'Iron Man 2' May Be The Best MCU Movie And Here's Why
The release of Iron Man in 2008 was an absolute game changer for the world of cinema, changing it forever. We didn't know at the time, but it launched the MCU and was an absolutely successful film in its own right. The character was so popular, it was only a matter of time before a sequel came about, which of course it did, along with a third installment.
As the MCU progressed, the films moved from direct sequels to team-up style films in which characters from one film appeared in another. Iron Man became something of a mascot for the hugely popular franchise, appearing in several other characters' films or sequels, so his own follow-up films are often forgotten. These did, however, follow up on the events of the first film and continued the character's story arc.
Iron Man 2 is sadly deemed, by many fans, to be a weaker entry than the original, with a lot of them disliking it. Personally, I feel the film gets a bad rep and is better than most give it credit for. It gives us more than people remember and is actually quite a vital entry for the character. With that in mind, we are going to look back at the film today, and put forward an argument for why it may be the best MCU movie.
The film essentially picks up were the original ended. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has revealed to the world that he is, in fact, Iron Man. This was obviously a huge deal for the in-universe world, but it was actually pretty big in the real world as well. Up to that point, superhero films almost always included the main protagonist trying to keep his identity a secret, sometimes with disastrous consequences. So when this happened, it meant any sequel would have to address the fact everyone knows who he is. This act is actually what drives the plot of the sequel.
The press conference in which Tony gives away his secret identity away, is being broadcast all over the world. In Russia, we see two men watching it. One is older and on his deathbed, the other is his son.
Unfortunately, the older of the two passes away, causing his son to be overcome with rage. He then pulls out Stark Blueprints and begins working on something, which is revealed be an arc reactor almost identical to the one in Tony's chest.
As the film progresses, we learn the father and son are named Anton and Ivan Venko (Mickey Rourke), with the father previously having worked at Stark Industries, hence the blueprint. It also turns out Anton actually helped Tony's dad Howard with the creation of an arc reactor. Due to Anton receiving no recognition for his work, seeing Tony flaunt it on TV, and his unfortunate demise, Ivan becomes hell-bent on getting revenge against the Starks. Using his father's blueprints, he creates an arc reactor of his own, binds it to metal "whips," and becomes the villain Whiplash.
In terms of Tony/Iron Man's story arc, this film tries to deal with a more real-life, real consequences situation. Stark continues to operate as Iron Man, but has become a lot more arrogant since the last time we saw him. He believes himself to have "privatized world peace," but his actions lead to government intervention, with many demanding he hand his weaponry over to them. Obviously, he declines to do so in his particularly flamboyant way. We also learn that the core for the arc reactor in his chest keeping him alive, palladium, is actually slowly poisoning him. It's also made worse when he uses his Iron Man suits. This causes Tony to have to deal with his mortality. Instead of seeking help, he keeps this to himself, but becomes more and more reckless as his condition worsens.
Whilst taking part in a Formula 1 race in Monaco, Whiplash reveals himself to world and attempts to kill Tony with his new weaponry. Thankfully, Tony is able to get ahold of one of his new suit models and take the bad guy out, nice and easy. Whilst this seems like it should be the end of the film, Vanko isn't the only "bad guy." Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a competitor of Tony's in the world of weaponry, breaks Vanko out of prison in order to have him help create new Iron soldiers which he could sell to the military. Vanko seems all to happy to go along with the plan, but has his own motives.
Whilst working for Hammer, he recreates his Whiplash outfit, this time much more advanced thanks to the added equipment from Hammer Industries.
Meanwhile, Tony continues to dwell on his impending death, so begins making preparations for it. He promotes his assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), to head of Stark Industries and hires a new assistant named Natasha (Scarlet Johanssen). Throughout the film, Captain James "Rhodey" Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle), appeals to Tony to play ball with the government and hand over his designs, which Tony still refuses. During a birthday celebration party, Tony becomes extremely intoxicated whilst wearing an Iron Man suit and becomes extremely dangerous with it. This causes Rhodey to don (See what I did there?) a suit himself to stop Tony before he does something he'll regret.
After beating Tony, Rhodey takes the suit to a military base for it to be reverse engineered, causing Tony to feel betrayed and a small rift appearing between the two friends, along with Pepper Potts.
With Tony now left alone to contemplate his actions, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) turns up and reveals that Natasha is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to keep an eye on Tony. He also reveals the backstory of Anton Venko and that Howard was actually a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury provides Tony with suitcases filled with some of his dad's old stuff, telling Tony his dad had faith in him. Tony stumbles across an old video recording of Howard, which help him discover and successfully create a new element for the reactor in his chest, saving his life.
All these events lead to the film's climax. With Hammer believing Venko to have helped him build the perfect military force, he unveils his new soldiers to the world at the newly returned Stark Expo (a place for inventors to show off their best inventions). With the audience in awe, the robotic soldiers come to life at the surprise of Hammer. Unfortunately, he was wrong, and Venko was using them as part of his plan for revenge, having programmed them to follow his orders. This leads to a battle between them, Iron Man, and Rhodey (now in his own suit of armor with the two friends resolving their differences).
Successfully destroying the rogue metal soldiers, Rhodey and Tony come face to face with the newly upgraded Venko. When it appears they may lose, they are able to work together and finally defeat Whiplash.
Now that you've read the above synopsis, you can see just how much actually happened in this film during its runtime and how important the events are in Tony's overall story arc. On top of this, it also made some new introductions. Iron Man 2 marks the introduction of Black Widow, and also has Don Cheadle replace Terrence Howard as Tony's best friend Rhodey, with him making his debut as War Machine.
Despite having a slightly darker tone than most of the other entries in the MCU, I actually think its attempt at covering the consequences of Tony's actions, makes it one of the best films. It puts Tony in a position of having to start taking responsibility for his actions. The first film was all about him having fun in his new role, whereas number two begins the shaping of the character into who we see in Endgame. Someone willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. Based on this, I believe it may be a serious contender for best MCU movie.
What do do you think? Do you agree?