Though Iron Man 2 is often cited as one of the weakest entries in the MCU I think as part of the whole it works brilliantly. The movie introduces new characters, sets up things to come and also shows Tony at his most vulnerable point. After binge-watching the MCU I definitely think that the film improves in several ways and hopefully, this shines it in a new light for you.
Throughout this post we’ll be going through some of the easter eggs in the film that wouldn’t pay off until much later in the franchise, the hidden symbolism and some of the things that most people miss when watching it. This isn’t every single easter egg but there’s a lot on here that I haven’t seen mentioned in other videos so I hope you enjoy it.
There will be Heavy Spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to watch all 23 films in the Infinity Saga then I highly recommend that you click away now.
Iron Man 2 Villains
Before we go into the details I just wanna talk about the villains of the piece. Iron Man 2 is often criticised for having lacklustre antagonists but both not only serve the plot in several ways, they also reflect aspects of Tony’s personality.
Justin Hammer is basically a self-obsessed businessman who tries to use his charm and charisma to further his career. He’s a womanising scoundrel and don’t ya just bloody love him. He is attempting to build his own version of the Iron Man suit and he attempts to emulate Tony in several ways to his own detriment. Unlike Tony, he is unwilling to put himself in the firing line and whereas Tony spends hours in his workshop innovating new designs and technology, Hammer simply steals from others.
No more is this shown in the line by Hammer when he meets Vanko and the two discuss their plans. Hammer orders some food and says that he likes to eat his dessert first. If you’ve checked out our Get Out breakdown then you’ll know that food in films is often chosen for characters specifically. In Get Out Rose ate cereal separate from milk showing that she didn’t like colours mixing with white symbols.
Here, Hammer’s choice to eat the dessert first shows that he wants instant gratification and pleasure without having to work for it. He’s basically the arrogant side of Tony without the talent to back it up. However, that doesn’t mean that Tony is perfect and Hammer, similar to Killian in Iron Man 3 did initially want to work with Tony but he brushed him to the side and ultimately created a rivalry.
Vanko is a genius who was reduced to almost nothing and similar to Tony in Iron Man one used his skills to come back and was able to build something new. However, vengeance overtook him and thus he succumbed to it.
Another common misconception that I’ve seen centred around both Iron Man and Spider-man is that their villains in the MCU have been caused by Tony. This is more often leveled at Peter who tends to deal with the repercussions of Tony’s actions, case in point, The Vulture and Mysterio.
However, in this film we learn that Tony actually inherited his initial two villains similar to how Spider-man did. Both Stane and Vanko were created by Howard Stark and then Tony had to deal with the sins of the father. Tony is a father figure to Peter and thus this repetition of him inheriting his initial two villains is a nice carryover.
Similarities Between Tony and Thanos
One thing I didn’t really notice until this rewatch either is how much Thanos and Tony actually mirror one another. Both are heavily concerned with resources and sustaining life in the long run. Tony wishes to use the arc reactor to do this in the film in order to make clean and sustainable energy for the planet. We see this journey through the MCU to the point that he believes he is saving the planet through creating Ultron. Ultron ultimately ends up dooming Earth and this is similar to how Thanos believed that he was saving the universe by carrying out the snap but as we learned from Endgame it had left all life in a state of despair.
So both had good intentions but they ultimately ended up going the wrong way about it, however, Tony was able to come back and do the right thing whereas Thanos was not. In Iron Man 1 Tony states that the best weapon is the weapon that you only have to fire once and that is of course what Thanos does when completing the snap.
Stark also has a weapon that we learn he can only fire once which is a laser beam that takes out all of the drones. This laser is also used only once in Civil War when Tony is fighting against Bucky and Cap and in Endgame in the final battle.
There’s also an incredible line in the film uttered by Vanko who after fighting Tony at the grand prix states “If you can make God bleed, people will cease to believe in him”.
Thanos was thought to be Godlike in Infinity War and almost unbeatable. Loki at one point even said that he would never become one but after his journey of completing six tasks and resting on the metaphorical seventh it became clear that he was.
However, in Infinity War Tony was able to make Thanos bleed and he even acknowledged it by saying ‘all that for a drop of blood.’
If you’ve seen Zack Snyder’s 300 then you’ll know the film ends in a certain way and similar to that, this shows that it is possible to beat Thanos because if you can make God bleed, people will cease to believe in him.
Iron Man and Spider-Man
The film opens in the wake of the Iron Man press conference. Not long after this Tony met Nick Fury in his home. He uttered the line ‘you’ve become part of a bigger universe you just don’t know it yet’ and this was mirrored in his meeting with Spider-man in Far From Home in which he told him that he was part of a multiverse. So initially he told the hero he was part of a bigger universe and in that film he told the hero he was part of multiple universes.
Tony and Peter are the only Marvel characters to get two films in the same phase as well, cementing that Spider-man will indeed be taking over the reins of the franchise going forward.
Sorry I missed that off the last video and just had to get it in.
Fathers
Vanko watches the Stark press conference on TV and his father passes away. Angered by the treachery of the Starks who left his family to die in poverty, he begins to build. Shoutouts to Jarrett Hamilton who on my last Iron Man video pointed out that this scene echoes the cave scene from the first film. Vanko hammers away and creates his own version of the suit using arc reactor technology which we learn his father co-created with Howard Stark.
There’s also a shot of bread and butter over a blueprint, perhaps symbolising that they wished made their bread and butter through the arc reactor. We learn that after Howard learned Vankos father only wanted the reactor as a means to get rich he had him deported. So this bread and butter could be a link to that. Bit of a reach but you know.
We are also introduced to Vanko’s Bird, best bird in the MCU, do not @ me Falcon.
Stark Expo
Cut to Tony about to drop in on the Stark Expo and we hear Shoot To Thrill by AC/DC. In Iron Man One we were introduced to Stark through Back in Black by the band and this is a nice progression for the character.
I also don’t know if this is intentional but the dancers surrounding a hero and almost parading them reminds me a lot of Star Spangled Man from the first Captain America movie.
We learn that Tony has palladium poisoning. This is due to the arc reactor in his chest but it could also have been pushed into overdrive due to Pepper releasing Palladium gas in Iron Man in order to destroy the reactor.
We see a presentation by Howard Stark which is meant to resemble the Epcot presentation by Walt Disney.
Senate Hearing and Meeting Hammer
Tony is called to go to the senate hearing which is led by Senator Stern. We learn that he is a Hydra agent in The Winter Soldier. We also meet Justin Hammer states that Tony has created a sword that he says is a shield. This could be a reference to Captain America who primarily uses a shield but it could also be a nod to the Marvel groups Sword and Shield from the comics.
Tony hijacks the video feed and plays a Hammer demonstration in which someone gets twisted in a suit and yikes, that looks like it hurt.
In Doctor Strange, Strange turns down a case for a 35 year old air force colonel who severly damaged his spine in experimental armor. Though this was often thought to be Rhodey, it was denied by Marvel so it is possible that it’s the person we see in this footage.
We can also see on Tony’s phone an app for the Illuminati which is a superhero group in Marvel comics.
Tony also throws up a peace sign which shows how far he has come from the first film. In that, he made fun of someone throwing up one in the Funvee and then upon exiting the cave he threw one up to signal a helicopter overhead. Peace reappears here and in Age of Ultron when he says he wants peace in our time. It’s also what he says to Cap when trying to bridge the gap with cap.
Building Iron Man Suits
We then cut to the workshop and see the versions of the Iron-Man suits. We can actually see above the Mark 1 that it’s a reconstruction and this is how he has it in the workshop after it was pretty badly destroyed in the first film.
Tony also hangs up an Iron Man picture which is a play on the Obama image. We see this being sold at the end of Avengers.
He appoints Pepper CEO and she asks if he’s been drinking to which he replies Chlorophyll. This is actually to counteract his palladium poisoning and the effects it has on his body.
When telling her this he says he tried to figure out a worthy successor and then drops the line ‘it’s you, it’s always been you.’
This line would reappear in Endgame when he records a farewell message to Pepper after believing that his time was up.
We also see a hint of the Iron Man suit case in this scene too. It’s nicknamed the football which is a reference to the presidential briefcase that has the launch code for nuclear weapons.
Vanko meets with a member of the Ten Rings who as we know were the villains from the first film and are led by the Mandarin.
Happy Hogan practices boxing with Tony and this is a call back to his origin story in which he was a boxer.
Stark looks up Natasha or rather Natalies Resume and we can see that she has Hammer industries on it which could show that she was also trying to infiltrate his company.
Vanko Attack in Monaco
In Monaco, they meet Elon Musk who says he has an idea for an electric jet. In the next scene we see Tony has already invented this and that he has beaten him to the punch. Should’ve invented a better name for his daughter, AMMA RIGHT.
Christine Everheart from Iron Man shows up and we learn she’s doing a big spread on Justin and that she did a big spread on Tony in the first movie.
A photographer also takes a picture which appears in the Avengers in Stark tower.
Vanko shows up and Tony gets the suit. I didn’t notice this but a keen Redditor spotted that the suitcase has a foothold on the other side showing Tony could deploy it either way.
Vanko attacks Stark’s suit with electricity and this causes a lot of problems with it. In these videos we always talk about how Tony learns from his mistakes and in order to combat this he clearly put measures in place to absorb this in the future. This is how when Thor attacks him in The Avengers it overpowers the suit instead of completely wrecking it.
They also use this as a way to attack Thanos in Avengers Endgame.
Vanko and Hammer Team Up
Tony beats Vanko, he drops the god line, is saved by Hammer and taken to meet him. This actually happens in Elon Musks Space X facility. Should’ve called his daughter SPACE X ammaright.
Hammer also refers to himself as a Benefactor and this is why many people believe he may be the mysterious figure operating behind the scenes in Ant-man and The Wasp.
Also yeah, give the man his bird yeah…guy just wants his vurd.
He begins building drones for hammer and utters the line Drone better. Though Tony didn’t initially do this, in Iron Man 3 we see that he has also enabled his suits to have drone capabilities.
War Machine Tries to Stop Tony
At Tony’s party stuff goes down and War Machine tries to take Tony’s suit from him. The fight goes through the ceiling and we actually see Natasha almost blow her cover as she adopts a martial arts stance when this happens. This shows she is ready for a fight in such a scenario.
They cross the streams which of course plays into how they defeat Vanko at the end.
Rhodey flies to an Air Force base and we also see the soldier from the first film, remember him, he’s called Allen, anway he’s back to meet with the character.
Tony meets with Nick Fury and Black Widow’s cover is revealed.
They then go to his home in Malibu and we see Tony sitting in the same robe that a young Howard wore in Agent Carter.
Hammer sells weapons to help build War Machine and this is how Vanko is able to infiltrate his systems. We also see a missile known as the Ex-Wife that will make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. This shows the lack of Hammer’s knowledge as Ulysses was actually written in crayon to help James Joyce see it.
Messages from Beyond the Grave
Tony goes through a briefcase left by his father and we can also see a copy of Captain America issue one.
Tony plays back a film reel of his father that contains his final message to an adult tony. He is passing on a message to the future and the way that the projector is set up plus Howards final stance when delivering this message echoes Tony’s final message at the end of Endgame. That was played on a projector within the helmet and it was left to Morgan, Tony’s child, much in the same way that Howard left this for his child, Tony.
I would love if we revisted this moment with Morgan later in the series and saw if she too had a secret message from Tony as it would really symbolise a passing of the torch. This being a message from both characters from beyond the grave is very poetic and shows how Marvel love to carry across symbolism.
In Howards manual we also see a cube that is the tesseract. Howard found this at the end of Captain America The First Avenger and we learned that he had been working on it in Endgame when Tony travelled back in time.
Tony’s Quirk
Tony goes to a roadside stop with a guy selling strawberries. He says he doesn’t like people handing him things and this is a motif that has stuck with the character. He did it at the start of the movie, In avengers when meeting Coulson and the only time that he doesn’t really mind it is when his father hands him flowers in Endgame.
Also shout outs to Philith from reddit who pointed out that the watch Tony trades for strawberries and this was actually the one that Obadiah gave him in the first movie.
Pepper’s Office
He goes to see Pepper, where we see Bill O’Reilly, completely slamming Pepper on the tv, verbally harassing her and yep..this scene hasn’t aged well.
We also see a cover of Fortune Magazine which a young tone features on and this echoes the initial presentation at the award show on the character in the first film.
Captain America Shield
Tony creates a new element and when doing this we also see the Captain America shield from the prior film. This was behind Tony as it was dismantled and here it’s used to rest a pipe on. No wonder those guys fell out in Civil War.
Coulson shows up and says he’s leaving for Mexico which of course ties into Thor and the post-credits scene of this film.
Also Tony dons a black vest when working on it and this is of course a call back to Iron Man one when he was in the cave and also in Endgame when he was working with Nebula.
Attack at Stark Expo
He creates a new element and heads to the Stark Expo where Justin Hammer is doing a presentation on his new drones.
We see the Hammer Logo looks a lot like the Kingdom of Asgard it’s also called Hammer which could be a reference to Mlojnir.
The press faces a different problem because they are about to run out of ink, writing how good this video is and we see the drones which go haywire and attack people.
Also a nice little addition is that when the War Machine armour is hacked the writing in it changes to Russian.
I’m sure you’ve seen this one but just because it ties so heavily into the MCU we can’t miss it out. The boy wearing an Iron Man mask is indeed Peter Parker and this was confirmed by Feige as a fun little easter egg.
Final Fight
Black Widow and Happy head to Hammer industries and we see Natasha take down multiple security guards. In the Black Widow trailer, we can also see Taskmaster studying a tape of this in order to learn her fighting style and moves.
Widow reboots the War Machine armour and the Hammer drones land.
Tony does the dodge move from a missile which we saw him do in the first Iron Man film when facing off against the tank.
Stark takes them out by using a laser that we learn he can only use once and as mentioned in our other breakdowns, this appeared once in Civil War and then at the end of Endgame.
Hammer is arrested and he tells Pepper that he will be seeing her again soon and this could be setting up the Benefactor role down the line.
Tony and Rhodey fight Vanko and we also see Stark use the smaller dart rockets that he did in Iron Man. They manage to take the villain out by crossing the streams and the former ends up saving Pepper after the drones trigger to self-destruct.
In Iron Man Tony and Pepper shared a scene on a balcony where they didn’t kiss, however here they do bringing that scene full circle.
Avengers Initiative
The film ends with Tony seeing the Avengers Initiative as he meets with Fury. On the map you can see several locations including New Mexico, Greenland and more.
Wakanda is hinted at which is of course the home of Black Panther, Malibu is highlighted which is Tony, New Mexico is Thor, Greenland for Captain America and Virginia for The Incredible Hulk.
Senator Stern gives Tony and Rhodey a medal and Hail Snydra. AC/DC Highway to Hell plays over the credits and this could be hinting at what’s in store for Tony down the hell.
Or it could just be because it’s an awesome song.
And that’s our list.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the breakdown and if there’s any easter eggs that should’ve made the list.
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