Iron Man

Iron Man is a superhero from the Marvel Universe. The story centers on Tony Stark, a wealthy genius scientist. While being held in captivity by evil doers who are forcing him to build weapons of mass destruction, Stark constructs a suit of armor that marks the beginning of his life as Iron Man.

On May 4, 2009, MTV announced Iron Man was nominated for "Best Movie." Winners will be announced at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards show airing live on May 31, 2009.Official Site: 2009 MTV Movie Awards "Best Movie"

Stan Lee, one of the original co-creators of Iron Man and former CEO of Marvel Comics, has stated that much of the inspiration for the character came from the real life billionaire Howard Hughes. The early series featured Iron Man fighting Communism in Vietnam. In the 1990s, the location changed to reflect the Gulf War and most recently the setting has been moved to Afghanistan.

A Hollywood feature film based on the comic book and starring Robert Downey Jr. was released in the United States on May 2, 2008. The second film is expected to be released on May 7, 2010.

• Toonzone.net: Iron Man Animated Series episode guide

• TV.com: Iron Man television show summary

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• 1966: Iron Man animated series

• 1994: The Marvel Action Hour: Iron Man series

• 2006: Ultimate Avengers

• 2006: Ultimate Avengers II

• 2007: The Invincible Iron Man