Character Analysis
Wait—I'm Not the Headliner?
Tony Stark's story ain't a rags-to-riches one. In fact, it's not even a riches-to-rags tale. It's simply the story of a former playboy, narcissist and super-genius weapons designer who never looked past his own appetites to see the harm his weapons were causing…until, one day, he did.
And he turned that whole war-profiteering thing around and became a hero named Iron Man. But the narcissism was always there: he was always the guy who needed the spotlight, who had to be the biggest deal in the room, and who had to make sure everyone else knew it.
You can imagine that that makes it very hard for him to play well with others.
Remember, he's still the head of his own company—he's used to doing what he wants when he wants and not willing to play second banana to anyone. Look at his blasé (and typically witty) comeback to Cap when Thor first snatches Loki out of their hands.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Stark, we need a plan of attack!
IRON MAN: I have a plan: attack!
That extends to his streak of iconoclasm too: the don't-trust-the-Man vibes he unleashes against Nick Fury and SHIELD. (Although he's also as Establishment as they come: a corporate weapons manufacturer with billions of dollars in assets and an ability to do what he wants, when he wants, at any time. That Tony Stark is a paradox.)
So he's awfully suspicious when it comes to Fury, who represents someone who could actually tell him what to do. He tells Rogers as much while they pow-wow onboard the Helicarrier.
TONY STARK: Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables.
STEVE ROGERS: You think Fury's hiding something?
TONY STARK: He's a spy, Captain. He's the spy. His secrets have secrets.
We'd be lying if we didn't admit that he has a point here, but the motivation is tied in with his inflated sense of self. Nobody puts Tony in a corner, least of all some one-eyed man of mystery.
Growing Up Is Hard to Do
The attitude suggests he still has some growing up to do. At the beginning, it looks like he's got it all together: doing his thing, making the planet better, even settling down with gal pal Pepper Potts instead of playing the field.
But he's still saying, "Hey, look at me" underneath it all. He's still using the superhero shtick to draw attention to himself, and to show the world how clever and awesome he is. He doesn't understand what Captain America does: that being a hero means putting others well and truly ahead of yourself.
It takes some doing: Tony's gotten pretty used to patting himself on the back, and isn't quite ready to stop. So when Cap calls him on his selfishness during another of the Helicarrier debates, he just throws up another excuse.
STEVE ROGERS: The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.
TONY STARK: I think I would just cut the wire.
STEVE ROGERS: Always a way out...
Of course, he eventually learns that he has to put himself aside and be willing to put it on the line for people who can't do it for themselves.
The event that finally hammers that lesson home is the death of Agent Coulson…a guy Tony never especially liked (and who never much liked him back), but who stood up against Loki when all the super-powered guys were flailing around like monkeys in piles of poo. After Coulson dies and he and Cap are trying to regroup, he gets into the right frame of mind.
TONY STARK: He made it personal.
STEVE ROGERS: That's not the point.
TONY STARK: That is the point. That's Loki's point! He hit us all right where we live. Why?
STEVE ROGERS: To tear us apart.
That translates into Tony taking the bull by the horns when he needs to by piloting the nuke bound for Manhattan into the alien breach and knowing that he probably won't be coming back out. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the Stark), to paraphrase the words of Spock. When the chips are down and the aliens are running amok, Tony finally steps up to the plate and does the right thing.
IRON MAN: I got a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?
IRON MAN: Save the rest for the turn, J.
It's some serious Hero's Journey time for Tony: he's swallowed into the belly of the whale and resurrected (with a little help from his friends) just in time to share of bite of shawarma with his buddies.
We can only assume that he picked up the check.