Maria Stark

Maria Stark is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. She is the mother of Tony Stark and the wife of Howard Stark.

Fictional character biography

Maria Stark was born Maria Collins Carbonell, although her young life is unknown. In her adulthood, Maria married Howard Stark and together they had a son: Anthony "Tony" Stark. While Howard constantly pushed Tony to be the best (saying "iron in their backbone" to be successful), Maria was unsuccessful to prevent Tony from seeing Howard's alcoholism (something their son would later face on his own). Howard secretly programmed Mistress, the AI that controlled the Arsenal robots with Maria's brain patterns.

On the Ides of March, Maria and Howard were killed in a plane accident (It has been hinted that the incident was not random and possibly arranged by the V-Battalion). Tony ran his father's company, started a charity in his mother's name (donated funds to finance various charities and renovation projects, as well as the Avengers), and later became Iron Man.

Other versions

House of M

In the House of M, Howard was alive while Maria's status is unknown.

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Iron Man version of Maria Stark shows her as Maria Cerrera, the second wife of Howard Stark. Maria was a brilliant scientist suffered a genetic accident while she was pregnant with her and Howard's child. After Maria died during childbirth, Howard uses a newly invented biological armor to save the life of their son: Antonio "Tony" Stark, named after "Antonio Cerrera" (Maria's brother), who died at young age. Years later, after Loni Stane (Howard's first wife) tells a teenage Tony that she could've been his mother in a different set of circumstances, Tony says he'd still prefer his mother (Maria) instead of her (Loni). Sometime later, Loni (before shooting Tony in the head, not knowing that his entire body is a brain and will heal itself) again says that she could've been his mother in a different set of circumstances.

In other media

Television

• In The Invincible Iron Man film, Maria Stark is dead while Howard is alive and well. During the film, Howard and Tony's relationship is strained, presumably because of Maria's death.

• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, a hologram of Howard, which is also his will, says to Tony that he's also sorry about his mother's death and that he wants him to be a normal kid and go to school.

Film

• Maria Stark is shown during a brief slideshow presentation in the beginning of the Iron Man film. Along with her husband, she died in an accident (possibly by Obadiah Stane) many years before the events of the film depicted, leaving Tony an orphan at 17.

• Maria Stark is briefly mentioned in Iron Man 2 when Howard, while filming, asked for someone to call Maria to get their young son Tony (shown in an old recording of Howard's film watched by Tony).

References