Reason 3: Geek Expectations
My serious misgivings about comic book movies years ago all centered on the idea that such films had no chance of being like the comics they were based on, and why should they be? How can you convince a comic book fan to shell out money to see a story they read recreated verbatim. My hope was that they would simply tell original film stories featuring our favorite heroes (Like, what if Superman was the star of Independence Day?). In reality some could say that Marvel and DC met me half way, but really they basically told me to go screw myself. What we got were a series of movies that played fast and loose with the source material across the spectrum of storytelling, to the absurd (lets give Superman a kid) to the slight difference (The Watchmen) in story. But what we should be able to establish from all of this is that any expectation that the film versions of our heroes are going to be exactly like their comic book counterparts should be non-existent. Yet, here we are dozens of films in and were still arguing about this same issue. The Iron Man franchise has accomplished what no other film franchise has done thus far. Provide a story that supports the source material in an acceptable manor for many comic fans and still provides a rewarding experience for the uninitiated. All while actually drumming up some interest in the original books, something that the X-Men franchise failed to do so colossally that it literally cost Bob Harras his job as editor of the X-Books. Which is pretty amazing when you consider that the Iron Man comics suck. Oh? You thought it wasnt going to go there? Look at it this way: Whats easier, taking a carefully crafted work that is beloved by everyone and making a movie under a microscope or adapting a pretty basic and inconsistent story that for decades at a time is marginally forgettable? Even the origin used in the films is from an updated version put in place to tell the Extremis storyline. Thats right: the movies have been laying the ground work to do Extremis since the first Iron Man, meaning that they chose to basically ignore the vast majority of the Iron Man saga and focus on the more recent events which in general dont include characters like The Mandarin. You should feel lucky that the stars aligned to bring together this group of people to complete this project. Remember that you almost got Tom Cruise to spearhead this effort and star as Iron Man nearly a decade before the first film, an issue that was still a possibility as late as 2006. Ill stop while you try to keep from convulsing at the mental image of Maverick rocking The Goatee yeah, now tell Jon Favreau youre sorry. To put a point on this issue, as film goers we are going to establish expectations, from the time the cast is announced, the script teased, the commercials are launched and even 30 minutes into the actual film, but we have to cast aside those expectations and let the ones making all the magic do so. Besides, Iron Man was only useful as a walking PSA about being a rich, booze hound. Aside from that, whats really all that awesome? The story actually did get interesting when Rhodey took a turn as Iron Man (sorry, film-goers, but in the comics Rhodey took a significant turn as the actual Iron Man - while Tony Stark worked on the fact that he had begun to really suck at it - long before becoming War Machine). At best Iron Man is a better use of Batmans resources. Batman sucks. I know that was a cheap shot but you walked right into it.
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