Iron Man Has the Mettle to Be a Great Comic Book Movie Franchise

You can never be too sure what you are going to end up with when you have one of those comic book superhero movies. For every "Superman" or "Spider-Man 2" there is a "Ghost Rider" or "Fantastic Four." When you get into the some of the lesser known comic book superheroes like Daredevil, Ghost Rider or the Punisher, you really end up in the land of hit and miss. One of those lesser known heroes has always been Iron Man and his movie has been in development for years, attached to many actors and directors. Now, however, Iron Man finally comes to the big screen, directed by John Favreau and starring Robert Downey, Jr. I am very happy to say, the movie is excellent.

Iron Man has always been a hero admired and popular among those of us who consider ouselves comic book geeks with pride. Not only has he had his own comic for a long time, he is also a founding member of the Avengers. He has also been really the most human of the Marvel superheroes. That's because beneath the armor that makes him one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, he is all-too-human inventor and multi-billionaire Tony Stark. Stark has always been a deeply flawed individual and was even one of the first superheroes to deal with a drinking problem. Yes, Iron Man is a recovering alcoholic.

The movie takes the origin story and really follows the story of Iron Man more closely than just about any other superhero movie yet made. Even Spider-Man changed things (such as making those web-shooters part of Peter Parker's body) from the comic book. The only thing the movie "Iron Man" does is update things a bit. You see, when Iron Man came into the comics world it was in the middle of the 60s and his origin too place in Viet Nam and the thing that was all fancy and new and Tony Stark was on the cutting edge of was transistor technology. Needless to say, transistors seem rather quaint today and having Tony Stark in Viet Nam would make him a little too old to be relatable in a modern film. So, the origin takes place in Afghanistan and the technology is much more futuristic.