Discussion NSWFF Writer's Support Group - May's Topic: Angst

...what you have to remember with Tony, and this got pointed out somewhere while I was browsing, is that he's had PTSD since Iron Man One and the cave, and then the Battle of New York happened. The PTSD got compounded, he tried therapy with Bruce who kept falling asleep on him (as it's not his field, the psychology thing), but no word on weather or not he's had any actual therapy with an actual shrink. And because he was letting fear (and the vision of everybody dying, thank you Wanda) drive him, Ultron happened and he couldn't or wouldn't accept total blame for it... to the point of causing Civil War to happen, because he was impatient and kind of a moron and again letting the underiding tension drive him after a woman laid the total blame at his feet (or on his chest) at the start of CACW... which brings us to this question of yours, with the cause of growth and progress. (And I blame the lack of growth and progress at the feet of the script-writers. Gah.)

That's a hard one, actually, because I'm looking at this question thru a filter shaded by reading a lot of fic where Tony was made out to be the savior and Steve the villain (and then I had to stop looking at those... seriously) and several viewings of various meta... but... death changes people, both good and bad. The catalyst for Tony to finally make that mental jump toward actually dealing with the problems instead of making the problems bigger ones? The thing that just happened to him on Titan, without actually saying what it was and is, because I'd have to spoiler-blackout myself.
He's been worried this whole time that everyone was going to die if he did nothing, that he needed to "do more", that he needed to protect, and in the process of trying to hold on by his fingernails and make everything better... CACW happened. Siberia happened. Half his team ended up fugitives when he was being an idiot and not asking the computer in his suit if there was something fishy about the Doctor (Zemo) that managed to infiltrate the TaskForce building in Berlin.

I hope that made sense for you, brodiew.

 

Thank you for responding, @DaenaBenjen42. He has become as complicated a character on screen as he is in the comic and the same, and different reasons. RDJ has a lot to do with that. However, I get what you are saying about the untreated PTSD and as well as his stubborn, fearful arrogance. I too blame writers. I think Avengers and Iron Man 3 showed some progress, but the progress doesn't stick because he keeps making the same selfish mistakes. Change is hard. Especially if the writers and RDJ don't want him to. And does changing the character serve the story. It makes one wonder what we will see in RDJ's exit.

 

What is your opinion on Marvel can DC comic book characters?

 

My interest is pretty much limited to the 90s X-Men tv show, and the comic books to the extent they are consistent with that. Specifically I like Rogue and Gambit. And I'm excited that the show is getting revived soon! But I'm guessing that's not the answer you were looking for. You might get more response with a more specific question.