Iron Man (film)

**Iron Man** is a 2006 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the first film in the universe. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mahershala Ali, Milo Ventimiglia, Emilia Clarke, Liam Neeson, and Samuel L. Jackson and was released worldwide on March 24, 2006. The film ran 139 minutes and grossed $574.5 million on a $110 million budget.

## Plot

In 1995, Tony Stark is the selfish, playboy son of billionaires Howard and Maria Stark, founders of Stark Enterprises. However, when Howard and Maria are killed in a car crash, 20-year-old Tony is forced to raise his 5-year-old sister, Olivia. 11 years later, in 2006, Tony is now running Stark Enterprises and is in an on-off-again relationship with his personal assistant Pepper Potts. His best friend, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a womanizing lieutenant in the U.S. Military. Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan is secretly in love with Pepper, while Olivia is now a Sophomore in high school, though she rarely attends. However, one day while Tony is promoting the newest weapon made by Stark Enterprises in Afghanistan, he is kidnapped by the terrorist organization the Ten Rings. Six months pass and people assume he is dead.

Pepper and Happy have gotten together, Rhodey has not gotten together with any woman since, while Olivia has gone to school everyday. However, suddenly Tony pops back up in New York City, revealing he was able to escape the Ten Rings. He gives his story to the public that he finally escaped after being tortured for six months. However, Rhodey suspects he is not giving out the entire truth. That same week, a man in an iron suit and mask begins flying around stopping crimes with weapons in his suit that can shoot out power by the suit. Pepper realizes the weapons were manafactured by Stark Enterprises and confronts Tony. Tony reveals to Pepper and Rhodey that when he was kidnapped he was injured by a piece of shrapnel that got caught near his heart. He built an Arc Reactor to prevent the shrapnel from reaching his heart, and has a different outlook on life than he previously had. He then built the suit that is powered by the Reactor to stop crime.

Tony is dubbed "Iron Man" but keeps the secret from everyone but Pepper and Rhodey. Tony discovers the leader of the Ten Rings, the mysterious Mandarin, has found Tony and chased him down to New York City. Tony gets Rhodey and Pepper to alert the police of the Mandarin's presence, though the criminal is not found. However, Tony is attacked at his own home, with Tony's butler and friend, Edwin Jarvis, being killed and Olivia being injured. Tony overpowers the Mandarin, revealing his superhero status to Olivia. The Mandarin retreats but promises to be back. Olivia leaves the city to live with her aunt and uncle in Florida after feeling betrayed by Tony. Happy proposes to Pepper, who still has feelings for Tony and says no. Happy tries to win her over, but she ultimately breaks up with him. Rhodey meets Bethany Cabe, a new employee at Stark Enterprises, and seduces her. Tony and Pepper meet Nick Fury, an agent in the FBI assigned to investigate the Mandarin.

Iron Man continues to fight the Mandarin until Agent Fury calls in an army of agents on a special aircraft never seen by the public. Fury also deduces Tony's identity. Fury reveals he is actually the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret government agency not known to the public, protected by the FBI, CIA, and the government. The Mandarin escapes, angering Tony who continues after him. Fury stops him before he endangers his life. Finally, S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrates the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, where they find files on every safehouse and connected associates over the globe. S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to end the Ten Rings's lingering control over the country and finds the Mandarin. Iron Man fights him and S.H.I.E.L.D. backs him up, ultimately finishing him off. Tony rejects to the Mandarin being put in a simple prison, so Fury reveals a giant underwater prison called The Raft, where the Mandarin is placed.

Olivia returns to town, apologizing to Tony, who apologizes himself. Pepper and Happy agree to stay friends, allowing Pepper to make a move on Tony. Rhodey begins a relationship with Bethany, who seems interested. Fury offers Tony a job at S.H.I.E.L.D., though he declines. In a mid-credits scene, Fury pulls up files on Stark, Steve Rogers, T'Challa, Bruce Banner, Janet van Dyne, Clint Barton, and Donald Blake. In a post-credits scene, set in 1995, Howard and Maria Stark drive along an abandoned road where Howard is suddenly shot in the head, dead instantly. Maria freaks out but the car crashes into a tree, killing her too. In the distance an unseen shooter walks away from the scene.

## Cast

* Bradley Cooper as Tony Stark/Iron Man
* Bryce Dallas Howard as Pepper Potts
* Mahershala Ali as James Rhodes
* Milo Ventimiglia as Happy Hogan
* Emilia Clarke as Olivia Stark
* Liam Neeson as The Mandarin
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

## Production

The film entered active development in 2002, when Marvel announced their intent to develop films centered around Iron Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Hulk. In 2003, Marvel revealed their outline of a script, which would be Tony Stark discovering the world does not revolve around him and trying to help out the world he lives in. Jon Favreau was hired to direct in 2004, also writing the script alongside John August. Marvel and Favreau agreed to cast a not very well known actor in the role of Stark, to show they don't need a big star in order to sell the film. The studio ended up casting Bradley Cooper, then known for his role as Will Tippin on *Alias*, in August 2004. Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of actor-director Ron Howard, was cast as Stark's love interest, Pepper Potts, along with Mahershala Ali as James Rhodes, Stark's best friend, in October 2004. In December, two months before filming was scheduled to begin filming, Milo Ventimiglia and Emilia Clarke were revealed to have been cast as Happy Hogan, Stark's bodyguard, and Olivia Stark, Stark's sister who was not from the comics, respectively. Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson were also revealed to have been in undisclosed roles.

The film entered filming on February 15, 2005. Filming concluded on June 26. A release date of March 24, 2006 was announced in early 2005.

## Reception

### **Box office**

At the end of its box office run, *Iron Man* earned a gross of $250.9 million in the US and Canada and $323.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $574.5 million against a budget of $110 million.

### **Critical reception**

*Iron Man* received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 43%, based on 231 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though *Iron Man* is a huge success in the way it yields it's talented cast, it becomes a flop when factoring in the lack of action, long length, and flat dialogue". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

### **Accolades**

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects.