Tony Stark should be in jail.
Yep. You heard me. I am totally serious.
When you go back and watch all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark
breaks law after law after law just by being Iron Man.
Don't believe me.
Well, I'm about to prove it to you.
Hello Internet!
Welcome to Film Theory, the show that wants you to snap that subscribe button away.
You know, loyal theorists.
I’m not sure I've ever seen a franchise go on such a rollercoaster of quality and
discourse as the Marvel Cinematic Universe across the last three years.
Once held up as this beacon of real consistent quality in an industry where blockbusters
were often garbage cash grabs, the quality of the MCU has become mid at best.
Phase four had a lot of ups, sure, but it also had a lot of really down, downs; confusing
and convoluted plots, baffling creative decisions, cool ideas and character arcs that seemed
to be completely abandoned before we hit their peak.
Honestly, after watching the “movie” that was Ant-Man: Quantumania.
made go back and rewatch the older MCU films, trying to identify where and what exactly
went wrong.
If you want to see what I think happened, well, you can check out our video telling
Marvel that it's time to panic.
But as I was binging Iron Man yet again, something else dawned on me.
Something that completely recontextualized the MCU’s first and biggest hero.
Suddenly I realized that Tony Stark.
Yeah, he wasn't as heroic as I thought he was.
This dude should be in prison multiple times over.
Tony Stark was a serial womanizer, a liar to everyone around him, and an arms dealer
responsible for potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths before he ever had the idea of a
futuristic suit of armor.
He's hoarded world changing technology, like the nanotech that powers the suit in Endgame
for himself and his friends.
And that's not even mentioning how he teams up with the U.S. government to create the
Department of Damage Control, exploiting the destruction that he himself causes with The
Avengers to further profit himself.
His actions led to the creation of villains like the Iron Monger, Whiplash, the Vulture,
the fake Mandarin, Baron Zemo.
And do I even need to mention Ultron, who killed thousands in Sokovia?
Tony Stark is a man who has a lot to answer for.
Heck, even the Iron Man franchise itself agrees with that statement.
So many of the franchise's stories are about Tony a-tony-ing for his mistakes, and Tony
himself feels massive guilt for all of it later in his life.
And all of this is awful, painting a picture of a deeply flawed man in desperate need of
some therapy.
It doesn't hold a candle to the actual laws that Tony breaks.
Seriously, as I was rewatching these movies, I started to wonder how Tony Stark would fare
in the real world with our real world legal system.
Superhero or no
throughout the MCU, the sins of Tony Stark have added up.
Let me tell you, it wouldn't be looking good for the invincible Iron Man if he did eventually
have his day in court.
That's right friendos, today we're tackling a theorist classic: The good guy is bad, actually.
By the end of this, you'll never look at Iron Man the same way again.
And the big twist, the thing that would have really ruined Tony Stark, it boils down to
four tiny words:
I am Iron Man
Power up your arc reactor's loyal theorist.
Let's get into it.
So to begin, we're going to start with the quote unquote, small laws that Tony breaks
throughout his career.
To start, let's look at Iron Man 3 and how Stark's vendetta against the Mandarin probably
led him into multiple state and federal crimes, especially that whole action set piece where
he breaks into the Mandarin's compound.
First of all, a lot of the improvised weapons that he creates for this raid would have been illegal.
Specifically, I'm thinking about all those explosives that he creates from everyday supplies
that he bought at Home Depot.
It's a federal crime to possess any unregistered explosive devices which could carry a maximum
federal penalty of ten years in prison.
Why count these and not the missiles in the Iron Man suit?
Well, he, as a defense contractor, likely did register those explosives, but all the
little bombs from Iron Man 3, those were made under the radar, and he definitely didn't
have time to file the paperwork there.
Additionally, when Tony steals one of the guard's guns and then threatens Trevor and
the groupies with it, that would have counted as multiple crimes.
Just pointing a gun at someone is considered aggravated assault and it can result in five
years in prison and five years probation.
But possession of an illegal gun in Florida.
And he definitely had that gun illegally, Tony just straight up stole It.
Could mean that he's facing another $10,000 in fines and 15 years in prison.
But honestly, Stark jumping the fence to confront the Mandarin here in the first place likely
would have been its own crime.
Normally, I'd call this breaking and entering, but this part of the movie actually takes
place in Miami, Florida, and that state doesn't consider breaking and entering its own crime.
Instead, this would have been classified as something more severe: first degree burglary,
because Tony illegally entered a building with the intent to commit a criminal offense.
He then assaulted someone while inside there and then likely caused more than $1,000 in
property damage with those explosive Christmas ornaments.
In short, this would be up to $10,000 in fines and 30 years in prison.
So things are already legally shaky for ol’ Tony Stark.
But all of that is in pursuit of a known criminal, an international terrorist.
Is there anything else more serious that we can pin on Tony?
Absolutely.
Look, no further than The Avengers, which sees Tony off alone hacking government computers
to get information he wasn't supposed to have.
First of all, trespassing on federal government property without expressed permission can
be a serious offense.
I see this going one or two ways.
The Helicarrier could be considered a military base, in which case Tony would be subject
to six months in jail and or a $500 fine.
Or it would be akin to trespassing in a federal building similar to the U.S. Capitol, which
would be a misdemeanor punishable by six months in prison or a $5,000 fine.
Also, depending on how important the government deems a high ranking military official like
Nick Fury, Tony could be in a lot more trouble.
In that case, this trespassing would become a Class E felony, and he'd be behind bars
for up to five years and or a $250,000 fine.
But even worse than all of that would be Tony's hacking of military computers on the Helicarrier.
This would be a textbook violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes
it a federal crime to gain unauthorized access to protected government computers.
In fact, it makes it illegal to even attempt or conspire to do that hacking.
If charged with the crime, Tony would be facing up to a year in federal prison if this is
deemed a lesser offense.
But in all likelihood, he'd probably be charged for a serious offense and given 10 to 20 years.
Since the hacking involves some very sensitive national security information.
Y’know what else?
let’s actually double this, as we also see Tony hacking into a national security contractors
database in Iron Man 3 and Captain America Civil War, where he hacks the Rafts’ microphones
and cameras.
I mean, my man can't go more than a movie or two without breaking into secure government computers.
But in The Avengers, Tony was doing his best to defend New York and all of Earth from Loki.
a few cybercrimes here and sneaking around there is justifiable, right?
Maybe.
But you know, it's a lot harder to justify?
how much he endangers Peter Parker.
By giving Peter the Stark built Spidey equipment and then encouraging him to go out crime fighting
to the point that Peter literally died out in space.
Tony definitely broke a few laws there.
Now, surprisingly, I wasn't able to find anything specific about being the cause of death for
a minor out in space at the hands of a giant purple raisin man.
No laws currently on the books about that one, I'm afraid.
But it is a crime in New York to endanger the welfare of anyone who's 16 years of age
and younger.
Between Civil War, Spider-Man Homecoming and Infinity War.
Peter's around 14 to 16 years old, so he definitely qualifies here.
And Tony bringing him into the world of crime fighting, giving him equipment and encouraging
vigilante justice, that right there definitely qualifies.
Even if he is telling Peter that he needs to be better and safer, this is still a Class
A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.
It's also just a really bad look for Tony to be honest.
Another really bad look, pretty much everything that Tony does with Peter in Civil War.
First off, he takes custody of a child under false pretenses and definitely takes them
across international borders illegally.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection.
While minors can travel internationally without a parent or legal guardian.
Many destinations require notarized, written consent from their parents.
Given that she didn't even know that Peter was Spider-Man, Aunt May definitely did not
give her consent for Peter to go get beat up by Captain America in a German airport.
And even if she did, Peter doesn't have the paperwork necessary for the trip.
And this would be a serious crime for Tony.
In fact, it would probably have been defined as human trafficking, though that term is
most often connected with very dark, real world tragedies.
According to the DHS, human trafficking can also include the use of fraud or coercion
to obtain labor, and traffickers might use manipulation or false promises of well-paying
jobs to lure victims in.
Ha, a Stark Industries internship, a position in The Avengers, that sure sounds like manipulation
to get Spidey overseas.
All while putting him in the sights of trained soldiers, thieves, sorcerers and assassins.
In a fight that left someone outright paralyzed for life.
Yeah, that's really not good there, Tony.
Human trafficking is a federal crime with a punishment that can include anywhere between
20 years and life in prison.
Even after Tony dies to save the universe from Thanos, he's still performing Legally
shady acts with Peter, specifically leaving him the Edith glasses.
Just in case you don't remember, these give Peter control over Stark's defense satellite
system as well as some super dangerous drones.
It is wild.
Now, it's obviously difficult to find a 1 to 1 case in the real world, since we don't
have armies of killer drones controlled by AI glasses.
So we're going to use similar laws for guns instead.
In the United States, you are allowed to leave your weapons to an heir after you die.
But all guns bequeathed in this way are subject to the National Firearms Act of 1932, as well
as the revised version of the Gun Control Act of 1968.
According to these laws, you have to register certain heavy duty weapons with the government
before you can leave them to an heir.
Additionally, the NFA also requires that the permanent transport of NFA firearms across
state lines be reported.
Peter didn't even know the glasses controlled these killer drones until after he left the
U.S. so they'd be labeled as contraband in the eyes of the United States.
They legally could not have been passed to an heir and should have instead been considered
abandoned by Stark after his death and handed over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives.
And that's not even me mentioning that the sort of automatic weaponry used in the drones
are just straight up illegal in the European Union countries that they're visiting in Far
From Home.
To be fair, Tony was dead at this point and wouldn't have seen justice for his crime.
But still, this is another no-no that Tony definitely did-did.
And while the Edith drones were certainly sketchy, the Iron Man suits themselves likely
would also be illegal too.
Guns aren't the only thing that can be counted as regulated weapons.
The suits would absolutely be something that the government would likely want some oversight on.
I mean, sure, these things might be humanoid shaped and called suits.
But they certainly have more in common with an Abrams tank than an Armani suit.
Believe it or not, but there are actually regulations in the U.S. about whether or not
you can own an operational tank.
Because tanks have weapons with bores or barrels that are wider than three quarters of an inch.
The National Firearms Act classifies them as destructive weapons, though Tony suits
mostly use replacer or energy weapons.
Which, side note, we should probably do a theory about that at some point, right?
Like what are replacers?
Are they real?
And if they are, are they legal?
Either way, repulsive weapons would absolutely fit that same destructive weapon category.
As such, Tony would have to get a permit to even own his Iron Man suits, which really
doubt that the government would want to give him, at least at first.
Remember he’s basically a rogue agent throughout Iron Man 1, And the government outright wants
to confiscate all his technology in Iron Man 2.
And any violation of the National Firearms Act is a felony, punishable by a fine of up
to $250,000 and up to ten years in prison.
And on top of being considered something equivalent to a tank, the Iron Man suits would also likely
be considered personal aircraft.
Since the Federal Aviation Administration considers any craft weighing more than 254
lb and flying faster than 63 miles per hour as an ultralight aircraft.
Legally speaking, all of the Iron Man suits might have to be registered as small, private
airplanes.
And if that's the case, the fact that Tony's flying them through populated urban areas,
cities like New York, that is absolutely unacceptable.
Even Stark entering space like we see in Infinity War would likely be against the law.
Since you actively need permits from a spacefaring nation to enter the atmosphere within their
airspace, all of this would cause the FAA to fine Tony another $50000 to $400000 per violation.
Even if Tony was somehow able to clear all of these hurdles, file all the correct paperwork,
and get approved for all the Iron Man-ing we see throughout the franchise, we know that
there are still times that he's operated his suits criminally.
During Tony's lowest point in Iron Man 2, when he thinks that he's dying and throws
a party in his depression, he wears the suit while clearly under the influence of alcohol.
Now, this is really bad, and since we've deduced that the suit's likely count as some sort
of vehicle, this would be the equivalent of operating a dangerous vehicle while under
the influence.
This scene takes place in Tony's house in Malibu.
And if we're specifically talking about planes, which remember the Iron Man suits would qualify
as, flying while under the influence in California carries a mandatory 30 day to six month jail
sentence, up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Additionally, Tony accidentally and then intentionally discharges his weapons while at the party.
Did it see how close he came to hitting those innocent people just there to have a good time?
This would absolutely count as negligent discharge of a firearm and could either be counted as
a misdemeanor or a felony.
It also carries a sentence of up to three years in jail.
So that's a massive laundry list of crimes that Tony's committed over the years under
the guise of helping people.
Just for my count here, he'd be facing upwards of 174 years in prison and fines in excess
of $1,171,000.
And that's just from the few things that I brought up here that we see in the movies.
Now the money?
Yeah, we all recognize that that doesn't matter, he's a billionaire, it’s a drop in the bucket
for him.
As for whether or not he'd actually spend that time in prison?
Well, he probably should.
But the American legal system can be an imperfect place, especially when you're talking about
high profile, wealthy individuals.
So, is that it?
After everything that we've listed out here today: between assault, hacking, endangering
a minor, operating the legal equivalent of a flying tank while under the influence, would
all of this just be a mild inconvenience for Tony Stark?
a legal bump in the road that he can make go away by paying his fines and winning the
jury to his side?
No loyal theorist, Tony, makes one final massive mistake that would have ruined his life or
at least destroyed his career as Iron Man.
And it's right here.
This iconic moment that basically started the biggest movie franchise in history would
have absolutely stopped Tony Stark in his tracks. Why?
Because the government would now know that he is, in fact, Iron Man.
See, some of the laws that Tony breaks throughout his run in the MCU have other punishments
beyond just fines and jail time.
For example, any violation of the National Firearms Act means that the weapon involved
is forfeit and can be confiscated by the government.
So just owning one of these operational Iron Man suits without a permit from the US government
would likely mean that the government could take the suits and Tony would have no legal recourse.
But the craziest thing they wouldn't actually need any hard evidence that Tony had broken
any laws.
Civil forfeiture is a process where law enforcement can seize the assets of a person suspected
of a crime without actually charging them.
And if Tony were to successfully fight that in court and get his armor back, well, then
the government could play an UNO reverse card and use eminent domain, which allows them
to pay Stark what they consider to be a fair amount for the armor and still take it without
his consent.
And if you think they wouldn't do this, it's not like Tony's in good graces of the U.S.
federal government for a lot of his run as hero.
We actually see the U.S. government acting on at least one of these inside the movies.
In Iron Man 2, the Senate is holding hearings about whether or not Stark should hand over
the Iron Man weapon for the good of the U.S..
And as soon as Tony starts acting irresponsible in public, Rhodey takes one of the suits on
behalf of the U.S. military.
Probably using exactly one of these laws.
None of this would have been possible if the government had no proof, no leads, that Tony
Stark was Iron Man.
And what did Tony do?
He confessed.
Not only to owning the equivalent of a flying tank, bragging about it in front of Congress
on international TV, but also to every crime committed while using the suits.
Tony Stark in his hubris, ruined himself with those four little iconic words, because if
the government didn't know he was Iron Man, well, they couldn't charge him with any Iron
Man crimes.
Just looking at this laundry list, Tony's life is so comically over the top illegal
that there has to be some explanation for how he isn't rotting behind bars.
Maybe, just maybe, all the favors that he makes for the government later on in the franchise:
Keeping War Machine up to date, signing the Sokovia Accords, helping them found a department
of damage control.
Maybe that's him performing some community service for the government to avoid jail time.
But I suppose that's a theory for another day.
And as always, my friends remember, it's all just a theory A FILM THEORY!
aaaaaaaand cut.