"You come from a family of thieves, and butchers. And like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your history, to forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed."~Ivan Vanko in the "Iron Man 2" Teaser trailer
Now, this is just a theory, but I strongly believe that Howard Stark stole the ideas for the arc reactor from Anton Vanko. Anton Vanko, the 1st Crimson Dynamo from the comic books, is rumored to be the father of, "Iron Man 2" villain Ivan Vanko. If this is true, perhaps something that Howard, or possiblly Obidiah Stane, did in the 60's caused a town or something in Russia to be destroyed. Perhaps Ivan was wrongly put in prison, or was put in there for a crime that was justified by certain people who support certain kinds of vigilante justice/vengeance.
Now, if any of this is true, then Tony probably had no clue about it. Maybe Ivan tells him about it, when he's captured. This would cause Tony to do research and, quite literally, dig up some old archives. Perhaps this is some stuff that would cause Stark to be out and get Justin Hammer in, in a sense. It seems that Justin employs Ivan. We all know that Justin is known for hiring criminals to bring down Tony Stark, in the comics.
Now, I know that many of you share this theory with me. I mean, it's backed by a quote, movie stills, and viral pics. I know that this is nothing new, and I doubt there are any spoilers in it, but you can never be too safe with spoiler alerts, lol.
Well, until my imagination ceases to exist, I'm J. J. Meylar. Thanks for reading.