The character was created by Archie Goodwin and designed by artist Don Heck. He made his first appearance in Iron Man No. 28 (August 1, 1970).[2] In March 2014, Markus and McFeely stated that Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, and a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[3][4] would be a recurring character in Agent Carter contingent on Cooper's willingness to reprise the role from The First Avenger and short film.[5] In June 2014, Atwell confirmed that Cooper would be involved with the series.[3] Ottobre-Melton designed Stark's outfits with his fugitive-status in mind, aiming to have him look "rich, comfortable, and sexy all rolled up into one." Stark doesn't wear a tie while on the run, unlike many men during the time, and tends to wear casual shirts with custom made jackets and vintage pants.[6]
An older Howard Stark was portrayed by John Slattery in the film Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (2010). In May 2010, Iron Man director Jon Favreau said a younger version Howard Stark than that in Iron Man 2 and would appear in the film, played by Dominic Cooper.[7][8] This was confirmed a month later.[9]
About the role of Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Cooper stated, "It's an opportunity where you can see his future because I know the guy who becomes my son and I see myself as an older version in Iron Man 2 which is great for an actor to have those tools. All I know of him is that he's a fantastic engineer and inventor and a very slick Howard Hughes type that's into aviation and women!"[10] In the first season finale of Agent Carter, the creators ensured that Stark spoke of Steve Rogers as "the greatest thing [he] ever did". This was done to set up the former's obsession with super soldier serums and identify "something/someone he’s prouder of than his own son", which pays off in Captain America: Civil War: in the film, Stark is shown still attempting to recreate his super soldier serum in the 1990s; also, his love for Rogers adds to the antagonistic relationship between the latter and Tony.[11]
In describing the character, Cooper said "You don't know what he does in the depths of the evening, and he's gallivanting around." He continued, "I love dipping into ... some of that material of Howard Hughes, which I'm sure he's kind of been likened to", and described his biggest challenge in playing the character as "keeping it very realistic, but at the same time, tongue-in-cheek as well", and not making Stark "too broad".[12] On Carter and Stark's relationship moving into the second season, Atwell said, "there’s a new comfort level between Stark and Peggy ... they’re on a bit more of an even level. She respects him hugely, but is also not afraid to comment on his lifestyle choices and how disgustingly misogynistic she finds him ... he does use women as a form of escapism for him and his Dionysian ways, but when it comes to Peggy, he doesn’t see her as big boobs and red lips. He sees her as someone he can actually have a proper conversation with. Which probably scares the hell out of him".[13]
Appearances
Gerard Sanders portrayed the character in a brief memorial slideshow presentation in the beginning of the 2008 film Iron Man where he is an acquaintance of Obadiah Stane.
Slattery first portrayed the character in the 2010 film Iron Man 2 where it's revealed that he's one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s co-founders. Having placed a message for Tony Stark in a film reel, Howard gives Tony closure in their strained relationship while providing his son a diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo to perfect the arc reactor which he and Anton Vanko started.
Cooper reprises his role in Marvel One-Shot film Agent Carter, where in 1946 Peggy helps Stark with the subsequent formation of S.H.I.E.L.D.[14]
Cooper is briefly seen as the character in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. His image appears in a news article when Dr. Arnim Zola reveals to Steve Rogers that Hydra was responsible for the death of Howard Stark and his wife in 1991, covering it up as a car accident.
Cooper again reprised his role in both seasons of Agent Carter.[15][16] In season one, in 1946, he enlists Peggy Carter to help him find out who has been framing him for selling weapons on the black market while he goes incognito. Howard even enlists his butler Edwin Jarvis to help in Peggy's mission; Peggy and Edwin discover that the culprits are the mysterious Leviathan organization.[17] Unbeknownst to Peggy, Jarvis has been secretly keeping Stark posted on the happenings in the mission.[18] In season two, Stark helps Carter when it comes to the Zero Matter threat.[19] It is also revealed that he was an old acquaintance of Joseph Manfredi.[20]
Slattery reprised his role in the 2015 film Ant-Man. In a flashback in 1989, he witnesses Hank Pym's resignation from S.H.I.E.L.D. after the discovery of trying to replicate the Pym Particles without his consent. While objecting to Pym's actions, Stark felt that Mitchell Carson deserved Hank's punch following Mitchell's inappropriate comment about Janet van Dyne.[21]
Slattery again reprised the role in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War. On December 16, 1991, the car crash said to be the cause of the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark was caused by the Winter Soldier while under Hydra's control, causing the Starks' car to crash and then killing the Starks after they survived the initial impact.
Slattery again reprises the role in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. In 1970, he meets his time-traveling son (under the alias of "Howard Potts"). Howard is unaware of his son's identity and mission to retrieve the Tesseract. The two converse about their lives which ends in Tony obliquely thanking him for everything. Confused, he asks Jarvis if they have met Tony before as he gets into his car and taken to meet with Maria, who was pregnant with their son.
Tony met his father while on a mission to find the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame. Though Stark hadn't known of the existence of his son in the future yet, Tony still thanked him for everything. Prior to 1970, Stark met a woman named Maria and they eventually got married, bearing a child whom they named Tony.
^D'Esposito, Louis (director); Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (writer) (January 6, 2015). "Now is Not the End". Marvel's Agent Carter. Season 1. Episode 1. ABC.
^Cragg, Stephen (director); Brant Englestein (writer) (January 27, 2015). "The Blitzkrieg Button". Marvel's Agent Carter. Season 1. Episode 4. ABC.
^Platt, David (director); Jose Molina (writer) (January 26, 2016). "Better Angels". Marvel's Agent Carter. Season 2. Episode 3. ABC.
The page Howard Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) in the mainspace is currently a redirect to Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: M–Z..jpg)
