I saw a thread on Twitter and Reddit asking whether characters like Batman, Iron Man, and Iron Fist actually need to be wealthy for their stories to work. Some people were saying that, in the DCU, Batman doesn’t have to be rich—he could just be middle class and the story would still work. Similarly, if the MCU gets rebooted, Tony Stark wouldn’t necessarily need to be wealthy and could be working class instead.
A lot of people argued that this would make these characters more relatable and easier to root for. Personally, I’d say no. Elseworlds stories are fine, but if you’re adapting these characters into movies or TV shows, you should stay at least somewhat comic-accurate. Their wealth is a key part of who they are.
Stark Industries, Wayne Enterprises, and Rand Industries are characters in the story too, and they play important roles in shaping these heroes and their worlds.
It’s similar to how Clark Kent being a reporter or Peter Parker struggling financially are essential to their characters. Those traits help define their stories.
What do you think?
The first Ironman suit was built by taking components from (probably) multi-million dollar missiles, and many other comments provided by an overly rich asshole benefactor.
And that’s ignoring the ongoing costs of maintaining the suit, or R and D on new suits, nor the costs of liability and litigation when you fuck up and accidentally murder an innocent.
So no. It’s not even close to a possibility in any context where reality can’t just be dealt with through handwaivium.
Ironheart did it.