Iron Man - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Iron Man or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Iron Man

[clayton]

(At around one hour and twenty minutes) Stark and Rhodes graduated from M.I.T. together. When Rhodes calls Iron Man, who is flying with the F-22s, a big gold ring is on the hand that he's using to hold the phone. This is MIT's class ring, the "brass rat".

[caroline]

During the final battle, there was originally going to be a sequence where Tony, in the Iron Man suit, drives an Audi R8 that would crash into Iron Monger's legs then flip over, after which Iron Man would split the car in half and jump out. However, the Audi R8 was so well-built, that it refused to flip, despite repeated crashes and the roof wouldn't split the way director Jon Favreau wanted it to, because the car's frame was so tough. As a result, the whole final fight sequence was re-written. The filmmakers were so impressed by the toughness of the car, that it was decided that the convertible version was to be featured in Iron Man 2 (2010).

[kristen]

Jon Favreau chose Industrial Light & Magic to provide the film's visual effects after watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Transformers (2007).

[tom]

Gwyneth Paltrow based her performance on 1940s heroines (who she claimed were sexy, witty, and innocent all at once).

[ivan]

An animatronic puppet of the Iron Monger was built for the film by Stan Winston Studios. It stood ten feet tall, and weighed eight hundred pounds, and was built on a set of gimbals, to simulate walking. It required five operators to run it.

[kyle]

Jon Favreau wanted Tony Stark and Pepper Potts' relationship to be like a 1940s comedy along the lines of His Girl Friday (1940).

[oscar]

For the first three Iron Man movies, director Jon Favreau thought of making the Iron Monger the main villain of the second film. Stane was going to be Stark's friend and confidante in the first film, but then would become his enemy in the second installment. However, Favreau was worried how to handle The Mandarin, who was to be the villain of the first film, so he decided to re-work the character into a behind-the-scenes presence, and make Iron Monger the first villain.

[linda]

(At around forty-nine minutes) During the Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer (2005) segment, the upper (NYSE) and lower (NASDAQ) tickers are filled with quotes of fictional companies named after various Mad Money production staff such as George Manessis (Segment Producer) and Regina Gilgan (Executive Producer).

[francisco]

An early draft of the script (before Marvel Studios was making its own movies) would've kept Howard Stark alive, and had him adopt the War Machine identity as the film's antagonist.

[camila]

An early draft of the script had the Mandarin appear in the film, re-imagined as an Indonesian terrorist.

[ken]

When Colonel Rhodes hands Tony the award, it is either a goof, since Tony doesn't like to be handed things directly, or it indicates that Tony trusts him like Pepper or Happy, since his anxiety/phobia didn't take place.

[janice]

Jeff Bridges, hearing that Obadiah was a Biblical name, researched the Book of Obadiah in the Bible, and was surprised to learn that a major theme in that particular book is retribution, which Obadiah Stane represents. However, the name "Obadiah" means "servant and worshiper of the Lord", which Stane obviously isn't.

[wallace]

To prepare for his role as Obadiah Stane, Jeff Bridges read some of the "Iron Man" comic books that featured Stane. He also grew a beard and shaved his head, which he said was something he'd always wanted to do.

[kristen]

In The Big Lebowski (1998), Jeff Bridges has a dream where he is flying through the night skies of Los Angeles, only to be weighed down by a huge weight that crashes him to the ground. This is almost identical to Jeff Bridges as Obadiah flying up in the Los Angeles sky and crashing down when his armor freezes.

[bessie]

In the comics, Tony Stark participated (and became Iron Man) in the Vietnam War. Later, this was changed to the Gulf War. In this film, the character's origin was changed to Afghanistan, as director Jon Favreau did not wish to make the film a period piece, but instead give it a realistic contemporary look.

[tammy]

In the Tony Stark tribute that opens the film, the man identified as Howard Stark is played by Gerard Sanders. That makes this film the only one in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where Howard Stark isn't played by either John Slattery or Dominic Cooper.

[janice]

There are about five sets of armor in the film, all inspired from the "Iron Man" comics: Mark I armor, Stark's first suit, is a simple suit constructed of iron. Mark II armor is a silver suit, the prototype Stark develops (this can also be counted as the War Machine armor, as Rhodes looks speculatively at it). Mark III armor is the final red and gold armor. J.A.R.V.I.S. first presents the Mark III armor in full gold, the look pays tribute to the all-gold "Golden Avenger" armor Iron Man wore early in his career. J.A.R.V.I.S. later presents the armor in silver and red, making it look almost identical to Iron Man's "Silver Centurion" armor that he wore in the 1980s.

[riley]

Rhodey's ringtone is the Iron Man theme from the 1960s cartoon TV show.

[tom]

In an interview with Britain's Empire Magazine, Robert Downey, Jr. thanked Burger King for helping him get straight in 2003, with a car full of drugs. He had a burger that was so disgusting, it made him rethink his life, and dump the drugs in the ocean. He repeats this, with his impromptu sit-down session with the press, upon his return from captivity. Burger King also promoted the film with toys based on this movie, as well as the sequel.