[Meta] Tony Stark's Sexuality

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Disclaimer: This is in no way, shape, or form meant to argue that Tony Stark is lgbt+ rep. This is purely a collection of my thoughts on some of the things we’ve seen in comics and novelizations over the years. Onward!

 

 

 

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I began this study with a few moments from comics history in mind. A few people point to the recent scene in Superior Iron Man by Tom Taylor but I don’t think of that as helpful to this discussion*. 

A. Attraction to Men:

I began with Tony’s comments about his teammates, specifically the ones he finds attractive. Not even mentioning the “clear, azure eyes” line, there’s this moment when he says this about T’Challa in Civil War II by Brian Michael Bendis. 

 

 

His comments about Victor Von Doom in Invincible Iron Man, also by Brian Michael Bendis 

 

 

One of several comments about Steve

 

 

His easy comfort with men touching him. 

 

 

All point to Tony Stark finding other men attractive, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. He may not think of himself this way but the man’s an artist: he has an eye for beauty and that extends to everyone, including men. So, at face value, this could simply mean that Tony appreciates a pretty face. Now, moving on to some of the situations writers put him in. Perhaps for laughs but they’re interesting nonetheless. 

There’s this moment in the novelization of Iron Man 2 by Peter David. These novelizations are based on early versions of the scripts, which is why you’ll find some deleted scenes in them that show up in DVD extras. In this scene, Tony invites Rhodey up for a threesome on his birthday. One could say he does this because he knew Rhodey wouldn’t agree to it. Do with that what you will.

 

 

 

 

 

B. Rhodey:

Tony’s relationship with Rhodey is one of the longest standing relationships in Marvel history. They’ve survived countless near death experiences, alcoholism, deathly injuries, several fights and they’ve shared quite a few moments of closeness. 

 

 

 

 

 

In the MCU, Tony has several pet names for Rhodey. 

 

 

One might say Tony had a special level of devotion to Rhodey that went beyond friendship. Yes, I do have that panel from Invincible Iron Man #14.

 

 

C. Steve:

Aside from Rhodey, Tony has also shown an intense devotion to another male character over the years. This spangly guy named Steve Rogers. 

 

 

Tony calls him “beloved” and “handsome”.

 

 

 

 

 

They make jokes about using safewords

 

 

Over the course of their history, Tony has sacrificed his life for Steve more than once. 

 

 

He has expressed a deep regret for every time he’s ever let Cap down either by necessity or by accident. Their partnership has been through several high and low points across decades. 

 

 

He mourned Steve’s loss in a way that many feel was a sure sign that Tony felt more than friendship for Steve. 

 

 

Let’s talk about the bridal carries:

 

 

 

 

 

Tony’s devotion to Steve has transcended multiple universes. It’s one of the most important relationships he’s had with any other character. 

 

 

 

 

 

They were even married in one universe.

 

 

Let’s not forget Jonathan Hickman’s comment about apology blowies.

 

 

Now, let’s get into two more of the lesser known relationships between Tony and other men. 

D. Henry Hellrung:

 

 

Henry is an actor and he met Tony when he was playing him in a television show. They went club hopping every weekend and picks up loads of women. The tabloids believed the two to have a relationship similar to Cary Grant and Randolph Scott. 

 

 

If you weren’t aware of who those people are: Cary Grant and Randolph Scott: A Love Story

I read a little of The Order by Matt Fraction and Henry clearly has a lot of respect for Tony. He appears more upset that the interviewer didn’t know who Cary Grant was than he was upset at the implication that he and Tony hooked up. Henry suffers from alcoholism and lost his career when he hit rock bottom. Over time, he developed a belief that, if the public didn’t remove the stigma from recovery and addiction, a lot of other people would continue to get sick. It’s this belief that led him to join Alcoholics Anonymous and he brings Tony to meetings later in Tony’s life. 

 

 

He eventually becomes Tony’s sponsor and shows up in Fraction’s run of Iron Man, as well. Henry shows a lot of care for Tony in The Order and that closeness doesn’t seem to have gone away over the years. 

Now, we move on to my least favorite of Tony’s past friendships: 

E. Tiberius Stone:

 

 

Before Tiberius revealed himself to be a scum bag, he was one of Tony’s closest childhood friends. 

 

 

While some believe they may have had a romantic relationship, I mention Tiberius as we get into one of the most interesting panels in Tony’s history. We have this shot from an issue of Tieri’s Invincible Iron Man run in which Tiberius is surrounded by Tony’s former loves, all women. 

 

 

Later in the series, when Tony is in the dreamovision with Tiberius, he recreates this image with some interesting additions. 

 

 

Apparently this is debated; some people believe this may just be random people Ty inserted to upset Tony more or even Ty’s own former paramours but when juxtaposed with the earlier panel, it seems clear these men are implied as Tony’s former loves. Rumiko and Pepper are still present and there are three or four men alongside them. The implication is pretty solid. 

F. Tony’s Views on Gender:

Then we have this panel from Avengers Assemble in which Tony explains sexuality to Vision. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony doesn’t believe that gender should impact who you date. He believes in dating an individual, not a collective. This statement to Vision appears to imply that Tony personally doesn’t care about gender when selecting partners.

G. Conclusion:

So, in conclusion, while looking at all of these aspects of Tony’s history separately don’t appear to point to anything specific (aside from Tiberius’ scenes), collectively, they point to why I make a case for saying Tony Stark could be a bisexual or pansexual character. This in no way means I think of him as rep or applaud Marvel for giving us these little scraps but I used this an opportunity to compile everything in one place and say “Look, it’s all here. If you were to go this route, just go full force and have Tony date a man someday, it wouldn’t ‘come out of nowhere.’” Despite what dudebros may say, there have been little moments here or there over decades of history. His comments about how attractive his villains and teammates are, his devotion to Rhodey and Steve, the little digs at him hitting on his friends, Tiberius and Henry’s relationships with him and lastly, his views on gender. 

Tony Stark could easily be a bisexual or pansexual character. 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

*** Superior Iron Man:

But Chels, Superior Iron Man? I don’t use the bisexual orgy in Superior Iron Man as any type of evidence of Tony’s sexuality because he was inverted at the time. Without going into everything that was wrong with that series (Tony was drinking again!) using that is suspect because:

 

 

1) Tony was inverted at the time and very much not himself

2) It seems to imply that the only version of Tony Stark that would sleep with a man is inverted, narcissistic and evil.