Iron Man 2 (2010)

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Synopsis

Virginia "Pepper" Potts

Natalie Rushman

Taking place six months after the events of the first Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has used his Iron Man Suit to bring about a peace treaty between the major super powers of the world. Stark is, however still under attack by the United States Government and Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) in particular. They demand that Stark hand over his armor technology to the military. Stark refuses, publicly shaming rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), and in the process, highlights his own failed attempts at recreating the technology. He then explains that these suits would take other nations five to ten years to replicate. Unfortunately, not all is well in Stark's life. The palladium in the arc reactor which is keeping him alive is also poisoning his body and slowly killing him. With all other attempts to find another element having failed, Stark's chances look slim. With his death looking almost certain, Stark appoints his once-personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as CEO of Stark Industries and makes Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) his new personal assistant.

Ivan Vanko

While in Monaco, Stark is attacked during a race by Ivan Vanko ( Mickey Rourke), who has constructed his own arc reactor with whip-like attachments that harness the electrical energy. With the help of Pepper and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Stark was able to defeat Ivan. After some research he discovers that Vanko is the son of disgraced Russian physicist Anton Vanko, who had work with Starks father Howard (John Slattery) on the original arc reactor. Vanko is broken out of jail with the aid of Justin Hammer, Hammer strikes a deal with Vanko to build him an army of " Iron Drones" to one-up Stark at the "Stark Expo."

Nick Fury

Stark gets drunk while wearing the armor during, what is believed to be, his last birthday. This forces his friend Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) to don the Mark II and subdue him. After the two battle, Rhodes leaves with the armor. Disgraced, Stark is approached by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Samuel L. Jackson), who tells Stark that there is an element he hasn't tried and provides him with a chest of his father's old artifacts that can hopefully be used to find a cure for his palladium poisoning. While reviewing the film reel in the chest, Stark discovers a message from his father that leads him to the original 1974 diorama of the Stark Expo. The model is actually a disguised diagram for the atomic structure of a new element. With the help of his Personal Computer J.A.R.V.I.S. (Paul Bettany), Stark was able to build a particle accelerator, synthesizes a new element, and create a new triangular chest arc reactor that cures him.

Agent Romanoff

Meanwhile, at the "Stark Expo," Hammer unveils his new military drones along with Rhodes in a heavily modified version of the confiscated Mark II Iron Man suit. Unknowingly to Hammer and Rhodes, Vanko has complete control of both the military drones and Rhodes' armor, Stark arrives just as they start to attack. As Stark battles the remote drones and Rhodes, Happy and Natalie (Who is an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Natasha Romanoff) race to Hammers facility to stop Vanko. By the time they make it to the facility, Vanko has already left for the Expo with a new suit of armor, but fortunately Natasha was able to give Rhodes control of his suit so him and Stark can fight off the drones and Vanko together. The two used their combined powers to defeat Vanko, but his armor and the drone revealed to have self-destruct charges. As they begin to set off, Stark races to Peppers, rescuing her at the last minute. After landing on the roof she explains that she has had enough and quits from her CEO position, and finally gives Tony a kiss. After, they both find Rhodes sitting right beside them. Stark ask for his suit back, but instead Rhodes flies off with the suit again.

At a debriefing, Fury informs Stark of Agent Romanoff's observation and although she said that Iron Man is a perfect candidate for the "Avengers Initiative", she believes that Stark as a person is currently "unsuitable". S.H.I.E.L.D. wants Iron Man as a consultant, and Stark agrees on the condition that Senator Stern presents him and Col. Rhodes medals for their bravery.

In a post-credit scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is seen driving to a remote impact crater in the New Mexico desert. As he informs Fury over the phone that they've "Found it", the crater is shown to contain Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor.

Production

Development

Downey, Cheadle and Favreau

Jon Favreau originally intended to make Iron Man a film trilogy, with the Mandarin as the main villain of the movies. After a meeting with Favreau and various comic book writers, including Mark Millar, they agreed on Stane being the main villain of Iron Man. Millar believed that the Mandarin, whom Favreau originally intended to be the main villain, 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 want to see fight. Then you work your way to the time when lightning blots 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."

During an interview Favreau said that the film version of Mandarin "allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains". During the interview he also mentioned that S.H.I.E.L.D. will have a huge role in the films.

Favreau said that he wanted the films to explore Stark's alcoholism. 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 from him revealing himself as Iron Man, and as well as Pepper getting a boyfriend. Before filming Downey revealed that, although not a film adaptation of the "Demon in the Bottle" storyline from the comic book series, the film would be more about the "interim space" between the origin story and the "Demon" story arc.

Pre-Production

In July 2008 Justin Theroux was signed on to write the script, which is base on the original story written by Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. Theroux co-wrote Tropic Thunder, and Downey recommend him to Marvel. Shane Black suggested the idea to Favreau and Downey that they model Stark after real life physicist J. Robert Oppenheiner. Genndy Tartakovsky, best know for Cartoon Network's Samurai Jack and Clone Wars, storyboarded the the film. Adi Granov returned from the original to supervise the designs of the Iron Man suits.

Casting

Many of the stars including Robert Downery Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Jon Favreau return to reprise their roles from the first film.

Don Cheadle

Terrence Howard was replaced with Don Cheadle. Howard said, "There was no explanation, apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on sometimes. Promises aren't kept, and good faith negotiations aren't always held up." According to Entertainment Weekly Favreau said that he didn't enjoy working with Howard, often re-shooting and cut his scenes, however Howard publicist said that Howard enjoyed the role and had a good experience. As Favreau and Theroux chose to minimize the role, Marvel went to Howard and discussed lowing his pay - Howard was the first actor hired for Iron Man and the highest paid. The publication stated thhey were unsure whether Howard's representatives left the project first or if Marvel chose to stop negotiating. Theroux denied the part of the report stating "the role of War Machine was scaled back and then beefed up". After Cheadle replaced Howard there was an issue of height; Howard was 6' 1/2", while Downey is 5' 9" and Cheadle 5' 8 1/2". Cheadle only had a few hours to accept the role and didn't even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo. Cheadle stated that his was a big comic book fan, but had never previously participated in and comic-themed films due to the lack of black superheroes.

Micky Rourke

Micky Rourke was casted as Ivan Vanko, a physicist and ex-convict who builds his own arc rector-based weapon to exact vengeance on the Stark family. The character was a blend of Whiplash and Crimson Dyanamo, and the son of Anton Vanko, the original Crimson Dyanamo from the comics. Downey offered the role to Rourke during a round-table discussion with David Ansen at the 2009 Golden Globe, afterwards Rourke went to Favreau and Theroux to discuss his role. After Marvel's initial salary offer of $250,000, Rourke almost left, so Marvel increased the deal. Rourke visited the Butyrka prison to prepare for the role. Rourke suggested that half the character's dialogue be in Russian. He also suggested the addition of tattoos, gold teeth and a pet cockatoo, paying for the teeth and cockatoo with his own money. Rourke explained that he didn't wanted Ivan to be a "one dimensional bad guy" and wanted to challenge the audience to see something redeemable in him. Not knowing anything about computers himself, Rourke described pretending to be tech-savvy as the hardest part of the role.

Sam Rockwell was considered for the role of Tony Stark in the first film, and without reading the script he accepted the role of Justin Hammer. Rockwell never even had of the character until he was contacted about the part, and was unaware of Hammer being an old man in the comics, where as in the movie he's about Stark's age.

Scarlet Johansson was cast as Natalie Rushman / Black Widow after a scheduling conflict that forced Emily Blunt to drop out of the role.

Samuel L. Jackson initially balked at the salary Marvel offered and was unsure about reprising the part of Fury until reaching a deal that would entail his appearance in up to nine films as the character.

Reception

Critical Reception

Reception for the film has been positive. It holds a 74% overall approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 244 reviews with a average rating of 6.4/10 with the selected Top Critics giving the film a score of 66% based on 35 reviews and the film is "Certified Fresh", with the critical consensus that "It isn't quite the breath of fresh air that Iron Man was, but this sequel comes close with solid performances and an action-packed plot". Metacritic gave the film 57% based on a normalized rating of 40 reviews.