Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to Iron Man (2008) and the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Justin Theroux, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Stark rejects government demands to share his Iron Man suit technology, which is slowly killing him. Russian scientist Ivan Vanko (Rourke) creates his own version and plots revenge against the Stark family.
Development on a sequel to Iron Man began in May 2008 after the success of the first film. In July, Theroux was hired to write the script and Favreau was signed to return as director. Downey, Paltrow, and Jackson were set to reprise their roles from Iron Man, while Cheadle was brought in to replace Terrence Howard in the role of James Rhodes. In early 2009, Rourke, Rockwell, and Johansson filled out the supporting cast. Filming took place from April to July 2009, mostly in California as with the first film. A key sequence was filmed in Monaco. Unlike its predecessor, which mixed digital and practical effects, the sequel primarily relied on computer-generated imagery to create the Iron Man suits.
Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on April 26, 2010, and was released in the United States on May 7 as part of Phase One of the MCU. Critics praised Downey's performance but deemed the sequel to be inferior to the first film. It grossed over $623 million, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2010, and was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 83rd Academy Awards among other accolades. A sequel, Iron Man 3, was released in 2013.
Plot
In Russia, the media covers Tony Stark's disclosure of his identity as Iron Man. Ivan Vanko, mourning the death of his father Anton Vanko—a former Stark Industries employee, sees this and builds the same miniature arc reactor as Stark's using old Stark Industries blueprints left behind by Anton.
Six months later, Tony wants to continue the legacy of his father Howard, and re-institutes the Stark Expo in New York City's Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. He also resists pressure to turn over his armored suits to the government and Stark's rival, Justin Hammer. However, Stark learns that the palladium core in the arc reactor that keeps him alive and powers the armor is slowly poisoning him, and he is unable to find a substitute. Growing increasingly despondent about his impending death, and refusing to tell anyone about his condition, Stark appoints his assistant Pepper Potts as CEO of Stark Industries and promotes Stark employee "Natalie Rushman" to replace her as his assistant.
Stark competes in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, where he is attacked in the middle of the race by Vanko, who wields electrified whips powered by his arc reactor. Stark dons his armor and defeats Vanko, but the armor is severely damaged. Vanko explains that he intended to prove to the world that Iron Man is not invincible. Impressed by Vanko's performance, Hammer fakes Vanko's death while breaking him out of prison and asks him to build a line of armored suits to upstage Stark. Vanko decides that unmanned drones are better to eliminate the human factor.
During his birthday party, Stark gets drunk while wearing the Iron Man suit. Annoyed by Tony's recklessness, Stark's best friend, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, dons Stark's prototype armor and tries to restrain him. The fight ends in a stalemate, and Rhodes confiscates the prototype armor for the U.S. Air Force. Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Stark. Fury reveals that "Rushman" is S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff and that Fury personally knew Howard Stark, who was a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury explains that Vanko's father and Howard invented the arc reactor together, but Howard had Anton deported when the latter tried to sell it. The Soviets then sent Anton to the Gulag. Fury gives Stark some of his father's old material. In a diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo, Stark finds a diagram of the atomic structure of a new element. With the aid of his A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark determines it can replace his arc reactor's current palladium core, and successfully synthesizes it.
When Stark learns that Vanko is still alive, he goes to Hammer's exhibition at the expo. The armored drones are unveiled, with Rhodes – in a heavily weaponized version of the prototype armor, dubbed "War Machine" – as their leader. Just as Stark arrives to warn Rhodes, Vanko takes remote control of all the drones and Rhodes's armor and attacks Stark. Hammer is arrested for breaking Vanko out of prison while Romanoff and Stark's bodyguard Happy Hogan infiltrate Hammer's factory. Vanko escapes, but Romanoff gains access to Hammer Industries software and returns control of Rhodes's armor to him. Together, Stark and Rhodes defeat Vanko, who dies by suicide via blowing up his suit and the drones.
At a debriefing, Fury informs Stark that because of his difficult personality, S.H.I.E.L.D. intends to use him only as a consultant moving forward. Stark and Rhodes receive medals for their heroism. In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson discovers a large hammer in New Mexico.
Cast
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man: A billionaire who escaped captivity in Afghanistan with a suit of armor he created, he now struggles to keep his technology out of the government's hands. Downey and Favreau, who had been handed a script and worked from it on the first movie, conceived part of the film's story themselves. On Stark being a hero, Downey said, "It's kind of heroic, but really kind of on his own behalf. So I think there's probably a bit of an imposter complex and no sooner has he said, 'I am Iron Man–' that he's now really wondering what that means. If you have all this cushion like he does and the public is on your side and you have immense wealth and power, I think he's way too insulated to be okay." Downey put on 20 pounds of muscle to reprise the role. Six-year-old Davin Ransom portrays Tony Stark as a child. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts: Stark's closest friend, budding love interest, and business partner; Pepper is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. On her character's promotion, Paltrow opined, "When we start Iron Man 2 Pepper and Tony are very much in the same vibe... as the movie progresses, Pepper is given more responsibility and she's promoted and it's nice to see her sort of grow up in that way. I think it really suits her, the job fits her really well." Paltrow expressed excitement about working with Johansson. Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine: An officer in the U.S. Air Force and Tony Stark's close personal friend who later operates the War Machine armor. Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard from the first film. Cheadle had only a few hours to accept the role and did not even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo. He commented that he is a comic book fan, but had not previously participated in comics-themed films due to the scarcity of black superheroes. Cheadle said he thought Iron Man was a robot before the first film came out. On how he approached his character, Cheadle stated, "I go, what's the common denominator here? And the common denominator was really his friendship with Tony, and that's what we really tried to track in this one. How is their friendship impacted once Tony comes out and owns 'I am Iron Man'?". Cheadle said his suit was of metal, and that he could not touch his face while wearing it. Cheadle signed a six-picture deal. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow: An undercover spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. posing as Stark's new assistant. Johansson dyed her hair red before she landed the part, hoping that it would help convince Favreau that she was right for the role. On why she chose the role, Johansson said, "the Black Widow character resonated with me... [She] is a superhero, but she's also human. She's small, but she's strong... She is dark and has faced death so many times that she has a deep perspective on the value of life... It's hard not to admire her." She stated that she had "a bit of a freak-out moment" when she first saw the cat-suit and worked closely with the stunt team to learn how to fight in it in order to "sell it". During promotion for Black Widow (2021), Johansson said the character was hyper-sexualized in Iron Man 2, specifically referring to dialogue that described her as "a piece of something, like a possession", but at the time she felt this was "like a compliment". Though she was grateful to have been a part of the film, she was more grateful that the character's portrayal had evolved to convey a more positive message by the time of Black Widow. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer: A rival weapons manufacturer. Sam Rockwell was considered for the role of Tony Stark in the first film, and he accepted the role of Hammer without reading the script. He had never heard of the character before he was contacted about the part, and was unaware Hammer is an old Englishman in the comics. Rockwell said, "I worked with Jon Favreau on this film called Made (2001). And Justin Theroux, who wrote the script, is an old friend of mine, they sort of cooked up this idea and pitched it to Kevin Feige. What they did, they were maybe going to do one villain like they did with Jeff Bridges, but then they decided to split the villains. And really Mickey [Rourke] is the main [villain], but I come to his aid." Rockwell described his character as "plucky comic relief, but he's got a little bit of an edge". Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko / Whiplash: A Russian physicist and ex-convict who builds a pair of arc reactor-based electric whips to exact vengeance on the Stark family. The character is an amalgamation of Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. Rourke visited Butyrka prison to research the role, and he suggested that half of the character's dialogue be in Russian. He also suggested the addition of tattoos, gold teeth and a fondness for a pet cockatoo, paying for the teeth and bird with his own money. One of Rourke's tattoos read "Loki", the name of one of his dogs that had died prior to filming, which Feige requested be digitally removed as it felt it would lead to confusion regarding the comics character Loki, who was set to appear in Thor (2011). Rourke explained that he did not want to play a "one-dimensional bad guy", and wanted to challenge the audience to see something redeemable in him. Not knowing anything about computers, Rourke described pretending to be tech-savvy as the hardest part of the role. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Jackson signed a nine-film contract to play the character. On the subject of his character not seeing any action in the film, Jackson said, "We still haven't moved Nick Fury into the bad-ass zone. He's still just kind of a talker."