Seven Things We Want From Iron Man 2
by Brian Tallerico

(Spoiler Warning: If you need a spoiler warning on a feature about what we want from a sequel, you will have a few harsh lessons to learn about the internets, but if we've learned anything from the adventures of Tony Stark, it's that peace is much cooler than aggression. Naturally, to discuss what we want from Iron Man 2, we need to discuss what happened in the first Iron Man. Nothing, not even the post-credits ending, is off-limits. Now you're warned.)

In case you've been buried in GTA madness and haven't noticed, it's Iron Man's world now. After only ten days in release, Jon Favreau's Iron Man is already the highest-grossing film of 2008 and stands behind only the Spider-Man and X-Men movies on the all-time list of Marvel movies. Tony Stark had the second-highest non-sequel opening weekend of all time and has already made a small fortune. When it's done, Iron Man will have passed all three X-Men movies, making it the second biggest franchise in the Marvel Universe, and could easily be the number one film of the entire year. As we all know, financial success doesn't always mean quality (Spidey 3 was #1 in 2007 but most people considered the movie a disappointment), but fans and critics have fallen for the man dressed in hot-rod red even after they've opened their wallets. The flick scored an amazing 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, 78 on Metacritic, and a stunning 8.3 on IMDB, which puts it in the top 150 all-time. People are madly in love with Iron Man.

As we all expected, on the day after the film's amazing opening weekend, a sequel date was announced for 4/30/10. Iron Man 2 already has a release date, star, and director, but, according to reports, not even a writer, much less a screenplay. With the pedestal that Iron Man has been put on, the question is can Iron Man 2 match the pattern of the second Spider-Man and X-Men movie and actually surpass the expectations that have been set before anyone's even started writing it? We hope so. Even fans would admit that, as good as the first Iron Man was, it could have been better. It's not up to the best of the best in the superhero genre, but we firmly believe the sequel can be. How? Let us light the way my iron-clad friends...

SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE IRON MAN 2 BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL

1. A FULLY-REALIZED WORLD

Think about the best superhero movies of recent years and the worst. One of the first distinctions is a director who is willing to create a fully-realized world, so the audience believes that our heroes and villains might not actually stand next to us at Wal-Mart, but they know how much a gallon of milk costs. You can go one of two ways here - the Burton-esque, completely unique worlds of Batman and Batman Returns or the closer-to-real Gotham of Batman Begins with its recognizable Chicago landmarks. In between is where superhero movies fail. There's nothing about the Fantastic Four movies, Daredevil, Elektra, or even most of Superman Returns that feels like the world that we inhabit. A LOT of Iron Man took place in the desert and in the underground of the Stark mansion, so it hasn't really become an issue yet, but when Stark is free to roam the world as its biggest protector, we need to feel that that world is real. Now, of course, don't take it TOO Far. We don't EVER want to see Iron Man fly through one of the 'O's in the Hollywood sign, but the fact that major scenes in the Batman and Spider-Man movies take place in a recognizable world adds a degree of power to the action that can't be underestimated. It's what we look for in superhero movies - a merging of the superhuman and the real.

2. A GOOD VILLAIN...BUT NOT TWO

The main weakness of Iron Man was the villain or lack thereof at the center of the piece. The real bad guy of Iron Man is the entire military-industrial complex, which we'll agree is pretty damn ambitious but sometimes you just want The Joker or Lex Luthor to kick someone's ass. The two main physical villains of Iron Man - Raza (Faran Tahir) and Obadiah/Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges) - are pretty tame. We generally love Jeff Bridges, but did anyone feel any actual danger from his character? Of course not. Iron Man 2 needs a dangerous, on-the-edge villain. We need the Doc Ock to Spider-Man or Joker to Batman for this franchise. If we have a black hole at villain again, fans are going to notice. But don't go overboard. The most common misjudgment in superhero franchises is too many villains. X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3, Batman Forever - all of them were weighed down by scenery-chewing baddies. The comics regularly use the government or villains who work for it as the bad guys, which is probably how the sequel will go - using Stark's technology against him again - but make sure it's a charismatic villain this time. No offense, Jeff Bridges fans.

3. YOU'RE FAMOUS, SO WHAT?

Please, please, please avoid the fame issues that have sometimes sunk superhero franchises in their post-origin era. Let Stark deal with fame between movies. After the revelation at the end of Iron Man with arguably the best closing line in superhero movie history, it would be incredibly easy for a lazy writer to do one of those stories about the "perils of superhero fame," something that helped sink Spider-Man 3. Does anyone want to see Tony Stark dealing with those same issues about "what makes a hero"? Of course not. Let him just BE a troubled, drinking, womanizing hero. One of the best things about Iron Man is how subtly Downey plays the transition of Stark from warmonger to peacemaker. Imagine how melodramatic that move could have been with a lesser actor. It will be incredibly easy for a writer to dip into that pool with the sequel and focus on Tony "dealing with" being a hero. Don't go there. Deal with alcohol, Maxim models, and his true love for Pepper Potts, but don't deal with paparazzi and the perils of fame. The last thing we need is a whiny Iron Man.

Seven Things We Want From Iron Man 2 Page 2