4. Rhodey and Stark
Is it a coincidence that Tony Stark has a BFF who happens to be an older black man in James Rhodes? Yes, it's absolute coincidence and Shane Black couldn't help but parallel Rhodey and Stark against Murtaugh and Riggs. Stark and Rhodey don't spend much time together in any of the Iron Man films, but SPOILER ALERT... in Iron Man 3 when the duo were sneaking onto the oil tanker, I couldn't help but imagine RDJ and Don Cheadle as stand ins for Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. A part of me jumped in joy because this was the closest to a Lethal Weapon 5 we were going to get and their friendship was similar to Murtaugh and Riggs's bickering, old couple relationship. Like Murtaugh, Rhodes was portrayed as the serious type, who did everything by the book while Stark was a maverick much like Riggs. Even though Rhodey and Stark's relationship was established in the previous two films, Iron Man 3 portrayed how the two worked together side by side without the Iron Man suits. What resulted was a partnership incredibly reminiscent of Black's buddy cop duo; they exchanged quips, watched each others' backs, and enjoyed a good ol' fashioned shootout. Speaking of shootouts...