So when Stan Lee created Iron man back in the 60's. he did it because he knew a lot of his readers were anti-war protestors and he thought "I'm gonna make someone they absolutely would hate, an uber-rich arms manufacturer, and I'm gonna make them like him"
I watched this movie in theatres with my dad, who is NOT someone interested in comic books or superheros at all. When Tony says I AM IRON MAN and Black Sabbath started blasting he went FUCKING NUTS and cheered. He wouldn't stop talking about how much he loved this movie for months.
@@leovk5779 That's what made it so loved, and it's why so many since have failed. They fail at just being a good movie without relying on a character being super known and loved, or established bits.
"Tony Stark built all of this in a cave! With a box of scraps!" Still one of the greatest lines in anything. Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect casting choice. He makes this movie.
Yinsen's death is arguibly THE moment that turned Tony into Iron Man. The guilt of his weapons being used to commit atrocities was bad enough, but the fact that someone he came to see as a friend sacrificed himself just to buy him time to escape genuinely *scarred* Tony. He feels like if he had done more, worked harder & smarter, his death could have been prevented. This guilt and self-doubt haunts Tony for basically his character's entire run in the MCU.
Not only that. It was at that moment Yinsen revealed that his family is dead because of the weapons, yet Yinsen didn't even seek vengeance against Tony when he had every chance to do it ...
@@SuprColossal I think there was supposed to be a scene between them at the finale of Endgame. Similar to the scene a certain someone had with his daughter in Infinity War. But it never made it past the storyboard phase. Could be wrong.
What I heard about RDJ is that before this movie, he was driving down the Florida (I think) coast and got a hankering for a fast food burger. So, he stopped at the first fast food place he saw (which happened to be a Burger King). He ordered a burger, and while he was eating it, he realized he was so strung out on drugs, that he couldn't enjoy something simple as eating a fast food burger. He then drove down to the coast, took his suitcase full of drugs and chucked it in the ocean, and decided to quick all the drugs and alcohol and sober up. He credits Burger King for turning him around. That is why, in the movie, he specifically asks for a Whopper when he gets back from captivity. Also, because he told this story (long before being cast as Stark, and unprompted by BK) he also gets free Burger King for life.
You probably already know this, but Burger King actually saved RDJ. And before anyone says it, no it wasn't cause the burger was bad. He was on a lot of drugs back then and his addiction was so bad he couldn't even enjoy something as simple as a cheeseburger. So he threw them away, got into rehab, and now we have Iron Man 20:25 Hey Stan
Because of his association with Burger King RDJ is one of the few people who has a specific and special card call Friend of Burger King which means he can go to a Burger King anywhere and get free food.
Made sure this wasn't mentioned yet... When Tony just says, "I am Iron Man", EVERYONE stands up... except for 1 reporter. The same one that called him out a few times, as if to say, "...yeah, I knew it."
RDJ’s performance as Tony Stark was so iconic, it ended up influencing the comics to make comic Tony more like RDJ. It was so powerful it rebounded to affect the source material.
The use of the Robots to put on the armor seemed more realistic for the movie, but was adapted back into the comics because the movie made it look so cool.
@SubzeroBlack68 Fair point, but by the time of the movie they were well past that. probably also why they discarded the first suit so early into this story.
Mini personal fun fact. Iron Man was the very first movie my family watched in our newly built home theater. The presentation of the Jericho missile and the shockwave literally blew the screen off our subwoofer and sent it flying about 4ft away. Needless to say my dad may have over tuned the bass a little bit
@@oozb lol, hey theres a couple good ones on there! Besides watching bad movies with Alicia sounds like even more fun so she can clown on them the whole way through lmao
I’m so old and nerdy I saw this when it was first in theaters. When Coulson first appeared I turned to my brother and said “If you run the acronym I think that guy works for S.H.I.E.L.D”. At the time I thought it was just a little treat for the comic fans, I didn’t think it meant much.
"People giving me their opinions has soured a lot of things for me...why can't I just enjoy something and make my own opinion." Thank you for saying this. A lot more people need this mindset. The fact that you can enjoy stuff regardless of what people say. And as a massive MCU fan, I'm glad you're giving it a go.
thank you, it also goes for disliking things, I hate the toxic positivity requiring that it's either I enjoy something or I'm an "ist" and a "phobe", when did we as a society started to rule and order people's perceptions and likings
@@BaeBunni Yeah I agree with that, heck now that I think about it even Spider-man: No Way Home had it's problems mostly the CGI feels janky at some scenes, yet again that's more the studios fault for having there animators pump out two movies and a Disney+ show's worth of CGI effects per year with a shit work ethic that makes a Japanese Animation Studio look tame
it mostly has to do with how disenchanted fans have become with the recent releases. Honestly most of the infinity sage is genuinely peak. It's not like groundbreaking or innovative, but they were all just honestly good and decent movies, things only kicked the can after endgame tbh.
The MCU was so good during this era, it peaks at endgame and then falls off hard. Also, I wish you a speedy recovery, cancer is tough and you're a badass for dealing with it so well .
Y’know, it’s funny. Everyone says this but the quality hasn’t really changed all that much, at least when it comes to general reception. Every single phase spits out some stinkers. For every Iron Man, we get an Iron Man 2. What else, Captain America? It’s a great origin story, but most people considered it just “fine” at the time. The first Thor movie? Poorly received on release. The same can be said for phase 2. Great movies like Winter Soldier and Guardians. Then we get sort of mid with Ant Man (I love it but generally, most people just regard it as “okay”) and Age of Ultron. Then we stoop down to Thor The Dark World. I’d say that Phase 3 is probably the most consistently good phase outside of mid with Captain Marvel and kinda bad with Ant Man and the Wasp. Phase 4 feels worse mostly because it’s over saturated with shows but if we’re just talking about movies, what is there? Thor Love and Thunder and Black Widow are the only movies that are considered pretty bad. Most of the phase ranges from “Okay” to “Really good”. Granted, it doesn’t reach the peaks of Phase 1 and 3. We just started Phase 5, movie wise, and the only semi bad movie is Quantumania. After that, it’s pretty much bangers with Deadpool and Wolverine and GoG 3.
I'd say it peaks at Infinity War, downgrades with Endgame and Captain Marvel, than plummets into horrid (besides No Way Home, which has its own problems) afterwards.
@@cidlufaine9044 GOG3 was the weakest Guardians movie and Deadpool sucked. Lacked any of the heart the first two had, gave Deadpool a stupid reason to quit being a superhero, TVA is trash, Cassandra was a meh villain with only one cool moment, and the CGI was awful. Only good parts were the dialogue scenes between Deadpool and Wolverine. Also, The Marvels, She-Hulk, Secret Invasion, Echo, Agatha, Black Panther 2 (AKA let's exploit Boseman's death the movie) etc. were all Bangers?
@ General reception-wise, people love Deadpool and Wolverine and absolutely love GOG3. She-Hulk is meh and Secret Invasion was trash. Everything else you listed is generally seen as good as long as you don’t get your reviews from anti-woke people. Like people like to shit on the Marvels and then when you ask them what’s bad about it, they don’t got anything because they haven’t watched it. Again, this all based on how the general audience perceives this stuff. Personally, everything from Phase 1 all the way to where we’re at now is just super hero slop and is dumb as hell. I just think its pretentious to say “my super hero slop is better than the ones that are coming out now”
What I absolutely love most about this movie is that nearly the whole film had ad-libbed dialogue; budget and schedules were tight, and things had to be pushed through despite the fact that the only completed lines in the script were for the disembodied voice of Paul Bettany as Jarvis, Tony's sarcastic personal AI assistant. For much of the shooting, the cast were given outlines of the scene, instead of finished scripts. Also, the director of this film is Jon Favreau, who is in the film as well, playing Tony's chunky chauffeur Happy Hogan.
@@luffyiscool Paltrow did admit in an interview to feeling a bit out of her depth during shooting, because her other castmates had at least some improv experience through comedic roles.
The hammering sounds when Tony is crafting the armor gives me chills to this day. I’m a team Cap man all day, but I can’t deny the power of that sound and scene.
Pepper Potts The ‘I am Iron Man’ line was a breath of fresh air at the time cause this was really the first movie where they forwent the superhero secret identity that was common for movies and it makes total sense for this version of Tony Stark.
In both comics and cartoons the secret identity had been a thing even with Tony and sure, there's something to be played around with there, but I agree that this was a far more fresh take that fit better.
This so much. We've been coming off years of dealing with secret identities in hero films. The Spider-Man trilogy, the Batman films from 89 to that year's Dark Knight. The Superman films before them. While they're important to the character, secret identities were played out and it's just *right* for Tony's personality to go just own his hero persona.
@@gamerbear84it would also be a lot harder to pull off irl/ to a non-comic-reading audience, since in the comics iron man as a secret identity was Tony’s bodyguard according to the public, but like that’s only easy to believe for comics fans who already have a low suspension of disbelief
One of my favourite things about Tony is that he never makes the same mistake twice. Every time he makes a new invention, he solves problems we've seen him previously encounter, in the same film or a previous one
"Tony Stark learns from his mistakes" might have become a meme over the years, but it's genuinely true. Whatever kicks his ass in one setting, he makes sure to correct for the next time.
i absolutely love that Terrence Howard's legacy has now become "that actor who thinks he's smart and doesn't believe in math." despite his prolific career. its so funny
When you write an entire treatise trying to disprove stuff like *Pythagorean theorem* or simple arithmetic, people start to look at you funny, who knew?
I don't think you understand just how much us nerds freaked the eff out when Samuel L. showed up as Nick Fury and mentioned the Avengers when this came out. Post credit scenes were a novelty back then, not the standard.
@adrianjamesdelfin7414 There are MANY different answers to that question, depending on who you ask. Personally, I stopped watching after Endgame. Not because I think everything after that is bad, but more because I felt like it was a natural conclusion to the Story and a good point to drop off.
@@alexandersturnn4530 Since I've already seen the Maguire and Garfield spider-man, I stopped at No Way Home. Then I watched GOTG Vol 3. And because I enjoyed the X-Men and Deadpool movies, Deadpool and Wolverine.
"Too many hot actors!" The MCU cast in a nutshell. Yinsen is possibly the best example of a good man with nothing left to lose. Even when armed and chasing a bunch of his tormentors, he chooses to harm no one and dedicates his last actions to buy time for the man he's helping escape. Love me some peppered pott, btw.
@@CrazeeAdam He's also the one who went to bat for RDJ to get this role. RDJ's career was all but dead after his very public drug issues and legal troubles but he was taking steps to turn his life around (see the Burger King story and how a single burger made him realize how far he had fallen and pushed him to recover), so Jon Favreau saw the efforts he was going through to piece himself together and decided to help him out with a shot at starring in a Marvel film. The reason RDJ play such a perfect Tony is that he basically *IS* Tony, has had a very similar career high and drop before working on his redemption and he knocked it out of the park.
The actor who played Tony's best friend got replaced because he asked for too much money to be in the second movie! Also, you were right about the Robert Downey Jr past of alcoholism!
To be fair, he asked for more money in proportion of the bigger budget after the success of the first movie. He was in the first movie because the studio was afraid the main actor might flake out during production. He was right to request higher pay, wrong to request as much as the lead; and has unfortunately lost his mind since then.
I lay a good deal of blame at the feet of Ike Perlmutter, who was in charge of Marvel at the time. I'm so very glad we got Don Cheadle for the rest of the MCU, but part of me will always wonder how things might have been different if Terrence Howard had stayed as Rhodey.
FUN FACT: Jeff Bridges who plays as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in Iron Man was in the 1982 movie TRON as both FLYNN/CLU and return in the 2010 Tron: Legacy.
33:43 I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but the "I'm Iron Man" wasn't meant to be said. Even at this time identities were meant to be secret, so this is a big deal
It was very much an unscripted event that RDJ wanted to do, that line changed the MCU forever. If she continues to watch the MCU films she will understand.
@thesaltybeard1793 I think you're misunderstanding, in terms of superheroes as a whole, not iron man specifically. Obviously the plot demanded that he said he's not iron man, and he rejects that. But it was also not scripted in the movie. It can easily be played off as a planned thing that rdj was going to say. But it's unscripted in the movie,.since the *characters* want him to hide the identity, and the *director/writer* didn't plan for him to say that This broke the mold for future movies
14:49 I remember being so taken aback by that scene. The way Yinsen just says it so calmly is heartbreaking. And then seeing Tony's face feeling so many emotions is peak acting on RDJ's part.
34:13 In a deleted scene, Nick Fury actually references a bunch of other Marvel heroes. While turning to the camera, he says, 'As if gamma accidents, radioactive bug bites, and assorted mutants weren’t enough, now I have to deal with a spoiled brat who doesn’t play well with others and wants to keep all his toys to himself.' This deleted scene not only hints at characters like the Hulk, whose movie was next but also Spider-Man (with 'radioactive bug bites') and mutants, a nod to the X-Men. Legally, Marvel didn’t own the rights to Spider-Man or the X-Men at the time, and they couldn’t even use the term 'mutant,' likely leading to the scene's removal to avoid legal issues. X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four were Marvel's biggest names. In fact, X-Men remains the best-selling comic of all time. Without access to their biggest characters, Marvel built the MCU around heroes like Iron Man, then relatively unknown to mainstream audiences. The risk paid off, turning Iron Man and the Avengers into household names. The MCU's success even led some new fans to assume the X-Men and Fantastic Four, whose film rights were with Fox weren’t part of Marvel. In 2019, however, Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, bringing the film rights for the X-Men and Fantastic Four back to Marvel, Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) is releasing new year so that's exciting. It feels strange as a comic fan, having grown up with Spider-Man interacting with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers meeting the X-Men, or seeing Captain America know Wolverine. The MCU is much more Avengers-focused since that was the IP Marvel still owned. If Marvel had retained rights to its bigger characters, they might never have taken the initial gamble on characters like Iron Man.
Just to clarify your statement as Alicia watches a lot of One Piece and One Piece fans know the real pecking order as they are number 2 of all time so far. "X-men #1" is the best selling SINGLE ISSUE of all time, not franchise, I know that's probably what you meant, but just clarifying here as the ambiguity annoyed me a little.
The chest light technically depends on the suit. Any suit worn by Tony uses his chest battery, while any suit NOT worn by Tony has its own chest battery. Or something like that.
Somebody already mentioned it, but the actor who played Rhodey, Tony's friend in the military, was actually payed the most out of all actors in the cast of this movie, while RDJ was payed the least, I think, because of his place in acting at the time and reputation. But when it came to the sequel, RDJ's salary rose up as he became a star with the first movie, but the actor for Rhodey asked for more money than RDJ's salary. So he was recasted and since Iron Man 2 and henceforth Rhodey is played by Don Cheadle.
Fun fact about Pepper Potts! Her real name is Virginia! Tony called her "Pepper" because of the freckles and it just stuck! 😁 Also, little Side-Note: In the Comics (the movies didn't really take the time to get into it) Pepper actually got a suit herself! She VERY SPECIFICALLY made sure it didn't have weapons, and she called it the Rescue suit! Maybe you could get a Model like that if you want! Another fun fact is that this movie was made on Pennies with almost no script! RDJ and Jeff Bridges practically improv'd the entire movie's dialogue! But yeah, this is that pre-Disney aquisition MCU. Hope you enjoy your journey! Up next, The Incredible Hulk!!! (Also, can't wait for you to do LotR. My CHILDHOOD!!!)
6:25 yep. That’s him. His ego was why he isn’t in any other MCU films. IIRC, scuttlebutt at the time of release said that he wanted a bigger paycheck than RDJ-the main actor in the titular role.
19:44 "The cars! the cars! just take three..." -Dr. Facilier 25:31 Iron Man was the first; back when superhero movies were made like any other movie. Long before the MCU would create its style we know them for now.
As a comic book fan, I'll try to share some interesting facts and lore about the marvel universe. Feel to add some yourself! Here's a few interesting facts about Iron-man: 1. Iron man made his first appearance in Tales of suspense #39 in 1962. 2. The character created stan lee, larry lieber(his brother, don heck, and jack Kirby. 3. The character Tony Stark was inspired by Howard Hughes. Who was also a engineer, businessman and philanthropist. 4. One of Tony's major character traits is being alcoholic, as seen in the demon in the bottle story line. However, they downplayed that part of him. 5. Speaking of character traits, Tony is one of biggest players in marvel. Not surprising, considering he has the rizz(am I using that word right, young people?) 6. In the comics, Tony kept his identity as Iron man a secret and posed as his own bodyguard while in the suit. 7. 6:44 the music they played here was the theme song from the 1960s Iron man cartoon.
Yeah and Iron man's iconic red and gold suit was created by artist Steve Ditko (yes the same Steve Ditko that co-created Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Squirrel Girl, The Creeper, Captain Atom and Ted Kord the second Blue Beetle)
5:23 There’s actually a touching story behind that, and there’s an Easter Egg regarding it that you skipped between Tony’s rescue and the whole “I never said goodbye to my father” speech. What made RDJ finally realize how far he had sunk was a simple trip to a burger joint, and he came to realize that all that time being high had left him unable to even enjoy something as simple and delicious as a burger, and it immediately turned his life around. The Easter egg reference to this came from him telling Pepper immediately after his rescue that he wanted an American cheeseburger and a press conference, at the exact moment that Tony too decided to turn his life around. You’ll see the parallel come up a few times later.
The one that started it all. This was made back when superhero films were going for a "grounded in realism" approch after the success of Batman Begins. Which, defined the universe from then on, for better or worse, depending on your preference.
I like a mixture having the science fiction and supernatural elements in it. which using batman as example he has dealt with magic and aliens as well as regular people.
It was also on the fence for a lot of people before release, since it came out the same summer as The Dark Knight so it had good competition, and Batman is already a familiar character for comic book movies. Iron Man is a major Marvel character but he had no live action movie before this.
Honestly, both were great. Batman Begins and Iron Man are both some of our favorite movies, and they both did their own unique takes on the superhero genre so well.
@@pureheartspassionarts The only issue is that following films, to this day, are still dominated by that style, even after they've long gone into the weird stuff the films were initially trying to avoid.
"I like a comedic cut like that more," I am reminded of an old rant about those kinda gags on the old sitcom F-Troop done during a mid nineties cartoon called Freakazoid. " Cause I-I wanted to do one of those funny things, like in... you ever watch F Troop, where Agarn says, "There's no way I'm wearin' a dress! Absolutely not! No dress!" And Forrest Tucker's like, "Yeah, you're wearing that dress! You're gonna wear that dress!" And they wipe- blublublublublub- and Agarn's wearin' a dress."
Even in cases where it seems there isn't. I used to stay for credits just to have time for the lobby to clear out, these movies made me actually try to appreciate the cast and crew that did the background work for these stories.
Been watching her reactions on Patreon (we're up to Thor 1, waiting for Captain America 1) and she's been good about checking the credits. She's watching the stylized credits and skimming the standard ones to make sure she doesn't miss them.
The drivers name is Happy (Happy Hogan) and the character is played by the director of the film (he is a big comic book fan so he understood the character and the best way to interpret comic books into film).
Arguably one of the best Marvel movies ever made tbh, it's so well put together and is such a good balance of the cheesy, grandiose aesthetic that superhero movies came to be known for and a genuinely good story grounded in reality. The entire MCU franchise owes everything to the success of this one film. There are still plenty of others in the franchise that live up to the standard it set, though, and I have a feeling you're gonna have a GREAT time enjoying them! Each movie/set of movies has its own unique vibe, and it all culminates into a massively epic finale at Infinity War/Endgame. (I'm sure many other commenters agree that Endgame is an ideal stopping point, because the quality drops afterwards, but there's a couple here and there like the Spiderman ones that are still worth catching)
3:46 "Whaddaya gonna do, enjoy an elf?" ... MAYBE WHAT'S IT TO YA?! In all seriousness I'm excited to see you open this *Pepper Pot* of a franchise. There's a lot of great stuff to enjoy out of these movies, especially when you look a little deeper. Knowing you and your content, it'll be a wild ride ;D
So the director of the Iron Man films is actually John Favreau, who plays Happy (the chauffer), he also developed and directed the first season of The Mandalorian
When Stan Lee met with Robert Downey Jr years after the MCU took off, RDJ hugged Stan after he tells him: “this gentleman was born to play Tony Stark”. I couldn't agree more. Really looking forward to how RDJ will play a certain character in an upcoming project.
so, when I was younger, you would know that I liked a movie because I would watch it non-stop. I think it was something like me wanting to live in this world/moment as long as I could. This was one of those movies I played non-stop. I had it saved on tablets, on phones, on my PSP. This was at the time where to get videos to play, they needed to be the correct aspect ratio for the device. I manually converted them so they would fit so I could watch this movie anywhere, at any time. That's how much of a favorite this movie was for me. To hear you enjoy it and to go through it again after all these years really does warm my heart.
Iron man was the first movie i watched with my friends without our parents coming with us in cinema, such a great memory. We watched nearly every marvel movie as a group as they came out in cinema up untill endgame. Hope you get to enjoy them as much as we did when we first watched them. ^^
Nice, great first solo movie. I still remember the very first movie I paid for with my own money back in the day and went to without the parents. Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, saw it with my friends and paid for the ticket with my allowance money.
Oh wow it's gonna be super fun to re-live all these great (well some of them less so lol) movies through your eyes. It's gonna be a nice treat for my monday work mornings to follow along and cheer ya on!
Fun bts stories, this movie was basically a mess behind the camera. Remember, this was the first Marvel film (aside from any added in retroactively) so there were no plans to continue this into a sequel, let alone an entire Cinematic Universe like it eventually does, not until this film had a surprising success & the ones that came after building on that. Anyway, A LOT of this film was being written & rewritten as they were shooting it! This actually turned out to be an amazing blessing for Robert Downey Jr. (R.D.J.) b/c he is AMAZING with adlibbing & improvising his lines. Like the final "I am Iron Man" line, originally in the comics & in the script Tony Stark keeps Iron Man's identity a secret and just says that he's just Tony's personal body guard. However R.D.J. said that makes no sense with Tony's narcissistic personality & the director agreed so they changed it. However, the actor of the main antagonist of this film, Jeff Bridges who plays Obadiah Stane, was the exact opposite as he works best with a concrete solid script and did not do that great with this type of environment, which R.D.J. was able to help him work through the mess that was this movie that SOMEHOW came together to still be a great film to this day. One other story that I only recently heard about is how the higher ups of this film questioned why they had the scenes of Tony testing and building his new suit after getting home and why those scenes could be cut out, but the director refused to take them out in order to show to the audience the iterative process required to build something like this.
28:56 This movie was the reason Iron Man became mainstream and started to get serious improvements in his comics. Hell the MCU did this to a BUNCH of other characters and put them on par with Spider-man with how well loved they became. Oh and my favorites in the MCU was Iron-Man, Star-Lord,Captain America(who i remember i NEVER really cared for until the movies) and my main man Spider-Man.
It's official, Mondays for the foreseeable future are going to be peak. I'm so glad Alicia is checking out these movies. I especially can't wait for her to get to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Endgame.
@@anusaukko6792 I understand, and tried not to flame; but after this reaction I'm excited to see another reactor that adds some filmmaking experience to their content. There are a lot of creative decisions in this series of films that you normally don't notice or comment on. And the MCU is great content for such analysis. I really want her coming into this fresh for honest insights into things the rest of us take for granted.
I was a senior in high school when this movie came out, and it was the first time I can remember being into a film before its release and I loved it upon the release.
Not a big fan of MCU, but this movie is close to my heart. This is one of my favorite movies since I watched it as a kid. This movie convinced me of being an Engineer.
This movie holds a special place in my heart. I remember seeing a special showing the night before it came out, how much hype there was, how cool this movie ended up because nothing quite like it had been released at the time. Plus I loved RDJ as Tony Stark. Just perfect casting.
I always really liked how they managed to include a reference to the first comics cleverly in the movie, as in the first comics Iron Man's suit was big and bulky like the one he made while kidnapped, but obviously it's outdated by now and they'd use more recent versions, but they found the way to include it in the story in such a cool way
Definitely a healthy mindset to go into Marvel, Star Wars, hell, any franchise/series in general. Like or dislike what you want for your own reasons, not because someone else tells you to. The MCU has been consistently entertaining and hype, while often crossing into genuinely amazing films, and at worst, mid with some fun moments. (Pepper Potts) Also, I respect that the criticisms you did have (and hopefully will in the coming movies/shows) are fair and honest, drawing on what you learned in film school. I hate the cynicism many people have about the MCU, especially if late. One side, with film snobs looking down on them and anyone who enjoys them, and on the flip side, the rabid, toxic "fandom" that gatekeep and look for any little thing to get nonsensically angry about. I'm definitely looking forward to you experiencing the rest of the cinematic universe. Will you also be doing the shows, or just sticking to the movies?
6:10 The thing about Tony Stark in the MCU is he was ALWAYS one misstep or tragedy away from becoming the Villain of the whole series and almost did with Ultron and/or Avengers Civil War. If Miss Pepper ever died, at least 2 continents were going to have a bad day...... If not all of them. And I think he finally knew this of himself when his daughter was born, making that edge ever so obvious to him via the Scarlet Witch, who was a villain turned good guy, turned villain again because of her missing children and lover, and he took exception to all of that.....
I’ve seen Iron Man many times. I love it. It’s possibly the most re-watchable Marvel movie. The thing that I think they got absolutely right, is the love of a fast-food hamburger. The joy, the simplicity, the pure relaxation that accompanies that experience. Junk food at its best, and peaceful nom-noms. Best thing ever.
7:56 As someone who is a few weeks away from their 5 Year Remission, I get it. The moment you get that clean bill of health, you want to restart life again ASAP. This year I was able to celebrate my 5th Year at my Job, bought my first home (New Construction Home) and now I’m hopefully celebrating the end of the year with 5 Years in Remission and being considered Cancer Free. My next step is to start going out again and to find the right girl and get the family I’ve always dreamed of started.
5:38 Absolutely correct. RDJ was the perfect actor to show both Tony's narcisistic and quirky personality, while still making him human and relatable, using his own personal hostory to give more personality to the character on set, to the point that, the "I AM IRON-MAN" at the end, wasn't scripted, RDJ improvised that scene. The only thing i'd like to add, is that Tony Stark himself had alcoholic addiction in his older comics, so it's even more heartwarming to see how playing Iron-Man helped an actor overcome, or at least start to fight his own demons.
One amazing thing about Iron Man 1 is that they made the whole "learning to fly" bit before Richard Browning made his first functional and practical jetpack and the similarities of Tony learning to fly vs Richard learning to fly are spectacular.
I feel like the best mind set is an open mind set. Its ok to like smart and pretentious things but its also ok to like mindless entertainment too. You can like both. The only bad entertainment is entertainment that doesnt entertain
I love how at the end, when he says "I am Iron Man", the reporter from the beginning, who challenged his story, is the only one that didn't stand up shouting. This film was directed by Jon Favreau, the visionary behind such cinematic masterpieces as _Made_ and _Elf._ Seriously though, this showed what he was actually capable of, and the entire MCU exists because of it. Even the expanded Star Wars universe is largely because of Favreau, plus Dave Filoni.
Jon Favreau who was the Director of Iron Man movie in 2008 and the most respected man of all time and RIP, Stan Lee who created Marvel Comics and Iron Man. Both Favreau and Stan Lee wanted Robert Downey Jr has Tony Stark and Iron Man but at the time Robert Downey Jr had a lot of problems with alcohol and drugs. During the scene when Tony is making the very first Iron Man suit in the cave in order to escape with the help of Yinsen (Shaun Toub). All that hammering of the metal parts and the blacksmithing of the suit was real and Robert Downy Jr really did do all that hammering and blacksmithing; all that sweat from Robert was real. I read an article right after the movie came out, that part of Robert Downy Jr's recovery and also an ultimatum by both Favreau and Stan Lee that Robert Downy Jr had to work really hard in that scene in the cave of him blacksmithing the suit, in order to sweat out the bad stuff. So, everything you saw in that scene of Tony Stark or should we say Robert Downy Jr really did sweat while doing real hammer pounding blacksmithing.
Original comic Nick Fury was a white dude with a full head of hair. The version from the Ultimate Marvel comics was visually based off Sam Jackson. And then they cast Sam Jackson to play him in these movies! 😱 And then for synergy with the movies, they gave original Nick a son named Nick Fury Jr who looks like Sam Jackson
Other way 'round. The Ultimate comics made Fury look like Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel L. Jackson said when he found out: "Sure you can use my likeness... But I get to play him in the movie." And then he did!
@5:30 This movie was after RDJ had recovered from his addiction issues. He was really popular up to the mid 90s but he became so unhinged he became "uninsurable" because when he's leading a movie and something happens, legally, the production stops, which costs money, which insurance would have to cover. It was Jon Favreau that really pushed for having RDJ as Tony Stark, even though the studio was very worried about him. Since, in the past RDJ had "cleaned up" only to relapse and cause issues. Luckily, RDJ has been able to stay clean, which he attributes to the support of his wife, to this day, and we're all better off for it.
10:00 When my daughter got pneumonitis last year the hospital had her hooked up to a high flow ventilator, but those things pump in so much oxygen that too much ends up in the stomach so they put another tube all the way down via the nose to equalise the pressure and that's the one that looked like what we saw in this shot. My daughter was 1 at the time and I spent a lot of time crying because cute little babies shouldn't have to go through that.
@@aliciaxlifeDon't even listen to the "lovers" of those movies beforehand. I hope you have a pre-read moderator. I'm already enjoying your film school observations enough to not want them spoiled for later films.
Be open minded, don't take opinions opposite of yours as a personal attack, and be careful with the toxic positivity. People can think a movie you like is bad, it's not a big deal.
Man, I'm so happy you get to experience the glory of the MCU all in one go. I've been a fan since this movie came out (though I have been a victim of superhero fatigue recently) and MAN, waiting years between releases was TORTURE! But yes, enjoy the Marvel Golden Years, and I hope you love them as much as I did! Love from QC Edit after watching the vid: My personal favorite is Steve Rogers, Captain America, Mr America's Ass himself. He's just such a fantastic character, a man out of time who refuses to do anything less than his best and will not settle for anything else other than what he thinks is right. He has such a fascinating arc throughout, and I can't wait for you to meet him.
Marvel Monday is the most incredible news I’ve heard in a while! Now the only thing on my mind right now is i cant wait for Alicia’s reaction to the end of infinity war! I can already imagine her reaction to it and the misery is truly delicious!
Massive W Cinema W Stupendous W Absolute W Stratospheric W Well... you know we're going to trap you in this universe just like we did with One Piece, right? 😅😅😅
Fun fact, the reason Tony suited up and stopped the terrorist attack is because if you listen closely the attack is specifically happening at yinsen's home.
1:20 if thats your reaction to the first Iron Man you are going to be going on an absolutely amazing ride. I just feel sorry for you that you wont experience any of these in the Theater
35:00 This is pretty much where your answer to why so many people hate marvel movies, especially recently is. It hit "Ugh, really;" and hit it hard. There's a specific movie this shift can be tracked back to that did the heavy humor very well, but then things turned a little sour when they tried to make that a formula.
Two things about Tony. 1. He's *constantly* updating, improving, and innovating previous designs. 2. He's the type of guy to roll out of bed at 8 and immediately head downstairs to work on his current project, realize he's hungry and go up for breakfast only to find that it's 2 in the afternoon.
This will be important way down the line, but you should also do a lot of the non MCU Marvel movies. Blade, the Fantastic Four movies from the 2000s, Ben Affleck Daredevil, X Men, and Spider Man. The latter two especially. For Spider Man, you should do the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb movies, Into the Spider Verse, and at least the first Venom before No Way Home. Be thorough like Pepper Pott. 😉
@@felwalkr_94 Thirded! The Fantastic 4 films are... kinda cheesy. But also - MUCH better than they had any right being all things considered! (Also - Pre-Captain America Chris Evans as a VERY different type of Marvel character! To the point that when I heard of them casting him for Captain America I initially had my doubts. Until the first trailer - then I was on board.) And the Raimi Spider-Man films are just "CHEF'S KISS" iconic!
For this journey, I absolutely recommend the Netflix Era Marvel Shows. They are a bit bloated runtime wise but still have some of the best writing in the MCU as a whole & at least IMO far outclass most of the Disney Plus era shows.
One bit that's really cool/smart about Tony is that every single time the suit fails at something, he fixes it later. The suits get constantly upgraded via trial and error, and you see this throughout the movies. It's a great attention to detail bit.
Glad you liked it. Early marvel movies are hit or miss but they are usually more creative than the more recent ones. Like the opening of this film I dont think would happen if it was made today
RDJ as Tony Stark was perfect. Not only does Robert look like Tony from the comics but Robert is really good at embodying a character and what makes it even easier and more deeply embodied is the fact that Robert and Tony have a lot of personality overlap meaning it is even easier fir him to embody the character and do it like it is second nature.
So when Stan Lee created Iron man back in the 60's. he did it because he knew a lot of his readers were anti-war protestors and he thought "I'm gonna make someone they absolutely would hate, an uber-rich arms manufacturer, and I'm gonna make them like him"
Yup, what a god damn power move
Using extremist propaganda to sell movies? A very capitalist move
Chad
Sure wish similar moves would catch on now...REALLY need to nudge that needle...
Stan Lee, the original troll.
I watched this movie in theatres with my dad, who is NOT someone interested in comic books or superheros at all. When Tony says I AM IRON MAN and Black Sabbath started blasting he went FUCKING NUTS and cheered. He wouldn't stop talking about how much he loved this movie for months.
Yeah, Iron man 1 is not only a good super hero movie, it is a good movie period.
I miss going to go see super hero movies with my dad ( he passed in 2008 )
Exactly. Love this movie so much.
@@leovk5779 That's what made it so loved, and it's why so many since have failed. They fail at just being a good movie without relying on a character being super known and loved, or established bits.
Dude, that sounds awesome! I always love it when my folks can get hyped about something I'm usually into.
"Tony Stark built all of this in a cave! With a box of scraps!" Still one of the greatest lines in anything. Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect casting choice. He makes this movie.
I say box of scraps aggressively randomly now haha
@@aliciaxlife Granma is knitting a quilt and ya walk in with a "Oh what's that, *A BOX OF SCRAPS?* " :P
@@aliciaxlife If you enjoyed this, than you’ll love the Incredible Hulk, it came out later on after Iron Man. Trust me, Alicia.
The only good contribution of Evil Robot Jeff Bridges
Any time I see the word scraps now... this plays automatically in my head lol.
"Very good boy" Dum-E was Tony's first robot, built when he was a child. Nostalgia saved his ass
Hell, he even saved Dum-E after the mansion was destroyed by A.I.M. in Iron Man 3
Awww. That's so cute.
@@A.Z.296 SCHPOILERS DUDE!, SHE SAID FIRST TIME WATCHING!
Yinsen's death is arguibly THE moment that turned Tony into Iron Man. The guilt of his weapons being used to commit atrocities was bad enough, but the fact that someone he came to see as a friend sacrificed himself just to buy him time to escape genuinely *scarred* Tony. He feels like if he had done more, worked harder & smarter, his death could have been prevented. This guilt and self-doubt haunts Tony for basically his character's entire run in the MCU.
Not only that. It was at that moment Yinsen revealed that his family is dead because of the weapons, yet Yinsen didn't even seek vengeance against Tony when he had every chance to do it ...
Tony Stark (MCU) is a character defined by survivors guilt. New York is his next major defining moment in that context
i always kind of wished the had brought him back towards the end, so tony would have the chance to tell him that he made his life matter
@@SuprColossal I think there was supposed to be a scene between them at the finale of Endgame. Similar to the scene a certain someone had with his daughter in Infinity War. But it never made it past the storyboard phase. Could be wrong.
@@filipvadas7602That deleted scene, was actually with the daughter all grown up, which didn't make sense so they scrapped it.
What I heard about RDJ is that before this movie, he was driving down the Florida (I think) coast and got a hankering for a fast food burger. So, he stopped at the first fast food place he saw (which happened to be a Burger King). He ordered a burger, and while he was eating it, he realized he was so strung out on drugs, that he couldn't enjoy something simple as eating a fast food burger. He then drove down to the coast, took his suitcase full of drugs and chucked it in the ocean, and decided to quick all the drugs and alcohol and sober up. He credits Burger King for turning him around. That is why, in the movie, he specifically asks for a Whopper when he gets back from captivity. Also, because he told this story (long before being cast as Stark, and unprompted by BK) he also gets free Burger King for life.
So does that make him the real burger King?
@@taco_bird4550 it makes him the Burger Emperor
Wow! I never knew that thank you for the tidbit
@@zeniththecreator7671 Iron Burger
And now as a big celebrity. He can have all drugs he wants and keep doing it
You probably already know this, but Burger King actually saved RDJ. And before anyone says it, no it wasn't cause the burger was bad. He was on a lot of drugs back then and his addiction was so bad he couldn't even enjoy something as simple as a cheeseburger. So he threw them away, got into rehab, and now we have Iron Man
20:25 Hey Stan
He is cheeseburger man 🍔
Thanks lol
Titanium man wants cheeseburgers
Because of his association with Burger King RDJ is one of the few people who has a specific and special card call Friend of Burger King which means he can go to a Burger King anywhere and get free food.
Meanwhile... Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow... I don't even know what to say. Did RDJ absorb all of their brain cells?
Made sure this wasn't mentioned yet...
When Tony just says, "I am Iron Man", EVERYONE stands up... except for 1 reporter. The same one that called him out a few times, as if to say, "...yeah, I knew it."
RDJ’s performance as Tony Stark was so iconic, it ended up influencing the comics to make comic Tony more like RDJ. It was so powerful it rebounded to affect the source material.
The use of the Robots to put on the armor seemed more realistic for the movie, but was adapted back into the comics because the movie made it look so cool.
The man was a highly rated actor before the Marvel movies. Marvel just reminded us that he was great.
@@johnniequinn3215 They had the Iron Man suit up by robots back in the Iron Man cartoon back in the 90s. But obviously it wasnt as detailed as this.
@SubzeroBlack68 Fair point, but by the time of the movie they were well past that. probably also why they discarded the first suit so early into this story.
Not everyone agrees that was a good idea, since it led to marvel to begin synergizing all of their comics with the mcu.
Mini personal fun fact. Iron Man was the very first movie my family watched in our newly built home theater. The presentation of the Jericho missile and the shockwave literally blew the screen off our subwoofer and sent it flying about 4ft away. Needless to say my dad may have over tuned the bass a little bit
Fuck Stark and his collateral damage 🤣
😂
When Yinsen charges out, he's shooting at the ceiling because he doesn't want to break his Hippocratic oath.
One of the most heroic moments in the entire MCU.
So in the comics Tony actually did keep Iron man as a secret identity and the bodyguard explanation is what he actually used
Holy crap, i am SO down for an MCU journey with Alicia, hell yeah!
WOOOOHOOOO
Just stop the journey at endgame. Just... stop.
@@oozbWhy?🤷🏿♂️
@@johnsantos507 because the almost the entire phase 4 is terrible.
@@oozb lol, hey theres a couple good ones on there! Besides watching bad movies with Alicia sounds like even more fun so she can clown on them the whole way through lmao
I’m so old and nerdy I saw this when it was first in theaters. When Coulson first appeared I turned to my brother and said “If you run the acronym I think that guy works for S.H.I.E.L.D”. At the time I thought it was just a little treat for the comic fans, I didn’t think it meant much.
"People giving me their opinions has soured a lot of things for me...why can't I just enjoy something and make my own opinion."
Thank you for saying this. A lot more people need this mindset. The fact that you can enjoy stuff regardless of what people say.
And as a massive MCU fan, I'm glad you're giving it a go.
thank you, it also goes for disliking things, I hate the toxic positivity requiring that it's either I enjoy something or I'm an "ist" and a "phobe", when did we as a society started to rule and order people's perceptions and likings
I hope she gets to the Avengers series soon too. Especially "Infinity War" and "End Game". Can't wait for her to fall in love with these characters.
TBF I would defend phase 1 through 3 as being amazing, but phase 4 really is where I dropped off besides spiderman.
@@BaeBunni Yeah I agree with that, heck now that I think about it even Spider-man: No Way Home had it's problems mostly the CGI feels janky at some scenes, yet again that's more the studios fault for having there animators pump out two movies and a Disney+ show's worth of CGI effects per year with a shit work ethic that makes a Japanese Animation Studio look tame
it mostly has to do with how disenchanted fans have become with the recent releases. Honestly most of the infinity sage is genuinely peak. It's not like groundbreaking or innovative, but they were all just honestly good and decent movies, things only kicked the can after endgame tbh.
The MCU was so good during this era, it peaks at endgame and then falls off hard. Also, I wish you a speedy recovery, cancer is tough and you're a badass for dealing with it so well .
Nah, peaked at Infinity war, Endgame was already a disappointment.
Y’know, it’s funny. Everyone says this but the quality hasn’t really changed all that much, at least when it comes to general reception. Every single phase spits out some stinkers. For every Iron Man, we get an Iron Man 2. What else, Captain America? It’s a great origin story, but most people considered it just “fine” at the time. The first Thor movie? Poorly received on release. The same can be said for phase 2. Great movies like Winter Soldier and Guardians. Then we get sort of mid with Ant Man (I love it but generally, most people just regard it as “okay”) and Age of Ultron. Then we stoop down to Thor The Dark World. I’d say that Phase 3 is probably the most consistently good phase outside of mid with Captain Marvel and kinda bad with Ant Man and the Wasp. Phase 4 feels worse mostly because it’s over saturated with shows but if we’re just talking about movies, what is there? Thor Love and Thunder and Black Widow are the only movies that are considered pretty bad. Most of the phase ranges from “Okay” to “Really good”. Granted, it doesn’t reach the peaks of Phase 1 and 3. We just started Phase 5, movie wise, and the only semi bad movie is Quantumania. After that, it’s pretty much bangers with Deadpool and Wolverine and GoG 3.
I'd say it peaks at Infinity War, downgrades with Endgame and Captain Marvel, than plummets into horrid (besides No Way Home, which has its own problems) afterwards.
@@cidlufaine9044 GOG3 was the weakest Guardians movie and Deadpool sucked. Lacked any of the heart the first two had, gave Deadpool a stupid reason to quit being a superhero, TVA is trash, Cassandra was a meh villain with only one cool moment, and the CGI was awful. Only good parts were the dialogue scenes between Deadpool and Wolverine.
Also, The Marvels, She-Hulk, Secret Invasion, Echo, Agatha, Black Panther 2 (AKA let's exploit Boseman's death the movie) etc. were all Bangers?
@ General reception-wise, people love Deadpool and Wolverine and absolutely love GOG3. She-Hulk is meh and Secret Invasion was trash. Everything else you listed is generally seen as good as long as you don’t get your reviews from anti-woke people. Like people like to shit on the Marvels and then when you ask them what’s bad about it, they don’t got anything because they haven’t watched it.
Again, this all based on how the general audience perceives this stuff. Personally, everything from Phase 1 all the way to where we’re at now is just super hero slop and is dumb as hell. I just think its pretentious to say “my super hero slop is better than the ones that are coming out now”
What I absolutely love most about this movie is that nearly the whole film had ad-libbed dialogue; budget and schedules were tight, and things had to be pushed through despite the fact that the only completed lines in the script were for the disembodied voice of Paul Bettany as Jarvis, Tony's sarcastic personal AI assistant. For much of the shooting, the cast were given outlines of the scene, instead of finished scripts.
Also, the director of this film is Jon Favreau, who is in the film as well, playing Tony's chunky chauffeur Happy Hogan.
You know I've always felt like this movie had a unique quality to it, the structured improv actually explains a lot
This would also explain Paltrow's one moment of tired/wooden acting that Alicia picked up on!
Anyone can get caught lacking during improv.
@@luffyiscool Paltrow did admit in an interview to feeling a bit out of her depth during shooting, because her other castmates had at least some improv experience through comedic roles.
@@SorchaSublimeIt comes up later too. No spoilers, but the teams were allowed a little leeway to improv and flesh out scenes in other movies.
They need to let improv actors off the leash more often if this is the result.
The hammering sounds when Tony is crafting the armor gives me chills to this day. I’m a team Cap man all day, but I can’t deny the power of that sound and scene.
Pepper Potts
The ‘I am Iron Man’ line was a breath of fresh air at the time cause this was really the first movie where they forwent the superhero secret identity that was common for movies and it makes total sense for this version of Tony Stark.
In both comics and cartoons the secret identity had been a thing even with Tony and sure, there's something to be played around with there, but I agree that this was a far more fresh take that fit better.
This so much. We've been coming off years of dealing with secret identities in hero films. The Spider-Man trilogy, the Batman films from 89 to that year's Dark Knight. The Superman films before them. While they're important to the character, secret identities were played out and it's just *right* for Tony's personality to go just own his hero persona.
@@gamerbear84it would also be a lot harder to pull off irl/ to a non-comic-reading audience, since in the comics iron man as a secret identity was Tony’s bodyguard according to the public, but like that’s only easy to believe for comics fans who already have a low suspension of disbelief
This movie was directed by Jon Favreau, who also plays Happy
One of my favourite things about Tony is that he never makes the same mistake twice. Every time he makes a new invention, he solves problems we've seen him previously encounter, in the same film or a previous one
"Tony Stark learns from his mistakes" might have become a meme over the years, but it's genuinely true. Whatever kicks his ass in one setting, he makes sure to correct for the next time.
i absolutely love that Terrence Howard's legacy has now become "that actor who thinks he's smart and doesn't believe in math." despite his prolific career. its so funny
When you write an entire treatise trying to disprove stuff like *Pythagorean theorem* or simple arithmetic, people start to look at you funny, who knew?
I don't think you understand just how much us nerds freaked the eff out when Samuel L. showed up as Nick Fury and mentioned the Avengers when this came out. Post credit scenes were a novelty back then, not the standard.
"I'm recording this intro after..."
She loved it.
"I loved it."
That was my fastest call ever. Lol
Wait... Watching MCU?! Well shit, here we go again. Time to give Alicia all of my attention and views again.
Question: When does MCU become cringe?
Question: When does MCU become cringe?
@adrianjamesdelfin7414 There are MANY different answers to that question, depending on who you ask.
Personally, I stopped watching after Endgame. Not because I think everything after that is bad, but more because I felt like it was a natural conclusion to the Story and a good point to drop off.
@@alexandersturnn4530
Since I've already seen the Maguire and Garfield spider-man, I stopped at No Way Home. Then I watched GOTG Vol 3. And because I enjoyed the X-Men and Deadpool movies, Deadpool and Wolverine.
Yes The same
"Too many hot actors!" The MCU cast in a nutshell.
Yinsen is possibly the best example of a good man with nothing left to lose. Even when armed and chasing a bunch of his tormentors, he chooses to harm no one and dedicates his last actions to buy time for the man he's helping escape.
Love me some peppered pott, btw.
His driver is also the Director of the movie. His character is great
So glad someone else mentioned this. He was an actor before director. But directed these brilliantly
@@CrazeeAdam He's also the one who went to bat for RDJ to get this role. RDJ's career was all but dead after his very public drug issues and legal troubles but he was taking steps to turn his life around (see the Burger King story and how a single burger made him realize how far he had fallen and pushed him to recover), so Jon Favreau saw the efforts he was going through to piece himself together and decided to help him out with a shot at starring in a Marvel film. The reason RDJ play such a perfect Tony is that he basically *IS* Tony, has had a very similar career high and drop before working on his redemption and he knocked it out of the park.
0:17 *Piccolo’s voice* ALL OF THEM!?
The actor who played Tony's best friend got replaced because he asked for too much money to be in the second movie!
Also, you were right about the Robert Downey Jr past of alcoholism!
To be fair, he asked for more money in proportion of the bigger budget after the success of the first movie. He was in the first movie because the studio was afraid the main actor might flake out during production.
He was right to request higher pay, wrong to request as much as the lead; and has unfortunately lost his mind since then.
But how would he know if math isnt real???
@@gothicpando He believed it was real then.
That's a shame. He would've made it big if he hadn't been so greedy.
I lay a good deal of blame at the feet of Ike Perlmutter, who was in charge of Marvel at the time. I'm so very glad we got Don Cheadle for the rest of the MCU, but part of me will always wonder how things might have been different if Terrence Howard had stayed as Rhodey.
FUN FACT: Jeff Bridges who plays as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in Iron Man was in the 1982 movie TRON as both FLYNN/CLU and return in the 2010 Tron: Legacy.
He's also The Dude!
33:43 I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but the "I'm Iron Man" wasn't meant to be said. Even at this time identities were meant to be secret, so this is a big deal
She did watch the whole movie. So...pretty sure she knows haha
It was very much an unscripted event that RDJ wanted to do, that line changed the MCU forever. If she continues to watch the MCU films she will understand.
@@thesaltybeard1793 how would she know this if she watched the movie? It's not like they tell us in the movie that it was unscripted
@@TimothyGod cause Tony was reading from a thing and was basically told not to say he's iron man and then he did.
@thesaltybeard1793 I think you're misunderstanding, in terms of superheroes as a whole, not iron man specifically. Obviously the plot demanded that he said he's not iron man, and he rejects that. But it was also not scripted in the movie. It can easily be played off as a planned thing that rdj was going to say. But it's unscripted in the movie,.since the *characters* want him to hide the identity, and the *director/writer* didn't plan for him to say that
This broke the mold for future movies
14:49 I remember being so taken aback by that scene. The way Yinsen just says it so calmly is heartbreaking. And then seeing Tony's face feeling so many emotions is peak acting on RDJ's part.
34:13 In a deleted scene, Nick Fury actually references a bunch of other Marvel heroes. While turning to the camera, he says, 'As if gamma accidents, radioactive bug bites, and assorted mutants weren’t enough, now I have to deal with a spoiled brat who doesn’t play well with others and wants to keep all his toys to himself.'
This deleted scene not only hints at characters like the Hulk, whose movie was next but also Spider-Man (with 'radioactive bug bites') and mutants, a nod to the X-Men. Legally, Marvel didn’t own the rights to Spider-Man or the X-Men at the time, and they couldn’t even use the term 'mutant,' likely leading to the scene's removal to avoid legal issues. X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four were Marvel's biggest names. In fact, X-Men remains the best-selling comic of all time.
Without access to their biggest characters, Marvel built the MCU around heroes like Iron Man, then relatively unknown to mainstream audiences. The risk paid off, turning Iron Man and the Avengers into household names. The MCU's success even led some new fans to assume the X-Men and Fantastic Four, whose film rights were with Fox weren’t part of Marvel. In 2019, however, Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, bringing the film rights for the X-Men and Fantastic Four back to Marvel, Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) is releasing new year so that's exciting.
It feels strange as a comic fan, having grown up with Spider-Man interacting with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers meeting the X-Men, or seeing Captain America know Wolverine. The MCU is much more Avengers-focused since that was the IP Marvel still owned. If Marvel had retained rights to its bigger characters, they might never have taken the initial gamble on characters like Iron Man.
im glad they cut it, imagine refrencing Spider-Man only for him to not show forever and at that point wasnt even known yet
Just to clarify your statement as Alicia watches a lot of One Piece and One Piece fans know the real pecking order as they are number 2 of all time so far. "X-men #1" is the best selling SINGLE ISSUE of all time, not franchise, I know that's probably what you meant, but just clarifying here as the ambiguity annoyed me a little.
@@Phaeton635 Correct, was only refering to X-Men #1 (1991).
The chest light technically depends on the suit. Any suit worn by Tony uses his chest battery, while any suit NOT worn by Tony has its own chest battery. Or something like that.
Somebody already mentioned it, but the actor who played Rhodey, Tony's friend in the military, was actually payed the most out of all actors in the cast of this movie, while RDJ was payed the least, I think, because of his place in acting at the time and reputation.
But when it came to the sequel, RDJ's salary rose up as he became a star with the first movie, but the actor for Rhodey asked for more money than RDJ's salary. So he was recasted and since Iron Man 2 and henceforth Rhodey is played by Don Cheadle.
And a better choice, too. Don can be funny and a badass, whereas Terrence Howard is just kind of insane now.
Fun fact about Pepper Potts! Her real name is Virginia!
Tony called her "Pepper" because of the freckles and it just stuck! 😁
Also, little Side-Note: In the Comics (the movies didn't really take the time to get into it) Pepper actually got a suit herself! She VERY SPECIFICALLY made sure it didn't have weapons, and she called it the Rescue suit! Maybe you could get a Model like that if you want!
Another fun fact is that this movie was made on Pennies with almost no script! RDJ and Jeff Bridges practically improv'd the entire movie's dialogue!
But yeah, this is that pre-Disney aquisition MCU. Hope you enjoy your journey! Up next, The Incredible Hulk!!!
(Also, can't wait for you to do LotR. My CHILDHOOD!!!)
6:25 yep. That’s him. His ego was why he isn’t in any other MCU films. IIRC, scuttlebutt at the time of release said that he wanted a bigger paycheck than RDJ-the main actor in the titular role.
Pausing the movie to run your train of thoughts is extremely valuable in making your reactions worth watching. Lots of people don't do that.
OMG!! It’s happening!!! Alica Starting her Marvel Phase! I’m a huge fan so I can’t wait to ride along this journey with Her ❤✨
19:44 "The cars! the cars! just take three..." -Dr. Facilier
25:31 Iron Man was the first; back when superhero movies were made like any other movie. Long before the MCU would create its style we know them for now.
As a comic book fan, I'll try to share some interesting facts and lore about the marvel universe. Feel to add some yourself! Here's a few interesting facts about Iron-man:
1. Iron man made his first appearance in Tales of suspense #39 in 1962.
2. The character created stan lee, larry lieber(his brother, don heck, and jack Kirby.
3. The character Tony Stark was inspired by Howard Hughes. Who was also a engineer, businessman and philanthropist.
4. One of Tony's major character traits is being alcoholic, as seen in the demon in the bottle story line. However, they downplayed that part of him.
5. Speaking of character traits, Tony is one of biggest players in marvel. Not surprising, considering he has the rizz(am I using that word right, young people?)
6. In the comics, Tony kept his identity as Iron man a secret and posed as his own bodyguard while in the suit.
7. 6:44 the music they played here was the theme song from the 1960s Iron man cartoon.
Yeah and Iron man's iconic red and gold suit was created by artist Steve Ditko (yes the same Steve Ditko that co-created Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Squirrel Girl, The Creeper, Captain Atom and Ted Kord the second Blue Beetle)
You're a comic book?
@@yarro7428 Ha lol, I think he meant comic book reader
@@yarro7428 oops, that's what happens when you walk and type.🥴
@@The_Blue_Otaku I did. It's always important to proof read.
Funny how I liked
"I'm not Tony stark" line a lot more than
"Tony was able to build this in a cave with nothing but scraps"
5:23
There’s actually a touching story behind that, and there’s an Easter Egg regarding it that you skipped between Tony’s rescue and the whole “I never said goodbye to my father” speech. What made RDJ finally realize how far he had sunk was a simple trip to a burger joint, and he came to realize that all that time being high had left him unable to even enjoy something as simple and delicious as a burger, and it immediately turned his life around.
The Easter egg reference to this came from him telling Pepper immediately after his rescue that he wanted an American cheeseburger and a press conference, at the exact moment that Tony too decided to turn his life around. You’ll see the parallel come up a few times later.
So Tony's driver/bodygaurd is called "Happy" Hogan. The actor's name is Jon Faverau, he's also the director of this Iron man and Iron man 2.
The one that started it all.
This was made back when superhero films were going for a "grounded in realism" approch after the success of Batman Begins. Which, defined the universe from then on, for better or worse, depending on your preference.
I like a mixture having the science fiction and supernatural elements in it. which using batman as example he has dealt with magic and aliens as well as regular people.
@animefan8591 Yes, but in Begins there's basically none of that because it was trying to be real.
Which has gotten pretty old at this point.
It was also on the fence for a lot of people before release, since it came out the same summer as The Dark Knight so it had good competition, and Batman is already a familiar character for comic book movies. Iron Man is a major Marvel character but he had no live action movie before this.
Honestly, both were great. Batman Begins and Iron Man are both some of our favorite movies, and they both did their own unique takes on the superhero genre so well.
@@pureheartspassionarts The only issue is that following films, to this day, are still dominated by that style, even after they've long gone into the weird stuff the films were initially trying to avoid.
"I like a comedic cut like that more," I am reminded of an old rant about those kinda gags on the old sitcom F-Troop done during a mid nineties cartoon called Freakazoid. " Cause I-I wanted to do one of those funny things, like in... you ever watch F Troop, where Agarn says, "There's no way I'm wearin' a dress! Absolutely not! No dress!" And Forrest Tucker's like, "Yeah, you're wearing that dress! You're gonna wear that dress!" And they wipe- blublublublublub- and Agarn's wearin' a dress."
Ah, Freakazoid, the superhero who is one part spandex, one part internet made manifest, and one part severe untreated ADHD.
Remember, end credits and post credits on all MCU films!
Even in cases where it seems there isn't. I used to stay for credits just to have time for the lobby to clear out, these movies made me actually try to appreciate the cast and crew that did the background work for these stories.
@@johnniequinn3215 Also nice to just decompress a little before heading out. I think it's improved my movie going experiences.
Been watching her reactions on Patreon (we're up to Thor 1, waiting for Captain America 1) and she's been good about checking the credits. She's watching the stylized credits and skimming the standard ones to make sure she doesn't miss them.
@VegetaLF7 Thanks, from you handle I must assume you are also supporting DBZA?
The drivers name is Happy (Happy Hogan) and the character is played by the director of the film (he is a big comic book fan so he understood the character and the best way to interpret comic books into film).
Man, Iron man was such a fantastic way to start a series of movies.
Also Pepper Potts is definitely one of the best characters
Arguably one of the best Marvel movies ever made tbh, it's so well put together and is such a good balance of the cheesy, grandiose aesthetic that superhero movies came to be known for and a genuinely good story grounded in reality. The entire MCU franchise owes everything to the success of this one film. There are still plenty of others in the franchise that live up to the standard it set, though, and I have a feeling you're gonna have a GREAT time enjoying them! Each movie/set of movies has its own unique vibe, and it all culminates into a massively epic finale at Infinity War/Endgame. (I'm sure many other commenters agree that Endgame is an ideal stopping point, because the quality drops afterwards, but there's a couple here and there like the Spiderman ones that are still worth catching)
3:46 "Whaddaya gonna do, enjoy an elf?" ... MAYBE WHAT'S IT TO YA?!
In all seriousness I'm excited to see you open this *Pepper Pot* of a franchise. There's a lot of great stuff to enjoy out of these movies, especially when you look a little deeper. Knowing you and your content, it'll be a wild ride ;D
So the director of the Iron Man films is actually John Favreau, who plays Happy (the chauffer), he also developed and directed the first season of The Mandalorian
When Stan Lee met with Robert Downey Jr years after the MCU took off, RDJ hugged Stan after he tells him: “this gentleman was born to play Tony Stark”. I couldn't agree more. Really looking forward to how RDJ will play a certain character in an upcoming project.
so, when I was younger, you would know that I liked a movie because I would watch it non-stop. I think it was something like me wanting to live in this world/moment as long as I could. This was one of those movies I played non-stop.
I had it saved on tablets, on phones, on my PSP. This was at the time where to get videos to play, they needed to be the correct aspect ratio for the device. I manually converted them so they would fit so I could watch this movie anywhere, at any time. That's how much of a favorite this movie was for me.
To hear you enjoy it and to go through it again after all these years really does warm my heart.
Iron man was the first movie i watched with my friends without our parents coming with us in cinema, such a great memory.
We watched nearly every marvel movie as a group as they came out in cinema up untill endgame. Hope you get to enjoy them as much as we did when we first watched them. ^^
Nice, great first solo movie. I still remember the very first movie I paid for with my own money back in the day and went to without the parents. Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, saw it with my friends and paid for the ticket with my allowance money.
Oh wow it's gonna be super fun to re-live all these great (well some of them less so lol) movies through your eyes. It's gonna be a nice treat for my monday work mornings to follow along and cheer ya on!
Fun bts stories, this movie was basically a mess behind the camera. Remember, this was the first Marvel film (aside from any added in retroactively) so there were no plans to continue this into a sequel, let alone an entire Cinematic Universe like it eventually does, not until this film had a surprising success & the ones that came after building on that. Anyway, A LOT of this film was being written & rewritten as they were shooting it! This actually turned out to be an amazing blessing for Robert Downey Jr. (R.D.J.) b/c he is AMAZING with adlibbing & improvising his lines. Like the final "I am Iron Man" line, originally in the comics & in the script Tony Stark keeps Iron Man's identity a secret and just says that he's just Tony's personal body guard. However R.D.J. said that makes no sense with Tony's narcissistic personality & the director agreed so they changed it.
However, the actor of the main antagonist of this film, Jeff Bridges who plays Obadiah Stane, was the exact opposite as he works best with a concrete solid script and did not do that great with this type of environment, which R.D.J. was able to help him work through the mess that was this movie that SOMEHOW came together to still be a great film to this day.
One other story that I only recently heard about is how the higher ups of this film questioned why they had the scenes of Tony testing and building his new suit after getting home and why those scenes could be cut out, but the director refused to take them out in order to show to the audience the iterative process required to build something like this.
28:56 This movie was the reason Iron Man became mainstream and started to get serious improvements in his comics. Hell the MCU did this to a BUNCH of other characters and put them on par with Spider-man with how well loved they became.
Oh and my favorites in the MCU was Iron-Man, Star-Lord,Captain America(who i remember i NEVER really cared for until the movies) and my main man Spider-Man.
It's official, Mondays for the foreseeable future are going to be peak. I'm so glad Alicia is checking out these movies. I especially can't wait for her to get to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Endgame.
Spoilers, please be careful to not set expectations. You might be pleasantly surprised by what movies she likes more.
@@johnniequinn3215 I mean dude is just excited to see how she reacts to, presumably, some of his favourites. He's chill af.
@@anusaukko6792 I understand, and tried not to flame; but after this reaction I'm excited to see another reactor that adds some filmmaking experience to their content. There are a lot of creative decisions in this series of films that you normally don't notice or comment on. And the MCU is great content for such analysis. I really want her coming into this fresh for honest insights into things the rest of us take for granted.
@@johnniequinn3215literally mentions the titles, that's not spoilers dude
@@TimothyGod So let's mention all the titles in release order.
I was a senior in high school when this movie came out, and it was the first time I can remember being into a film before its release and I loved it upon the release.
Not a big fan of MCU, but this movie is close to my heart. This is one of my favorite movies since I watched it as a kid. This movie convinced me of being an Engineer.
This movie holds a special place in my heart. I remember seeing a special showing the night before it came out, how much hype there was, how cool this movie ended up because nothing quite like it had been released at the time. Plus I loved RDJ as Tony Stark. Just perfect casting.
I always really liked how they managed to include a reference to the first comics cleverly in the movie, as in the first comics Iron Man's suit was big and bulky like the one he made while kidnapped, but obviously it's outdated by now and they'd use more recent versions, but they found the way to include it in the story in such a cool way
Definitely a healthy mindset to go into Marvel, Star Wars, hell, any franchise/series in general. Like or dislike what you want for your own reasons, not because someone else tells you to. The MCU has been consistently entertaining and hype, while often crossing into genuinely amazing films, and at worst, mid with some fun moments.
(Pepper Potts)
Also, I respect that the criticisms you did have (and hopefully will in the coming movies/shows) are fair and honest, drawing on what you learned in film school. I hate the cynicism many people have about the MCU, especially if late. One side, with film snobs looking down on them and anyone who enjoys them, and on the flip side, the rabid, toxic "fandom" that gatekeep and look for any little thing to get nonsensically angry about. I'm definitely looking forward to you experiencing the rest of the cinematic universe. Will you also be doing the shows, or just sticking to the movies?
... so this is why I woke up to the music of Black Sabbath.
No better way to wake up
@@tripwire3992 Rock on.
6:10 The thing about Tony Stark in the MCU is he was ALWAYS one misstep or tragedy away from becoming the Villain of the whole series and almost did with Ultron and/or Avengers Civil War. If Miss Pepper ever died, at least 2 continents were going to have a bad day...... If not all of them. And I think he finally knew this of himself when his daughter was born, making that edge ever so obvious to him via the Scarlet Witch, who was a villain turned good guy, turned villain again because of her missing children and lover, and he took exception to all of that.....
Time for a MARVEL-ous adventure!!
I’ve seen Iron Man many times. I love it. It’s possibly the most re-watchable Marvel movie. The thing that I think they got absolutely right, is the love of a fast-food hamburger. The joy, the simplicity, the pure relaxation that accompanies that experience. Junk food at its best, and peaceful nom-noms. Best thing ever.
7:56 As someone who is a few weeks away from their 5 Year Remission, I get it. The moment you get that clean bill of health, you want to restart life again ASAP. This year I was able to celebrate my 5th Year at my Job, bought my first home (New Construction Home) and now I’m hopefully celebrating the end of the year with 5 Years in Remission and being considered Cancer Free.
My next step is to start going out again and to find the right girl and get the family I’ve always dreamed of started.
13:01 that hammer hitting metal sound is so iconic that sound that start marvel
5:38
Absolutely correct. RDJ was the perfect actor to show both Tony's narcisistic and quirky personality, while still making him human and relatable, using his own personal hostory to give more personality to the character on set, to the point that, the "I AM IRON-MAN" at the end, wasn't scripted, RDJ improvised that scene. The only thing i'd like to add, is that Tony Stark himself had alcoholic addiction in his older comics, so it's even more heartwarming to see how playing Iron-Man helped an actor overcome, or at least start to fight his own demons.
Oh, btw
Pepper pie
One amazing thing about Iron Man 1 is that they made the whole "learning to fly" bit before Richard Browning made his first functional and practical jetpack and the similarities of Tony learning to fly vs Richard learning to fly are spectacular.
I feel like the best mind set is an open mind set. Its ok to like smart and pretentious things but its also ok to like mindless entertainment too. You can like both. The only bad entertainment is entertainment that doesnt entertain
I love how at the end, when he says "I am Iron Man", the reporter from the beginning, who challenged his story, is the only one that didn't stand up shouting.
This film was directed by Jon Favreau, the visionary behind such cinematic masterpieces as _Made_ and _Elf._ Seriously though, this showed what he was actually capable of, and the entire MCU exists because of it. Even the expanded Star Wars universe is largely because of Favreau, plus Dave Filoni.
Jon Favreau who was the Director of Iron Man movie in 2008 and the most respected man of all time and RIP, Stan Lee who created Marvel Comics and Iron Man. Both Favreau and Stan Lee wanted Robert Downey Jr has Tony Stark and Iron Man but at the time Robert Downey Jr had a lot of problems with alcohol and drugs. During the scene when Tony is making the very first Iron Man suit in the cave in order to escape with the help of Yinsen (Shaun Toub). All that hammering of the metal parts and the blacksmithing of the suit was real and Robert Downy Jr really did do all that hammering and blacksmithing; all that sweat from Robert was real. I read an article right after the movie came out, that part of Robert Downy Jr's recovery and also an ultimatum by both Favreau and Stan Lee that Robert Downy Jr had to work really hard in that scene in the cave of him blacksmithing the suit, in order to sweat out the bad stuff. So, everything you saw in that scene of Tony Stark or should we say Robert Downy Jr really did sweat while doing real hammer pounding blacksmithing.
The best part about going through a Marvel journey with a reactor is going back and picking up on subtle details I missed previously.
Original comic Nick Fury was a white dude with a full head of hair. The version from the Ultimate Marvel comics was visually based off Sam Jackson. And then they cast Sam Jackson to play him in these movies! 😱
And then for synergy with the movies, they gave original Nick a son named Nick Fury Jr who looks like Sam Jackson
Other way 'round.
The Ultimate comics made Fury look like Samuel L. Jackson.
Samuel L. Jackson said when he found out: "Sure you can use my likeness... But I get to play him in the movie."
And then he did!
@ huh. I was unaware he said that. Cool. Not sure how that’s the other way around from what I said
@5:30 This movie was after RDJ had recovered from his addiction issues. He was really popular up to the mid 90s but he became so unhinged he became "uninsurable" because when he's leading a movie and something happens, legally, the production stops, which costs money, which insurance would have to cover.
It was Jon Favreau that really pushed for having RDJ as Tony Stark, even though the studio was very worried about him. Since, in the past RDJ had "cleaned up" only to relapse and cause issues. Luckily, RDJ has been able to stay clean, which he attributes to the support of his wife, to this day, and we're all better off for it.
I have mixed opnions on gwyneth paltrow, but she nailed her role as pepper potts
10:00 When my daughter got pneumonitis last year the hospital had her hooked up to a high flow ventilator, but those things pump in so much oxygen that too much ends up in the stomach so they put another tube all the way down via the nose to equalise the pressure and that's the one that looked like what we saw in this shot.
My daughter was 1 at the time and I spent a lot of time crying because cute little babies shouldn't have to go through that.
Don't listen to the haters about Iron Man 2 I loved it. As a matter of fact don't listen to haters in general.
Yup! I’m going into this open minded. I talk about that in the intro
@@aliciaxlifeDon't even listen to the "lovers" of those movies beforehand. I hope you have a pre-read moderator. I'm already enjoying your film school observations enough to not want them spoiled for later films.
Honestly, I liked Iron Man 2.
When I was a kid, Mark V was my favorite armor just for the fact that it was a suitcase that turns into Iron Man armor.
Be open minded, don't take opinions opposite of yours as a personal attack, and be careful with the toxic positivity. People can think a movie you like is bad, it's not a big deal.
@@tannerprice2018 No spoilers for future events please.
Man, I'm so happy you get to experience the glory of the MCU all in one go. I've been a fan since this movie came out (though I have been a victim of superhero fatigue recently) and MAN, waiting years between releases was TORTURE! But yes, enjoy the Marvel Golden Years, and I hope you love them as much as I did! Love from QC
Edit after watching the vid: My personal favorite is Steve Rogers, Captain America, Mr America's Ass himself. He's just such a fantastic character, a man out of time who refuses to do anything less than his best and will not settle for anything else other than what he thinks is right. He has such a fascinating arc throughout, and I can't wait for you to meet him.
Marvel Monday is the most incredible news I’ve heard in a while! Now the only thing on my mind right now is i cant wait for Alicia’s reaction to the end of infinity war! I can already imagine her reaction to it and the misery is truly delicious!
When I first watched this, I didn't realize the suit he made in the cave was based on the one he used in the oldest comics. That's so cool.
Massive W
Cinema W
Stupendous W
Absolute W
Stratospheric W
Well... you know we're going to trap you in this universe just like we did with One Piece, right? 😅😅😅
Fun fact, the reason Tony suited up and stopped the terrorist attack is because if you listen closely the attack is specifically happening at yinsen's home.
2:12 pepper pots
Teacher they’re giving the answers!
Why’d you timestamp bruh… that defeats the whole purpose 😔
@ I realise that now 😐
Yea
@@Cross-Cuboneyou can edit
1:20 if thats your reaction to the first Iron Man you are going to be going on an absolutely amazing ride. I just feel sorry for you that you wont experience any of these in the Theater
35:00 This is pretty much where your answer to why so many people hate marvel movies, especially recently is. It hit "Ugh, really;" and hit it hard. There's a specific movie this shift can be tracked back to that did the heavy humor very well, but then things turned a little sour when they tried to make that a formula.
Ragnarok.
@lanmandragoran8337 Guardians actually. Ragnarok was already well into cringe territory, its success just accelerated things.
@@spiderturtle5292 false
Two things about Tony. 1. He's *constantly* updating, improving, and innovating previous designs. 2. He's the type of guy to roll out of bed at 8 and immediately head downstairs to work on his current project, realize he's hungry and go up for breakfast only to find that it's 2 in the afternoon.
This will be important way down the line, but you should also do a lot of the non MCU Marvel movies. Blade, the Fantastic Four movies from the 2000s, Ben Affleck Daredevil, X Men, and Spider Man. The latter two especially. For Spider Man, you should do the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb movies, Into the Spider Verse, and at least the first Venom before No Way Home. Be thorough like Pepper Pott. 😉
Ooh yeah. That would be a good idea. I second this.
@@felwalkr_94 Thirded! The Fantastic 4 films are... kinda cheesy. But also - MUCH better than they had any right being all things considered! (Also - Pre-Captain America Chris Evans as a VERY different type of Marvel character! To the point that when I heard of them casting him for Captain America I initially had my doubts. Until the first trailer - then I was on board.)
And the Raimi Spider-Man films are just "CHEF'S KISS" iconic!
Both Spider-verse films BOTH
@@Cloningmaster55 yeah of course, but Across came out _after_ No Way Home
@jonmercano1138 Wouldn't hurt to watch it anyway right?
For this journey, I absolutely recommend the Netflix Era Marvel Shows. They are a bit bloated runtime wise but still have some of the best writing in the MCU as a whole & at least IMO far outclass most of the Disney Plus era shows.
1:30 they call it the MCU
One bit that's really cool/smart about Tony is that every single time the suit fails at something, he fixes it later. The suits get constantly upgraded via trial and error, and you see this throughout the movies. It's a great attention to detail bit.
Well can't wait to see her react to Infinity War and Endgame in about a year
Honestly forgot how much I used to love Marvel. I gotta go back and watch these older ones again
Star Wars Sunday and Marvel Monday? I'm eatin'.
pepper pots
Glad you liked it. Early marvel movies are hit or miss but they are usually more creative than the more recent ones. Like the opening of this film I dont think would happen if it was made today
Yeah most complaints about the MCU come from it being hit or miss. Iron man was a hit. You’ll know the misses when you see them.
RDJ as Tony Stark was perfect. Not only does Robert look like Tony from the comics but Robert is really good at embodying a character and what makes it even easier and more deeply embodied is the fact that Robert and Tony have a lot of personality overlap meaning it is even easier fir him to embody the character and do it like it is second nature.