The year is 2008, and the world knows as a billionaire genius and the ultimate merchant of death. But deep in the caves of Afghanistan, after a devastating ambush by his own weapons, the "Merchant" is forced to reinvent himself to survive.
With a chest full of shrapnel and a car battery keeping his heart beating, Tony builds the —a clunky, flame-throwing suit of armor—and burns his way to freedom. Back in Malibu, he realizes that his company, Stark Industries , has been fueling the very chaos he barely escaped.
Their battle tears through the streets of Los Angeles, ending atop the Stark Industries headquarters. Tony wins, not just through firepower, but through the realization that he is more than just a man in a machine. Standing before a room full of skeptical reporters the next day, he tosses aside his prepared script and changes the world with four words:
