There are a lot of amazing things that can be said about the first MCU movie, Iron Man, starting with the fact that it is the film that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film brought Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, to the modern film era, and countless other heroes followed shortly after. Admittedly, this movie took a big risk (at the time) by putting Robert Downey Jr. at the helm. It’s safe to say that this risk paid off tenfold, as Robert Downey Jr. is still the face of the MCU to many. That said, there are a few points from the first Iron Man movie that still don’t make sense, even all these years later.
It’s hard to believe that Iron Man is approaching the 20-year mark. It feels like just a few years ago that the MCU began, yet here we are. Iron Man (2008) took a staple superhero and converted him into a live-action format, retelling his origin story and teasing at what was to come. Naturally, there’s a certain fondness or nostalgia factor that comes into play here, as we all want to see this film as pure perfection. Due to this, even some of the oddest points or decisions are actually pretty easy to overlook, all things considered.
4) Why Allow Tony Stark to Enter a War Zone?
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
This may sound like a small quibble, but the beginning of the film showed Tony Stark heading into an active war zone in order to market his company’s latest weapon. Who thought this was a good idea? Even if we assume that it was all Obadiah Stane’s (Jeff Bridges) idea as a means of committing murder, the fact that Rhodey and the rest just ran with it is strange.
Wouldn’t it have been easier, cheaper, and safer to have a demonstration closer to home? Or have Tony remote in for the war zone demonstration? Getting a civilian into a zone like that would have been a lot of red tape (one would hope), and that’s before considering their company’s value to these efforts.
3) Temporarily Shutting The Company Down
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
Both in the comics and in the movie, Tony Stark makes the executive decision to stop Stark Industries’ production of all weapons. It’s a major move, and we’ve got to respect that. However, it is a little surprising that Tony maintained enough control over the company to shut down all forms of production. Viewers know that the board was furious with this decision, yet they seemed powerless to actually fight Tony’s call.
Obviously, there are a few potential explanations for this, but it would have been easy to explain these points with just a line or two. For example, if Tony does have majority control of the board, just say so during one of those board meetings.
2) Tony’s Test Flight Never Triggered a Response
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
After creating his first Iron Man suit, which sadly didn’t make it home alongside the hero, Tony was understandably determined to try again. With better access to equipment and tech, his next armor looked a lot better. However, to be sure it worked properly, he had to take the risk and give it a test flight. That all makes complete sense, but here’s the thing:
Tony’s next test flight started in his lab, but quickly took to the skies. We all remember how this flight goes, as his suit eventually freezes over, causing a bit of a sudden landing for the armor. Notably, this whole thing took place within a major city. We know that people made note of Tony’s flight, yet no real investigation or response has been kicked off.
At a minimum, Tony’s unregistered flight looks like an Unidentified Flying Object (U.A.P.), so it should have triggered some sort of response, even just a casual fly-by to check what is going on. Yet nothing happened.
1) The Giant Arc Reactor’s Not-So-Hidden Threat
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
There’s a lot that could be said about the giant arc reactor within Stark Industries. It looks amazing, and obviously, it has a lot of potential when it comes to power. It apparently is an unlimited power source, and thus could be used to help solve the world’s energy crisis, yet nothing comes up about that point. That’s a big ask, so we’re willing to overlook it.
However, the arc reactor apparently also poses a massive threat, and it doesn’t even take much to turn it into a potential danger. During Tony’s final conflict with Obadiah (Iron Monger), viewers see Tony utilize everything he learned about armor building. That was a great throwback, but there’s one point that is still pretty concerning in this. To land the killing blow, Tony had Pepper Potts overload the main arc reactor. We repeat: Pepper overloaded the arc reactor, effectively turning this significant source of energy into a dangerous weapon.
Let’s put this in perspective. It didn’t take Pepper all that long, and even though she had explicit instructions, this is still a major concern. Could this have been done at any time? By any disgruntled employee (with the right knowledge)? Recall that this blast of energy is enough to engulf Obadiah and his armor, effectively destroying both. It also almost kills Tony, so it’s not exactly a small explosion we’re talking about here.
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