Kidnapping of Tony Stark

The Kidnapping of Tony Stark was the abduction of Tony Stark by the Ten Rings organization at the behest of Obadiah Stane. The Ten Rings were supposed to kill Stark once kidnapped but instead forced Stark and Ho Yinsen to build the terrorist ring a Jericho Missile. Instead, the duo built the MARK I from scrapped Stark Industries missiles leading to the death of Yinsen and the escape of Tony Stark. This event prompted Tony Stark to unexpectedly shut down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries and begin the construction of the MARK II upon his return home.


Background

Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 7.12.49 PM

Obadiah Stane had been selling Stark Industries weapons to the Ten Rings under the table. Stane wanted to takeover Stark Industries and struck a deal for the Ten Rings to kidnap and kill Tony Stark after a weapons demo in Afghanistan. After a successful demo, Stark and company are returning to the Bagram Air Force Base in a convoy of Humvees.


Kidnapping

Attack

Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 7.07.59 PM

While returning to the Bagram Air Force Base, Stark’s Humvee convoy is attacked by the Ten Rings. The soldiers escorting Stark are killed and while Stark attempts to flee, he caught in the blast of one of his company’s own missiles resulting in shrapnel being embedded in Stark’s chest, only centimeters from his heart. Members of the Ten Rings then kidnap Stark and transport him to a cave deep with in the Afghanistan mountains.

Imprisonment

Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 7.15.01 PM

Stark awoke hooked to an electromagnet powered by a car battery and was informed by Yinsen that it was keeping the remaining shrapnel from traveling to his heart. The Ten Rings attempt to force Stark and Yinsen to build the organization a Jericho missile but instead, Stark first constructs a miniature arc reactor (RT) to power the electromagnet in his chest then the pair secretly begin construction on the MARK I. Once Stark and Yinsen complete the armor, they begin their escape.

Escape

IMG_6487

Yinsen attempts to cause a distraction so Stark can finish powering the armor but ends up encountering a large group of Ten Rings members. The armor finishes powering and begins to exit the cave where he comes upon a severely injured Yinsen. Yinsen implores Stark to not waste his life with his dying breath. Stark exits the cave and destroys all of the Stark Industries weapons in the Ten Rings possession and flies away. Due to the limited flight capabilities of the MARK I, Stark soon crashes but the short flight was enough to register on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar.


Aftermath

Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 9.27.49 PM

After crashing, Stark wander the desert in search of civilization. He was eventually found by James Rhodes and other members of the United States Air Force who had received a tip on Stark’s location from S.H.I.E.L.D. Upon returning home, Stark held a press conference and abruptly shut down the manufacturing division of the Stark Industries and immediately upgraded the RT and began the construction of the MARK II.

Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 7.33.51 PM

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post, you can find more of my thoughts on twitter, @lord_anarchy. Additionally, @bloodybaroness and myself host The History of the MCU Podcast, a weekly podcast that reviews and analyzes not only the Infinity Saga but the new Marvel Studios Disney+ shows beginning with WandaVision. We would love if you gave us a listen and are currently available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music

Fury’s Big Week

Prior to the events of Iron Man 2, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury is instructed by the World Security Council to cease all operations regarding the Avengers Initiative and reallocate those resources to reigniting the Tesseract. Fortunately, Fury defies this order as what follows are the events of Iron Man 2, Thor and The Incredible Hulk…and they all occur in the span of a week.

May 29th

– S.H.I.E.L.D monitors Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Jane Foster
– Bruce Banner passes through U.S. Customs 
– Coulson’s team has picked up reports of atmospheric disturbance in the southwest region of the U.S.
– Fury receives lithium dioxide to give to Stark as temporary measure against the palladium poisoning
Duel at Tony Stark’s Mansion – Nick Fury is informed that Tony Stark only has 72 hours to leave due to his palladium poisoning. Inconsolable over his imminent death and inability to find a cure, Tony gets drunk at his birthday party leading to a confrontation with James Rhodes. Upon subduing Tony, Rhodes leaves Stark’s Mansion in possession of the MARK II Iron Man armor. 

May 30th

– James Rhodes flies to the Edwards Air Force base and delivers the MARK II to the U.S. Air Force
– Nick Fury finds Tony Stark at Randy’s Donuts, Natalie Rushman is reveal as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Natasha Romanoff, Romanoff injects Stark with the lithium dioxide, temporarily alleviating Tony’s symptoms from the palladium poison and Fury confines Stark to house arrest until he discovers a cure
– Jane Foster contacts Erik Selvig who flies to New Mexico to meet her, S.H.I.E.L.D intercepts their messages
– General Meade requests Justin Hammer upgrades the MARK II armor,
– On Asgard, Thor’s coronation is interrupted as Frost Giants from Jotunheim attempt to break into the Asgardian treasure vault, Thor regards this as an act of war but Odin disagrees
– Stark breaks his home confinement and visits Pepper Potts at Stark Industries, there he is informed of Hammer Industries presentation at the Stark Expo the next day and takes home a model of the original Stark Expo
– Tony makes a miraculous break through with the help of his father’s design embedded in the 1974 Stark Expo model and discovers a new element to power his suits and cure his palladium poisoning
– Stark goes into “hardware” mode
Attack on Jotunheim – enraged at that the Frost Giants, Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three travel to Jotunheim seeking recompense, leading to a fight that is only ended by Odin’s intervention

May 31st

– Back on Asgard, Odin is furious with Thor for his reckless actions, Odin stripes Thor of his powers and banishes him to Midgard 
– Nick Fury reassigns Phil Coulson from monitoring Tony Stark to investigating the atmospheric occurrences in New Mexico, Coulson leaves later that afternoon
– Stark builds a small particle accelerator to create the new element with equipment from Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. 
– 17 days after the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro, Banner arrives at Culver University
Battle at Stark Expo – Justin Hammer’s Stark Expo presentation is hijacked by Anton Vanko, he uses the Hammer drones to attack the crowd at the Expo, including a 9 year old Peter Parker. Tony installs the new element in his RT and flies the new MARK VI to the Stark Expo. With the help of Happy Hogan, Black Widow infiltrates Hammer Industries Headquarters and assists Stark and Rhodey in defeating the Hammer drones. After Romanoff reboots Rhodes’ suit, Iron Man and War Machine defeat Vanko in the Whiplash MARK II armor. 
Infiltration of Hammer Industries Headquarters – during the Battle at the Stark Expo, Romanoff infiltrated the Hammer Industries Headquarters, assisting Stark and Rhodes during the battle. Afterward, Romanoff downloaded all of Hammer’s data and destroyed the facility. 
– Phil Coulson arrives at the Roswell S.H.I.E.L.D outpost in New Mexico to assemble a team of agents and is alerted to an unknown items landing site in Puente Antiguo. 
– Jane Foster, Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis detect an Einstein-Rosen Bridge and find Thor at the epicenter. The trio take Thor to the hospital after Darcy tasered him for his erratic behavior 
– Banner visits his old friend, Stanley Lieber, who allows Banner to use the bedroom above his pizzeria
– On his way from Roswell to Puente Antiguo, Phil Coulson stops a robbery at a gas station 

June 1st 

– Nick Fury sends Clint Barton to Puente Antiguo
– Mjölnir is discovered in a crater about 50 miles west of Puente Antiguo by a local man who attempts to lift the hammer, unable to do so, he calls several other people to try
– Jane Foster helps Thor escape from the hospital
– Coulson arrives in Puente Antiguo and quickly has S.H.I.E.L.D quarantine the crater site, Clint Barton arrives
– Emil Blonsky receives an unauthorized low dose of the Bio Tech Enhancement Serum by Thaddeus Ross
– Loki discovers his true heritage and Odin falls into the Odinsleep
– Banner infiltrates the Culver University computer and research lab and recovers his research. Back at the pizzeria, Betty Ross sees Banner who convinces him to stay the night at her home. Leonard Samson, Ross’ boyfriend, informs the military of Banner’s location
Infiltration of the S.H.I.E.L.D Crater Investigation Site – Thor infiltrates the S.H.I.E.L.D crater investigation site and attempts to lift Mjölnir but fails and is arrested. Loki appears to him and Selvig eventually convinces Coulson to release Thor, Coulson complies but has Thor and Selvig followed by S.H.I.E.L.D agents.
– Fury send Romanoff to shadow Banner at Culver, expecting Ross to make a move now that he is aware of Banner’s location 
– After securing Thor’s release, he and Selvig spend the night drinking. Upon their return, Thor explains the Nine Realms to Jane Foster

June 2nd

– Sif and the Warriors Three arrive in Puente Antiguo, Loki soon sends the Destroyer after them
– Battle at Culver University – General Ross, an enhanced Emil Blonsky and the military attempt to capture Banner at Culver University. Blonsky’s body is pulverized and towards the end of the battle, Betty is put in harms way, provoking a reaction from the Hulk. Hulk escapes with Betty Ross to the Great Smokey Mountains while news of the battle quickly spreads.
– Battle of Puente Antiguo – Thor sacrifices himself to protect his friends from the Destroyer. Proving his worthiness, his godly powers are restored and he easily defeats the Destroyer
– Romanoff reports back to Fury about Blonsky’s enhancements and the Battle at Culver
– Tony Stark is debriefed by Nick Fury and is offered a consulting position with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers Initiative. Stark accepts on the condition Senator Stern honor him with a medal for his services, Stern begrudgingly complies a mere three hours later. 
– Clint Barton discovers the Destroyers lifeless body in Puente Antiguo, Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D have it transported to the S.H.I.E.L.D outpost at Roswell later that day
– The Frost Giants invade Asgard, Loki betrays them and kills Laufey
Duel at the Rainbow Bridge – Loki attempts to use the Bifrost Bridge to destroy Jotunheim, the two briefly duel and Thor destroys the Bifrost Bridge to save the Frost Giant’s home world. 

June 3rd

– Nick Fury holds a briefing at the S.H.I.E.L.D Roswell outpost about refocusing S.H.I.E.L.D’s efforts towards extraterrestrial threat defenses
– Bruce Banner and Betty Ross hideout in a small town hotel as the news of the battle continues to spread, Emil Blonsky fully covers 36-40 hours later

June 4th

– Banner and Betty Ross enter New York secretly aboard a small boat. They meet Mr. Blue, Samuel Sterns, who reverses one of Banner’s transformations with experimental means but does not rid Banner of his condition permanently
– Banner is taken into custody, would be released by Ross to fight Abomination
– Blonsky forces Sterns to inject him with Banner’s blood, triggering Blonsky’s transformation into Abomination 
Duel of Harlem – Hulk and Abomination face off in the streets of Harlem, with the Hulk defeating Abomination. Abomination is taken into custody by Ross and the Hulk flees the scene immediately.
– Natasha Romanoff discovers a mutated Sterns in his laboratory, she subdues him and takes him into S.H.I.E.L.D custody

June 5th

– Nick Fury secures lucrative funding from the World Security Council, enough to fund Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. and continue studying the Tesseract in an attempt to harness it’s power as well as completely funding the Avengers Initiative