I don't know why people sympathize Tony. I mean Bucky's life is more tragic, he's forced to do things he doesn't want. And Steve lost his parents too and all good friends back in 40's. Tony is just a reich brat with some daddy issue, compared with Bucky it's not even worth mentioning.
I have to say anon, I respectfully disagree. I really don’t think it’s our place to compare the sufferings of these characters. Yes, 100%, no contestation, Bucky and Steve have faced some serious emotional distress, and it’s tragic and heart wrenching and not fair. They both have lost so much.
But Tony never really had a lot to begin with. I am, of course, not speaking about money here. He has more money than he’ll ever need in his life, but for Tony Stark money certainly never equaled happiness. I’m sure he would have given it all away for just a few more minutes with his mother, or to finally have his father’s approval and attention for more than a few seconds at a time.
He says in the very first movie that Pepper (and Rhodey) is the only one he really has, and it’s true. Tony has never really known affection or what it is to be loved. He has surrounded himself with artificial intelligence that he himself built. Despite being idolized and adored by much of the world, he’s terrifyingly lonely and can’t seem to build or maintain relationships because he honestly doesn’t think he’s good enough. Tony thinks that he’s worthless, because that was how Howard Stark treated him.
Tony is the kind of person who gets kidnapped and put through hell by his only father figure in the world and comes out of it as a super hero, as Iron Man. He’s the kind of person who gives his friends all of his worldly possessions and then makes them hate him when he thinks he’s about to die so that they won’t miss him when he’s gone. He’s the kind of person who flies a nuclear missile into space, fully knowing it’s going to kill him, in order to save the world because, in his mind, better him than anyone else. He’s the kind of person whose worse nightmare is all of his friends dying when he isn’t there to save them, because he wasn’t good enough or strong enough.
Yes, Bucky and Steve have been through a lot and they definitely deserve to have our sympathy. But I will always, always, always have sympathy for Tony Stark, the man who doesn’t think he deserves it.