Where some human transformations started
in a big city like New York or on a small family farm
in Kansas City, Tony Stark’s transformation from a
narcissist to a superhero started in the most unlikely
of places, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Normally,
Tony Stark would be in a night club drinking and
partying the night away instead of being in a war
torn desert. Tony Stark is on a tour of the Middle
East holding weapon presentations to sell Stark
Industries crown jewel, the Jericho, a new state of
the art missile launching system to the U.S. army.
Stark is only concerned with making money and
increasing his empire. While Stark was touring
Afghanistan the U.S. soldiers that were escorting
Tony around the country were ambushed and
killed. Stark was kidnapped by a terrorist group
called the Ten Rings. At first, Stark only wants to
Survive because he cares about himself, and only
himself.

When Stark realized what has happened,
he understood that in order to get his freedom,
Stark would either have to build the terrorist group
the Jericho missiles or die in a cave somewhere
in Afghanistan. In the face of danger and near
certain death, Stark with his desire to live, his
intellectual genius, and the help of a field doctor/
scientist named Yinsen survives. The doctor's act
is selfless because he sacrifices himself. “Don’t
waste your life, Stark.” Stark was able to leave
that cave with not only gaining back his freedom,
but returning back as a man who will make a
difference for the good of humanity, not just for
himself. pon his return to America, Stark debuts
his new mindset at a press conference regarding
his company Stark Industries. From this moment,
Stark’s transformation into a humanist is ignited.
At this point Stark feels responsible that the Ten
Rings are wreaking havoc across the Middle East

with his weapons, so Stark decides to take
action into his own hands by making some
adjustments to his Iron Man suit and fix the
problems made by his company. While Stark
believes that he is doing the right thing, this
sudden change in his company is not approved
by everyone. Obadiah Stane has watched
over Stark since the death of his father when
he was a young boy, and he is senior advisor
of Stark Industries.

He is not fond of Stark’s new found
humanitarianism, so he decides to get Stark
in a vulnerable position: he takes Stark’s ark
reactor from his chest and thus takes out Stark.
He builds his own version of the Iron Man suit,
and uses the suit’s power to become the head
of Stark Industries. Obadiah tells Stark, “Do
you really think that just because you have
an idea, it belongs to you.” In that moment,
Stark realizes that he must face his greatest
battle yet; in order to become what he was
meant to be, a superhero, he has to defend his
ideology.

Rather than fight the forces of evil in the
outside world, Stark first has to address the
seeds of corruption within his own company
and -essentially, family. This is important
because it shows the consequence of mixing
family with running a business. Eventually, the
business world consumes Obadiah, someone
Stark thought of as a father figure. Now Stark
has to fight his father figure in order protect
what he now believes in.

Stark’s fight with Obadiah represents not
just a physical power struggle, but a struggle
to defend one’s ideals and beliefs. In the end,
Stark finds himself at a press conference
being questioned about his involvement in the
incident. Stark stares into the camera and says
“Lam Iron Man.”

This is important because it shows
Stark accepting his new role as a superhero.
Favreau completes the narrative circle by
showing Stark’s complete transformation. At
the end of the film, Stark stares into the camera
and accepts his responsibility as a self-made
superhero, not just in ability, but in mindset.

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