Character Highlight: Howard Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Howard Stark is a character who’s popped up in various places around the MCU, in franchises from Iron Man to Ant-Man.  If I were to give him a specific “home base,” it’d probably be Agent Carter because a) he’s made the most appearances there and b) Dominic Cooper’s Howard is my favorite Howard (no diss to John Slattery – I enjoy the writing for Cooper’s more.)  Still, he’s in an interesting position, with his feet in a few different camps.  I appreciate how his appearances have helped flesh out the world of the MCU.

Howard’s specter on the MCU is felt before he ever appears as a character.  The mastermind behind Stark Industries, Howard was the head of a technological dynasty, and Tony took up the mantle after his death.  The first Iron Man gives us a crash course in that history before Slattery’s Howard makes his debut in Iron Man 2, speaking to Tony from beyond the grave in outtakes from a promotional video he made decades earlier.  But more than the power, the money, the genius, more even than our glimpses of the man himself, we get Tony’s memories of a dad who was emotionally unavailable, constantly working, and withholding of approval.  That jolt Tony gets at seeing Howard address him onscreen, so many years after the fact, is palpable:  “My greatest creation is you.”

But that’s not something Tony ever got from Howard while he was alive.  The assorted team-up movies show how Tony’s present relationship with Cap is colored by Cap’s past relationship with Howard, a pseudo-sibling rivalry inspired by a man who’s long dead.  Tony grew up taking in his dad’s stories about working with Captain America, hearing praise upon praised heap on the star-spangled man with the plan and feeling unable to measure up.  When Steve is found in the ice and thawed out in the 21^st century, Tony looks on him like a favored older brother his dad was always comparing him to, and that baggage makes it difficult for him to relate to Steve as a teammate.

Of course, it’s only sibling rivalry from Tony’s perspective.  Because in actuality, Howard and Steve were contemporaries back in the 1940s, just like Steve is with Tony in the 2010s (in fact, Steve is in some sense younger than Tony.)  That’s where Cooper’s Howard comes in, popping up in the first Captain America movie as the genius inventor, philanderer, and tech wizard to superheroes.  He’s super fun, what with his flying car prototype and the fondue-related truths he explains to Steve.  Though he only has a small role in the film, it’s really entertaining, and it’s interesting to see Steve interact with him (in many ways, a WWII-era version of Tony from the start of the franchise) and think about how different Steve’s relationship with Tony is.

We see Slattery’s Howard in a couple more MCU film flashbacks, establishing him as one of the old guard when it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D. and superheroing.  Nick Fury knew him (though we’ve never seen scenes of them together,) and he and Peggy were on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s board of directors(?) together back when Hank Pym was working as Ant-Man.

But Cooper’s Howard is the one who gets more of a chance to come into his own.  Through his recurring appearances on Agent Carter, he becomes more of a character.  There, when his “bad babies” (i.e. inventions he’s deemed too dangerous for distribution) are stolen from one of his facilities, he recruits Peggy to track them down for him and clear his name of any wrongdoing.  Howard only crops up now and again, especially since he spends a good chunk of the first season in hiding from those who think he sold the weapons to foreign governments, but he’s the perfect occasional addition to the series.  We get the extravagance, the knowhow, and the insatiable flirting, of course, but we get more than that, too.

We see his relationship with Peggy, first of all, which is terrific.  I love it because, for the most part, he really does relate to her as a friend and a colleague.  The trouble he creates is a pain in her ass, to be sure, and some of their interactions have an exasperated-sibling vibe, but he respects what she can do and trusts her to deliver what he needs.  Not that trust is perfect between them – Howard can be a scoundrel and an opportunist, and he always has his hands in at least a few fires that he shouldn’t.  Still, though, he believes in Peggy at a time when not many do, and despite Howard’s usual tendency to hit on anyone in a skirt, he doesn’t demean her.  What’s more, the show offers insight into Howard’s background and shows more of his reaction to what happened to Steve at the end of Captain America; there’s plenty to love about Agent Carter, but watching Howard and Peggy relate to each other over their shared loss is a genuine pleasure.