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Marvel’s Armored Avenger Iron Man had a classic story that defined him for years in the comics but was considered too dark for the MCU.
Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Iron Man in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe helped make the actor the face of the franchise. The critical and financial success of the early Iron Man movies, as well as the subsequent films that led to Avengers, helped usher in the adaptation of several other Marvel characters and set the foundation of what would become the Golden Age of superhero movies.
The way the MCU did this was by keeping to a tried and tested formula for dominating the block office for over a decade, never straying too far away from what had worked in the past. While this has worked for many characters including Iron Man, it has led to the exclusion of one of the character’s defining storylines: “Demon in a Bottle” (by David Michelinie and Bob Layton and illustrated by John Romita, Jr., Bob Layton, and Carmine Infantino). The storyline centered around Tony Stark’s struggle with alcoholism, a serious subject that would not have fit in with the family-friendly appeal the MCU was seeking.
“Demon in a Bottle” revolves around Tony Stark’s battle with alcoholism. The story spanned nine issues and saw Stark hit rock bottom after a series of malfunctions of the Iron Man armor caused several tragedies including the death of an ambassador and Tony being forced to step down as leader of the Avengers. The stress led Stark to binge drink his problems away, even after the main villain of the story, Justin Hammer, was defeated. When his loyal butler Jarvis confronted him about his problems, Stark lashed out, leading the butler to resign and sell his shares of Stark International to S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony eventually got help from his girlfriend Bethany Cable, who helped him beat his addiction and reconcile with Jarvis, becoming both a better man and a stronger hero in the process.
“Demon in a Bottle” was a milestone arc for Tony Stark as a character and a significant development in the superhero genre as it tackled a very controversial and mature theme: addiction. A lot of major Iron Man storylines would later reference the classic tale, as it would add dimension to Tony’s character and the threat of a further relapse being a more dangerous threat to him than any villain. The significance of the arc and how it defined Iron Man for years to come make it all the more surprising that the arc was not adapted for the MCU. Speculation of the story eventually being made for the silver screen was ripe before the first Iron Man film was released, especially when Robert Downey Jr. was cast in the titular role back in 2008. Prior to Iron Man, Downey had a very public battle with drug addiction that damaged his career before the MCU catapulted him back into the Hollywood limelight. The news of his casting over a decade ago made it seem very likely the actor had taken the role out of kinship for Tony Stark’s own battle with addiction, yet, this aspect of the character was only hinted at on the silver screen.
Downey’s Stark is seen drinking throughout the first two Iron Man movies, and when we first see the character, he is nonchalantly enjoying several glasses of scotch. In Iron Man 2 (which features Justin Hammer as the villain), there is a scene where Stark throws a house party with several guests while drunk and wearing the Iron Man armor before he is confronted by James Rhodes, who takes the suit off him. However, despite a scene of Stark enjoying a glass of scotch while confronting Loki in 2012’s The Avengers, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel seemed to roll back on having Stark being a heavy drinker. In an interview, Shane Black hinted that he thought about the possibility of exploring Tony’s descent into alcoholism in the third film, but was persuaded by Disney to sway away from that direction and instead have Tony be an eccentric genius suffering from PTSD.
“Demon in a Bottle” is a classic Marvel story and has defined Iron Man’s character in comics for decades. However, the mature themes of the story would create a conflict with the family-friendly nature of the mainstream MCU and could have easily been mishandled in the early days of the cinematic universe. Still, adapting the storyline could have been a bold attempt at offering audiences something different from the usual superhero fare on the big screen. Considering the MCU has been met with criticism from some for being overly “formulaic”, seeing it experimenting and taking risks with a story revolving around a real addiction that millions across the world endure would have in all probability pushed the boundaries of what stories the MCU can tell.
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