Iron Man (movie)

Iron Man is the first film of Phase One and the first film in The Marvel Cinematic Universe. It shows the creation to Iron Man, and has implications for more to come.

Cast

 * Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
 * Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes
 * Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan
 * Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S.
 * Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger
 * Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury

Plot
The film begins with a celebrity inside of a military jeep in Kunar, Afghanistan. It reveals that the celebrity in the jeep in Anthony "Tony" Stark, the CEO of leading military weapons factory, Stark Industries. Stark is meeting with his military liaison and friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes, for the presentation of the military's newest weapon, the Jericho missile. However, while on his way to the presentation, Stark is wounded and kidnapped, being held in a cave by the terrorist organization, the Ten Rings. Forced to build another Jericho missile for the group, Stark is held captive with a fellow prisoner and scientist Ho Yinsen. An electromagnet built by Yinsen keeps the shrapnel that wounded Tony from reaching his heart and killing him. While pretending to work on the missile, Stark and Yinsen secretly work on a powerful electric generator called the Ark Reactor to power the electro magnet, and then build a suit of armor designed by Tony himself.

The Ten Rings discover Stark and Yinsen's plan and attack them before the suit is ready, so Yinsen sacrifices himself to protect Stark and the suit. Now with the suit fully charges, Stark fights his way out of the cave to find a mortally wounded Yinsen, who tells him to continue escaping and not waste his life as he dies. Enraged, Stark burns the terrorists' stockpile of Stark Industries produced weapons, and flies away. Only to crash in the desert and destroy the suit. Shortly after being rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home and announces that his company will no longer be building weapons, after seeing what his weapons caused in the wrong hands. He had a heartfelt reunion with his secretary Pepper Potts, who he says he wants her to be more. His father's old friend and his company's manager, Obadiah Stane, warns Stark that this may ruin Stark Industries, and his father's legacy. In his workshop, Stark is busy building a more advanced version of his suit with a more powerful Ark Reactor as a "Flight Prototype". Stark tests the new flying armor, but is weighed down by the build-up of ice for flying to high, and as a result, crashed back down into his workshop.

At Stark's first public appearance since the incident with the Ten Rings, Stark is notified that the Ten Rings have acquired a packet of Stark weapons, including a Jericho missile, and plan to attack Yinsen's hometown. Stark questioned Stane about it, and Stane reveals that he was trying to replace Tony as the CEO of Stark Industries. In a rage, Stark quickly equips his new suit and flies to Afghanistan, and saves Yinsen's village of Gulmira and is dubbed the "Iron Man". While flying home, Stark was intercepted by a couple of F-22 Raptors sent by Rhodes to investigate the strange anomaly in Afghanistan that got rid of the Ten Rings. It turns out it was Tony in a new armored suit. Meanwhile, the Ten Rings are able to retrieve Tony's old mark I armor. They meet Stane and offer to exchange the suit with him, however, Stane has them assassinated and takes the suit for himself. Seeking other weapons delivered to the Ten Rings, Stark sends Pepper to hack their systems. Pepper finds more weapons, but also that Stane hired the terrorists to kill Stark in Afghanistan. She soon runs into an agent from the organization of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, a counter-terrorism agency, to inform him about Stane's plan.

Stane's engineer say that they cannot finish the suit, as they cannot copy Stark's Ark Reactor. As an alternative, Stane uses a Sonic Taser to paralyze Stark, and steal his Ark Reactor, and left him to die. However, Stark survives by using his original Ark Reactor. Pepper Potts and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents try to arrest Stane for his war crimes and terrorism of Afghanistan, but he equips his newly acquired suit and attacks them. An escaped Stark dons his newly made suit and attempts to battle Stane, but is outmatched without his new Ark Reactor to fully power his suit. To defeat him, Stark lures Stane to the top of Stark Tower, and instructs Pepper overload the large Ark Reactor. This unleashes an electrical surge that knocks Stane unconscious, causing him and his armor to fall into the exploding Ark Reactor, killing him. The S.H.I.E.L.D. provides Tony with a cover story to explain the events of the night, and Stane's death. At a press conference the night later, Stark begins telling the cover story, but then announces to the world that he is, in fact, Iron Man.

Later in Stark's house, Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. meets him in his living room and tells him that he's not the only hero in the world and asks him if he wants to join a team.

Continuity and References

 * Tony Stark/Iron Man is introduced
 * Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger is introduced
 * Pepper Potts is introduced
 * J.A.R.V.I.S. is introduced
 * James Rhodes is introduced
 * Happy Hogan is introduced
 * Nick Fury is introduced
 * Stark Industries is introduced
 * Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division is introduced
 * The Avengers are planned