So today, I'm going to be analysing an iconic film character, Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark under the armour. Mainly, I will be focusing on the Iron Man from the Iron Man and Avengers films, portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.
ORIGINS
Just to clarify, this is about the character's CREATION origins, not origin story. No mention of the Ten Rings or Jericho missiles... yet.
Back in March 1963, Marvel released "Tales of Suspense #39", which featured the newest superhero, Iron Man. He was created in part by four people; Stan Lee (current head-honcho of Marvel), Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber and Don Heck. Stan Lee was quoted saying:
"I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him...."This worked, since his success skyrocketed, leading to more Iron Man centered "Tales of Suspense" issues, his own solo series known as "The Invincible Iron Man", and even lead him to be a founding member of the 1963 "The Avengers" series, along with other iconic characters like The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and The Wasp.
Over the years leading to the turn of the new millennium, Iron Man's popularity started to fade, selling less and less copies by the year. His inclusion in animated movies and more obscure TV shows downgraded him to a "B-List Hero". However, director Jon Favreau changed ALL of that in 2008.
NEWFOUND SUCCESS
In 2008, Marvel Studios released Iron Man, the first in a long line of Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU) movies. The film blew up with popularity, both thanks to a strong story and a compelling cast, namely headline actor Robert Downey Jr. But the question is, why DID people like Downey's Iron Man?
ANALYSING IRON MAN
There were many reasons people liked Iron Man in the MCU. Many saw RDJ as a heartthrob, but that was a small minority. One of the reasons people liked him was because of the way his progression was captured.
Tony Stark, after a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan, was kidnapped by a terrorist group who forced him to make weapons. After seeing who the main buyers of his weapons were, Tony did NOT make the weapons he was forced to; he created a suit from a box of scraps in a cave. Using it to escape the terrorists by flying away, he managed to get back to the USA. Soon after, he pledged that his company would never create weapons again. After Tony Stark swore off of weapon creations to focus on protecting humanity with his suits, many saw that character arc as the perfect example of a character being redeemed; Tony went from saying, and I quote:
And after his epiphany, he has since changed."Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job for peace." - Iron Man, 2008
"I see a suit of armour around the world... Peace in our time." - Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015
So, tally one up for character redemption and development.
Another reason people love Iron Man is, simply because, they'd want to BE him. Let's be honest, who wouldn't?
The well co-ordinated fight scenes, the success of being a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and of course, the BEAUTIFULLY designed suits, from Mark 1 (Iron Man, 2008) to 46 (Captain America: Civil War, 2016). As an example of one of the scenes that makes people feel like being Iron Man would be amazing, watch this clip from the final fight between Iron Man & War Machine vs the Extremis soldiers.
He's fought many other battles, both with friends and foes, such as against Ultron and Loki in the fight for good, or against Captain America and The Winter Soldier in a Civil War.
But, it's not just about what the audience think about him; it's about what his universe thinks of him. Disney, the current owners and heads of the MCU, have recognised the success of Iron Man, and has decided that the universe that Iron Man is a part of should have some very believable yet interesting opinions of the Armoured Avenger.
For example, Spider-Man has been shown to see Tony as a very authoritive figure, yet in a comfortable way.
However, many of the characters in the MCU see him in a different light. Captain America, Black Widow, Ant-Man, among others, believe that Tony is selfish, unreliable, unloyal, and generally an unpleasant person to be around and associated with. This opinion has been so imprinted into the characters, that, arguably, one of the best moments in the MCU stems from it.
This is seen in the clip below, from Captain America: Civil War (Starting at 3:25).
One final element of why Iron Man is such a good character is because of just how iconic he is.
The fact that Iron Man is no longer limited to just Iron Man movies proves he's popular and iconic enough to be in other movies; first in The Incredible Hulk (though this was not in response to popularity, but as a way to establish the universes would be connected) with Tony asking General Ross to enrol The Hulk as an Avenger.
4 years later, they had Iron Man appear in The Avengers, and in it's sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron 3 years later. His most recent appearance in Captain America: Civil War just shows that he's so popular, he can become the second main character of another character's movie.
Stark isn't done yet though; he's currently slated to appear in the Tom Holland driven Spider-Man: Homecoming as a mentor to Holland's Spider-Man (aka Peter Parker), and he will also be appearing as a main character, if not THE main character in Avengers: Infinity War, a 2 part Avengers storyline tying together the whole MCU together against Thanos, a constantly teased villain.
The fact one character can be a frontrunner in 4 film series just shows that Iron Man has become one of the most iconic film characters of all time, alongside greats like Darth Vader and James Bond.
ENDING
And so, that was my analysis of Iron Man, I hope you enjoyed reading it!
See you next time,
~ Noah C :D
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