Maria Stark (Earth-11584)

History
"'You may not know it Tony, but your father does care about you. He just has trouble showing it sometimes.'"Maria Annabelle Stark (ne Collins) was the wife of noted inventor and industrialist Howard Stark and the mother of the future Iron Man, Tony Stark. Born to a wealthy family in Los Angeles, Maria was an only child and thus spoiled by her parents. Until the age of 13, Maria's dream was to one day play Carnegie Hall as a concert pianist. However, the sudden death of her father of a heart attack combined with a dip in the stock market wiped out much of the family's fortune, resulting in Maria having to give up music to take odd jobs in order to support herself and her mother in addition to high school. Right out of high school she took a job at Stark Industries as a member of the typing pool, eventually becoming one of the lead secretaries to Howard Stark himself.

It is uncertain exactly how Howard and Maria first met. It is clear however that the normally womanizing Stark took a liking to Maria almost immediately, as despite her lack of a formal education she was able to match wits with him on a regular basis. The two began a relationship soon after their meeting, even though Stark was more than 10 years older than Maria. The two were married in the late sixties and in 1973, after struggling to get pregnant for a number of years, Maria gave birth to what would be the couple's only child, Anthony. Due to Howard's social awkwardness around people (children in particular), his busy schedule and his occasional alcoholic episodes, Maria developed a much closer bond with Tony than did Howard. Nevertheless the two were devoted to Tony and highly proud of his early achievements in robotics and engineering.

In 1991, Maria and Howard were planning a vacation to the Bahamas following a sidetrip to Washington DC. Howard and Tony would have one of their slight tiffs prior to their departure, and Maria reassured her son that his father loved him. It would be the last time she talked to Tony, as en route to the Triskellion they were forced off the road and into a tree by Sgt. Bucky Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier. Howard died from a gunshot wound and the impact of the car, while Maria was asphyxiated by Barnes, so as not to leave any witnesses.

Powers & Abilities

 * Piano Player: Maria had at one point trained to be a concert pianist before economic realities forced her to give up this pursuit to support her mother. She was shown that she could still play reasonably well in her older age.

Weaknesses
Maria Stark possessed no special powers or abilities that would protect her from normal harm. She was killed by the Winter Soldier due to injuries from a car crash as well as asphyxiation.

Film Details
Maria Stark appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases she is portrayed by actress Hope Davis.
 * Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) [mentioned only]
 * Captain America: Civil War (2016)