Iron Man (2008) review: How does it impact Infinity War?
By Mike McNulty
Iron Man begins a series of retrospective film reviews of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how they may lead towards the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.
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This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After seventeen movies, with three more scheduled for release in the upcoming months, these films continue their domination the pop cultural landscape. They’ve also forever changed the way Hollywood produces movies, as every studio now strives to create their own cinematic universe. For their tenth anniversary, Marvel Studios will release what they’re promising is the culmination of what their cinematic universe has led towards this past decade — Avengers: Infinity War.
Bam Smack Pow, therefore, are looking back at the movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the first will be the one which started it all: Iron Man (2008). Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Shaun Toub, and directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man was a box office hit upon release, nominated for two Academy Awards (for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects) and holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It may not seem so now, but launching a series of shared movies with Iron Man was a genuine risk. It’s hero, after all, starts off as a weapons manufacturer, who, among comic fans, didn’t have the same popularity compared to the likes of Spider-Man and the X-Men. He was already considered a quasi-villain thanks to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s Civil War. Even its lead actor was almost rejected by Marvel based on his notoriously wild past. Yet if not for this film, there wouldn’t even be a Marvel Cinematic Universe, or even a Marvel Studios for that matter.
Thus, aside from seeing how this movie could tie into the upcoming Infinity War, we’ll also take a look at what made Iron Man work. We’ll also take a look into what didn’t work, since no movie, even with the amount of praise Iron Man has, is perfect. With that, let’s take a re-examination of film which started an entirely new universe.