Iron Man: SOB (SPOILERS)

[Pensive]

the threats caused by people stealing his weapons were (as far as he knew) silenced. ..he was basically done with being Shellhead.

Negative-- did you see the list of shipping manifests he had Pepper pull from the SI database? There are dozens of missions left to go on. That was part of the reason Pepper wanted to quit, because Tony said all that was left was the next mission.

 

[Silvercrest]

The bodyguard thing doesn't make much sense anyway. Consider why superheroes have a secret identity:
1) To protect those closest to them from reprisals by their enemies.
2) To protect themselves from reprisals, justified or otherwise, by law enforcement and government agencies (as well as their enemies).
3) To give themselves breathing space, so that they don't have to be in persona 24 hours a day.

The secret identity cliche that really gets me, which was quite common in the Silver Age, is when a hero's secret ID is generally known to the be the only person who can get ahold of the hero. Clark Kent is the only person who can get in touch with Superman; Don Blake is the only person who can get in touch with Thor; Matt Murdock is the only person who can get in touch with Daredevil. I know that good deal of suspension of disbelief has to go into the whole secret ID schtick, but could these people be any more obvious? If I were trying to figure out a hero's secret ID, the person who's known as the only one who can get in touch with the hero is the first person I'd look at.

Very similar point. Even if that person isn't the hero, they're making themselves a target by being closely associated with the hero. Like I said, Tony has made himself a target by declaring himself as Iron Man's employer, even if he's not the one in the suit. (The fact that he is in the suit is just icing on the cake.) The same is true for Lois, Jimmy, etc. Batman can't tell Jim Gordon who he is without risking being arrested, but there was never any reason for Clark not to tell Lois and Jimmy.​

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Good catch, I'd forgotten that.

Still, Tony MUST consider himself protected from any repurcussions from being an outlaw and vigilante. Like it or not, he's still an American citizen and will be subject to its laws. I guess joining the Avengers would save him from various legalities from causing mass damage and death as he did in the first movie...

Mark

 

[Pensive]

I don't think Tony was worried about legal and monetary repercussions-- after all his company is HELLA rich and can afford great lawyers.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Very similar point. Even if that person isn't the hero, they're making themselves a target by being closely associated with the hero. Like I said, Tony has made himself a target by declaring himself as Iron Man's employer, even if he's not the one in the suit. (The fact that he is in the suit is just icing on the cake.) The same is true for Lois, Jimmy, etc. Batman can't tell Jim Gordon who he is without risking being arrested, but there was never any reason for Clark not to tell Lois and Jimmy.

FWIW, in the early comics before they came up with the bodyguard alibi, Stark and his company were already routine targets for various commie operatives and super-powered nutjobs. Iron Man spent most of his time saving Stark Industries. So the bodyguard story gave an excuse for an association that was already there, and wasn't likely to draw any more negative attention to Stark than he was already getting.

It also makes sense that somebody like Stark would build the suit, but hir somebody else to wear it.

I always thought it was kind of silly that, the odd brief impersonation aside, Stark and his "bodyguard" were never seen together, and nobody seemed to make much of this.