WARMACHINEROX

Iron Man 3 (May 2013)

Primary Characters

• Tony Stark/Iron Man
• Pepper Potts
• Lieutenant James Rhodes/Iron Patriot
• Aldrich Killian

Secondary Characters

• Jarvis
• Happy Hogan
• Trevor Slattery/The Mandarin
• Maya Hansen
• Harley Keener
• Ho Yinsen

Notable Story Elements

• AIM
• Extremis

Times viewed: 3

• Original theatrical release
• Friday Family Movie Night sometime in the past year or two (though Melanie says she never saw it before this week)
• 23 Days of Marvel - March 24th, 2020

Easter Eggs

• Harley suggests that Tony make stealth armor, to which he quips that he should do that sometime; in the comics, there's a much-earlier model black stealth suit, and also a later version, when tracking down and destroying Extremis; that later version is Mk. 43, and his suit in this movie is Mk. 42, making it likely this is a deliberate nod by source-savvy writers and/or producers

• The executive supposedly executed by The Mandarin is from the Roxxon Oil corporation, which first appeared in Captain America in the 1970s and was involved in various criminal activities, especially after the Exxon Valdez spill

I liked Harley.

Melanie did not. (Her take: "No dad? Check. Secretly a genius? Check. Bullied? Check. UGH.")

I'm sure that if Iron Man 3 had been released in the '80s or '90s instead, and I'd watched it with my friend Brian then, Harley would have been branded "the annoying mini-kid." He's often cited when this movie is criticized, too. We're not talking The Phantom Menace Anakin Skywalker, though, are we?

Like Iron Man 2, there is a lot going on here.

• A flashback to Switzerland at the dawn of the new millennium, setting up the larger narrative, and including an appreciated cameo by Ho Yinsen. How would his life have played out differently if Stark had taken time to connect then? 
• Tony's PTSD following the near-death experience in The Battle of New York; "nothing's been the same since New York." 
• A new look for Rhodey. 
• The strained relationship between Tony and Pepper. 
• Happy played for laughs and then lingering near death. 
• An "Alas, Poor Yorick" moment with Tony gazing at his helmet, and another similarly-framed scene when Pepper thinks he's perished (Fake Death Count: 1). 
• Tony's time as The Mechanic and relationship with Harley. No armor, no problem; we'll science the shit out of this and make do with MacGyvered grocery goods. I loved this. 
• A series of action-spy investigations and confrontations. 
• Humorous puppet-villain. 
• The President has been kidnapped (not by ninjas). Tony and Rhodey are bad enough dudes to rescue him. 
• Pepper gets superpowers and dies (Fake Death Count: 2). 
• Tony has surgery. 

I missed all of Warren Ellis' Extremis storyline in the comics. He's an outstanding high-concept scifi writer, and watching this movie again made me want to resub to Marvel Unlimited and enjoy those issues digitally. If any of the local comic shops were open during the current COVID-19 quarantine, I might've even picked up the trade today.

Narratively and - especially - visually, Aldrich Killian is a stronger villain than either Iron Monger or Whiplash. The Ten Rings symbology returns, too, accompanying "The Mandarin." He's one of my favorite parts of Iron Man 3. The contrast of his televised menace and his in-person meeting with Tony - toilet humor AND drug humor, natch - fit well with the movie's recurring theme of multiple and often conflicting identities.

The end credits are the best of any MCU movie yet, a slick mash-up of all Iron Man's adventures to date. The future is blindingly bright at this point.

Sadly, no AIM beekeeper suits.

Ranking

1. The Avengers
2. Iron Man
3. Iron Man 3
4. Iron Man 2
5. Captain Marvel
6. Captain America: The First Avenger
7. Thor
8. The Incredible Hulk

Iron Man and Iron Man 2

Iron Man (May 2008) 

Primary Characters

• Tony Stark/Iron Man
• Pepper Potts
• Lieutenant James Rhodes
• Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger

Secondary Characters

• Jarvis
• Happy Hogan
• Howard Stark
• Agent Phil Coulson
• Director Nick Fury

Notable Story Elements

• Arc Reactor Technology

Times viewed: A dozen or more

• Original theatrical release
• BluRay set of all three Iron Man films received as a Christmas gift this past year
• Multiple partial and full viewings on TV
• 23 Days of Marvel - March 19th, 2020

Easter Eggs

• Tony's various cars have vanity plates with his name and a number, referencing the "Mark" versions of his armor (Mk.1, Mk. 2, and so on)
• There was another cheeseburger for Obie; Tony eats one, then pulls a second one out of his jacket later
• The terrorist cell's name, The Ten Rings, is definitely a reference to The Mandarin
• Rhodey's quip, "Next time, baby," hints at his future as War Machine

Iron Man 2 (May 2010) 

Primary Characters

• Tony Stark/Iron Man
• Pepper Potts
• Lieutenant James Rhodes/War Machine
• Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
• Director Nick Fury
• Ivan Vanko/Whiplash

Secondary Characters

• Jarvis
• Happy Hogan
• Justin Hammer
• Agent Phil Coulson
• Senator Stern

Notable Story Elements

• Arc Reactor Technology

Times viewed: Several

• Original theatrical release
• BluRay set of all three Iron Man films received as a Christmas gift this past year
• Multiple partial and full viewings on TV
• 23 Days of Marvel - March 20th, 2020

Easter Eggs

• The archival footage featuring Howard Stark is reminiscent of Walt Disney's 1966 EPCOT film

Somehow, time flies when one is "practicing social distancing" and also trying to stay engaged with both the family with whom they share the quarantine, as well as other family and friends, while also keeping in touch with students and their parents, and honoring volunteer commitments.

This post will be necessarily shorter than the first, since we've already watched Thor today, and The Incredible Hulk is on tap for tomorrow.

Iron Man was on my comics reading periphery. I collected West Coast Avengers for many years, beginning with the James Rhodes version in the red and silver suit (still my favorite "Mk." narrowly edging out War Machine), and later bummed copies of Iron Man off my friend Brian. When Tony Stark threw down with Steve Rogers in Civil War, there was no question whose corner I took.

Iron Man's film debut blew me away. I don't remember what I was expecting, but from the go, Robert Downey Jr.'s cocksuredness drew me in and me reeling, all the way from the opening Funvee ride to the perfectly framed closing scene. "The truth is, I am Iron Man." Yes.

He embodies the frenetic futurism and rough edges of Tony Stark, whose comic book enemies have been a fair mix of villainous industrialists and people he's pissed on and pissed off. Tony remains a scoundrel to the end of the first film and especially through the next, even as he tries to live out Yinsen's plea, "Don't waste your life, Stark."

Obie, you're being very undude. Jeff Bridges is excellent and menacing.

The second movie is admittedly overly-busy and packed with more characters than it is able to service, but I still loved it. Another strong opening helps, establishing that while he's doing good, Tony is still a polished (and later, sloppy) mess.

Blame it on Henry Jones Jr. and Simon Belmont, but whips as weapons are cool, and Whiplash/Blacklash was a C-list villain who I consistently baked into the Marvel Super Heroes RPG games I ran. Mickey Rourke creates a real threat in his portrayal of Ivan Vanko - physically hardened, scientifically gifted, and purposefully vengeful. His MCU design is based on the most recent iteration of the character, both in appearance and origin, though the bulked-up suit at the end is reminiscent of the Crimson Dynamo, another longtime Iron Man foil with the Vanko surname.

Justin Hammer was the central villain during two of Iron Man's most memorable comics arcs, Demon in a Bottle (hinted at in the birthday party scene) and Armor Wars. He's more bumbling and less coldly calculating here, but still effective.

Scarlett Johansson. Scorching. I do wish the preview hadn't spoiled her alter ego, and also that its revelation in the movie was more dramatic.

These are the movies that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with the prevalence of end credits surprises (yeah, Ferris, I know...), and without their success, we would not have these dozens of exceptionally entertaining films, or Martin Scorsese saying dumb things. I could watch them again tomorrow and enjoy them just as much as I have the many times before.

Ranking

1. Iron Man
2. Iron Man 2
3. Captain Marvel
4. Captain America: The First Avenger