As the Avenger who really kicked off the entire he definitely has a lot of personality flaws along with his strengths. He goes through quite the journey from the first Iron Man movie up to the point when he dies in Avengers: Endgame.
Over the course of the many movies he appeared in, he does some heroic and irable things as well as does some rather frustrating and even awful things at times. Sometimes, he’s the best and fans loved him, and other times he was kind of the worst.
Worst: He could be really sexist
This was a bigger problem earlier on in the MCU, especially before Disney took over. While the MCU still has issues with representation now, early on, much more blatantly sexist and objectifying things were said and done, and Tony Stark was the worst culprit.
He often treated women like his playthings, and he would sexualize them in an uncomfortable way. Luckily, this is something the movies stopped doing because it wasn’t a great look.
Best: He created the Avengers Compound
While Tony Stark does have a lot of arrogance, a lot of his ego seems to come from his own insecurities and inability to connect with others. However, he does start to see the Avengers as family.
He has the resources and intellect to create things for them, so he makes them a place to live by train in Upstate New York. This was definitely a great thing to do especially for some of the heroes who didn't’ really have anywhere else to go.
Worst: Because he created Ultron
Tony Stark has personally created more villains than anyone or anything else in the entire MCU, and at times, this just felt like an overplayed trope.
However, Ultron was one of the first and most notable examples of this, and he really was a villain created out of Tony Stark’s insecurities and hubris. While he might have had good intentions, the fact he didn’t think to consult others and just went about the process on his own wasn’t good.
Best: He nearly took the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos
While Tony Stark does make mistakes, there are also many times when he is an amazing hero who focuses everything on saving lives. He came up with the plan in Avengers: Infinity War to get the Gauntlet from Thanos, and he almost succeeded.
He had to step up his leadership in this moment, too, as the Guardians of the Galaxy weren’t as capable or put together. While Star-Lord might have messed up the plan, Tony Stark did create a good one.
Worst: He didn’t want to help with time travel at first
It seemed rather out of character when Tony Stark went from caring a lot about the Avengers as his family to not caring about them at all once he had his own family in Avengers: Endgame.
He wasn’t even in with the other Avengers and wasn’t working with them, and he was reluctant to help them at first. While it makes sense he didn’t want to lose his daughter, it was a weird turnaround and made him seem rather selfish.
Best: He was really concerned about protecting the other Avengers
While Tony Stark might have been a bit out of character in Endgame, for most of the series, he was very concerned about the other Avengers.
He would do things like create tech and suits for them, and he was also terrified of them dying. When Wanda Maximoff messed with his head, his fears were of aliens invading again and of being responsible for the deaths of his friends, so he clearly did care about them.
Worst: His arrogance could get in the way
Tony Stark is a genius, and he’s also a billionaire. He’s able to buy expensive things and pretty much do whatever he wants because of these factors. So, it’s not exactly surprising that he can be arrogant. He doesn't’ always think about how he treats others and can come off as conceited and egotistical.
He would dismiss others that he didn’t think were worth his time, like Aldrich Killian when he was nerdy, and he often acted outside of the law when being Iron Man.
Best: He saved New York from the nuke
Of all the heroic things that Iron Man does in the movies, this is one of the best and also one of the more underrated. In that movie, Steve and Tony are in conflict because Steve doesn’t believe Tony is willing to “make the sacrifice play” to save others and risk his own life.
However, Tony surprises Steve, and himself, when he takes the nuke into the wormhole and nearly dies in the process because he knows he has to save millions of other people.
Worst: He didn’t tell his team about the Accords
There are a lot of things that could be said about who was right in Civil War, and the truth is that both Tony and Steve had good points.
However, Tony put many of the other Avengers immediately on the defensive because he knew about the Accords but didn’t tell them ahead of time. This made it feel like he was going behind their backs and that it was a bit of an ambush.
Best: Because he ended up being the one to save the universe
While it might seem too obvious to put this as the last item on this list, it has to be said given how big of a deal this moment was. While Tony had shown he would put his own life at risk before, in this moment, he truly knew he wouldn’t survive using the Infinity Gauntlet.
He also had a lot to lose now that he had a young daughter. However, he did what had to be done to save the world.
