Tony Stark first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1963 and reached a new audience when Robert Downey Jr. played him in Iron Man in 2008, launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Across the following Avengers films his fast, witty delivery became one of the franchise's signatures, which made short clips of his voice popular to share out of context. Fans lift brief moments for soundboards and edits because a few seconds are enough to signal confidence, intelligence or sarcasm, keeping the character present in memes long after his final film appearance.