Iron Man kicked off the current Marvel Cinematic Universe with a bang. I remember really enjoying this movie and was looking forward to a rewatch after all these years.

Wow, how the times have changed. Or maybe I have changed?

The rich white male genius/asshole/narcissist character is irritating and cringeworthy. Perhaps it’s all the years I’ve worked in tech where asshole CEOs are revered and get away with creating damaging, toxic environments. Maybe it’s four years of the former president and so many members of his party. It could be that Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, etc sit atop billions while busting unions and not giving a shit about their impact on people or the environment. It’s probably all of those things and more.

Bigheaded billionaire

In a current-day viewing, Tony Stark is an unlikeable, cocky, and arrogant character. He’s someone who avoided seeing the carnage he created and certainly avoided accountability for it. When he finally experiences the impact firsthand, his reaction is to create yet another weapon. He builds the iron man suit. Then he uses the suit to make himself a savior against the shit he created. He’s not charming and heroic. It’s unclear what lesson he really learned. He just seems to be fulfilling his god complex in another way.

Beyond that, it doesn’t make sense that Obadiah Stane orchestrated the attack on Tony. Tony was out there playboying his life away not giving a single fuck. Going home rolling around with babes in his cash money. Tony’s crisis of conscience only occurred because of Obadiah. What did Obadiah want that he wasn’t already getting? Why did he need to try to kill Tony? Maybe he just needed MOAR? Anyway…

Energy switch

All this big dick energy is particularly jarring when watching the MCU in timeline order. Iron Man comes right after Captain Marvel. A movie that is very much about the energy of women and women’s empowerment. The universe in Captain Marvel seems so huge and connected. Then we jump to Iron Man which has a very narrow lens and seems to be a largely individual story.

Overall, this was a hard switch in tone to make. The cocky male energy doesn’t feel attractive, charismatic, or heroic. However, I know where Tony ends up, so I’m looking forward to how he evolves to become more multi-dimensional in the later movies.

Also, I forgot that Terrence Howard was the original Rhodey.

The throughline

At the end of Iron Man, Nick Fury, now Director of SHIELD, pops up to talk to Tony about the Avengers Initiative. This is the beginning of the broader assembly of Avengers and provides the connection to SHIELD from Captain America and the Avengers Initiative Fury put together in Captain Marvel.

For more of my Marvel reviews, click here.