Film of the Week: Iron Man

Going back to 2008, when I was still in high school, the first film of the MCU was released. Except I didn’t know anything about the MCU at the time, and my first encounter with this film was during the last day of term before the summer holidays and if we had finished all our work for the school year, the teachers stuck on a film as a reward for all our hard work. In science, Iron Man was the film of choice. Whilst it was awesome to be watching a film instead of working, a couple of us did wonder if it was necessary to stick on a film because our “science lesson” was only an hour long, meaning the teacher would have to stop the film half way through. Of course, those who wondered that did so in their heads because if we said anything aloud, the teacher might have realised this and made us do work instead.

I hadn’t seen Iron Man before then, so there was no clear indication of what the film would be like, because if it was a terrible film, whilst the substitution was doing school work, I at least would like to enjoy the hour, not be bored. I was far from being bored. This was way back in 2008, so the TV and DVD combo was nowhere near the quality of today, but even then the school managed to get what appeared to be the lowest end, so we weren’t expecting miracles. It’s a massive compliment to Iron Man that, even with what the film had to work with, I was drawn in.

At first the film was something just to pass the time with – I wasn’t doing any work so I’m going to enjoy this film – but the moment Tony Stark emerged from the cave in his first version of the Iron Man armour, that was when the entire game changed – that was when things elevated to the next level. From that moment on, seeing Tony Stark epically build an upgraded version and test it out on the terrorists, walking away from an exploding tank accompanied by a hefty rock soundtrack – I was utterly disappointed when the lesson came to an end and our science teacher turned off the TV. I so wanted to see what happens next, especially when learning Obadiah Stain was slowly revealing himself as the main antagonist to us audience.

That same day, after school, with Iron Man still engrained in my mind’s eye, I asked my mum and dad to buy that film for me just so I can see the ending, and I was not let down when I finally saw the climactic battle between Tony Stark and Obadiah Stain. I only found out about some sort of continuation via the end credits scene, which I didn’t know the film had and only found out about it when leaving the credits to run whilst I went to make myself a drink. I knew nothing about the Avengers or the MCU, and so I saw Nick Fury’s words as setting up a sequel only, which it technically did as well.

It was only during my college years when in 2012, when I was alerted to the Avengers Assembled coming out and the five films leading up to them did I truly understand that there was an interconnecting universe featuring Iron Man.

Upon seeing The Avengers Assemble I was fully hooked on the idea of an interconnecting universe and couldn’t wait to see the other films. I saw Phrase One backwards – because I was recommended to see the first Avengers film, I did so at the cinema, but only afterward did I see the other four films leading up to it – The Incredible Hulk (and yes I was confused as to why there was a different actor playing Bruce Banner) Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Fast forward to 2019, 21 interconnecting films later, the four Avengers film is hitting cinemas on the 25^th April, and I cannot wait. A lot of effort and love has been put into making sure the MCU is the best it can possibly be. It’s a journey I was happy to stumble upon during science class, and does make me wonder, if I hadn’t seen the film then, would I have only been alerted to the MCU when in college in 2012. I’m glad I’m not being alerted now, because I’d have a lot of catching up to do and probably a few questions as to how I was able to not hear about the MCU at all, especially considering my love of films as a whole.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)