Firstly…SPOILERS!!! And no, telling you that “Iron Man and Captain America fight” in Captain America: Civil War is in no way a spoiler. However, to truly embark on a small thread regarding my denoted disdain for the aforementioned conflict, I’ll be dropping spoiler-bombs capable of sinking islands, melting livestock for several thousand miles surrounding the explosive epicenter, or setting the sky aflame along with the ire of your children’s, children’s children for at least 500 years.
Anyway, in the final act of Captain America: Civil War [SPOILERS ARE NOW HERE! LOOK AWAY!], Baron Zemo’s  scheming perfectly manipulated Iron Man, Cap, and Winter Soldier into the same room so they could experience, together, a particularly heart-rending transgression of the Winter Soldier. Yes, we all know Tony’s parents died in a car accident, but the details were a little hazy and there were elements implying something diabolical. Well, those diabolical elements were the diabolical actions of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who apparently killed the hell of Tony Stark’s parents. And here’s the kicker: Captain America knew it. So, Stark went ape-sh*t and started manhandling Bucky to death, with Cap trying desperately to get between the two. This, of course, led to an all-out brawl between Iron Man, Cap, and Winter Soldier, distilling into the Iron Man/Captain America fight in Civil War.
Now, we know how that went; Iron Man received some previous damage at the hands of the Bucky/Cap super-soldier collective, so the armor was marginally compromised by the time it was down to Tony and Steve. But what kills me is this: the armor was still functioning, integrity was still high, but Cap seemed to be overpowering him until, taking a cue from the actual Civil War comic series, Stark analyzed and reproduced Cap’s fighting technique, effectively out-boxing Captain America. Iron Man had him; the battle was won and Cap’s only option was to surrender, until that conflicted jerk-hole Bucky distracted Tony; this gave Cap the opening he needed to beat the armor off Tony Stark’s previously protected face. And yes, this was the SECOND time during their conflict I cried a hearty, “BULLSH*T!!!!!”
Why? Because there is no way in HELL Cap should be overpowering Iron Man!!!!! Friday, Stark’s AI, told Tony he couldn’t handle Cap hand to hand before he decided to implement the aforementioned fight analysis and reproduction. WHAT?? Waitasecond…WHAT!!???
Ask yourself: without his shield, can Captain America take a missile to the face? And if he’s able to survive the initial impact, can he survive a fall from at least a hundred feet in the air, creating a small, personal crater due to the level of impact??? I’m pretty sure Cap can’t, but I know Iron Man can. In fact, he has! Check out this telling video clip from the first Iron Man film!
 A few things worth noting:
1. While in midair, Iron Man takes a missile to the face.
2. Iron Man crashes. Hard.
3. Iron Man, undamaged, dusts himself off and crawls from the crater.
4. Iron Man’s systems, unaffected by 2Â impressive impacts, continue to function normally, allowing him the response time necessary to side-step another missile.
So, after witnessing these events, I have to ask you…
1. Can Cap punch harder than a missile?
2. Can he punch harder than a crash landing??
3. Can he side-step a missile? Probably, but how about after taking a missile to the face and a violent crash landing??
I’m sorry, but the outcome of Iron Man vs. Cap should be a no-brainer; Iron Man should win hands down. What say you, Iron Man fans? And what about you, Cap fans??
Meh. I see your point. And I certainly think all things being equal Iron Man walks away pretty easily with the win. That was one thing I wondered before seeing the movie: how does Cap stand a chance man-to-man? Within the context of the movie and the scene, though, I bought it. It certainly didn’t ruin the movie for me. But I’m team Cap all the way, so I’m biased.
Yeah, It didn’t ruin the movie for me, either. I just shook my fist for a few seconds and went right back to loving the film.
the movie forced to be a hand to hand fighter instead of his normal range
Can Cap. take a missile to the face? Who cares? It’s not relevant because that didn’t happen. Is Cap. strong enough and fast enough to give Tony a beating inside his armour? Yes he is. Is Tony strong enough and fast enough to beat the crap out of Cap. without he shield? yes he is. The salient point here is this… Cap. was using everything he could possibly manage to ensure his best friend kept on breathing. Tony, on the other hand, knew he was wrong. He knew that Bucky couldn’t be held responsible for his parent’s deaths, he didn’t really want to hurt Cap. he just needed a punch bag to take out his anguish on. In other words Tony’s heart wasn’t in it and Cap. put 100% of his heart and soul into it (which lets face it, is Cap’s only real super power). That’s why Cap. won. In my humble opinion 🙂
Thanks, John!
I think Tony was beyond worrying about whether or not he was wrong. He saw the target of his anguish – Bucky – and, fairly enraged and extremely upset, he lashed out. Maybe he did pull back when the conflict shifted to Cap, but Iron Man at 60% is equal to Cap at 300%. And Stark was visibly upset after Cap started to walk away, after the conflict ended. He wasn’t relieved Cap penetrated the armor, he was angry. He wanted to win. Tony is a sore loser. 😉
The armor that Tony deploys from his helicopter before he joins Steve and Bucky is also something that I would call into question. It seems to be more of a mobile unit rather than his standard suit.
And maybe that’s a moot point. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, though. I walked in Team Iron Man, as I watched the movie I could appreciate Team Cap’s point of view, but I walked out Team:Heartbroken
That was his most advanved suit. People dont even realize that his suits structural integrity wasnt even compromised it was just his repulsors and boot jets. The only reason cap was able to win was because of buckys distraction and the fact that he knew to destroy the arc reactor. Why do you think he had to use the shield to break off his helmet? Because his punches couldnt penetrate the armor. Yeah he was losing hand to hand but the suits exterior wasnt being damaged thats how strong iron man is
he was using the edge of his shield which is like a blade even though that shouldn’t break the armour, but you said it yourself, Iron Man had taken a beating right before and his armour wasn’t doing well, so I think his armour was compromised in a few places and weakened which is how Cap was able to break it
Sounds like sour grapes. Get over it.
You sound like a tool. If this comment upsets you, take your own advise and get over it.
Hand-to-hand, Cap’s the winner all day long. The Iron Man armor is a long-range weapon, and awesome defensive armor. BUT, it’s slower by definition than Cap’s human muscle response time. And after watching Steve HOLD DOWN A HELICOPTER I’m pretty sure he’s stronger than you’re giving him credit for.
thats exactly why he would win. he could just grab the shield and unibeam them all to death at a distance
If I was Tony, I’d be pissed that Friday didn’t mention that earlier.
To add to that, why did tony give rhodey auch weak crappy armour? Tonys suit 8 years ago withstood greater than rhodeys fresh suit.
But that was a tank shell and this is an energy blast from an infinity stone (which is one of the more powerful things in the universe or whatever)
Well… with the exception of Iron Man against Bucky, Tony wasn’t trying to kill Cap. And Cap wasn’t trying to kill Tony either.
ya. Iron man is very powerful. why people forget that he fought thor in avengers?. IM can lift upto 100 tons. cap and bucky are super solidiers, but are nothing compared to IM’s mechanically enhanced strength. Russo brothers need to learn science.
Bucky is a winter solider and not the same as Cap. Cap’s strength actually trumps Bucky’s in the movies. That’s why Bucky uses his metal arm constantly to compete.
You’re an absolute idiot. IM was in the right, he wasn’t trying to kill Cap. He was trying to kill Bucky, who KILLED HIS PARENTS. In the heat of the moment you would have done the exact same thing, you are human, don’t try to act like you would act differently. And originally the whole reason Stark signed the Accords was because he was trying to right his wrongs. CAP REFUSED, that puts his morals out of check because he has done things he shouldn’t have in the past also not just Stark. So stop talking like Cap is perfect, he is not even close to perfect.
ironman can beat captain america easily becouse it has a super suit but it is just fakeness that captain punch on ironman and demaged his face.If Ironman fires a messile on captain so captain would be die
ironman cannot attack on captain if he attack on captain then captain will die
You guys are comparing the comic book universe to the cinematic universe. Do a little reading and you’ll see that the Captain America in the Marvel cinematic universe is written to be stronger than most comic book versions. He skydives out of a plane from thousands of feet in the air without a parachute and lands in ocean like it was nothing in an earlier film, which would tear apart most things, especially something organic. He also has no problem breaking through thick reinforced steel to escape a facility in the first movie. Don’t downplay his strength. He can stand toe to toe with Loki for crying out loud and he’s a demigod.
Yeaa I see your point but Iron Man went toe to toe with Thor and the Hulk and drew against Thor (could be argued) and won against Hulk. So even though Cap is strong enough to stand against Loki (in which Iron Man had to step in to end the altercation), can he really take on the guy who took on Thor and the Hulk.
Well Ironman needed Veronica to even take on the Hulk and the only reason he “won” the battle is because Hulk realized what he was doing was wrong, hence his reason for stopping and looking around at the carnage. Thor took on the Hulk in the first Avengers movie after Hulk was manipulated by Loki. Thor was able to hold his own, but did not actually win the fight. He just distracted Hulk and kept him from hurting Black Widow. Now, clearly during the fight with Ironman Cap was losing, but his heart has always been stronger than most, which is why he wouldn’t give up. Tony wasn’t fighting Cap to kill him either. He was just trying to get him to stay down so he could kill Bucky. I believe if Ironman was fighting to kill, he’d have a clear advantage. But I do believe Cap is strong enough to fight Ironman in the Cinematic universe and give him a run for his money.
I 80% agree with you because in the movie Iron Man’s heart wasn’t in it and what not. However, if they had a head to head fight (no reason to stand back and all) and wanted to kill the other guy from some reason I think Iron Man would destroy Cap even with his mighty shield cause activate that fight analysis system and launch those leg restrain things and launch your shoulder rockets so that they attack on multiple places so if he puts his shield over his body then bye-bye legs. After that I guess no more “on your left” from Rogers to Wilson.
Maybe Tony should have called on Veronica again to fight cap lol.
This fight scene is just a big WTF. Its interesting how both Bucky and Captain America can take more damage from hard metal objects (iron mans fists and boots) to their unarmored bodies (faces mostly), than Iron Man’s ARMOR can from them. Granted, they use the bionic arm and the shield for most attacks, but also punches and kicks..
Maybe Iron Man just should make an armor from Captain Americas skin cells as that clearly is more resilient than his armor here. 😛 Just goes to show the power of plot.
I agree 110% with this post.
Is Iron Man stronger than Cap? Definitely YES. So why did Iron Man get beaten up? Simple. Tony went down to the level where Cap had a slight edge — hand-to-hand close-quarter combat. Iron Man could have easily obliterated both Cap and Winter Soldier with a single rocket or beam or by simply causing a wall or steel column to collapse on them. But no. He had to serve his fuming anger and hyper-inflated ego by wanting to see them broken by his own hand. The lesson here is the same as that in Karate Kid. It’s easy to fight a blind enemy.
But thanks to that, CA: CIVIL WAR is the best Marvel masterpiece so far.
Cap wears special gloves made of enhanced leather that’s why he could punch him
Thank you for this article. The movie was mediocre overall but that scene in particular totally ruined it for me. Iron Man is a 100-toner and there’s no way on earth for captain america who has arguably no superhuman strength to beat him.
PS: Iron Man was shown going head to head with the Hulk and Thor in this Avengers movie so there’s no room for a “this is MCU not comic books” argument.
Thank you!
This movie made about as much sense as Batman Versus Superman.
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