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I hate how people compare Tony Stark and Doctor Strange as if they were copies of each other, Tony as science and Stephen as magic.
They are BOTH FREAKING COMPLEX CHARACTERS, treating them so superficially is almost an offense to their complex character development, to their personalities and to Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Avengers, Avengers 2, Civil War and Spider man Homecoming, where we saw Tony’s development; and to Doctor Strange, of course, where we see Stephen’s development.
They have many similarities, yeah, arrogance, they're flirty, sassy, the goatee…I love them both so much, Iron Man was an huge inspiration for me in my childhood, including Robert Downey Junior, I love both characters and that’s why I’m so pissed at people comparing them as if they were the same thing.
They are so different. In order to clarify, here we go:
- Tony Stark didn’t have a mentor. Nope. He hadn’t and if he had, he wouldn’t have listened to them.
- Doctor Strange can multitask and focus at many events, Tony cannot, we see that in Iron Man 2, he almost gets crazy because he can’t take care of his legacy and be Iron Man at the same time while Doctor Strange is dealing basically ALONE with a lot of mystic stuff (Thor Ragnarok) because after Kaecilius’ attack, the London Sanctum master died, the New York Sanctum Master died, the Ancient One died, Mordo left and many students and other masters were killed. Stephen has the entire freaking mystic stuff on his shoulders and he’s dealing with it quite nicely.
- Doctor Strange had MANY MASTERS, including Wong, The Ancient One, Mordo and other teachers.
- Tony Stark IS IRRESPONSIBLE. HE ACTS ON IMPULSE AND HE THINKS HE’S RIGHT until everything crumbles. (Iron Man 2, Civil War; while on the other hand, Doctor Strange is VERY responsible, he’s handling the Sanctum and mystic threats very well, he even got Loki the moment he stepped on Earth (Thor Ragnarok).
- Tony Stark is cooler, more outgoing, makes friends a lot easier while Doctor Strange is more reserved, despite his extroverted thinking and perceiving.
- Doctor Strange lost EVERYTHING, Tony didn’t. He went through bad experiences, yes, but if we had to put Tony in the same plane, Tony would have lost all his money, fame and ability to be an engineer, HE DIDN’T. He CHANGED the way he works, but he didn’t lose everything like Stephen did.
- Stephen Strange was/is a freaking idiot. His arrogance had/has no limits, he lost everything because he was texting while driving not because bad guys kidnapped him or anything. He had no limits in relationships and was unstable and everything while Tony was/is a lot better at socializing, even if he has relationship problems (but Tony was going through a very hard time so we can’t assume it is part of his nature).
- Doctor Strange had less self love, he’s not fighting for himself anymore, he thinks outside the box (that’s also why he gets depressive sometimes) while Tony, wanting or not, sees the universe as if he was the center of it. He sees things according to HIS perspective, he doesn’t think how the same thing will affect others, only himself (Civil War, about the Sokovia Accord). Doctor Strange tries to do WHAT HE IS SURE THAT IS RIGHT while Tony DECIDES what is right for him and for his friends (that is very good and very bad at the same time, but I love that about Tony.)
- Doctor Strange’s mental resistance is bigger. He fought and died in terrible ways against Dormammu for YEARS, over 2000 times (producers’ comment), the one he loved left him and he lost his hands, his money, his house, his job AND DIDN’T GO MAD and despite the problems he has (PTSD and nightmares etc) HE DEALS SURPRISINGLY WELL with them while Tony basically lost his mind after the experience he had in Avengers. Of course that was pretty bad too, but Tony and Stephen dealed VERY DIFFERENTLY with the situations and problems.
- Doctor Strange ‘evolved’ while Tony Stark 'changed’. We see Tony commit the same mistakes (Iron Man 2, Civil War) while Doctor Strange changed in essence and will never see the world again as he used to see while Tony just got less naive.
- Both love their friends, but Tony acted in a way they would all be at risk while Stephen Strange would rather die or agree with the other opinion (or use a creative way to save everyone).
- Tony goes from a very crazy social life, with a lot of sex and experiences to a more stable one while Stephen went from a stable social life to a chaotic one.
- Tony loses control whenever emotions get too strong, Doctor Strange doesn’t.
- Tony Stark doesn’t plan, he perceives and acts. Doctor Strange is a cold planner who can act even if the plan goes wrong.
- Doctor Strange keep his emotions to himself when he’s in pain and suffers alone, he hates others to see him suffer while Tony Stark yells at everyone and acts like a total dick when he’s suffering, even if he doesn’t say the reason (Iron Man and Iron Man 2 towards Pepper and his friends).
- Tony thinks and acts in an extroverted way, Doctor Strange thinks in an extroverted way, but acts in an introverted way.
- Tony is the popular dude in the middle, Stephen is the weird romantic mysterious guy in the corner.
- Stephen is wise, Tony is practical.
- Rhodey isn’t the same to Tony what Christine Palmer is to Stephen. Christine isn’t a “fight partner”, she’s a friend and very badass doctor. Rhodey does whatever the army tells him to (Iron Man 2) despite being Tony’s friend.
- Tony Stark gets attached a lot more and a lot more easily when it comes to people and friends, Stephen doesn’t.
- Tony is fire, Stephen is water. It sounds like a joke but we can see that in games like Avengers Academy, in which the characters have themed costumes. (Doctor Strange's elemental costume was water.)
- I love them both