Avengers 4 Theory: Does Tony Stark Have A Death Wish?

4. His Brushes With Death

Looking back at Iron Man's behaviour over the course of the MCU, this is not a man who seems aware of his limitations. He's one of the least powerful Avengers, because he lacks fundamental powers like Thor, Hulk, Vision, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch, he's not genetically augmented like Cap, Bucky and Black Widow... He's just a genius in a suit.

If Rhodey's injuries served any purpose, they were there to remind Tony (and all of us) of just how fragile he is.

And yet, Stark has been the closest Avenger to dying on a number of occasions, despite fully knowing that he doesn't have the safety net his team-mates have. As far back as the first Iron Man movie, he "tested" out his suit's capabilities by flying to a huge height that JARVIS warned was dangerous, even as his armour started to ice over. In the same movie, he walked into battle as a one-man-army (without fully testing his armour).

Meanwhile, in The Avengers, he flew a nuke into the wormhole (fully expecting not to survive to the point that he tried to call and say goodbye to Pepper), he's pretty close to being killed in Iron Man 3 when he literally GOADS a terrorist capable of blowing him up very easily and that's before we even get to Infinity War.

In that film, Tony basically books himself a one-way ticket to space, sending Peter Parker home when he goes to rescue Doctor Strange from the Black Order ship and all but confirming he expects not to come back. It's almost like he puts himself in these positions on purpose.