Anton Vanko
Dr Anton Vanko
Anton Vanko (Russian: Антон Ванко) was a Russian scientist and inventor.
In the 1940s, he moved from the Soviet Union to the USA, where he got a job at Stark Industries. He worked closely with Howard Stark, co-creating the first Arc Reactor. The two had a serious falling out over the technology, as Vanko wished to monetise it, while Stark had no interest in using for anything apart from powering Stark Industries HQ.
When the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union began to disintergrate, Stark took the opportunity to have Vanko deported on suspicion of communist sympathies. On his returned to Russia, Brezhnev's government, suspicious of his ties to the USA, had him exiled to Siberia.
Although he was allowed to return to Moscow following the fall of the Soviet Union, he never again attained the success he had achieved at Stark Industries, and he died in poverty.
Howard's son, Tony Stark, honoured Vanko's contributions to Stark Industries postumously, paying his son Ivan Vanko reparations, and setting up the Anton Vanko Memorial Scholarship Programme in his memory.
Original Timeline
In the original timeline, Tony was unaware of Vanko. Vanko's son Ivan, enraged by his father's mistreatment, vowed revenge against the Stark family, and became the supervillain Whiplash.
Species
Ethnicity
Life
1920 CE
2009 CE
89 years old
Birthplace
Place of Death
Children
Pronouns
He/Him
Gender
Male
Aligned Organization