How Phase 2 Made Iron Man Thanos’ True MCU Nemesis

How Phase 2 Made Iron Man Thanos’ True MCU Nemesis

The MCU’s Phase 2 set up Iron Man as the perfect nemesis to Thanos, largely through Tony Stark’s character arc in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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How Phase 2 Made Iron Man Thanos’ True MCU Nemesis

The MCU’s Phase 2 set up Iron Man as the perfect nemesis to Thanos, largely through Tony Stark’s character arc in Avengers: Age of Ultron. As the first hero to appear in the MCU and Infinity Saga’s de facto protagonist, Tony Stark was already primed to lead the battle against Thanos when the time came. However, the events of Phase 2 built up the two characters’ showdown even more, establishing them not just as enemies, but as foils to one another.

From the very beginning of the MCU, Iron Man’s legacy led the way. He was the first MCU hero, the first to have a sequel film, and he quickly made Robert Downey Jr. the face of the franchise, even among an ensemble of incredibly famous stars. Over the course of the MCU’s first three phases, Tony Stark played many roles – the solo hero out to save the world, the leader of a movement, the mentor to younger characters, and eventually, of course, the one who sacrificed it all for the greater good.

All of that would have been enough to make Iron Man the nemesis of Thanos. After all, a story’s biggest hero and biggest villain are destined to come face to face eventually. In Phase 2 though, the MCU added a character arc for Tony Stark that solidified the two’s juxtaposition, both narratively and thematically. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man creates Ultron – an advanced AI built with the power of the Mind Stone who goes on a homicidal rampage across the planet. Tony’s goal was to build a foolproof protective system – a “shield around the Earth’ – to ward off future invaders from space. He took a risk to do what he thought was necessary to save the world, but it backfired, forcing Tony to witness the negative impact of his own schemes.

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In many ways, this arc for Iron Man parallels Thanos’s objective throughout the Infinity Saga. His goal of erasing half of all life was, in his mind, a necessary evil. His past trauma of seeing his world decimated by famine and war pushed him to extreme measures, but he truly believed what he was doing was for the best to protect the universe. Thanos’s mission (while obviously far more vicious, crazy, etc.) was similar to Iron Man’s in Age of Ultron. Both characters took it upon themselves to create solutions others might deem too dangerous, too catastrophic, or too cruel.

The difference, of course, is that Iron Man recognized his folly. By confronting and defeating Ultron, he stayed true to his objective of protecting the Earth while also admitting his failure. Thanos couldn’t intimidate Tony Stark because he’d been in the same position, albeit on a smaller scale, and he defeated the monster he’d created. That set Iron Man and Thanos up perfectly as foils, both as the respective leaders of the opposing factions, and as mirrors to one another who had both endured major struggles.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/mcu-iron-man-thanos-nemesis-ultron/

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