 A self @-@ described genius , billionaire , playboy , and philanthropist with an electromechanical suit of armor of his own invention . Downey was cast as part of his four @-@ picture deal with Marvel Studios , which includes Iron Man 2 and The Avengers . Downey said that he initially pushed Whedon to make Stark the lead : " Well , I said , ' I need to be in the opening sequence . I don 't know what you 're thinking , but Tony needs to drive this thing . ' He was like , ' Okay , let 's try that . ' We tried it and it didn 't work , because this is a different sort of thing , the story and the idea and the theme is the theme , and everybody is just an arm of the octopus . " About the character 's evolution from previous films , Downey said , " In Iron Man , which was an origin story , he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts . Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island , dealing with legacy issues and making space for others . . . In The Avengers , he 's throwing it down with the others " . 
