Maybe I misunderstood. You had listed a bunch of back story movies to see, and as much as I dont care for the whole Avengers thing (I like my comic character worlds separate, Batman, Superman, but not Batman vs Superman), the Tony Stark character is one of the central players in the Avengers, even though he turned down the job.
But, he is not the main character, he is part of an ensemble. I prefer him in the ensemble. We just have different tastes.