Iron Man 2 Film Details
Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to Iron Man (2008) and the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Justin Theroux, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson. Six months after Iron Man, Tony Stark resists calls from the United States government to hand over the Iron Man technology, which is causing his declining health. Meanwhile, Russian scientist Ivan Vanko (Rourke) uses his own version of the technology to pursue a vendetta against the Stark family.
Following the critical and commercial success of Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel Studios announced and immediately set to work on producing a sequel. In July, Theroux was hired to write the script and Favreau was signed to return as director. Downey, Paltrow, and Jackson were set to reprise their roles from Iron Man, while Cheadle was brought in to replace Terrence Howard in the role of James Rhodes. In the early months of 2009, Rourke (Vanko), Rockwell, and Johansson filled out the supporting cast. Filming took place from April to July 2009, mostly in California as in the first film, except for a key sequence in Monaco. Unlike its predecessor, which mixed digital and practical effects, the sequel primarily relied on computer-generated imagery to create the Iron Man suits.
Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on April 26, 2010, and was released in the United States on May 7, as part of Phase One of the MCU. The film received praise for its action sequences and performances, although critics deemed it to be inferior to the first film. The sequel grossed over $623.9 million at the worldwide box office, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2010. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. A sequel, Iron Man 3, was released on May 3, 2013.
STORY
PRODUCTION
Development
Jon Favreau said it was originally his intent to create a film trilogy for Iron Man, with Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) becoming Iron Monger during the sequels. After a meeting between Favreau and various comic book writers, including Mark Millar, Stane became the main villain in Iron Man. Millar argued that the Mandarin, whom Favreau originally intended to fill that role, was too fantastical. Favreau concurred, deciding, “I look at Mandarin more like how in Star Wars you had the Emperor, but Darth Vader is the guy you want to see fight. Then you work your way to the time when lightning bolts are shooting out of the fingers and all that stuff could happen. But you can’t have what happened in Return of the Jedi happen in A New Hope. You just can’t do it.” Favreau also discussed in interviews how the films’ version of Mandarin “allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains”. He mentioned that S.H.I.E.L.D. would continue to have a major role.
During development, Favreau said the film would explore Stark’s alcoholism, but it would not be “the ‘Demon in a Bottle’ version”. While promoting the first film, Downey stated that Stark would probably develop a drinking problem as he is unable to cope with his age, the effects of revealing he is Iron Man, and Pepper getting a boyfriend. Downey later clarified that the film was not a strict adaptation of the “Demon in a Bottle” storyline from the comic book series, but was instead about the “interim space” between the origin and the “Demon” story arc. Shane Black gave some advice on the script, and suggested to Favreau and Downey that they model Stark on J. Robert Oppenheimer, who became depressed with being “the destroyer of worlds” after working on the Manhattan Project. An early version for the film’s story involved Justin Hammer creating different villains in addition to Whiplash, like Ghost, but the idea was discarded. Ghost debuted in the MCU years later in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
CAST
- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
A billionaire who escaped captivity in Afghanistan with a suit of armor he created, he now struggles to keep his technology out of the government’s hands. Downey and Favreau, who had been handed a script and worked from it on the first movie, conceived part of the film’s story themselves. On Stark being a hero, Downey said, “It’s kind of heroic, but really kind of on his own behalf. So I think there’s probably a bit of an imposter complex and no sooner has he said, ‘I am Iron Man–’ that he’s now really wondering what that means. If you have all this cushion like he does and the public is on your side and you have immense wealth and power, I think he’s way too insulated to be okay.” Downey put on 20 pounds of muscle to reprise the role. Six-year-old Davin Ransom portrays Tony Stark as a child. - Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts:
Stark’s closest friend, budding love interest, and business partner; Pepper is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. On her character’s promotion, Paltrow opined, “When we start Iron Man 2 Pepper and Tony are very much in the same vibe… as the movie progresses, Pepper is given more responsibility and she’s promoted and it’s nice to see her sort of grow up in that way. I think it really suits her, the job fits her really well.” Paltrow expressed excitement about working with Johansson. - Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine:
An officer in the U.S. Air Force and Tony Stark’s close personal friend who later operates the War Machine armor. Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard from the first film. Cheadle had only a few hours to accept the role and did not even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo. He commented that he is a comic book fan, but had not previously participated in comics-themed films due to the scarcity of black superheroes. Cheadle said he thought Iron Man was a robot before the first film came out. On how he approached his character, Cheadle stated, “I go, what’s the common denominator here? And the common denominator was really his friendship with Tony, and that’s what we really tried to track in this one. How is their friendship impacted once Tony comes out and owns ‘I am Iron Man’?”. Cheadle said his suit was 23 kilograms (50 lb) of metal, and that he could not touch his face while wearing it. Cheadle signed a six-picture deal. - Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
An undercover spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. posing as Stark’s new assistant. Johansson dyed her hair red before she landed the part, hoping that it would help convince Favreau that she was right for the role. On why she chose the role, Johansson said, “the Black Widow character resonated with me… [She] is a superhero, but she’s also human. She’s small, but she’s strong… She is dark and has faced death so many times that she has a deep perspective on the value of life… It’s hard not to admire her.” She stated that she had “a bit of a freak-out moment” when she first saw the cat-suit and worked closely with the stunt team to learn how to fight in it in order to “sell it”. During promotion for Black Widow (2021), Johansson said the character was hyper-sexualized in Iron Man 2, specifically referring to dialogue that described her as “a piece of something, like a possession”, but at the time she felt this was “like a compliment”. Though she was grateful to have been a part of the film, she was more grateful that the character’s portrayal had evolved to convey a more positive message by the time of Black Widow. - Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer:
A rival weapons manufacturer. Sam Rockwell was considered for the role of Tony Stark in the first film, and he accepted the role of Hammer without reading the script. He had never heard of the character before he was contacted about the part, and was unaware Hammer is an old Englishman in the comics. Rockwell said, “I worked with Jon Favreau on this film called Made. And Justin Theroux, who wrote the script, is an old friend of mine, they sort of cooked up this idea and pitched it to Kevin Feige. What they did, they were maybe going to do one villain like they did with Jeff Bridges, but then they decided to split the villains. And really Mickey [Rourke] is the main [villain], but I come to his aid.” Rockwell described his character as “plucky comic relief, but he’s got a little bit of an edge”. - Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko / Whiplash:
A Russian physicist and ex-convict who builds a pair of arc reactor-based electric whips to exact vengeance on the Stark family. The character is an amalgamation of Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. Rourke visited Butyrka prison to research the role, and he suggested that half of the character’s dialogue be in Russian. He also suggested the addition of tattoos, gold teeth and a fondness for a pet cockatoo, paying for the teeth and bird with his own money. Rourke explained that he did not want to play a “one-dimensional bad guy”, and wanted to challenge the audience to see something redeemable in him. Not knowing anything about computers, Rourke described pretending to be tech-savvy as the hardest part of the role. - Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Jackson signed a nine-film contract to play the character. On the subject of his character not seeing any action in the film, Jackson said, “We still haven’t moved Nick Fury into the bad-ass zone. He’s still just kind of a talker.”
RELEASE
May 7, 2010
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