“Evil Tony Stark” is sometimes the baseline personality of Tony Stark in the comic books. While 80% of MCU fans, who don’t read comic books, see RDJ as Tony Stark, the character in the comics has deep personality flaws. These flaws reveal him as human, but not always as a hero.
In recent years, Marvel Comics has not known what to do with Tony Stark. He once died and became the onboard A.I. for Riri Williams. Stark was temporarily married to Emma Frost from the X-Men. Stark recently lost and then reacquired his fortune. Additionally, he also had a temporary relapse into alcoholism again.
Did you know that, except for a short series from late 2024, there was no Iron Man comic in the second half of 2025? While there will be a new Iron Man series in 2026, it shows that Marvel is struggling to keep the character relevant in the comics.
For many fans, RDJ is Iron Man, and MCU Tony Stark is dead. In the comic books, it’s hard to deny that Stark sometimes does questionable and even evil things.
Evil Tony Stark
In the comics, Stark operates his armor while drunk. He once sadistically got San Francisco residents hooked on an addictive app to appease his capitalist mindset. He even tried to use sight-enabling nanotech to bribe Daredevil and keep him from stopping his scam.
Stark has killed Avengers in a past and controversial storyline. He suckered Peter Parker into revealing his identity in the Civil War storyline to bolster political legislation. (Parker later paid serious consequences for the act.) Stark would also kill an Avenger during Civil War.
Perhaps Marvel needs time to fine-tune new characterizations of Stark since he has done so much evil in previous storylines.
Here are eight instances in the comics where Tony Stark committed downright evil actions to prove a point, further an agenda, or just because he wanted to do it.
1. Stark Operated His Armor While Drunk
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle is one of the most legendary Iron Man storylines ever. As Tony Stark succumbs to alcoholism, his armor technology gets stolen by his corporate competitors. Even the U.S. government has begun to consider taking Stark’s technology on the grounds of national security.
As Stark struggles to protect his armor and technology, he drifts further into alcoholism and irresponsibility. He even operates his armor while drunk. This pivotal 1979 story inspired RDJ’s performances in the MCU Iron Man trilogy, especially Stark drunkenly dancing in his armor in 2010’s Iron Man 2.
Buy this 176-page hardcover for $52 on Amazon now.
2. Iron Man Kills a Nanny
Iron Man Epic Collection: The Crossing is basically a 512-page omnibus that collects the notorious 1995 storyline. As Tony Stark experiences unexplained blackouts and memory loss, a portal-hopping intruder kills the nanny for the Avengers. It turns out that Kang the Conqueror has found a way to mind-control Stark into destroying the Avengers from within.
At the end of this storyline, Stark was replaced with a teen version to replace the older, corrupted, and evil Tony Stark. It was a very controversial and confusing storyline in its era. This 512-page paperback collects the original storyline and several tie-in issues. Get it for $29.98 on Amazon.
3. Stark Kills Goliath With a Thor Clone
The 2006 Marvel Comics storyline “Civil War” featured the passage of the Superhero Registration Act. Puperheroes must register with the government or be labeled as criminals. Tony Stark sided with the government while Steve Rogers rebelled; their conflict caused the superhero community to take sides. This story inspired 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
What you might not know is that Evil Tony Stark was the star of this comic. Stark did some really messed-up things to defend the SRA and protect his interests. Goliath, an Avenger who can grow to 100 feet tall, was killed by a Thor clone created by Stark. Stark would let nothing stand in his way to win.
Get the 208-page hardcover for $29 on Amazon now.
4. Stark Gets San Francisco Hooked on a $99-Per-Day App
The 2014 comic Superior Iron Man was published in the wake of the “Axis” event. The morals of superheroes and villains were reversed. So, an Evil Tony Stark persona manifested, and Stark decided to become a greedy and malicious corporate baron.
He releases Extremis 3.0, a nanobot-interactive app that can transform anyone into the dream version of themselves for a free one-day trial. After that, the app costs $99 per day, or over $36,000 annually per user. Stark becomes a drunk, cynical, hateful, and opportunistic capitalistic who values a dollar more than being a hero.
Superior Iron Man 1: Infamous collects the first five issues of the series. Get the 136-page hardcover for $49.99 on Amazon now.
5. Stark Restores Daredevil’s Sight to Maliciously Bribe Him
While Superior Iron Man was hooking San Francisco on the Extremis 3.0 app, Daredevil decides to intervene. Daredevil, a vigilante and a lawyer, confronts evil Tony Stark to compel him to do the right thing. Stark uses nanotech to temporarily restore Daredevil’s sight in an effort to bribe him.
In the aftermath of those events, Pepper Potts also makes a stand against Stark’s malicious behavior.
Superior Iron Man 2: Stark Contrast collects issues #6 through 9 of the series. Get the $136-page hardcover for $5 on Amazon now.
6. Stark Helps Launch the Illuminati
During the buildup to the “Secret Invasion” storyline, several superheroes decided that they would form a supergroup to secretly manipulate world events as needed. Iron Man, Namor, Prof. X, Mr. Fantastic, and several other heroes decide that they know what’s best for the world and create the Illuminati.
While it is easy to blame an evil Tony Stark mindset for the creation of this group, he didn’t create it alone. Several heroes warn the group that such an action will only create more problems than it solves. Get the 152-page paperback for $18.59 on Amazon now.
7. Stark and the Illuminati Banish Hulk From Earth
The Illuminati decided to banish Bruce Banner from Earth. Banner was once considered for membership in the Illuminati. However, the Illuminati decide the Hulk can’t stay on the planet in the aftermath of a fight with the Thing that almost destroyed a city.
The Hulk is put on a ship that strands him on a lawless gladiator world for years.
Get the 416-page paperback, Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk, for $31 at Amazon.
8. Stark Fools Peter Parker Into Publicly Revealing His Identity
Stark uses his celebrity to pump as much propaganda onto the American populace to justify the Superhero Registration Act during “Civil War”. To prove that the SRA was just legislation, Stark manipulates Peter Parker into publicly revealing he is Spider-Man at a news conference. This happened in Civil War issue #2.
This decision caused the near-death of Aunt May. Later, the Devil would erase Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage in the “One More Day” storyline, making everyone forget Parker was Spider-Man. So the “Evil Tony Stark” term, considering all the consequences, is justified here.
Evil Tony Stark or Uneven Characterisations?
Tony Stark is a multifaceted character in the comic books. He is not always the good guy. RDJ is not the only version of Tony Stark in existence; unfortunately, he is exactly that for many non-reading comic book fans. Perhaps it is best; while there are decades of incredible and heroic Iron Man stories, there are also many evil Tony Stark stories, too.
Check out the 2024 Iron Man series before the 2026 Marvel Comics relaunch. Iron Man Vol. 1: The Stark-Roxxon War is a 120-page paperback. Stark battles the Roxxon corporation and A.I.M. for control of his own company. Buy it now for $16.65 on Amazon.
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The post Not All Heroes Wear Iron: 8 Comics Where Tony Stark Was Evil appeared first on Personal Finance Advice.
