The Evolution of Tony and Howard Stark

**Spoilers for Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame ahead.**

From the dawning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark had a complicated relationship with his father. Howard Stark was, for lack of a better phrase, a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist—all traits his son picked up from him.

But from Iron Man on through Captain America: The First Avenger, we are shown different times of Howard’s life. He started off very much like his son, thriving in his intelligence and not taking his future seriously. The difference comes with Maria. Howard fell in love, and we can argue that Tony did, too, but it took his near-death and capture for Tony to realize what he had with Pepper Potts.

But with that similarity came an anger and resentment in Tony, especially when he was a teenager. As we saw in Captain America: Civil War, he didn’t end on the best of terms with Howard and never had closure with him. He’d think back on the last words he said to his father and be plagued with that memory, rather than any of the happier ones they had shared.

So, how does Avengers: Endgame fix this? By giving Tony his moment. On their quest to retrieve the Space stone, Tony and Steve Rogers travel to the 1970s. There, Steve gets to see Peggy Carter, and while that’s sweet, the real heart of it comes when Tony Stark hears his father’s voice again.

While it’s not a real father/son reunion (since this Howard Stark is only now dealing with the idea of being a father in general), it does give Tony Stark another moment with his father that he didn’t have before. He gets to tell him that he, essentially, forgives him—and, in his own way, he gets to tell Howard about Morgan, too.

It wasn’t a relationship that was ever going to have a perfect resolution, and it was one that clearly weighed heavily on Tony (remember, he literally attempted to murder Bucky Barnes because he found out that Hydra used the Winter Soldier to kill his parents), but Avengers: Endgame at least gave him that closure.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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