10 Awesome Comic Book Movie Moments When Characters Received Power-Ups

4. Iron Man

Tony Stark is powerless without his Iron Man costume, but the costume itself has been powered up by outside forces; in The Avengers he is attacked by Thor, summoning a lightning strike on the billionaire hero, which then gives Stark a 400% boost in power. This boost enables him to launch a tremendously strong counter offensive at the Nordic god, helping to give the mortal human a chance against an otherwise unstoppable sparring partner. Stark€™s power-up fundamentally altered the dynamic of the scene; he went from potentially losing to Thor to being a least an equal with the Asgardian deity. This is the sort of power-up that has become synonymous with the comic book movie genre; the hero is in trouble and faces defeat, when all of a sudden, he is given an inexplicable boost that enables him to overcome whatever obstacle is standing in their way. Although this sounds like it is becoming mundane and predictable within the genre, it is something that is constantly fresh and exciting as new means are found to endow the hero with new and innovative boosts. The scene provided a sense of inner conflict and competitiveness between the ramshackle group of heroes who would become the Avengers. Iron Man€™s dominance was thus secured in some respects as he managed to show that Thor was not an all powerful god who could simply vanquish Loki to another realm. In showing Thor€™s vulnerability and fallibility Iron Man€™s power-up gave The Avengers a sense of necessity that would otherwise have been missing.