Iron Man (2008)

Marvel Zone

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It's hard to imagine, but back around April 2008, a lot of us had mixed feelings about the next superhero title, and the term "superhero fatigue" wasn't quite there, but hovering over us as studio interference made titles like 'X-Men: The Last Stand' and 'Spider-Man 3' relatively weak. When we saw photos and trailers for the upcoming 'Iron Man' movie, though, opinions were a bit split. Was this going to be another weak superhero title, or were they gonna do something "right" this time?

Either way, word of mouth got our butts back in those seats for another superhero romp, and when it was all said and done, complete with a loose tease to the possibility of an 'Avengers' movie, we were just a little mind-blown that the filmmakers took such good care with the project. Of course, we now know how successful this 'Avengers' stuff all became, and now here I am doing an all-out marathon of a total of 37 movies from the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" in preparation for what will be the franchise's 40th film, 'Avengers: Secret Wars.'

The world of the MCU begins, however, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a wealthy weapons manufacturer living with his loyal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). After a test run of something called the Jericho Missile in Afghanistan, Stark's convoy is attacked by weapons of his own making, and he is taken prisoner by a terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. A fellow captive and doctor named Yinsen (Shaun Toub) fits Stark with an electromagnet that keeps shrapnel from the attack away from his heart, keeping him alive. This eventually becomes the small arc reactor we all know and love. 

Spoiler alert, but Stark escapes by creating a mechanical suit under the guise of building the Jericho for his captors. Once Tony gets back, he takes a publicity hit by telling the world that the manufacture of weapons will ultimately be on hold until he figures out what he wants to do, likely by looking into clean, safe arc reactor technology. In the meantime, however, his experiences led him to create the Iron Man suit, initially using it as a weapon against terrorists. However, his father's old partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), has other ideas about this new technology.

As far as older MCU movies go, this movie holds up perfectly fine. With it being somewhat grounded in more of a real-world scenario, long before the MCU would visit places like Asgard or Knowhere, it managed to kick things off for the MCU almost perfectly by bringing in a broad audience who could appreciate this guy about as much as Batman, who would parallel this film with 'The Dark Knight,' opening up the real tug-of-war between Marvel and DC. Both films are responsible for bringing superhero movies right back to the top.

However, 'Iron Man' had something 'The Dark Knight' didn't, and that's the all-around tease for 'The Avengers'. Stark and Potts are followed around by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) throughout the film, who wants a moment of their time. Once he gets his chance, Coulson clearly states he's from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as SHIELD. On top of that, although a bunch of us missed it at the time, the first MCU post-credit scene came along, involving Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) telling Stark about the potential formation of a team of incredible people.

This is still a lot of fun to watch today, and it has aged well because it blends its elements well. It's often humorous but just as frequently dramatic, and once again, its grounding in something more realistic helps make Stark only human and thus easier to root for. We all love a good revenge story, too, and when he first fully uses the suit to attack terrorists, it's probably the most badass scene in the whole movie, even in comparison to the climax. It's nice to see that it's withstood the test of time, even after a couple of decades, which indeed can't be said of some further MCU titles.

5/5

POST-CREDIT SCENE: There is a break-in at the Stark mansion. Tony, checking things out, comes across Director Nick Fury, who lets him in on a secret project SHIELD has been working on called the "Avengers Initiative". This scene provided the spark that set it all in motion.

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