10 Times Iron Man Outsmarted Everyone

While it's a small moment, the opening scenes of Tony Stark: Iron Man really serve to establish the more humane ways in which Tony is capable of outsmarting everyone.

This is best shown in his hiring of Andy Bhang, some years after absolutely crushing him in a robotics competition. Bhang is smart, proud, and clearly still just a little bitter at Stark - which, in any other circumstances, would make him a prime candidate to become one of Iron Man's new villains. But, because Tony appears to recognise this - and want to counter it - he instead finds himself in a cushy position at Stark Industries, where his genius can be used alongside the billionaire, instead of against him.

As much as it's difficult to show character development for any comic character - as they're continually being reinvented by new writers - this moment does really seem to show Iron Man starting to understand the trend that creates his rivals, and to counter this before it happens, by bringing them into his fold.