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iron-gauntlet:

Iron Man (2008) // Captain America: Civil War (2016)

“Conversely, I think what’s interesting is not so much that he’s looking for more control but that he’s saying that as a group of individuals we all require a little bit more supervision than we might imagine.” 

— Robert Downey Jr.

oh shit. i feel kinda slow for realising this so late but this is the reason for the “textbook narcissism” bullshit isn’t it?

so at the end of iron man tony was given an alibi by SHIELD, he was told to keep his secret identity secret, he was told to stay in the shadows like SHIELD is used to, and also coincidentally where it’s easiest for them to manipulate him. but then because of this ^^^ tony doesn’t do that. we get “i am iron man” instead of “i was kicking it on a boat and i’ve got no idea what happened lol”. tony takes the game public (where it’s never been before) and SHIELD is left scrabbling for a way to control him (because SHIELD isn’t about accountability, it’s about control. ironically enough that’s what steve was so worried about with the accords which makes sense considering he’s primarily been dealing with SHIELD since he woke up. shame steve didn’t realise tony’s been fighting that since the beginning but i digress)

so that’s when SHIELD hits on the whole “hey let us ‘save your life’ by giving you information you should have had a long time ago, play on your emotional issues about your dad and misdiagnose you” play in im2. but it Doesn’t Work. tony rejects their manipulations with “you couldn’t afford me” (and then says “but i’ll be there in a crisis if you really need me” with the whole waving his fee for a favour bit)

the next thing we know is the avengers as an idea is dead in the water and it takes loki’s invasion to revive it. and FINALLY with coulson’s death SHIELD hits on a manipulation that works. they press tony stark’s big red flashing “guilt” button

then things go very right for SHIELD for a bit and then very wrong, and then SHIELD doesn’t exist anymore. so what does tony do? he hires remnants of SHIELD to support the avengers because they’re the closest thing to accountability he’s encountered so far, even if they were manipulative and controlling cause they still need the help. that doesn’t work and we get ultron

so now it’s the accords, and tony sees something like what he’s been looking for all along. something that gives him control of the suit but also gives him someone to be responsible to (as opposed to the senate hearing in im2, they wanted to take the suit away, take control, and that still leaves him responsible for what they do with it. god if only steve UNDERSTOOD tony but i guess we can’t blame him for that tony’s complicated and also a literal genius). it’s that balance between accountability and control that tony’s been after for pretty much his entire arc since coming out of that cave

tony’s not looking for more control, he’s never been looking for more control, all he wants is to not be CONTROLLED and to be held responsible for his actions. and tbh i think he’s right