10 years of MCU Week 1 Discussion: Iron Man & Iron Man 2

[cap_ironman_mod]

Starting off the first week of our Cap-Ironman 10 Years of MCU celebrations is a whole lot of Tony Stark! This week, we’ll be watching and discussing Iron Man and Iron Man 2. This is where is all started for the MCU, a whole decade ago when the MCU was just a far off dream.


A few ideas to kick off the discussion:

• What what your favourite moment in Iron Man and Iron Man 2?


• What aspects of Tony’s character stand out to you?


• How has Tony changed from the beginning of Iron Man to the end of Iron Man 2?


• Anything else you want to comment on!

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If you haven't already, check out the amazing works created in homage to Iron Man and Iron Man 2! If you're feeling inspired and would like to create tribute pieces of your own, we'd love to see it! Share it below, on the community, add it to the 10 Years of Cap-IronMan AO3 Collection, or post it on Tumblr with the tag #capim10yearsofmcu!

Comments

[janonny.livejournal.com]

I just watched IM1 and there are so many things I'm just picking up on this rewatch.

In my mind, due to all of Obie's physical intimidation, I always imagined Obie as bigger. But he's actually not as huge as my memory had made him out to be. Regardless, there were definite moments when I felt creeped out by him. What a great villain he was.

I forgot that whole scene where there was a video predicting Stark Industries tanking and making a huge joke out of it. I kind of forgot how much media attention there was on Tony and his company.

I love Tony talking to his bots in fic and I forgot how much he does it in this movie. He talked to them so much! To DUM-E the most!

OBADIAH PLAYS THE PIANO! I know there's fan theories of Tony learning to play from his mum. But what if he learned from Obie? Another pseudo father-son moment. I'm basically making Obie's betrayal even angstier to me. :P

Tony testing his Iron Man suit is even funnier and funner than I remember.

Tony's shoulder to waist to hip ratio is pretty damn amazing. There's this shot from behind when he's in a tank top...wowwwza.

There's a scene where Tony talks about how clear his purpose is now... that was probably the moment where Tony has the most clarity in all the movies. Later, the issues and PTSD all start kicking in. :(

Tony does seem to have a flight suit! He's distinctly wearing something flight-suit-like in one of his suit-up scenes, but it's mostly visible on his legs.

You know, I think IM1 really wasn't afraid to be more disturbing and awful as compared to later movies. Like the scenes in the cave, I remembered the waterboarding torture, but I forgot how awful the other things were, like Tony's surgery and the car battery thing, Yinsen being threatened with torture... Yinsen was such a great character. He was definitely a pivotal character in Tony's life.

I think in all the MCU deaths so far, Yinsen's was the one that moved me the most. Maybe IW will change that!

[ridley160]

I loved that you mention Yinsen, I feel he was a major contributor of shaping Tony into Iron Man. Of all the things that Tony experienced in that cave, you never once hear him mention Yinsen to anyone. Ever. He holds that close to himself (We know Tony's guilt on such matters) He talks about the soldiers that died for him, but he always skirts around the subject of what exactly happened in the cave.

We truly see Iron Man for the first time when he goes and liberates Gulmera (Yinsen's home) Tony reacts almost emotionally to the news broadcast, he is sitting there doing nothing while people are being oppressed, murdered with HIS weapons. (that he recently discovered were sold under the table. He had been blissfully ignorant for years) He already let too many people die for him. We see the determination when Tony puts on the armor to take action.

And also Yinsen's final words to Tony. "Don't waste it." When Tony thanks him for saving his life. Think of the weight that Tony carries now with that hanging over him. Did he let this man die for him in vain? Tony is famously self destructive, and you know he uses that as a partial motivation to keep going.

[janonny.livejournal.com]

Oh very late response, sorry about that! That is such a great point about Yinsen, I never noticed that Tony doesn't mention him, which is unusual for Tony who seems to bare all his weaknesses for everyone to see. I feel like he really took to heart so many things said by Yinsen in the cave and while Yinsen was dying, after having sacrificed himself. I wouldn't be surprised that he finds it difficult, if not impossible, to actually talk about what happened in that cave with Yinsen.

Yes, that scene when he goes to Gulmira, you can absolutely see the drive to fix things taking hold of Tony. While he had some vague ideas about doing good with the armor even prior to that, it was only when he found out about what was still happening in Gulmira that he was regalvanized.

Later, when he talked to Pepper, it was like he was possessed. I had forgotten this scene altogether, where he said, "There is nothing except this. There's no art opening. There is no benefit. There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else." I had goosebumps!

I definitely see that, "Don't waste it" dying command having a great hold over Tony. It's why Tony can't seem to stop, even when he wants to, when he has issues that he should be dealing with first.