

Tony Stark then developed his father’s ideas and used them as the basis for the mini arc reactor that saved his life. However, Vanko didn’t have the purest motives for their work, and Stark had him deported, setting up a lifelong hatred of Stark Industries by the Soviet and his son, Ivan. A brilliant scientist and weapons expert, Howard Stark worked alongside former Soviet scientist Anton Vanko, and the two came up with the arc reactor together. In the MCU, the arc reactor was originally designed by Tony Stark’s father, Howard Stark. 11 It Was Designed By Different People In The Comics and the MCUĪlthough the patent for the arc reactor is owned entirely by the Stark family and Stark Enterprises, the actual designer is different in the comics and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stark Tower became Avengers Tower after the Battle of New York, and Stark continues to laud its power source as the clean energy source of the future. Although the original reactor was destroyed in this fight, it has since been rebuilt. In his final battle with Iron Man, Tony lures Stane to Stark Tower, where he tells Pepper Potts to overload the arc reactor, generating a pulse strong enough to knock out Stane’s armor. Although there were plans to use the reactor technology to supply energy to more of New York, this has yet to happen in the MCU (onscreen, anyway).ĭuring the events of Iron Man, the large reactor was a key part of bringing down the villainous Obadiah Stane. In the films, the larger arc reactor actually came first, as Howard Stark designed it as a source of clean, renewable energy. Although this isn’t mentioned in the comics, it’s a major plot point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not the tiny version that lives in Tony Stark’s chest, obviously, but a much larger arc reactor that is situated at the base of the iconic tower. Here are 12 Things You Didn’t Know About Iron Man’s Arc Reactor.

Since then, the reactor has been re-worked and refined over the years, but it remains at the heart (pun very much intended!) of Iron Man. He then built a suit of iron to fight his way out of captivity, and his alter ego of Iron Man was born. After he was injured and kidnapped in a warzone, he implanted a device in his chest to keep the shrapnel in his body out of his heart. Out of that intelligence, however, was born the Arc Reactor. Technically, of course, Tony Stark has no superpower, unless you count his genius-level intelligence. Throughout all of these changes, one thing has remained constant – the source of his power: the Arc Reactor. At various times he’s battled himself, his enemies, and even his fellow heroes, but he remains a mainstay of the Marvel universe.

His backstory has been retconned multiple times (to bring him, and the wars he was involved in, up to date for new readers), and his suits have grown and evolved along the way. Since his first appearance in the '60s, Iron Man has gone through a huge amount of changes.

brings him to life in true Tony Stark style. Iron Man is one of Marvel’s best loved heroes, and Robert Downey Jr.
