Six months have passed since Tony Stark has defeated his former friend, Obidah Stane aka the Iron Monger and he has publicly revealed his identity to the world. Tony is facing many issues with his life, such as using palladium for his arc reactor which is causing serious problems towards his health and a rival inventor named Justin Hammer wants to put Stark Industries out of business so that he can become the top inventor. Tony's recklessness is reaching its breaking point for him when his friendship with Rhodey at risk and his love for Pepper in serious jeopardy. However, Tony is soon faced with another issue when Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash begins to seek revenge on him for getting his late father, Anton dismissed from Stark Industries by Howard many years ago. With the stakes held high for Tony, he must form new alliances with Natasha Romanoff and Nick Fury, who are both agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to defeat Hammer and Vanko once and for all.