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May 22, 2018
Or the first one.  In 2008, as I exited my local Cineplex after the end of [Iron Man], I did not foresee the stunning global success of what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), every year. “[Iron Man] was a good film,” I thought to myself. It was a grounded late-2000s film with relatively modest stakes—the villains were terrorists and capitalists. Its competition was Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, films where verisimilitude was king. Sure, I had read the comics and I had read Jim Starlin’s The Infinity Gauntlet, but I did not foresee this rollercoaster that we’ve all been on for a decade….   [Iron Man] remains an exciting, funny, competently directed film (by Joe Favreau who also plays Happy Hogan). But more significantly, this was an iconoclastic superhero film. Yes, it was very much a product of its time: a soul searching hero caught up in America’s Global War on Terror, the parallel war at home, and the sins of the father. However, it was also the start of something new: a brilliant and driven hero who flouted society’s restraints in all the ways that amuse us, blessed with ample luck, missing a heart, with a giant target painted on his back, and with no patience for secret identities.  That and the MCU.  There’s a common criticism in film: it’s bad for an actor’s personality to overshadow one’s character. Is Jim Carrey playing Ace Ventura or himself? Is Jesse Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor or Jim Carrey’s version of the Riddler? Yes, Robert Downey Jr. isn’t playing Tony Stark, as Stark was originally written as a communist spy smashing “cool exec with a heart of steel” (The Marvel Super Heroes, 1966). But, that’s a good thing, because the original Tony Stark was boring.  Instead, we’ve got an idiosyncratic genius with a guilty conscience who believes that he can fix anything despite a list of personality flaws.  Technicals. The special effects were realistic enough. The Iron Man suits were cool. The film had an adequate, though unmemorable score. Ditto the cinematography.  Writing: it was okay, with some really good dialogue mixed in with the filler. The non-action scenes were mostly boring.  Casting: a casting coup. Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow is Pepper Potts. The multi-billion dollar MCU franchise would not exist without either. With Joe Favreau as Happy Hogan, Paul Bettany as JARVIS, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. A decade on, all five are still playing their MCU roles even now. Terrence Howard was okay but unmemorable as James Rhodes, as was the rest of the cast. And despite being given one of those throwaway supervillain roles, Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane is an intriguing character. A hard-working arms dealer with no compunction to kill but who rides a Segway at work. Wut? Things to be Repeated: * The Stan Lee cameo * Iron Man suiting up * Hero standing by a plane’s loading ramp * The Ten Rings * Stingers Marvel Moments: #1 Jericho missile demo #2 Iron Man saves the village #3 Iron Man vs. Tank #4 “Bogey just went supersonic.”