franchise has used it only sparingly since, meaning that it hasn’t been talked about too much. This ultimately means that what might be Stark’s greatest ever invention isn’t anywhere near as important in the MCU as it should be, and the franchise has largely overlooked that Stark invented time travel ever since Endgame.
2008’s Iron Man started the MCU, and it also saw Tony Stark develop an astounding piece of technology. Taking the arc reactor and refining its design, Tony Stark managed to miniaturize the tech and effectively create unlimited energy. The initial invention comes about in the captivity scene which has come to define Iron Man’s MCU story, but was later improved by his synthesis of the all-new element in Iron Man 2. The combination of the two discoveries essentially unlocks an unlimited supply of clean energy.
It cannot be overstated that this is technology that would, quite literally, change the world. It would resolve so many societal issues, and would likely prevent countless wars over resources. When it comes to leaving a legacy of bettering the lives of humanity, there isn’t any invention that could possibly do more good than Stark’s arc reactor and its limitless power, but for some reason, it’s never listed as one of his greatest achievements. In a baffling turn of events, the MCU seems to have forgotten what might be Tony Stark’s greatest ever contribution to the world.
