Pilot (Iron Man)

**Pilot** is the first episode of the first season of NBC's *Iron Man*. It premiered on September 26, 2011. It was directed by Joss Whedon and written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. It was also the first episode of *Iron Man* overall.

## Synopsis

Tony Stark returns to the United States after being trapped in an Arabian terrorist organization's cave base. He built a technological suit there that he now uses to stop crime around New York City. While he is saving people as "Iron Man", Tony Stark is trying to get his company back from Obadiah Stane, an old board member of Stark Industries that got the company in Stark's "death". Meanwhile, Tony's on/off-again girlfriend is now dating Tony's bodyguard and Chief of Security, Happy Hogan. Stark also takes this time to reunite with his sister, Olivia.

## Plot

### Flashbacks

Tony Stark is the CEO and son of the founder of Stark Industries. He is in Arabia promoting his newest weapon that Stark Industries has produced. However, the promotion is raided and Stark is kidnapped by Arab terrorists in an explosion. His friends and family mourn him as they return to New York City. Stark awakens in the cave of the terrorists where he begs their leader, Raza Pike, to let him go home. However, he shows Stark news footage of Christine Everhart reporting his death. Tony is then brought to the prison where he meets Ho Yinsen.

### Present Day

A large silver metal object in the shape of a human flies through the air and crashes into the desert. Tony crawls out and runs toward a camp of tents. There he meets General LaRoe and Colonel James Rhodes. LaRoe tells Rhodes to take Stark home and formally discharges him from the military after years of service. Rhodes, who goes by Rhodey, and Tony bond over the flight home. Tony, who had not been taking time since he was captured, learns it has been eight months. In New York City, Tony reunites with his on/off-again girlfriend, Pepper Potts, who is now dating Tony's Chief-of-Staff Happy Hogan. Tony respects their relationship due to him and Pepper having been on a break when he was thought dead. Tony uses the metal suit he escaped in to build a new, better suit that can fire energy blasts. He gets the energy from the Arc Reactor in his chest, which is not yet known why he has one. Tony uses the suit to make his city better due to having a different perspective on life now. Tony learns Stark Industries board member and his father's old good friend, Obadiah Stane, now has the company. Tony manages to sway the board members toward his side of the argument and gets his company back. Tony also reunites with his sister, Olivia Stark, who is seventeen, was living with their family's butler, Edwin Jarvis, while Tony was "dead". Olivia resents Tony, wrongly blaming him for the death of their parents, something Tony tries to get her off of. Meanwhile, an unseen man works on a larger, more powerful Iron suit.

## Cast

### Starring

* Rupert Friend as Tony Stark/Iron Man
* Kate McKinnon as Pepper Potts
* Edi Gathegi as James Rhodes
* Sarah Hyland as Olivia Stark
* Maxwell Caulfield as Edwin Jarvis
* Dave Legeno as Obadiah Stane

### Guest Starring

* Jason Ritter as Happy Hogan
* Naveen Andrews as Ho Yinsen
* Clancy Brown as LaRoe
* Oded Fehr as Raza Pike
* Anna Kendrick as Christine Everhart

## Trivia

* This episode takes place on January 29, September 26, and 27.
* This episode achieved 13.40 million U.S. live viewers.
* The episode received great reviews for the start of the series. It scored 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 91 out of 100 on Metacritic, and a 7.7/10 on IGN.
* This episode is rated TV-14 for S-V.
* This episode was filmed in Los Angeles due to the show needing to get picked up for a series order. The rest of the series was and is filmed in New York City.