Tony Stark, who has acquired the defense temporary worker Stark Businesses from his late father Howard Stark, is in war-torn Afghanistan with his companion and military contact, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, to illustrate the unused "Jericho" rocket. After the exhibit, his escort is trapped and Stark is fundamentally injured by a rocket utilized by the attackers—one of his company's possess. He is captured and detained in a cave by a fear based oppressor gather called the Ten Rings. Yinsen, a individual captive and specialist, inserts an electromagnet into Stark's chest to keep the shrapnel shards that injured him from coming to his heart and murdering him. Ten Rings pioneer Raza offers Stark opportunity in trade for building a Jericho rocket for the bunch, but he and Yinsen accept that Raza will not keep his word.

Stark and Yinsen furtively construct a little, effective electric generator called an circular segment reactor to control Stark's electromagnet and a model suit of fueled armor to help in their elude. In spite of the fact that they keep the suit covered up nearly to completion, the Ten Rings find their hostages' eagerly and assault the workshop. Yinsen penances himself to redirect them whereas the suit powers up. The armored Stark fights his way out of the cave to discover the passing on Yinsen, at that point burns the Ten Rings' weapons and flies absent, slamming within the leave and wrecking the suit. After being protected by Rhodes, Stark returns domestic and declares that his company will terminate fabricating weapons. Obadiah Stane, his father's ancient accomplice and the company's director, prompts Stark that this may bankrupt Stark Businesses and demolish his father's bequest. In his domestic workshop, Stark builds a sleeker, more capable adaptation of his ad libbed armor suit as well as a more effective bend reactor for it and his chest. Individual assistant Pepper Potts places the initial reactor interior a little glass grandstand. In spite of the fact that Stane demands subtle elements, a suspicious Stark chooses to keep his work to himself.

At a charity occasion held by Stark Businesses, columnist Christine Everhart advises Stark that his company's weapons were as of late conveyed to the Ten Rings and are being utilized to assault Yinsen's domestic town, Gulmira. Stark wears his unused armor and flies to Afghanistan, where he spares the villagers. Whereas flying domestic, Stark is catching by F-22 Raptors. He uncovers his mystery character to Rhodes over the phone in an endeavor to conclusion the assault. In the interim, the Ten Rings accumulate the pieces of Stark's model suit and meet with Stane, who has been trafficking arms to the Ten Rings and has arranged a overthrow to supplant Stark as Stark Industries' CEO by enlisting the Ten Rings to slaughter him. He represses Raza and has him and the rest of the bunch slaughtered. Stane contains a enormous modern suit reverse-engineered from the destruction. Looking for to track his company's illicit shipments, Stark sends Potts to hack into its database. She finds that Stane contracted the Ten Rings to murder Stark, but the bunch reneged when they realized they had a coordinate course to Stark's weapons. Potts meets with Specialist Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., an insights office, to educate him of Stane's exercises.

Stane's researchers cannot copy Stark's miniaturized bend reactor, so Stane ambushes Stark at his domestic and takes the one from his chest. Stark oversees to supplant it with his unique reactor. Potts and a few S.H.I.E.L.D. operators endeavor to capture Stane, but he wears his suit and assaults them. Stark battles Stane but is outmatched without his unused reactor to run his suit at full capacity. The battle carries Stark and Stane to the beat of the Stark Businesses building, where Stark instrument Potts to over-burden the expansive circular segment reactor controlling the building. This unleashes a gigantic electrical surge that causes Stane and his armor to drop into the detonating reactor, slaughtering him. The another day, at a press conference, Stark freely concedes to being the superhero the press has named "Iron Man".

In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. chief Scratch Wrath visits Stark at domestic, telling him that Press Man isn't "the only superhero within the world", which he needs to discuss the "Justice fighter Activity".