Iron Man (2008)

In 2008, few people outside comic book hardcore had even heard of Iron Man, and its star, Robert Downey Jr., was far from the box-office draw he would soon become.

Billionaire industrialist and weapons inventor Tony Stark (Downey) is ambushed in Afghanistan by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings after demonstrating his new “Jericho” missile. Shrapnel embeds near his heart, and he is forced to build a weapon for his captors.

With help from captive scientist Ho Yinsen (Shaun Toub), Stark instead builds a miniature Arc Reactor to keep the shrapnel from his heart and constructs a bulky, primitive suit of armour (the Mark I) to fight his way out of the cave. Yinsen sacrifices himself during the escape.

Upon returning home, Stark announces he is shutting down Stark Industries’ weapons manufacturing division.

His second-in-command, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), turns traitor, orchestrating Stark’s initial kidnapping and reverse-engineering his technology to build a massive rival suit called the Iron Monger.

Stark – now operating with sleek, upgraded armour (the Mark III) – battles Stane atop the Stark Industries headquarters, defeating him by overloading the building’s large Arc Reactor.

During a press conference to cover up the incident, Stark famously deviates from the prepared alibi and boldly declares: “I am Iron Man”.

It’s to Kevin Feige’s credit that the fledgling Marvel Studios took as many risks as it did.

Had this movie tanked, his grand plan to bring Thor, Captain America, and more to the big screen would have come to nothing.

Production was turbulent, by all accounts. The script underwent continual revisions, with even the film’s original villain (the Mandarin) being dropped just two months before shooting. A swift rewrite promoted Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane.

Feige also tried to pepper the film with teases of future movies, but its director batted them back, limiting the foreshadowing of The Avengers to a single post-credits scene.

Grossing $585.8 million on a relatively modest $150 million budget, the film impressed even the critics, who were so often sniffy about superhero movies.

Tony Stark
Robert Downey Jr.
Rhodey
Terrence Howard
Obadiah Stane
Jeff Bridges
Pepper Potts
Gwyneth Paltrow
Christine Everhart
Leslie Bibb
Yinsen
Shaun Toub
Raza
Faran Tahir
Agent Phil Coulson
Clark Gregg
General Gabriel
Bill Smitrovich
Abu Bakaar
Sayed Badreya
J.A.R.V.I.S (voice)
Paul Bettany
Hogan
Jon Favreau
William Ginter Riva
Peter Billingsley
Major Allen
Tim Guinee
Award Ceremony Narrator (voice)
Will Lyman
Jimmy
Kevin Foster
Pratt
Garret Noël
Ramirez
Eileen Weisinger
Ahmed
Ahmed Ahmed
Omar
Fahim Fazli
Howard Stark
Gerard Sanders
Amira Ahmed
Nazanin Boniadi
Colonel Craig
Thomas Craig Plumer
Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Zorianna Kit
Zorianna Kit

Director
Jon Favreau

Video