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This article is about the first film. For the character, see Tony Stark.
Iron Man poster
IM1 title card

On-screen title card.

Iron Man is a 2008 film and the first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase One. The film was a financial and critical success, leading to two sequels, as well as the beginning of a shared film universe, culminating in The Avengers, the first big crossover of 2012. It was produced by Marvel Studios and Fairview Entertainment, and distributed by Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. The film was directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway. Iron Man 2 followed in 2010.

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company bought Marvel Entertainment, although this didn't affect the distribution rights of Iron Man in the home video market until July 2013.

Release dates[]

  • Sydney, Australia: April 14, 2008
  • United States: May 2, 2008

Briefing[]

Weapons developer, Tony Stark, is held prisoner by terrorists in an Afghan cave to build an arc reactor. Badly wounded with a piece of shrapnel embedded in his heart, he uses the arc reactor to keep himself alive, instead, while also using it to power a metal suit, which he uses to escape. He then uses an advanced model of the suit to take revenge against the captors as Iron Man.

Debriefing[]

Cast[]

Main[]

  • Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and CEO of Stark Industries, who uses his company's resources to build himself a suit of armor, dubbed "Iron Man," to fight back against his captors, the Ten Rings.
  • Terrence Howard as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, the best friend of Stark who acts as a liaison between the United States Air Force and Stark Industries, specifically in weapons development.
  • Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, who starts an aggressive campaign against Stark in taking over the company, beginning with his captivity by the Ten Rings. He has Stark Industries' scientists build him a giant suit, unofficially dubbed "Iron Monger," to combat Tony.
  • Shaun Toub as Ho Yinsen, Stark's fellow captive, who grafts a electromagnet to his chest in order to keep shrapnel away from his heart and killing him, and assisting him in building the first Iron Man suit.
  • Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Stark's personal assistant and budding love interest.

Supporting[]

Mentioned-only characters[]

Production[]

Notes[]

  • Although Yinsen died in this film, he returns for a flashback in the opening scene of Iron Man 3. The Iron Monger also appears in one of the montage clips during the closing credits.
  • Samuel L. Jackson is uncredited as Nick Fury.
  • Terrence Howard did not return for the next film; he was replaced by Don Cheadle.
  • The Iron Man stunt doubles were Mike Justus, Oakley Lehman, Daniel Stevens, and Richard Cetrone.
  • The Obadiah Stane stunt doubles were Lloyd Catlett and Vince Deadrick, Jr.
  • The Tony Stark stunt double was Greg Fitzpatrick.
  • The film is set in 2008, although Iron Man 2 retcons it to happen in 2009, with the latter taking place six months later in 2010.

Trivia[]

  • This film is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
  • Rhodes is credited as Rhodey.
  • Lieutenant Lacy is simply credited as "CAOC analyst."
  • The movie is parodied in the Robot Chicken episodes "I'm Trapped" and "Tell My Mom." In the first episode, Dick Cheney is injured and caught by the Ten Rings and sent to the same cave as Tony Stark. Stark already has the Mark I ready, which Cheney steals to escape. The post-credits scene of the second episode mirrors the post-credits scene of the movie, only Fury is a distraction for his burgling partner to steal Stark's TV.
  • In the The Venture Bros. episode "Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel", Brock goes to a doctor to get HELPeR.'s head removed from his chest, to which the doctor believes Brock was following a trend, as he's implanted a lot of "robot hearts" since Iron Man came out.

Cultural references[]

  • Tony attended MIT.
  • Obadiah appears on the cover of Newsweek, while Tony appears on Wired, Popular Mechanics (with Howard), MIT Technology Review, Forbes (with Obadiah), and Rolling Stone. The covers Tony were on were collected by Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2.
  • Howard's death was reported on the front page of The Washington Times.
  • Tony has take-out from Burger King on his way to his first press conference since coming back from being a prisoner.
  • Stan Lee, who plays a pastiche of himself, is mistaken by Tony as Playboy publisher, Hugh Hefner.
  • In the film The Martian, Matt Damon's character says he gets to be Iron Man while using his space suit to fly.

See also[]

External links[]

  • TBA
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