Film Theory: Why Iron Man is the WORST Avenger! (Marvel)

Tony Stark should be in jail. If you hear me. I'm totally serious. When you go back and look at all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark breaks law after law simply by being Iron Man. Don't believe me. Well, I'm about to prove it to you. Hello Internet! Welcome to Film Theory, the show that wants you to remove the subscribe button. You know, loyal theorists. I'm not sure I've ever seen a franchise on a rollercoaster of quality and discourse like the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last three years. Once considered this model of truly consistent quality in an industry where blockbusters were often garbage, the MCU's quality has become average at best.

Phase four had a lot of ups and downs, sure, but it also had a lot of ups and downs; Confusing and convoluted plots, baffling creative decisions, great ideas, and character arcs that seemed completely abandoned before we reached their peak. Honestly, after seeing the “movie” that was Ant-Man: Quantumania. He went back and rewatched older MCU movies, trying to pinpoint where and what exactly went wrong. If you want to see what I think happened, you can watch our video telling Marvel it's time to panic. But while I was bingeing Iron Man once again, something else occurred to me.

Something that completely recontextualized the MCU's first and greatest hero. I suddenly realized that Tony Stark. Yes, he wasn't as heroic as he thought. This guy should be in prison several times. Tony Stark was a serial womanizer, a liar to everyone around him, and an arms dealer responsible for potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths before he came up with the idea for futuristic armor. He has hoarded technology that will change the world, like the nanotechnology that powers the suit in Endgame for him and his friends. And that's not to mention how he teams up with the US government to create the Department of Damage Control, exploiting the destruction he causes with the Avengers for even more profit.

His actions led to the creation of villains such as Iron Monger, Whiplash, Vulture, the False Mandarin, and Baron Zemo. And do I even need to mention Ultron, who killed thousands of people in Sokovia? Tony Stark is a man who has a lot to answer for. Heck, even the Iron Man franchise itself agrees with that statement. Many of the franchise's stories deal with Tony being sorry for his mistakes, and Tony himself feeling enormously guilty about it later in his life. And all of this is horrible, it paints a picture of a deeply flawed man who desperately needs some therapy.

It doesn't compare to the real laws Tony breaks. Seriously, while rewatching these movies, I started to wonder how Tony Stark would fare in the real world with our real-world legal system. Superhero or not throughout the MCU, Tony Stark's sins have been adding up. Let me tell you, he would be no good to the invincible Iron Man if he finally got his day in court. That's right friends, today we address a theoretical classic: the good guy is bad, actually. At the end of this, you'll never look at Iron Man the same way again. And the big twist, the one that would have really ruined Tony Stark, comes down to four little words: I am Iron Man, your loyal arc reactor theorist.

Let's get into it. So to start, let's start with the quote-unquote little laws that Tony breaks throughout his career. To start, let's look at Iron Man 3 and how Stark's vendetta against the Mandarin likely led him to commit multiple state and federal crimes, especially that whole action where he breaks into the Mandarin's compound. First of all, many of the improvised weapons he creates for this raid would have been illegal. Specifically, I'm thinking about all those explosives he creates from everyday supplies he bought at Home Depot. It is a federal crime to possess any unregistered explosive device that could carry a maximum federal penalty of ten years in prison.

Why count these and not the missiles from Iron Man's suit? Well, he, as a defense contractor, probably registered those explosives, but all the small bombs in Iron Man 3 were made under the radar, and he definitely didn't have time to file the paperwork there. Also, when Tony steals one of the guard's guns and then threatens Trevor and the groupies with it, that would have counted as multiple crimes. Simply pointing a gun at someone is considered aggravated assault and can result in five years in prison and five years of probation. But possession of a gun is illegal in Florida.

And he definitely had that gun illegally, Tony just stole it. It could mean he faces another $10,000 in fines and 15 years in prison. But honestly, Stark jumping over the fence to confront the Mandarin here in the first place probably would have been his own crime. Normally, I would call this home invasion, but this part of the movie actually takes place in Miami, Florida, and that state does not consider home invasion as its own crime. Instead, this would have been classified as something more serious: first-degree robbery, because Tony unlawfully entered a building with the intent to commit a criminal offense.

He then assaulted someone while he was inside and then probably caused over $1,000 in property damage with those exploding Christmas decorations. In short, this would amount to fines of up to $10,000 and 30 years in prison. So things are already legally shaky for old Tony Stark. But all of this is in pursuit of a known criminal, an international terrorist. Is there anything more serious we can attribute to Tony? Absolutely. Look, no further than The Avengers, which sees Tony just hacking into government computers to get information he wasn't supposed to have. First, trespassing on federal government property without express permission can be a serious crime.

I see this going one or two ways. The Helicarrier could be considered a military base, in which case Tony would be subject to six months in jail or a $500 fine. Or it would be similar to breaking into a federal building similar to the U.S. Capitol, which would be a misdemeanor punishable by six months in prison or a $5,000 fine. Plus, depending on how important the government considers a high-ranking military officer like Nick Fury, Tony could be in a lot more trouble. In that case, this trespass would become a Class E felony, and you would be behind bars for up to five years or a $250,000 fine.

But even worse than all that would be Tony's hacking of military computers on the Helicarrier. This would be a textbook violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a federal crime to gain unauthorized access to protected government computers. In fact, it makes it illegal to even attempt or conspire to perform such a hack. If charged with the crime, Tony would face up to a year in federal prison if considered a misdemeanor. But in all likelihood, he would probably be charged with a felony and sentenced to 10 to 20 years. Since hacking involves very sensitive national security information.

You know what else? In fact, let's double this, as we also see Tony hacking into a database of national security contractors in Iron Man 3 and Captain America Civil War, where he hacks into the Rafts' microphones and cameras. I mean, my man can't get through more than a movie or two without breaking into secure government computers. But in The Avengers, Tony was doing everything he could to defend New York and the entire Earth from Loki. A few cyber crimes here and sneaking out there is justifiable, right? Maybe. But do you know what is much more difficult to justify? how much it endangers Peter Parker.

By giving him to Peter, Stark built up the Spidey team and then encouraged him to fight crime to the point that Peter literally died in space. Tony definitely broke some laws there. Now, surprisingly, I couldn't find anything specific about it being the cause of a minor's death in space at the hands of a giant man with purple raisins. I'm afraid there are currently no laws in force regarding this. But in New York it is a crime to endanger the welfare of anyone under 16 years of age. Between Civil War, Spider-Man Homecoming and Infinity War. Peter is between 14 and 16 years old, so he definitely qualifies here.

And for Tony to bring him into the world of crime-fighting, provide him with equipment, and encourage vigilante justice, that definitely qualifies. Even if he is telling Peter that he needs to be better and safer, this is still a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. To be honest, he also looks really bad for Tony. Another really bad thing, pretty much everything Tony does with Peter in Civil War. First, he takes custody of a child under false pretenses and definitely takes him across international borders illegally. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection of the United States.

While minors can travel internationally without a parent or legal guardian. Many destinations require notarized written consent from your parents. Since she didn't even know Peter was Spider-Man, Aunt May definitely didn't give her consent for Peter to be beaten by Captain America in a German airport. And even if she did, Peter doesn't have the necessary documentation for the trip. And this would be a serious crime for Tony. In fact, it probably would have been defined as human trafficking, although that term is often associated with very dark, real-world tragedies. According to DHS, human trafficking can also include the use of fraud or coercion to obtain labor, and traffickers may use manipulation or false promises of high-paying jobs to lure victims.

Ha, a Stark Industries internship, a position on The Avengers, that sure sounds like manipulation to get Spidey overseas. All this while he puts him in the crosshairs of trained soldiers, thieves, sorcerers and assassins. In a fight that left someone completely paralyzed for life. Yeah, that's really not good, Tony. Human trafficking is a federal crime with a penalty that can include 20 years to life in prison. Even after Tony dies to save the universe from Thanos, he continues to perform legally shady acts with Peter, specifically leaving him Edith's glasses. In case you don't remember, these give Peter control over Stark's defense satellite system, as well as some super dangerous drones.

He is wild. Now, it's obviously difficult to find a 1-to-1 case in the real world, since we don't have armies of killer drones controlled by AI goggles. So instead we're going to use similar laws for guns. In the United States, you can leave your guns to an heir after your death. But all weapons inherited in this way are subject to the National Firearms Act of 1932, as well as the revised Gun Control Act of 1968. Under these laws, you must register certain heavy weapons with the government before of being able to leave them to an heir. In addition, the NFA also requires reporting of ongoing transportation of NFA firearms across state lines.

Peter didn't even know that the glasses controlled these killer drones until he left the US so that they would be labeled as contraband in the eyes of the United States. Legally they could not have been passed on to an heir and instead Stark should have considered them abandoned after his death and turned over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. And it's not even me who mentions that the type of automatic weaponry used in drones is simply illegal in the European Union countries they visit in Far From Home. To be fair, Tony was dead at the time and would not have received justice for his crime.

But still, this is another no-no that Tony definitely made. And while the Edith drones were certainly sketchy, the Iron Man suits would probably be illegal as well. Guns are not the only thing that can be considered regulated weapons. Lawsuits would absolutely be something the government would probably want some oversight over. I mean, sure, these things could be humanoid in shape and called suits. But they certainly have more in common with an Abrams tank than an Armani suit. Believe it or not, there are actually regulations in the US on whether or not you can own an operational tank.

Because tanks have weapons with bores or barrels more than three-quarters of an inch wide. The National Firearms Act classifies them as destructive weapons, although the Tony suits primarily use replacement or energy weapons. Which, side note, we should probably make a

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about that at some point, right? What are substitutes? Are real? And if they are, are they legal? Either way, repulsive weapons would absolutely fit into the same category of destructive weapons. As such, Tony would have to obtain a permit to even possess his Iron Man suits, which I really doubt the government would want to grant him, at least at first.

Remember that he's basically a rogue agent in Iron Man 1, and the government wants to confiscate all of his technology in Iron Man 2. And any violations of the National Firearms ActIt is a serious crime, punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and up to ten years in prison. And in addition to being considered something equivalent to a tank, Iron Man suits would probably also be considered personal aircraft. Since the Federal Aviation Administration considers any craft that weighs more than 254 pounds and flies more than 63 miles per hour to be an ultralight aircraft. Legally speaking, all Iron Man suits may need to be registered as small private planes.

And if that's the case, the fact that Tony is flying them through populated urban areas, cities like New York, is absolutely unacceptable. Even Stark entering space like we see in Infinity War would probably be illegal. Since permits are actively needed from a space-capable nation to enter the atmosphere within its airspace, all of this would cause the FAA to fine Tony another $50,000 to $400,000 per violation. Even if Tony were somehow able to overcome all of these obstacles, file all the correct paperwork, and get approval for all the Iron Men we see throughout the franchise, we know that there are still times when he has operated his suits in criminal ways. .

During Tony's lowest point in Iron Man 2, when he thinks he is dying and throws a party in his depression, he wears the suit clearly under the influence of alcohol. Now, this is really bad, and since we've deduced that the suit probably counts as some kind of vehicle, this would be the equivalent of operating a dangerous vehicle while under the influence. This scene takes place at Tony's house in Malibu. And if we talk specifically about airplanes, which remember that they would qualify as Iron Man suits, flying under the influence of alcohol in California carries a mandatory sentence of 30 days to six months in jail, up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. . .

Additionally, Tony discharges his weapons accidentally and then intentionally while he is at the party. Did he see how close he came to hitting those innocent people who were there to have a good time? This would absolutely count as negligent discharge of a firearm and could be counted as a misdemeanor or a felony. It also carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. So that's a huge list of crimes Tony has committed over the years under the guise of helping people. Just for my count here, he would face more than 174 years in prison and fines exceeding $1,171,000.

And that's just because of the few things I mentioned here that we see in the movies. Now the money? Yes, we all recognize that it doesn't matter, he is a billionaire, it is a drop in the ocean for him. As to whether he would actually spend that time in prison or not? Well, I probably should. But the American legal system can be an imperfect place, especially when it comes to wealthy and high-profile people. So is that all? After everything we've listed here today - between assault, hacking, child endangerment, operating the legal equivalent of a flying tank under the influence - would all of this be just a slight inconvenience for Tony Stark?

A legal obstacle in the way that he can overcome by paying his fines and winning the jury to his side? No loyal theorist, Tony, makes one last big mistake that would have ruined his life or at least destroyed his career as Iron Man. And he's right here. This iconic moment that basically started the biggest

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franchise in history would have stopped Tony Stark completely. Because? Because the government would now know that he is, in fact, Iron Man. Look, some of the laws Tony breaks throughout his MCU career have other punishments beyond fines and jail time. For example, any violation of the National Firearms Law means that the gun involved is lost and may be confiscated by the government.

So simply owning one of these operational Iron Man suits without a permit from the US government would likely mean that the government could accept the suits and Tony would have no legal recourse. But the craziest thing is that they wouldn't actually need any hard evidence that Tony had broken any laws. Civil forfeiture is a process in which authorities can seize the property of a person suspected of a crime without charging them. And if Tony could successfully fight that in court and get his armor back, well, then the government could play a reverse UN card and use eminent domain, allowing them to pay Stark what they consider a fair amount for the armor and still take it without his consent.

And if you think they wouldn't do this, it's not like Tony was in good standing with the US federal government for much of his career as a hero. In fact, we see the US government acting on at least one of these within the

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s. In Iron Man 2, the Senate is holding hearings on whether or not Stark should hand over Iron Man's weapon for the good of the US. And as soon as Tony starts acting irresponsibly in public, Rhodey takes one of the demands on behalf of the United States Military. Probably using exactly one of these laws.

None of this would have been possible if the government didn't have proof or clues that Tony Stark was Iron Man. And what did Tony do? He confessed. Not only for owning the equivalent of a flying tank, boasting about it in front of Congress on international television, but also for every crime committed while wearing the suits. Tony Stark, in his arrogance, ruined himself with those four iconic little words, because if the government didn't know he was Iron Man, well, they couldn't charge him with any Iron Man crimes. Just by looking at this long list, Tony Stark's life Tony is so comically illegal that there has to be some explanation for how he's not rotting behind bars.

Maybe, just maybe, all the favors he does for the government later in the franchise: keeping War Machine updated, signing the Sokovia Accords, and helping them found a damage control department. Maybe it's him doing some community service for the government to avoid jail time. But I guess that's a

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for another day. And as always, remember my friends, everything is just a theory, A FILM THEORY! aaaaaaaand cut.