Howard Stark

Howard Stark
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Iron Man #28 (August 1970)
In-story information
Alter ego	Howard Anthony Walter Stark
Team affiliations	Hellfire Club Brotherhood of Shield S.H.I.E.L.D.
Supporting character of	Iron Man

Howard Stark is a fictional person in Marvel Comics. He is the father of Tony Stark and the founder of Stark Industries. He is named after Howard Hughes.

Biography

Howard Anthony Walter Stark was a brilliant inventor throughout his life. He and his father worked on various projects, and later founded Stark Industries. Throughout his young adulthood, Stark worked on various government projects dating back to the World War I and World War II era, like the World War I Captain America project with John Crowe Ransom which came to completion during World War II. The World War II Manhattan Project and the "Arsenal" robots in a hidden subbasement in his mansion. The robots were only supposed to be activated if the US was overrun during a presumed Cold War conflict (but both known models have been accidentally awakened and stopped by the Avengers). During the 1950s, Howard Stark was an agent of the secret science organisation known as The Shield, partnered with Nathaniel Richards.

Howard married Maria Collins Carbonell and together they had a son: Anthony "Tony" Stark. He constantly pushed Tony to be the best, telling him that someone must have "iron in their backbone" to be successful. Behind his heroic facade, however, he was an alcoholic who had a strained relationship with his son; in Iron Man 2, Tony says, "My father never told me he loved me — he never even told me he liked me." Due to his power as a businessman, he was offered membership to the exclusive Hellfire Club, but it seems Stark was uninterested in anything other than the lavish parties the club threw. It is believed Stark was also a member of the V-Battalion. He was targeted by the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt), and is rumored to have met the Watcher, Uatu. Stark also prevented Obadiah Stane from taking control of Stark Industries at least once.

On the Ides of March, Howard and Maria were killed in a plane accident.It has been hinted that the incident was not random and possibly arranged by the V-Battalion, but this has never been confirmed. Tony ran his father's company, started a charity in his mother's name, and later became Iron Man.

Other versions

House of M

In the House of M, Howard was alive while Maria's status is unknown. Howard turned over control of the company to Tony when he turned sixteen. Although officially listed as retired, he worked with Tony to build an armor capable of taking on the Sentinels and powerful mutants during the conflict.

They began to work on Sentinels with Forge and Henry McCoy after being awarded them an exclusive contract. They planned to incorporate a "Vision Project", although there were problems with the control scheme. The two also competed on the wildly popular 'Sapien Deathmatch' television show.

When Tony investigated a resistance group as Iron Man, Sentinels attacked. One, remotely controlled by Howard, scolded him for getting involved. Howard was secretly plotting against Magneto with Hank Pym.

"Genome bomb" locations were discovered by Tony as Iron Man and the House was notified. Howard had programmed the Visions and Sentinels to serve him. He said this had all been part of a plan to make the mutants respect Tony for saving them. Tony would then use that as a chance to directly strike against Magneto. Tony refused to go along. Magneto suddenly appeared and personally dealt with Howard, killing him.

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Howard Stark's true history has yet to be revealed. Facts about his life which were depicted in the Ultimate Iron Man series have been retconned as an in-universe fictional TV show about Iron Man's life. It starts off with Maria Cerrera (his second wife), a brilliant scientist suffered a genetic accident while she was pregnant. After Maria died during childbirth, Howard uses a newly invented biological armor to save the life of their son: Antonio "Tony" Stark. A few years later, Zebediah Stane (Stark's business rival) kidnaps and tortures young Tony to attempt to learn how to manufacture the bio-armor for his own personal gain. Not long afterwards, Howard arrives with a SWAT team and arrests Zebediah. After the incident, a transparent version of the armor is developed, and Tony begins attending a prep school. Fast forward to an older Tony who develops a prototype power-armor and befriends James Rhodes, a fellow student.

After finding out that bullies were ordered from an unknown individual to kill Tony, Howard decides to enroll Tony, Rhodes, and Nifara, who witnessed the attack, into the Baxter Building also enrolled Obadiah Stane (Zebediah Stane's son) in the school. Shortly after their arrival, Tony and Howard witness Obadiah murder a pair of students and make it look like an accident. Howard witnesses Tony makes his first "Iron Man" armor with the intent to punish Obadiah.

Sometime later, Stark was arrested, based on planted evidence, (by Obadiah) for the gruesome murder of Zebediah Stane. While the elder Stark was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of Zebediah Stane, the teenage Stark is forced to run Stark Enterprises. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing bio-drug", and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, but Howard was shot in the process and ends up in ICU.

While his son Tony is trying to fix all of his current problems, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. Howard fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks Loni (Howard's first wife and Obadiah's mother) is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them all. Iron Man, War Machine, Nifara, Howard, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes injuring War Machine. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to Loni and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. Iron Man saves Obadiah, but Howard and Nifara are taken captive by Loni. After Loni shoots and kills Nifara, she confesses that all she ever wanted was power, hence why she married Howard, divorced Howard, remarried with Zebediah, had Obadiah, AND later had Zebediah killed.

Iron Man shows up, and Loni shoots Howard in the chest, threatening to shoot him again if he doesn't take the suit off. Tony takes off his armor, and Loni shoots him in the head, not knowing that his entire body is a brain and will heal itself. Tony fights Loni, beats her, and tends to his father. Obadiah, mad that his mom abandoned him for dead with the poison gas, enters the room and kills her. Tony, Obadiah, and Howard are all picked up by the feds and go home.

Marvel Noir

In the Marvel Noir miniseries Iron Man Noir, set in the 1930s, Howard Stark is believed to have been killed by Nazi agents. It is eventually revealed that he was subjected to chemical brainwashing by the Nazis, and became Baron Zemo. Under this guise, he builds war machines for the Nazis. He dies when Iron Man destroys Baron von Strucker's airship.

In other media

Television

• Howard Stark (identified as Howard Walter Stark) appeared in the 1994 Iron Man TV series voiced by Neil Ross in Season One and Peter Renaday in Season Two. He had some disagreements with Tony on his lifestyle. When Howard was attacked in an accident caused by Justin Hammer, Tony Stark visited his father on his deathbed. In "Not Far from the Tree", it was revealed that Howard Stark is alive and his death was a cover-up by S.H.I.E.L.D. to rescue one of their own from A.I.M. Howard was rescued by Iron Man. However, it was then revealed that he was actually a clone sent by A.I.M. to infiltrate Stark Enterprises. The clone's plan was foiled, but he managed to escape.

• Howard Stark appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced by Fred Henderson. When he refused to accept Obadiah Stane's weapon upgrade plans for the Earth Mover project, his plane blew up. While Tony survived the plane crash, Howard didn't. In "Meltdown", he returns as a hologram message telling Tony that he was the one who wanted him to finish his high school education, not Stane. In "Technovore", Tony learned that his father built some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s technology. In "Designed Only for Chaos", Tony learns from Roberta Rhodes that Howard used to make weapons but discontinued when Tony was born. In "Tales of Suspense (Part 2)", it was revealed that Mandarin had actually abducted Howard Stark before he blew up Howard's plane. Gene claimed that Howard Stark knew where to find the Makluan Rings and states he is still alive. In the Season 2 opener: "Disassembled" it is revealed that he is being forced to help the Mandarin find the five remaining rings in with the threat of harming Tony. In "Mandarin's Quest," Howard Stark is in the Tong's cell where Mandarin states that Tony Stark helped him at the 8th Ring's temple where Howard had previously failed at.

• Howard Stark is mentioned in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Living Legend". When Tony meets Captain America, he tells him that his father used to tell him stories of Captain America and Bucky. At the end of the episode, Tony gives Captain America a photo of Howard meeting Captain America and Bucky during the war.

Film

Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark as depicted in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger.

• In The Invincible Iron Man film, Howard Stark (voiced by John McCook) is alive and well, although his wife (Maria) is dead and his and Tony's relationship is strained. After Tony and Rhodes return to America, they're wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. for illegally selling weapons, Tony initially believing his father to be responsible as an attempt to cover his mistake in allowing their weapons to be in a position to be stolen in the first place (It's revealed that evidence was actually planted by Li Mei to try to keep Tony away).

• Howard Stark is shown during a brief slideshow presentation in the beginning of the Iron Man film, portrayed by Gerard Sanders. Along with his wife, he died in an accident many years before the events of the film depicted, leaving Tony an orphan at 17. Like in the comics, Howard is mentioned to have helped with the Manhattan Project. He was a friend and business partner to Obadiah Stane, who served as a mentor to Tony in his adulthood.

• Howard Stark appears in Iron Man 2 played by John Slattery. In it, he is depicted as having been a co-creator of the arc-reactor technology (along with Anton Vanko) and a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D.. His major role turned out to be as the original creator of the arc-reactor (which powers both his son Tony's heart and the Iron Man armor) and the design of a new element that can stabilize the reactor, Howard lacked the technology to create the element at the time, so he embedded the atomic structure of the new element in the disguised form of the blueprint of the Stark Expo layout. Assuming that future technology will be able to synthesize the material, he films a message for his son Tony and hints that the key is the Expo model. Before the film ends, Howard says that Tony is and always will be his greatest creation. After examining the Expo model, Tony discovers the new element, noting that his father was still taking him to school even after being dead for over two decades. The new element is the key to a safer and more powerful arc reactor, which Tony needs to power the electromagnet protecting his heart without poisoning his blood, as the previous arc reactor had been. Creating a miniature accelerator in his basement lab, Tony is able to synthesize the new element, upgrade the design of the arc reactor to clean his blood, and construct a new armor suit using the new reactor in time for the film's final battle. Tony Stark hinted earlier in the film to Nick Fury that Howard was a cold, calculating father who never told Tony he liked or even loved him, but at the end of Howard's Expo video, that he left for Tony, it is clear that Howard loved his son very much and wanted Tony to finish what he started.

• A younger Howard Stark appears in the film Captain America: The First Avenger, played by Dominic Cooper. He is portrayed as an inventor with a sense of showmanship similar to Tony Stark's; he demonstrates a prototype flying car at a World's Fair in New York City with his own set of "Stark Girls." He is later revealed to be one of the chief scientists in the Super Soldier Project and remains an ally of Captain America throughout the film, including building the hero's trademark shield and uniform.

Video games

• Howard Stark is featured in Captain America: Super Soldier voiced by Liam O'Brien.

External Links

• Howard Stark at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Howard Stark at the Internet Movie Database
• Howard Stark at the Comic Book DB