Let’s face it, any relationship is going to have its ups and downs, and this is no different for superheroes. With all the Spider-Man hype in the air, we wanted to showcase some good and bad times that he has shared with his friend/mentor/rival Iron Man.
Things have always been pretty good between Iron Man and Spidey. At least on paper it seems like everything should be hunky dory. Both characters are wise-cracking science nerds that don colorful outfits and fight bad guys. They’ve teamed up multiple times on various adventures and Tony Stark has invited Spidey to join the different incarnations of the Avengers from time to time. In the Ultimate Universe, Iron Man even trained Spider-Man and helped him defeat Mysterio.
Tony Stark has been somewhat of a father figure to Peter, something Spider-Man had longed for after losing both his father and Uncle Ben. When events led to Spider-Man and his family being homeless (house burned down by a dang villain), Tony let them stay in Stark Tower and even built him a new costume dubbed the Iron Spider armor. But the good times were short-lived.
The superhuman Civil War broke out and the wall crawler had to choose a side. Initially he chose to go with his mentor, in supporting the Superhuman Registration Act. Spider-Man called a press conference and revealed his identity to the world over live TV.
Later though, after finding out that Iron Man was imprisoning superheroes that were not registered, he changed teams and joined Captain America’s side. This of course led to a few scuffles between the two heroes, but after the all the wars, invasions, skrull imposters, and other comic bookery Iron Man invited Spider-Man to be an Avenger once again.
Fast forward to now-ish and Peter is the CEO of a highly successful tech company called Parker Industries, while Stark Industries is not doing so well. Just another thing for the two to fight about, until Tony is put into a coma by Carol Danvers during Civil War II.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will put Tony Stark in that fatherly/mentor role that I’ve always been a fan of. My favorite scenes of Iron Man 3 are his interactions with his kid sidekick in the film. So hopefully we’ll get plenty of funny moments between Stark and Peter when Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters.
