Iron Man

Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by the writing teams of Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, and Shaun Toub.

In the film, following his escape from captivity by a terrorist group, world-famous industrialist and master engineer Tony Stark builds a mechanized suit of armor and becomes the superhero Iron Man.

A film featuring the character was in development at Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema at various times since 1990, before Marvel Studios reacquired the rights in 2005.

Marvel put the project in production as its first self-financed film, with Paramount Pictures distributing.

Favreau signed on as director in April 2006, and faced opposition from Marvel when trying to cast Downey in the title role; the actor was signed in September.

Filming took place from March to June 2007, primarily in California to differentiate the film from numerous other superhero stories that are set in New York City-esque environments.

During filming, the actors were free to create their own dialogue because pre-production was focused on the story and action.

Rubber and metal versions of the armor, created by Stan Winston’s company, were mixed with computer-generated imagery to create the title character.

Iron Man premiered in Sydney on April 14, 2008, and was released in the United States on May 2, being the first film in Phase One of the MCU. It grossed over $585 million, becoming the eighth-highest grossing film of 2008.

The film received praise from critics, especially for Downey’s performance, as well as Favreau’s direction, visual effects, action sequences, and writing.

It was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of 2008 and received two nominations at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Two sequels have been released: Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).

After the demonstration, his convoy is ambushed and Stark is critically wounded by a missile used by the attackers—one of his company’s own. He is captured and imprisoned in a cave by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings.

Yinsen, a fellow captive and doctor, implants an electromagnet into Stark’s chest to keep the shrapnel shards that wounded him from reaching his heart and killing him.

Ten Rings leader Raza offers Stark freedom in exchange for building a Jericho missile for the group, but he and Yinsen believe that Raza will not keep his word.

Stark and Yinsen secretly build a small, powerful electric generator called an arc reactor to power Stark’s electromagnet and a prototype suit of powered armor to aid in their escape.

Although they keep the suit hidden almost to completion, the Ten Rings discover their hostages’ intentions and attack the workshop. Yinsen sacrifices himself to divert them while the suit powers up.

The armored Stark battles his way out of the cave to find the dying Yinsen, then burns the Ten Rings’ weapons and flies away, crashing in the desert and destroying the suit.

After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home and announces that his company will cease manufacturing weapons.

Obadiah Stane, his father’s old partner and the company’s manager, advises Stark that this may bankrupt Stark Industries and ruin his father’s legacy.

In his home workshop, Stark builds a sleeker, more powerful version of his improvised armor suit as well as a more powerful arc reactor for it and his chest. Personal assistant Pepper Potts places the original reactor inside a small glass showcase.

Though Stane requests details, a suspicious Stark decides to keep his work to himself.

At a charity event held by Stark Industries, reporter Christine Everhart informs Stark that his company’s weapons were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Yinsen’s home village, Gulmira.

Stark dons his new armor and flies to Afghanistan, where he saves the villagers. While flying home, Stark is intercepted by F-22 Raptors. He reveals his secret identity to Rhodes over the phone in an attempt to end the attack.

Meanwhile, the Ten Rings gather the pieces of Stark’s prototype suit and meet with Stane, who has been trafficking arms to the Ten Rings and has staged a coup to replace Stark as Stark Industries’ CEO by hiring the Ten Rings to kill him.

He subdues Raza and has him and the rest of the group killed. Stane has a massive new suit reverse-engineered from the wreckage. Seeking to track his company’s illegal shipments, Stark sends Potts to hack into its database.

She discovers that Stane hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark, but the group reneged when they realized they had a direct route to Stark’s weapons. Potts meets with Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D.

, an intelligence agency, to inform him of Stane’s activities. Stane’s scientists cannot duplicate Stark’s miniaturized arc reactor, so Stane ambushes Stark at his home and steals the one from his chest.

Stark manages to replace it with his original reactor. Potts and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempt to arrest Stane, but he dons his suit and attacks them.

Stark fights Stane but is outmatched without his new reactor to run his suit at full capacity.

The fight carries Stark and Stane to the top of the Stark Industries building, where Stark instructs Potts to overload the large arc reactor powering the building.

This unleashes a massive electrical surge that causes Stane and his armor to fall into the exploding reactor, killing him. The next day, at a press conference, Stark publicly admits to being the superhero the press has dubbed “Iron Man”.

In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury visits Stark at home, telling him that Iron Man is not “the only superhero in the world”, and that he wants to discuss the “Avenger Initiative”.