Fifteen years ago, on May 2, 2008, Iron Man released in theatres. The film, directed by Jon Favreau, kicked off an unprecedented feat Run sequelsepics, and franchises that literally Save Marvel from the brink of bankruptcy. The film was critically praised. He was nominated for two Oscars. In 2022 it was selected for preservation Library of Congress. Hard to argue with the effect Iron Man.
Honestly, the whole trilogy was solid. Even if the second film was weaker than the first and third, it had moments of clever storytelling, and the first film’s reflection on American concerns during the Iraq War continued, and allowed Robert Downey Jr. to expand and live in a role that seemed made for him. for him. It was a good series, and helped create the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was, for a while, rather fun!
But the Iron Man Triplefor all her powerful narratives and the work she’s done to establish a larger universe, exposed iron Man The greatest flaw in storytelling. Tony Stark would create something with good intentions. Someone with bad intentions would get their hands on him. Tony Stark had to create something else to ruin his business. It happens in almost every movie Stark appears in, even if he’s not the titular character. More generous critics would call this Stark’s tragic flaw. Others would call this kind of reliance on a certain perception across several films lazy writing. It’s definitely a kind of both, but more importantly, iron Man The basic storytelling device — the arrogance of man held back by his own creations — shows that studios value sameness. they Wants People know what to expect when it comes to Iron Man. they Wants People know what to expect when they go to see a Marvel movie.
Here’s the thing: The first three movies worked because we didn’t know who Iron Man was. He was a well-known character, but he wasn’t as well-liked or well-known as Spider-Man. He wasn’t a completely anonymous figure, but he was, let’s say… margin For a long time. The problem with the MCU now is that it’s constantly using the same writing ideas for the same characters. The public was willing to buy that Iron Man “made a mistake of his scientific genius” three times, but then Avengers: Age of Ultron In 2013, I really felt it Iron Man The writers only had one trick in the bag.
And now? Every Marvel character has one trick – that’s a fatal flaw – that carries them through their trilogies and even into other movies where they appear. Sometimes they can be remixed and changed to create something new, exciting and fun. Motorcycle rental Proof that in the hands of a capable director with a vision and ability to make sweeping, relentless sacrifices to the world, a character who has seemed tired or uninspired in other films can become fun to watch again. but Ragnarok It is the exception, not the rule. We often get half-trying nods toward change, as we’ve seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. there was something There is, but it never worked. At the end of the day, Doctor Strange’s fatal flaws – he has to humble himself despite his almost unlimited access to power, he has to give agency to other people and trust that they can be the ones to save the day – continued by multiverse.
MCU is Strongly Good, but the MCU movie won’t have the cultural impact of the original Iron Man trilogy precisely because the lessons learned from the success of the Iron Man trilogy amounted to “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. While there have been some standoffs between the MCU since then Age of Ultrondue to the same storytelling, the massive reach of media through TV and movies, and the fact that there didn’t seem to be any surprises left many viewers cold towards the ongoing adventures in Whatever gentleman and lady hero.
The truth is, there are a lot of better lessons to be learned from Iron Man Trilogy: Get political, give your characters real flaws, have them struggle with their mental health, give them understandable fixed stakes – and keep your stories focused on the characters, not the sequels. And please, for the love of God, keep your action movies under the two and a half hour mark. the Iron Man The trilogy helped redefine blockbusters for its time. I’d like to see that happen again. Steeped in over 30 movie lore and seemingly endless hours of TV context, Marvel movies have in recent years been reduced to scenes and events only Marvel fans can enjoy, but for a brief four-year period between 2008 and 2012, they could Anyone who is also a Marvel fan. And that might be what I miss the most.
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(tags to translation) Iron Man