"Secret life" of Tony Stark?

New clue for Iron Man 2 hints towards a Demon in the Bottle style, alcoholic Tony Stark sub-plot?

My guess is that the "hidden clue" from Iron Man 2 in this officially released Marvel/Paramount image of the 07.05.10 released film, is a storyline hint towards the alcoholism that has gripped Tony Stark's life ever since he decided to take on the mantle of his superhero alter-ego, and especially the pressures of going public with his identity at the end of the last movie. Secret life highlighted in yellow - arrow pointing towards a darkened silhouette of Robert Downey Jr. as Stark looking all distressed - yup, it's gotta be the drink.

secretsmallJust what else could it be hinting towards? I loved the way Iron Man ended way back in April 08. The normal practice for the superhero genre is that the hero must keep their real identity secret at all costs but with Stark being so boastful that he was indeed the man who lives a double life moonlighting as a costumed avenger, we can now explore exactly what happens when a superhero is compromised. We will finally see why it would be such a terrible thing if Lex Luthor ever found out that Clark Kent was really Superman, or if The Joker ever knew that Bruce Wayne was Batman. The pressures of public interference, the pressures of your loved ones always being the object of any heinous villain plans... well it would drive you to the bottle, wouldn't it? A classic Tony Stark image from Demon in a Bottle, a significant story arc in Iron Man's comic book history. His excessive drinking is now his secret life, as any privacy he might have once had has gone for good now. He can never go back to just being Tony Stark. Whilst we are on the topic of Iron Man 2, Marvel have also released another one-sheet to go along with the previous two we have been granted. Still not overly keen on the Mad Max look of Mickey Rourke's Whiplashin this movie but you can damn well bet I'm excited as hell to see what he's gonna do with those electric weapons of his! whiplashposter Trailer in the coming weeks with Sherlock Holmes.
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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.