Iron Man 2 - more connected to the Captain America movies than you'd think

 

 

My suggestion for what to watch as a marathon leadup to Winter Soldier.
1. Captain America: The First Avenger.
2. Iron Man 2
3. The Avengers

Wait... what? Iron Man 2??
Yup. At first I was like sure why not, but the more I thought about it the more connections I saw.

* It's the first appearance of Black Widow and it's substantial, not just a cameo like Hawkeye was in Thor.
* the Stark Expo appears in both the first Captain America and features heavily in IM2.
* both heroes in Winter Soldier and IM2 have African American partners that have flying robot suits. (just sayin')

* Both Winter Soldier and IM2 have that weasel Senator Stern (love to hate him)
* IM2 has an easter egg with the prototype for a Captain America Shield.
* Captain America 1 has a young Howard Stark (Tony Stark's dad) from the 40s. IM2 gives a continuance with footage of Howard from the 70s and he's an important part of Tony's character journey throughout. We also get told Howard was a founding member of Shield. And in Winter Soldier... we discover his fate.
* Iron Man is referenced in Winter Soldier a numerous times.
* The cosmic cube in Captain America 1 is the source of Iron Man's arc reactor power. You'll notice the Hydra weapons in Cap1 have the same sound effect as Iron Man's repulsor rays because they use the same power source.
* Both Captain America 1 and IM2 have a cheesy old fashioned tune in their credits.
* Lots of Shield/Nick Fury/BlackWidow stuff in Iron Man 2, which isn't present in any of the other Marvel films other than The Avengers. Winter Soldier features them heavily.
* Winter Soldier will make you see the motivation of a certain character in Iron Man 2 quite differently. (All the twists ever)

 

I've put this all in a handy and much easier to follow table below (I suggest viewing in desktop view). Enjoy, and if you have any more connections I'd like to hear it.
 

*SPOILERS FOLLOW*



 

connections	Captain America: The First Avenger	Iron Man 2	Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Howard Stark	Young Howard is introduced and becomes a founder of SHIELD.	Howard Stark's relationship with his son Tony is explored.	Howard Stark's fate is revealed.
Black Widow & Nick Fury		Black Widow is first introduced and along with Nick Fury has a fair amount of screen time.	Black Widow co-stars alongside Captain America for the majority of the film and Nick Fury is important.
The Stark Expo	Steve Rogers goes to the Stark Expo along with Bucky and it's where we meet Howard Stark for the first time.	The movie is about legacy and The Stark Expo bookends the film, featuring at the start and the finale.
African American Sidekicks		Rhodes is War Machine and is both an African American friend and capable combatant who can fly.	Falcon is also an African American friend and capable combatant who can fly.
Themes	Rebirth. Sacrifice. Selflessness. Propoganda.	Rebirth and Redemption. The past coming back to haunt you.	Redemption. The past coming back to haunt you. Adaptation.
Senator Stern		An antagonist seeking to acquire the Iron Man suit technology, he claims for American military application.	Revealed to be a member of Hydra, changing his motivation for wanting the suit in Iron Man 2.
Captain America's Shield	First made by Howard Stark out of Vibranium. There were many unused prototypes.	One of Howard's prototype Cap Shields is used by Tony to prop up a metal tube.	The vibranium shield was dropped into the river. Its status is unknown.
Cosmic Cube energy	The cube's energy was used to power Hydra's weapons. The cube was then found by Howard Stark who used it to make the arc reactor.	The arc reactor is the source for Iron Man's suit power. The sound of his repulsor rays is the same sound as the Hydra weapons.	Arc reactor energy is used to make the helicarriers stay in flight indefinitely.
Iron Man		Duh	Numerous mentions the hellicarriers the birthday party Nick Fury's car Maria Hill interviewing for a job at Stark Industries. Mentioned as a threat to Hydra.
Cheesy song in credits	Star Spangled Man With A Plan	old Stark Expo tune
Old friends turn on each other		Tony Stark and Rhodes	Steve Rogers and Bucky

All in all I'm glad there are so many connections in these movies. Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 kinda left me flat in cohesive storytelling, let alone connection to the rest of the Marvel mythos. Winter Soldier is the first of Phase 2 movies to have real impact and connection. Iron Man 2 back when it came out was said to have too much connection and that it detracted from Stark's story. Personally I enjoyed that aspect and didn't feel it was overbearing. It's worth watching Iron Man 2 just for the hilarious Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and the serious and underutilised portrayal of Whiplash by Mickey Rourke. Rediscover it and enjoy these flicks as a nice quadrilogy. You don't even need Iron Man 1 as you've probably seen it so many times it's thoroughly imbedded into your psyche. Hope you've found this informative and entertaining.

Seems someone else has picked up on this as well!

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