Why Iron Man Is The Greatest Superhero To Hit The Big Screen

Iron Man was a phenomenal success, and Iron Man 2 promises more of the same. What makes this franchise so damn good when super hero movies are such hit-and-miss affairs? The reason is simple. Iron Man is a super hero that grown ups can relate to. Here's a rundown:

1. Tony Stark is the man.

The problem with Clark Kent and Peter Parker are obvious. They are wishy washy. They are nerds and pathetic losers. Not Tony. Tony is a rock star. He is rich, narcissistic, and lives life to the full. The only other guy who comes close to being like Tony is Bruce Wayne who is rich but has a tendency to be gloomy. Plus, we suspect he may be a closet homo. Tony isn't like that. He always gets the girl.

2. Tony Stark has skills.

Tony uses his brain. He is smart, but he is also blue collar. He will get his hands dirty. He doesn't have superpowers, and he doesn't let the villains have all the smarts the way Superman does with Lex Luthor. Ultimately, Tony's power is in his brain and in his will to create. The suit of armor is just a tool. Anybody can be Iron Man.

3. Tony Stark is no angel.

Tony doesn't live squeaky clean like Clark and Peter. He has vices. He loves women, booze, and fast cars. The booze becomes a problem for him, and you can see why grown ups can relate. We all have our vices. For Tony, the battle is less with his enemies than it is with himself. Can he overcome his own flaws to win the battle?

4. Tony isn't a doormat for some chick who doesn't know he exists.

Both Clark Kent and Peter Parker desperately want to be noticed by the chick they have a secret crush on. With Tony Stark, it is the other way around. He is nailing chicks left and right while Pepper Potts wishes he knew she existed as something other than a glorified secretary and Girl Friday. Somewhere down the road, you know they are going to knock the boots. Until then, the sexual tension is palpable.

5. Tony Stark doesn't wear a stupid ass superhero costume.

There is a moment in every superhero movie when the superhero has to put on the costume for the first time, and where kids are thrilled, the grown ups just cringe. This is true of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and the rest. The people behind the Wolverine/X-Men franchise just never bothered to put the guy in the yellow spandex that he wears in the comic books. I don't care what your superpowers might be. Dressing up like an idiot is not cool.

Iron Man gets around this because there is no costume. There is only the armor which serves the function of being a shield and a weapon. You never get that cringe with Iron Man. We understand why he has to wear the armor. We will never understand why Batman dresses up as a bat.

6. The villains have believable motives.

Iron Man villains are not intent on world domination or on insane anarchy like in the Batman franchise. Basically, they want to make a buck and/or stay out of jail. Iron Man deals specifically with those things tied around the military-industrial complex. Iron Man is political. These villains already exist. They also have cool hardware like Tony.

So, what makes Iron Man the greatest superhero to hit the big screen? He is a superhero that adults can enjoy as much as the kids. That's it. Plus, unlike The Dark Knight, Iron Man is fun. You are going to leave feeling way better about the world than you did at the beginning.

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