The Marvel Universe: Howard Stark

In 2008, Marvel's movie "Iron Man" was screened. Her stunning success made actor Robert Downey Jr. one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood. While his hero - the ingenious inventor and playboy Tony Stark (Iron Man), bathed in the rays of glory, some viewers were interested in Howard Stark - the father of this character. Despite the fact that little attention has been paid to this hero in the Marvel movie, in comics, fortunately, there is enough information about the fate of the elder Stark, who made an invaluable contribution to the fate of many superheroes.

Howard Stark

This character has always played a secondary role in both comic books and films. He first appeared in 1970 on the pages of the comic book about the adventures of the Iron Man.

The "father" of this character is the famous American comic book maker Archie Goodwin. The first artist to portray this hero was Don Heck.

Howard Stark was the ideal of a successful scientist. He is not only an unsurpassed inventor, responsible for everything that does, but also an excellent businessman who has made the whole empire of Stark Industries.

Howard Stark: the biography of the character, according to the comics "Marvel"

In the universe of Marvel, this hero lived for 74 years. His full name is Howard Anthony Walter Stark. Periodically acted under various pseudonyms (Cecil B. Demill, Usaty Casanova of America) Howard Stark. His date of birth is August 15, 1917. This hero was born in a small town Richford.

As well as his son Tony later, Howard showed himself quite early as a genius inventor. Together with his father, the young man founded Stark Industries, which did not prevent him from working in various state institutions.

During the Second World War Howard helped his country to defeat the enemy, and later contributed to the destruction of HYDRA. Together with John Crow Ransome, Stark worked on the creation of a super soldier, as a result of which a frail Irish boy named Steve Rogers turned into a superstrong and hardy Captain America.

Also Howard Star, along with other eminent scientists, participated in the creation of an atomic bomb and a superhero robot named Arsenal, often appearing in the comics about the Avengers, the Hulk and the Iron Man.

With the onset of the Cold War, Stark was one of the founders and active participants of the Sh.I.T. At this time he worked together with Nathaniel Richards, who later became famous as the villain Kang the Conqueror.

It was Howard was able to find the legendary Tesseract on the ocean floor. He studied it, but could not find a worthy use of the properties of the artifact.

Together with the Soviet scientist Anton Vanko, Stark tried to invent a more reliable and safe source of energy for humanity than the atomic one. After Vanko showed his true nature - the greedy unscrupulous villain, Howard made sure that he was sent to Siberia.

The personal life of Howard Stark

Despite the success of women, this hero married quite late. His chosen one was Maria Collins Carbonell.

The couple adopted a talented boy and named him Anthony Stark (later became an Iron Man).

Despite his image as a brave hero, successful businessman and playboy, Howard Stark suffered from alcoholism, which subsequently prevented him from establishing normal relations with his adopted son Tony, whom he valued and respected.

This hero died in December 1991. According to the official version, Howard and Maria Starkey were killed in a car crash. And although there were rumors that this catastrophe was rigged, while in the comics this confirmation was not found.

The hero's kinobiography

In the carved Marvel, a character named Howard Stark (photo below) has several other biographies.

First and foremost, the Iron Man is represented in films as the son of a scientist, not a adoptive son.

Also, according to the version of Marvel, Stark worked for a long time with the inventor of the technology of reduction - Dr. Henry Pym, who later became an Ant-Man. Learning that Howard and Agent Carter plan to use his invention for military purposes, Pim left SHCH.I.Ta and carefully guarded his technology for many years.

In addition, the circumstances of Howard's death are somewhat changed. So, in the film "The First Avenger: Confrontation" it turns out that Howard and his wife Maria were killed by Steve Rogers' best friend - Baki Barnes (Winter Soldier), sent by Hydra.

The Legacy of Howard Stark

And in comics, and in films, the sincere father's love of this hero to his son Anthony Stark is shown. It was on his lively mind and ingenuity that he laid grand hopes on Howard. As practice showed, he was not mistaken. Young Stark not only was able to improve the state of affairs in his father's company, but also to complete many of his undertakings. So, with the filing of Howard Stark, Iron Man synthesized a new chemical element, which became a source of pure energy, replacing radioactive palladium. Thus, Stark Industries was able to abandon nuclear energy.

Actors who played the role of Howard Stark in the movies of the universe Marvel

Despite its secondary role in the events of the "Marvel", it often appeared in many of its projects Howard Stark. Films with his participation are "Iron Man 1, 2", "The First Avenger 1-3" and "Man-Ant". He was also present in some episodes of the television series "Agent Carter" and was mentioned in another television project Marvel - "Agents Shch.I.T.".

For the entire movie history of "Marvel" this character was played by 3 actors.

Young and charming Howard Stark (British actor Dominique Cooper) appeared in "The First Avenger" and "Agent Carter."

In "Iron Man" this role went to Gerard Sanders.

And in the Iron Man 2, The Ant-Man and The First Avenger: Opposition, John Slattery played it .

Interesting facts

• Unlike most comic scientists, who do not pay attention to their appearance, Howard almost always looked like a dandy. In his youth he was a brown-eyed brunette with neat tendrils.
• His height is 185 cm and his weight is 82 kg.
• His name was given to the hero in honor of the famous American aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes.
• According to the version of "Earth-616", Mary and Howard Stark had a common child - the son of Arnaud, about whom for a long time nothing was known.
• This character appeared in video games - Captain America: Super Soldier and Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
• In 2007, the animated series "The Unbreakable Iron Man" appeared on the screens, in the plot of which sometimes there is Stark-father. This character is voiced by actor John McCook.

Howard Stark - the hero is really extraordinary. Almost all the achievements of the Americans in the field of science after the Second World War, according to the version of the Marvel universe, are his merit.

Of course, this solo project will not be given to this character, since he is not well known for this, in addition, there is already one super-popular superhero scientist - this is the Hulk. However, fans of this character can only hope that in future films, TV series and comics "Marvel" they will meet their favorite hero many times.