Marvel Studios lost the opportunity to showcase the tragic story of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. portrayed the character of Iron Man for over a decade. While the initial movie hardly highlighted the character’s relationship with his father, the later ones do give a glimpse into their complex relationship. However, the father-son dynamic had one more character, that the studio could have used to give Tony Stark more emotional depth.

Tony Stark with his father Howard Stark

JARVIS, who had been by Tony Stark’s side throughout his journey to become the superhero, would have offered a compelling comparison of Iron Man’s story with the tragic backstory of DC’s Batman.

Marvel’s Lost Opportunity to Explore Iron Man’s Emotional Depth

Iron Man 2: Public Identity #2 explores the Marvel superhero’s complicated childhood and the influential role his family butler Edwin Jarvis plays in his life growing up. And the emotional connection between them could have been an opportunity for the studio to rival Batman’s story.

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man

The DC superhero had his family butler Alfred as his trusted ally after he lost his parents. While Tony’s father was there, he failed to demonstrate effective parenting skills, leading Jarvis to become the paternal figure Tony needed to comfort him.

Iron Man 2: Public Identity #2 states how Tony remembers Jarvis as being the “happiest to see [him]” when he came back from school. It could also be a reason why he named the AI after his butler, to keep some small piece of his beloved father figure alive, as he tells the AI in the comic that he has “always been here.”

Iron Man 2: Public Identity #2

While the Marvel movies do portray the significance JARVIS had in Stark’s life, their backstory did not make it to the silver screen. The untold Iron Man storyline would have been the studio’s equivalent to the emotionally charged story of the DC superhero Batman. It could have added depth to the cinematic portrayal of the character with Robert Downey Jr.’s exceptional performance.

Edwin Jarvis Made it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The 2019 film Avengers: Endgame features a surprise appearance from the Stark family’s butler Edwin Jarvis. The character that inspired Tony Stark’s personal user interface computer system was portrayed by James D’Arcy, who is seen alongside John Slattery’s Howard Stark.

A still from Avengers: Endgame

While the movie doesn’t provide much information about the character, D’Arcy has also portrayed the character in Hayley Atwell’s Marvel series Agent Carter. He has a more prominent role in the TV series as he is seen assisting Peggy Carter in various missions. D’Arcy’s appearance in Endgame also marked the first instance when a Marvel TV series character made the jump to the MCU movies.