Tony Stark: Marvel's Mook

Over the past decade, Marvel Studios has become one of the most dominant forces in our society. They bring their movies into the spotlight of the world, creating some of the highest earnings the world has ever seen. Currently, every one of their movies has generated at least 500 million in the box office, save The Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger. Because of this widespread publicity and power, Marvel holds sway over much of population, particularly younger generations. And it has taken this power well, helping racial discrimination with movies such as Black Panther as well as gender discrimination with many female heroes and Captain Marvel coming out later this year. These things are all amazing, but they are not the topic of todays blog. That honor belongs to the concepts of the Midriff and the Mook and what Marvel has done with these concepts.

With the Midriff, Marvel has almost avoided the topic entirely, with no female characters jumping out as apparent Midriffs.

As for the Mook, however, several characters do come to mind with Marvel characters. First and most prominent is Tony Stark, or Iron Man. Throughout the many films, we see that many of his choices are the same as what a Mook would do. Even his character itself embodies a Mook. Namely, he is one of the richest characters in the Marvel Universe, which is an important characteristic. Also, he is often arrogant throughout the story, believing that his path and his way of doing things are the only good options for the situation. While quite often he is right, navigating his way out of situations as he did in Iron Man, he is also quite often wrong on a grand scale. The primary examples of this are in The Age of Ultron, Stark creates Ultron, believing that it is the only way to achieve true peace on Earth. Even when others disagree with him, he continues with the project, creating a being that eventually threatens life on Earth. The other example of this is in Civil War, when he fights his comrades because he believes that the Avengers must sign the accords. Both of these examples highlight just how stubborn he really is, an important trait of a Mook. The other primary example pointing to Stark being Marvel’s Mook is his interaction with woman. Primarily early in the series, Stark is constantly shown hooking up with women that he meets at various important events, which is yet another important characteristic of a Mook. Between wealth, arrogance and charisma, Stark has proven that he is Marvel’s Mook.

But Marvel has done a good job with the stereotype they were presented with, and they have done a good job of changing him throughout the series. His personality is undeniably Mookish throughout the first several movies, establishing a picture of who he is in the minds of the audience. However, throughout the rest of the series, Marvel slowly warps Stark into a much better person while still giving of the persona of a Mook. His change can be shown through his willingness to accept others ideas in Infinity War as well as his decision to have a truly committed relationship in Homecoming. The Stark at the beginning of the franchise certainly would not have done these things. Also, as the series goes on, he also develops true motives behind his actions, as even in The Age of Ultron and Civil War, he believes that what he is doing is for the benefit of others and not himself. Overall, with its large media influence, Marvel has done a good job repainting the picture of a Mook with Tony Stark.