Claim: Iron Man is a film.

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 2008 's Iron Man , and is the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Justin Theroux , the film stars Robert Downey Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow , Don Cheadle , Scarlett Johansson , Sam Rockwell , Mickey Rourke , and Samuel L. Jackson . Six months after the events of Iron Man , Tony Stark is resisting calls by the United States government to hand over the Iron Man technology while also combating his declining health from the arc reactor in his chest . Meanwhile , rogue Russian scientist Ivan Vanko has developed the same technology and built weapons of his own in order to pursue a vendetta against the Stark family , in the process joining forces with Stark 's business rival , Justin Hammer .   Following the successful release of Iron Man in May 2008 , Marvel Studios announced and immediately set to work on producing a sequel . In July of that same year Theroux was hired to write the script , and Favreau was signed to return and direct . 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 , Rockwell and Johansson filled out the supporting cast , and filming took place from April to July of that year . Like its predecessor the film was shot mostly in California , except for a key sequence in Monaco .   Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on April 26 , 2010 , and was released internationally between April 28 and May 7 before releasing in the U.S. on May 7 , 2010 . The film received generally positive reviews and was commercially successful , grossing over $ 623.9 million at the worldwide box office . The DVD and Blu-ray were released on September 28 , 2010 . The third installment of the Iron Man series , Iron Man 3 , was released on May 3 , 2013 .