MCU Retrospective #4: Iron Man 2

This article contains spoilers for Iron Man 2 and other MCU projects.

Iron Man and War Machine, damaged during the final fight.

Tony Stark’s “I am Iron Man,” monologue looms large during Iron Man 2’s opening. This was a monumental moment, and Ivan Vanko’s (Mickey Rourke) story beginning here is natural. We learn his father, Anton (Evgeniy Lazarev) helped Howard Stark build the original arc reactor decades ago. Now, when Stark is getting credit for it, Anton passes away and Vanko’s family is unmentioned.

This is compelling, but also cheap. Anton had decades to replicate the work, and his son building a miniaturized arc reactor within weeks dismisses his own (and Stark’s) supposed genius. Why should we care about his death after one minute of screentime?

Iron Man’s narrative means little: Stark, who built his miniature arc reactor in a cave, was supposed to be untouchable; not normal. Iron Man, a heroic figure meant to protect peace, is now a spectacle. He’s hosting Stark Expo, a place where scientific innovation is touted year-round. His growth from the original movie is abandoned: ego is more important than peace. Howard (John Slattery), in an old clip, discusses his “City of the Future.”

This is heavy-handed allusion: Stark Expo is a World’s Fair, Howard Stark is Walt Disney and the City of the Future is EPCOT. During the clip, Stark measures his blood toxicity, which is at 19%.

Iron Man 2 throws an overwhelming amount of exposition at you.

Later, Stark leaves with Happy Hogan (who gets a larger presence in the sequel), but is served with a subpoena to speak in Congress. This hearing, led by Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) explores whether Iron Man is a weapon of war. Stark, being dumbed down, swears it’s not and uses the opportunity to demoralize the court.

But, this hearing is rigged: Justin Hammer, a poorly-written knock-off of Stark, is a weapons manufacturer for Hammer Industries. He argues that Stark’s suits are not shields and should be handed over. To make matters worse, Colonel Rhodes (now Don Cheadle) is forced to read a cherry-picked selection from his report that deems Iron Man a threat. It doesn’t matter Rhodes also thinks Stark keeping the suit outweighs the liabilities.

Stark “wins” the hearing by showing failed iron suits made in North Korea, Iran and the United States (Hammer is “coincidentally” involved). Stark touts that iron suits are not a current threat to the world, forgetting Obadiah Stane made one in Iron Man. It takes a genius…

Stark’s blood toxicity stems from palladium poisoning, and his character regression stems from his fear of mortality. He pushes everyone away, including Pepper Potts, who is infuriated at him for abandoning his CEO responsibilities and haphazardly donating their art collection. What is the solution?

Potts is appointed as Stark Industries new CEO.

This show of trust extends their romantic arc started in Iron Man, and his famous “It’s you. It’s always been you,” line feels more palpable retrospectively knowing it’s said again in Avengers: Endgame when his mortality looms large. It’s excellent parallelism taken from an incredibly choppy movie.

“Natalie Rushman,” (Scarlett Johannson) is a potential replacement for Potts as Stark’s assistant. She is stunning: oozing beauty, confidence and sensuality to purposefully lure anyone in. Stark and Hogan take the bait, underestimating her. There are layers though: she takes down Hogan in boxing with ease. It’s fun foreshadowing.

This brings us to Monaco. Stark’s presence here is unexplained, and his run-in with Christine Everheart (an American journalist) is even more bizarre and purposeless. Hammer is also here, doing nothing to further establish his character. Furthermore, how did Vanko know Stark would be here, obtain a fake identity and secure employment at this venue?

These examples illustrate Iron Man 2’s core problem: the plot is incredibly complex. There are so many unneeded bits (Everheart’s negative story on Stark) or things left unexplained. You can feel this movie collapsing on itself before Act 2 begins.

Stark, seeing his climbing blood toxicity level, randomly decides to participate in the race. How is this possible? He’s allowed, to the surprise of everyone, and mid-race Vanko steps onto the track. This insinuates that Stark always planned to race.

The electric-arm suit is really phenomenal, and the way it slashes vehicles in half is cinematically gorgeous. Stark’s suit-up, too, is engaging. This sequence improves and diminishes Iron Man: first, it does a good job at allowing a villain to lose without dismissing their threat, but it does poorly in consistency. How did the electric arms not demolish Hogan’s car as they laid on top of it?

Vanko is taken to prison, and Stark (who shouldn’t be allowed to) visits. This is the movie’s best scene. The monologue about Stark’s family being “thieves and butchers,” calling out Stark for rewriting history instead of fixing it and ending it on “If you make God bleed, then people will stop believing in him,” is masterful. It expands naturally on themes explored in Iron Man, it gives weight to Monaco and is great framing of Stark.

Damage can be more than physical: Stern, in the media, diminishes Stark’s character for being wrong at the hearing and almost losing in Monaco. Hammer, seeing this as an opportunity, slips a bomb and a sacrificial person into prison so Vanko can fake his death and escape. His bravado and confidence during the escape is delightful. He’s an incredible villain, but it sucks his importance is taken away upon arrival to Hammer Industries.

Hammer is Stane: fixated on power, undone by ignorance. It’s a cliché, but he offers Vanko the resources to continue building iron suits to ruin Stark’s reputation. Vanko is interested, but exploits Hammer’s ignorance by purposefully breaking his models and easily hacking into them.

Stark’s free-falling reputation does cause him to look inward, and our first hint of growth stems from boxing Rushman out. There’s no need for a flirty, shallow and forced connection with her when Potts exists. This isn’t redeeming: his fears exacerbate the recklessness and he throws a party at his house, beyond incapacitated, where is he flaunting (and shooting) his Iron Man suit. Potts, desperate to stop him, is disregarded entirely. He doesn’t care.

Rhodes, needing to protect everyone, knows the only way to stop Stark is by getting into his own suit. This is a good follow-up to the tease made in Iron Man, and the subsequent house-destroying fight is pretty fun. It’s a bit prolonged, but ends with two of them firing their hand blasters simultaneously and causing a massive explosion. No one won, but Rhodes is able to steal the suit.

It’s time for another subplot.

Stark, not punished for his actions, is confronted by Nicholas Fury for not wanting to be in The Avengers Initiative. What? Stark was building a team in The Incredible Hulk’s pre-credit scene. What changed? If the meeting with General Ross takes place after this movie, why would he do that as a consultant?

Continuity aside, we get the incredible reveal that Rushman is Natasha Romanoff, or Black Widow, a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy. This, and the Thor tease about the “problem in the southwest region,” slowly expand this shared universe. Fury sizzles in his full-length introduction because he mirrors Stark: there’s ego, wit and deep flaws immediately present. However, Fury’s traits are in service to others. His one-liners are hilarious and seeing Stark fail to demoralize him is awesome.

Fury didn’t arrange this to tease upcoming movies. Instead, to help Stark change his mind, Fury provides him something Howard left behind that could cure his illness. Howard is discussed as a cold, dismissive parent. Stark didn’t feel loved, which makes his internal debate more guttural. He doesn’t want to care, but he doesn’t want to die. Why build something his father left behind when he didn’t even know about S.H.I.E.L.D, which Howard founded?

Stark, learning Howard deported Anton for wanting to profit off the arc reactor, is quickly swept under the rug. Why is there no pause to rationalize Vanko’s actions? Why is no one addressing Howard’s glaring hypocrisy since he profited from weapons?

Iron Man 2 isn’t a sentimental movie. This forced sentimentality towards Howard feels out-of-place. Truthfully, Captain America: The First Avenger, where we meet Howard, should’ve come out first. It would’ve made us care about this storyline. Stark agrees to work, and Agent Coulson is assigned to keep him home.

Stark watches tapes left behind, and Howard explains how the technology of his time is limiting the City of Tomorrow from being real. We see a young Stark, causing him to become incredibly melancholy. This, alongside being called Howard’s “greatest creation”, is supposed to be poignant, but it lands flat.

This does inspire Stark to care for those who do love him. He leaves the house (rendering Coulson’s presence as pointless) and attempts to mend bridges with Potts. He buys her strawberries, which she is allergic to. Potts is furious about the party, and has no patience for Stark’s ego-stroking nonsense. “Rushman,” whose identity is still intact, and Hogan don’t even respond to Stark; they all have no faith in him.

This is the poignant moment that lands; it incentivizes Stark’s growth.

In a very clever narrative move, Stark sifts through Stane’s boxed-up items and finds the map of Howard’s city. He takes it home, deconstructs it and learns Howard left behind the blueprint for an entirely new element; one that can cure his palladium poisoning. In a matter of minutes, with modern technology, he successfully creates an entire new element and cures himself.

The entire subplot feels deflated. It’s a semi-effective resolution to Stark’s illness, but it’s impossible to get past Howard’s presence being sheer plot convenience. How could Howard know Stark was going to build a miniaturized arc reactor, have it live in his chest and get sick? It makes no sense. S.H.I.E.L.D. shouldn’t be utilized best as teases for upcoming movies. Why would they give him scraps of Captain America’s shield? Why continue to tease Thor?

Vanko’s faux death should’ve taken precedence to Stark’s story; he should’ve tried to right his father’s wrongs. Vanko, who did get scenes weaved in-and-out, immediately worked against Hammer’s orders and began building fighter drones. This is a better solution: you create more and lose less lives; the 24/7 surveillance is a terrifying implication. Why is Hammer so mad about this?

Hammer is still working alongside the U.S. government. He’s brought to a military base to sell weapons to upgrade Rhodes’ stolen suit. This presentation is framed as underwhelming, but Rhodes inexplicably buys all of them.

Vanko has been working in (and living in Stark’s) shadow. He’s a smart, calculated man; He easily kills the two men Hammer left to babysit him. It’s an egregious breach-of-character to call Stark, reveal he’s alive and talk about his plan. It’s reductive to Iron Man that Vanko built his own suit, but at least it decidedly proves that he is the true villain of this movie.

Hammer is just a pawn, doing his work perfectly at Stark Expo, as he begins to unveil battle drones for each branch of the military. The main attraction, of course, is Rhodes’ decked-out War Machine, with several of Hammer’s weapons implanted on the design. Stark arrives to warn everyone of the danger, including Rhodes, but it’s too late: Vanko hacks all the drones, and War Machine, which is inexplicable because he didn’t work on that one. Stark leads the hijacked weapons to an empty pavilion.

Romanoff (and Potts) get Hammer to confess where Vanko is, and she takes off with Hogan. On arrival, we see Black Widow’s sleek, precise and rapid fighting skills; Hogan, who barely took down one man, boasts until he sees she took down 10 of them. It’s a juxtaposition that proves her strength and is hilarious. Vanko isn’t here, which allows her to give control of War Machine back to Rhodes.

The MCU has been criticized for using humor to undercut the tension. This is painfully true here. Hogan almost crashes seeing boobs, Potts’ randomly-placed reaction to learning Stark almost died and the double entendre of Rhodes and Stark comparing suits all feel shoehorned and uncomfortable.

The pavilion is a gorgeous set, and the CGI is phenomenal, but it’s hard not to pretend the drone fight is low stakes and dull; we know Vanko was coming. Even when he arrives, there is no tension. There was nothing new shown with the electric arms, it was very quick and resolved with the same blaster explosion seen earlier.

How is Vanko’s suit the only one incinerated? His final words are “you lose,” to Stark as he rigged all the devices (except War Machine’s?) to explode. This undercuts his intelligence again, and Vanko’s death is nothing but a whimper.

Hammer is arrested, teasing a return that hasn’t come to fruition. Iron Man 2 wasted both of their villains. Vanko was better overall, but Hammer’s story was more narratively complex. By co-existing, they discredited the other’s purpose, driving them both to be forgettable. Their stories were compromised and tonally bland. It should’ve been one or the other.

Potts, the damsel in distress, is saved after being surrounded by defeated drones. Stark carries her to a roof, where she quits being his CEO. This is an unexpected, but welcome, follow-up to an arc introduced in Iron Man, and it works. Without professionalism, Potts can embrace her true feelings and kiss him.

Rhodes stakes more claim in War Machine, and no one argues with him.

Stark, alive and heroic, reopens The Avengers Initiative with Fury. Romanoff, who wrote a report, states Stark isn’t a good person and hasn’t grown, meaning he shouldn’t be in The Avengers. This assessment is a failure of two movies that didn’t focus on growth, but the compromise is that Stark can be a consultant. This scene (which should’ve been a mid-credit scene) opens a really strong storyline, with fascinating implications. It’s forgivable that Marvel Studios didn’t commit to this.

Stark and Rhodes, in the final scene, are awarded medals for their heroism, presented to them by Stern. This is a fantastic and clever send-off to this movie, and the line “Funny how annoying a little prick can be, isn’t it?” seems to be just as much about Iron Man 2 as it is about the character whose story is being told.

***

Our post-credit scene takes place in New Mexico, where Coulson was during Stark’s forbidden trip to Stark Industries. Coulson is driving his car towards a large crater. He steps outside, overlooks the crater and sees Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, stuck to the ground. This is a scaled-back scene compared to what Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk offered, but it allows it to be a tease for Thor, without stealing the spotlight away from what happened in the movie.

Random Thoughts:

1. Howard’s allegory of Walt Disney wouldn’t have happened if Disney owned the MCU. They bought it months after Iron Man 2 finished filming.
2. Stan Lee playing Lary King is hilarious.
3. Kate Mera deserves a much larger role within the MCU instead of subpoena-deliverer.
4. Elon Musk’s cameo is incredibly jarring in 2022.
5. In Monaco, a tire definitely smashed into Tony’s face when Vanko slashed his car. He should’ve died.
6. Fans believe Peter Parker was the young child (in California) in the Iron Man mask that Stark saves. I refuse to believe this.
7. Jon Favreau definitely elevated his role in the movie because it was a guaranteed hit.
8. S.H.I.E.L.D. exposition could’ve been saved for Thor, which would’ve made this movie less clunky.
9. Stark begging to go on a trip with Potts in Act 2, for no follow-up, is weird.
10. Vanko’s subplot about wanting his bird was pointless. Did no one refine this movie?
11. Hammer and Ross are watered-down versions of Stanes. Why did the MCU not make more creative villains?
12. Hulk goes unmentioned in this movie, which is so strange when Captain America, Black Widow and Thor are all teased.
13. Stane’s short-term paralysis device made Stark’s blood look eerily similar to his palladium poisoning.
14. Vanko, if written better, could’ve been a much better villain than The Ten Rings.
15. Tony calling Rhodes “War Machine,” during the house fight is the least-effective tease.
16. Vanko wasn’t hurt by War Machine’s best gun, which was supposed to build stakes. It falls flat because Abomination caught a missile and wasn’t hurt in The Incredible Hulk, and we know how that turned out.

Ranking:

1. Iron Man
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man 2

WANNA READ MORE?
#1: Introduction | #3: The Incredible Hulk | #5: Thor