Why Spider-Man 2 Creates An Iron Man Phase 4 Plot Hole
Spider-Man: Far From Home and the context it provides on EDITH can be seen to create a plot hole in terms of how Iron Man dealt with Spider-Man compared to other heroes. In the wake of Tony Stark's death at the closing of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home had a difficult scenario to deal with, as it needed to not only provide some sense of closure to the mentor-slash-role-model relationship Tony had with Spider-Man, but also do so in a way that didn't make it the sole focus of the film, and that still allowed for coming-of-age adventures aplenty.
The MCU balanced this by having a substantial portion of the plot be about EDITH - a pair of hi-tech glasses Stark left to Peter Parker in his will. The glasses came with their own AI system, and came with extensive capabilities, such as the capacity to launch a drone strike where the user directed them. Interestingly, though, Peter - and Tony's family - appear to be the only people who Iron Man has left anything to at all, which seems to directly counter his intention to allow his fellow heroes to continue on even after he is gone.
Tony's will is admittedly a complicated scenario, as it's not entirely clear if Iron Man left Peter EDITH prior to his death in Avengers: Infinity War, or in the relatively short gap between Hulk reverting the deaths caused by the Snap and Iron Man's own death. Were the case to be the latter, it makes some kind of sense why Spider-Man is the only hero given an inheritance, as he was Iron Man's protege, and thus his priority - plus, the Avengers as they were formerly known had more or less ceased to exist. But both of these moments in time also have other heroes who would clearly need Stark's assistance to continue operating even after he was gone, as the majority of MCU heroes weren't making money like their de facto leader was from his business pursuits. Indeed, it's clear Tony had been thinking about the future, given he funded countless bright minds via the September Project - and yet it seems the existing bright minds he fought alongside didn't get the same degree of consideration.
This is especially surreal when it's taken into account that Iron Man appeared to be profoundly aware of his impact and mortality from as far back as Avengers: Civil War - and had been actively risking his life in the name of saving people and being a hero as far back as his inception into the MCU, notably almost sacrificing himself as early as the final scenes of The Avengers. While there was no way for Tony to be able to predict the surreal events of Phase 3 that would lead to his death, it was clear from the outset that the chances of him not coming back from a mission would always be high, and thus the most reasonable choice of action would be to leave a will ensuring any remaining heroes following in his footsteps would be able to financially afford their role.
All this said, Phase 4 may reveal the potential reason Stark only directly left anything to Spider-Man, as it's worth remembering that he made his wife, Pepper, the CEO of Stark Industries in Iron Man 2. With the considerable financial backing this gave her, Tony may well have left strictly financial matters for her to decide should he pass away - as indeed we do see Pepper using the company to provide May Parker's charity a relief check in order to try and help in the aftermath of Infinity War. Phase 4 has made it clear that the current situation surrounding superheroes - and whether they are to be regarded peons of specific countries, or rather acting on their own accord - has only gotten more complicated, meaning the chances may well be that Pepper intends to aid MCU's heroes financially but is waiting for a moment where doing so doesn't cause major upheaval. Either way, hopefully a future Marvel installment may shed light on whether Iron Man did try and make further plans for a world of heroes without him in it, or whether his protégée, his family, and those within the September Project were his only concerns.
