" Extremis " is a six-issue story arc from the comic book series Iron Man (vol. 4), published in issues one through six in 2005 and 2006 by Marvel Comics . It was written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov . Extremis elevates the status quo for Iron Man , increasing the power of his armor significantly.
213-541: Extremis received mostly positive reviews, and it is often listed as one of the best Iron Man stories. Elements of Extremis were adapted for the 2008 film Iron Man , and the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Extremis," and the storyline serves as the primary source material for the 2013 film Iron Man 3 . Extremis was the second story arc after the " Avengers Disassembled " crossover event, not to be confused with "Stark: Disassembled",
426-526: A mechanized suit of armor and becomes the superhero Iron Man. A film featuring Iron Man was in development at Universal Pictures , 20th Century Fox , and New Line Cinema at various times since 1990 before Marvel Studios reacquired the rights in 2005. Marvel put the project in production as its first self-financed film, with Paramount Pictures distributing. Favreau signed on as director in April 2006 and faced opposition from Marvel when trying to cast Downey in
639-616: A supersoldier after receiving an experimental serum, as "the weakest part of the character", and that he and Kirby "didn't put too much thought into the origin. We just wanted to get to the action." Kirby designed the series' action scenes with an emphasis on a sense of continuity across panels, saying that he "choreographed" the sequences as one would a ballet, with a focus on exaggerated character movement. Kirby's layouts in Captain America Comics are characterized by their distorted perspectives, irregularly shaped panels, and
852-602: A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with whom he eventually begins a partnership and an on-again off-again romance. He meets and trains Sam Wilson , who becomes the superhero Falcon, and they establish an enduring friendship and partnership. After a conspiracy hatched by the Secret Empire to discredit Rogers is revealed to have been personally orchestrated by the President of the United States, a disillusioned Rogers abandons
1065-473: A block of ice in a state of suspended animation . Reawakened in modern times, Rogers resumes activities as a costumed hero, joining and later becoming leader of the Avengers. Many of his exploits involve missions undertaken for the Avengers or for S.H.I.E.L.D. , an espionage and international law enforcement agency operated by his former war comrade Nick Fury . Through Fury, Rogers befriends Sharon Carter ,
1278-494: A brainwashed cybernetic assassin. Contemporaneously, Captain America was a central character in the 2006 crossover storyline " Civil War ", written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven , which saw the character come into conflict with fellow Avengers member Iron Man over government efforts to regulate superheroes. The character was killed in the 2007 storyline " The Death of Captain America " written by Brubaker, which
1491-469: A call from his employee, which reveals that Killian gave Extremis to local terrorists. Realizing the threat, Tony drops Maya off at Futurepharm, and departs. Iron Man tracks the terrorists' van from above via body heat scans and tears it in half with a non-lethal repulsor ray. Mallen instantly recovers, and after refusing to surrender peacefully, engages Iron Man in a brutal fight. Throughout the battle, it becomes obvious that Mallen's new abilities far surpass
1704-554: A cave by the Ten Rings. Yinsen , a fellow captive and doctor, implants an electromagnet into Stark's chest to keep the shrapnel shards that wounded him from reaching his heart and killing him. Ten Rings leader Raza offers Stark freedom in exchange for building a Jericho missile for the group, but he and Yinsen believe that Raza will not keep his word. Stark and Yinsen secretly build a small, powerful electric generator called an arc reactor to power Stark's electromagnet and construct
1917-472: A conscious level, such as that a member of the Initiative had lied about his powers (he claimed to just have superhuman physical abilities when he actually manipulated gravity to create the appearance of superstrength, as otherwise he couldn't be given an IV while in hospital as he would have had invulnerable skin), or that Maya Hansen was actually alive after her death was faked. Doc Samson speculated that
2130-583: A corporate predecessor to Marvel. Captain America's civilian identity is Steven "Steve" Rogers , a frail man enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental " super-soldier serum" after joining the United States Army to aid the country's efforts in World War II . Equipped with an American flag –inspired costume and a virtually indestructible shield , Captain America and his sidekick Bucky Barnes clashed frequently with
2343-487: A cure has begun to work against him by using more Maestro-esque tactics, with Doc Green declining the option of a new Extremis upgrade for fear of becoming a new Maestro. During the 2014 " AXIS " storyline, Tony Stark experienced a moral inversion due to the Scarlet Witch making a mistake while trying to bring out Professor X 's mind from Red Skull 's body transforming him in the new Red Onslaught . He experienced
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#17327762424712556-413: A decade, with Romita noting that "for a while, 'Captain America' was a dirty word". Captain America made his ostensible return in the anthology Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), published by Atlas' corporate successor Marvel Comics . In an 18-page story written by Lee and illustrated by Kirby, Captain America reemerges following years of apparent retirement, though he is revealed as an impostor who
2769-443: A double blast of his repulsor rays. Attempting to recover, Mallen's body rises onto its knees, only to collapse lifeless on the ground. Furious, Iron Man condemns Mallen for what he made him do. Recovering from the incident, Stark declares that he has one last thing to do: the worst part yet. Confronting Maya at Futurepharm, Iron Man reveals that Maya was clearly Killian's accomplice, due to the issue of needing two key cards entered at
2982-556: A draft of the ending on November 4, 2007, a day before the strike began. Given no further rewrites could occur because of the strike and Bridges unable to participate in shooting new material, ILM worked with as much previously-shot footage as possible to rework the film's ending. Composer Ramin Djawadi had been a fan of the character Iron Man as a child, saying that he always liked superheroes "that actually don't have any superpowers". After Favreau's previous collaborator John Debney
3195-534: A fan of the character, to direct, and in December 2002, McCanlies had turned in a completed script. New Line took a "unique" approach to writing the film's script, hiring David Hayter , David S. Goyer , and Mark Protosevich to "sit in a room and simply talk on camera about Iron Man for a few days". After this, Hayter was hired in 2004 to write a script. He reworked scripts that had been written by Jeff Vintar and Alfred Gough and Miles Millar , which had included
3408-422: A fan of the comic, because he felt the actor's past made him an appropriate choice for the part, explaining "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark." Favreau faced opposition from Marvel Entertainment executives in casting Downey, but would not take no for an answer, saying, "It
3621-432: A forward attack. It also foreshadows the design of Stane's armor. A single 41-kilogram (90 lb) version was built, causing concern when a stuntman fell over inside it, though both the stuntman and the suit were unscathed. The armor was also designed to have only its top half worn at times. Stan Winston Studios built a 3.0-metre (10 ft), 360-kilogram (800 lb) animatronic version of Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane),
3834-675: A head technician title instead. Tony also argues that Stark Industries, having invented a revolutionary cell phone and connection method, no longer needs the government's funding. The conference ends at a crossroad. Arriving at Futurepharm, Stark learns that the intended receiver of the Extremis dose is currently unknown due to an inability to hack Killian's computer. Using Stark Industry's new prototype phone, Tony emails Killian's entire hard drive to be hacked by one of his employees, and, to distract Maya, jets her and himself to San Diego to talk with their old friend and teacher, Sal Kennedy. Meanwhile,
4047-481: A highly aerodynamic offensive weapon: when thrown, it is capable of ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to the original thrower. Captain America's first sidekick was Bucky Barnes , introduced in Captain America Comics #1 as the teenaged "mascot" of Steve Rogers' regiment. He is made Captain America's partner in that same issue after accidentally discovering the character's secret identity. Joe Simon described Bucky's creation as being largely motivated by
4260-725: A later story in The Invincible Iron Man . The story was meant as a sort of "new start" for the character—to redefine him from his origins as an arms dealer, to be the "test pilot for the future" Ellis intended him to be. The story rarely mentions any of Iron Man's past, and references to the rest of the Marvel universe are limited to brief, passing mentions of the Avengers and Fin Fang Foom . Warren Ellis admitted he had intentionally not read any Iron Man material besides
4473-476: A line. During the fight between Daredevil and Iron Man, Extremis is used by Iron Man to "infect" Daredevil with it which enabled him to see again. Daredevil subsequently realized that Stark had added the Extremis virus to San Francisco's water supply, with the phones simply transmitting a subsonic signal that activated the already-existing virus in their bodies, but Stark subjected Matt to minor brain damage to erase his memories of this discovery, intending to reprogram
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#17327762424714686-445: A lower dose of the serum that will not alter his mind and body as it did for Mallen. Unknown to Maya, Tony had altered the structure of the Extremis dose, removing several safeties and linking himself to his armor and machinery. Tony falls into a coma as a cocoon forms around his body. While unconscious, Stark relives his story as Iron Man, starting with his first mortal injury and the secrets he revealed to Yinsen while they constructed
4899-428: A name which Obadiah Stane calls Tony Stark and himself earlier in the film as a reference, but is never actually used for the suit itself in the film. The animatronic required five operators for the arm, and was built on a gimbal to simulate walking. A scale model was used for the shots of it being built. The Mark II resembles an airplane prototype, with visible flaps. Iron Man comic book artist Adi Granov designed
5112-412: A need to give Captain America "someone to talk to" and avoid the overuse of dialogue delivered through internal monologue , noting that "Bucky was brought in as a way of eliminating too many thought balloons ." Bucky was retroactively established as having been killed in the same accident that left Captain America frozen in suspended animation; the character remained deceased for many decades, contrasting
5325-635: A new surge of his more negative traits such as his ego, irresponsibility, and alcoholism, culminating in him releasing a new version of Extremis onto San Francisco. This new version, known as the Extremis 3.0 app , could offer beauty, health or even immortality for free, but Tony subsequently ended the free trial mode and started charging the app in a daily fee basis, making the citizens desperate, prompting Pepper Potts , Daredevil , and an artificial intelligence based on Tony's mind stored in an old Iron Man armor to make plans to stop him, based on Tony's past requests that his allies be prepared if he should ever cross
5538-411: A new understanding of his previously held ideals. Stevens argues that the character's seeming paradoxical steadfastness is reflective of "the language of comics, where continuity is continually updated to fit the needs of the serialized present." Despite his status as patriotic superhero, Captain America is rarely depicted as an overtly jingoistic figure. Stevens writes that the character's "patriotism
5751-427: A newcomer to action films, remarked, "I'm shocked that I [was] on schedule. I thought that there were going to be many curveballs". He hired "people who are good at creating action", so "the human story [felt] like it belongs to the comic book genre". There was much improvisation in dialogue scenes, because the script was not completed when filming began (the filmmakers had focused on the story making sense and planning
5964-456: A party; Peter Billingsley as William Ginter Riva , a scientist who works for Stane; Tom Morello , who provided guitar music for the film, as a terrorist guard; and Jim Cramer as himself. Ghostface Killah , who often adopted Iron Man's name as an alias, had a cameo in a scene where Stark stays in Dubai , but the scene was cut for pacing reasons. In April 1990, Universal Pictures bought
6177-478: A perversion of himself: a man with power but no concern for or ability to see the future. In the end, Mallen refuses to listen, pins Stark to the ground, and violently declares, "There isn't any future. I'm gonna kill it!" Seeing the horror before him, Stark fires his unibeam, piercing Mallen's chest and tearing his organs apart. Enraged by the man's refusal to give up, as well as his contempt for all life, Iron Man grabs Mallen's head with both hands and blows it off with
6390-606: A popular comic genre during this period; in keeping with the trend, the final two issues of Captain America Comics were published under the title Captain America's Weird Tales . Timely's corporate successor Atlas Comics relaunched the character in 1953 in Young Men #24, where Captain America appears alongside the wartime heroes Human Torch and Toro , which was followed by a revival of Captain America Comics in 1954 written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita . In
6603-432: A pro-registration faction led by fellow Avengers member Iron Man . After significant rancor, he voluntarily surrenders and submits to arrest. At his trial, he is shot and killed by Sharon Carter, whose actions are manipulated by the villainous Dr. Faustus ; in his absence, a recovered Bucky assumes the title of Captain America. It is eventually revealed that Rogers did not die , but became displaced in space and time; he
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6816-553: A prototype armored suit to aid in their escape. Although they keep the suit hidden, the Ten Rings discover their intentions and attack the workshop. Yinsen sacrifices himself to divert them while the suit powers up. The armored Stark battles his way out of the cave to find the dying Yinsen, then burns the Ten Rings' weapons and flies away, crashing in the desert and destroying the suit. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home and announces that his company will cease manufacturing weapons. Obadiah Stane , his father's old partner and
7029-417: A recorded holographic message from Tony, which reveal that when the extraterrestrial Skrulls invaded Earth during the 2008 " Secret Invasion " storyline, they attacked Tony's Extremis, permanently shutting it down. Stark's mind is " rebooted " using information that he had saved when he first injected himself with Extremis, with the result that he loses all memory of the actions he had committed after receiving
7242-406: A role of super-patriotism in the world as it is today". Captain America stories in the 1970s began to increasingly focus on domestic American political issues, such as poverty, racism, pollution, and political corruption. Captain America #117 (September 1969) introduced The Falcon as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books and who would become Captain America's partner;
7455-508: A scheduled interview with a journalist. During the interview, it emerges that Stark deeply regrets that the world-changing, humanitarian improvements he had hoped to fund with his weapons sales have not yet materialized. Confronted by his regrets, Stark returns to the garage, takes stock of himself while realizing that the Iron Man is likely his key to a better future for both himself and humanity. Having canceled all appointments, Tony Stark dons
7668-833: A second sequel on May 3, 2013, with Favreau opting to direct Magic Kingdom instead, but still reprising his role as Happy Hogan. Downey, Paltrow, and Cheadle also return, while Shane Black took over directing, from a screenplay by Drew Pearce . Guy Pearce also starred as Aldrich Killian , and Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery. Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics ,
7881-554: A sock being used to make tea. Afterwards, Stark's capture was filmed at Lone Pine , and other exterior scenes in Afghanistan were filmed at Olancha Sand Dunes, where the crew endured two days of 40-to-60-mile-per-hour (64–97 km/h) winds. Filming at Edwards Air Force Base began in mid-April, and ended on May 2. In return for production assistance, the United States Department of Defense consulted on
8094-480: A sprinkle of anti-war and redemption themes". Among major metropolitan weeklies, David Edelstein of New York magazine called the film "a shapely piece of mythmaking ... Favreau doesn't go in for stylized comic-book frames, at least in the first half. He gets real with it – you'd think you were watching a military thriller", while conversely, David Denby of The New Yorker gave a negative review, claiming "a slightly depressed, going-through-the-motions feel to
8307-474: A story for Fox, which Vintar adapted into a screenplay. It included a new science-fiction origin for the character, and featured MODOK as the villain. Tom Rothman , President of Production at Fox, credited the screenplay with finally making him understand the character. In May 1999, Jeffrey Caine was hired to rewrite Vintar and Lee's script. That October, Quentin Tarantino was approached to write and direct
8520-594: A superhero film. Iron Man was also the number one film in the United States and Canada in its second weekend, grossing $ 51.2 million, giving it the twelfth-best second weekend and the fifth-best for a non-sequel. On June 19, 2008, Iron Man became that year's first film to pass the $ 300 million mark for the domestic box office. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 94%, with an average score of 7.7/10, based on 282 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Powered by Robert Downey Jr.'s vibrant charm, Iron Man turbo-charges
8733-514: A superhero movie that's good in unusual ways." Among the specialty press, Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons commended the "impressive sets and mechanics that combine smoothly with relatively seamless CG", and said, "Robert Downey Jr., along with director Jon Favreau ... help this rise above formula. The result is something that, whilst hardly original or groundbreaking, is nevertheless refreshing in its earnestness to avoid dark dramatic stylings in favor of an easy-going, crowd-pleasing action movie with
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8946-579: A superhero team composed of Timely's wartime-era superheroes, with Captain America as its leader; Thomas, a fan of stories from the Golden Age of Comic Books , drew inspiration for the series from Timely's All-Winners Squad. Jack Kirby wrote and illustrated run on Captain America and the Falcon from 1975 to 1977. This was followed by issues authored by a number of writers and artists, including Roy Thomas, Donald F. Glut , Roger McKenzie , and Sal Buscema;
9159-513: A suspicious Stark decides to keep his work to himself. At a charity event, reporter Christine Everhart informs Stark that his company's weapons were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Yinsen's home village. Stark dons his new armor and flies to Afghanistan, where he fends off the terrorists and saves the villagers. While flying home, Stark is intercepted by the Air Force . He reveals his secret identity to Rhodes over
9372-455: A tool of the state)", his status as a patriotic superhero nevertheless tethers him to American foreign policy and hegemony. He argues that Captain America tends to skew away from interventionist actions at moments where the United States is undertaking policies that its critics deem imperialist, specifically citing the character's non-participation in the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and argues that
9585-420: A traumatic incident, Rogers carries on as a hero in spite of a traumatic incident, with Weiner asserting that this reinforces the nobility of the character. Though Marvel has historically trended away from making overt partisan statements in the post-war period, writers have nevertheless used Captain America to comment on the state of American society and government at particular moments in history. For example,
9798-601: A world he described as "more cynical [...] in terms of how we view our government, our politicians and people's motives in general". In the wake of the September 11 attacks , a new Captain America series written by John Ney Rieber with artwork by John Cassaday was published under the Marvel Knights imprint from 2002 to 2003. The series received criticism for its depiction of Captain America fighting terrorists modelled after Al-Qaeda , though Cassady contended that
10011-569: A year-long storyline in which Captain America faced a crisis of confidence in the face of what Dematteis described as " Reagan Cold War rhetoric". The story was originally planned culminate in Captain America #300 with Captain America renouncing violence to become a pacifist ; when that ending was rejected by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter , Dematteis resigned from Captain America in protest. Writer Mark Gruenwald , editor of Captain America from 1982 to 1985, served as writer on
10224-495: Is a weapons designer whose weapons are being used against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the years just prior to the second Gulf War . He is injured during an inspection tour when one of his own bombs detonates, sending a piece of shrapnel into his chest, and is captured by Afghan terrorists. As in the original origin story, Tony creates his first suit of armor with Ho Yinsen and escapes the terrorists, with Yinsen killed during
10437-535: Is cut to expose his bare chest and stomach, and as The Captain he wears a modified version of the Captain America suit with a red, white, and black design. Captain America's shield is the character's primary piece of equipment. It is a round shield with a design featuring a white star on a blue circle surrounded by red and white rings. First appearing in Captain America Comics #1 as a triangular heater shield , beginning in Captain America Comics #2 it
10650-523: Is defeated by Human Torch of the Fantastic Four . A caption in the final panel indicates that the story was a "test" to gauge interest in a potential return for Captain America; the reader response to the story was enthusiastic, and the character was formally reintroduced in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). The Avengers #4 retroactively established that Captain America had fallen into
10863-405: Is forced to rely on the police to remove the car from atop his body. Iron Man calls Maya and has her people fly him to Futurepharm, where, in a private medical bay, he reveals himself as Tony Stark to Maya. Knowing the severity of his injuries, Tony realizes the only way for him to survive and defeat Mallen is to become one with the Iron Man suit by taking the Extremis serum himself. Maya gives Tony
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#173277624247111076-448: Is framed for murder by the fascistic Secret Empire , whose leader is ultimately revealed to be the president of the United States. The incident causes a disillusioned Steve Rogers to briefly drop the moniker of Captain America to become " Nomad , the man without a country", though he later vowed to "reclaim the ideals of America, which its leaders have trampled upon" and again assumed the role of Captain America. Englehart and Buscema's run
11289-448: Is imprisoned was a 150-to-200-yard (140–180 m) long set, which had movable forks in the caverns to allow greater freedom for the film's crew. Production designer J. Michael Riva saw footage of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, and saw the cold breath as he spoke: realizing remote caves are actually very cold, Riva placed an air conditioning system in the set. He also sought Downey's advice about makeshift objects in prison, such as
11502-541: Is more focused on the universal rights of man as expressed through the American Dream " rather than "a position championing the specific cultural or political goals of the United States." Weiner similarly concurs that the character "embodies what America strives to be, not what it sometimes is". Dittmer agrees that while the character sees himself "as the living embodiment of the American Dream (rather than
11715-412: Is often listed as one of the best Iron Man stories. In 2010, Marvel Knights Animation adapted Extremis into a motion comic with 3D cel-shading graphics. The six-part mini-series was released by Shout! Factory first on DVD and later coupled with Spider-Woman: Agent Of S.W.O.R.D. on Blu-ray. A novel adaption of Iron Man: Extremis , written and adapted by comic writer and editor Marie Javins ,
11928-490: Is outmatched without his new reactor to run his suit at full capacity. The fight carries Stark and Stane to the top of the Stark Industries building, where Stark instructs Potts to overload the large arc reactor powering the building. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that causes Stane to fall into the reactor and he is killed in the explosion. The next day, at a press conference, Stark publicly admits to being
12141-535: Is the Red Skull , introduced from the character's origins as an apprentice to Adolf Hitler . Just as Red Skull represents Nazism , many of Captain America's villains represent specific ideologies or political formations: for example, the Serpent Society represents labor unionism, and Flag-Smasher represents anti-nationalism . The political character of Captain America's enemies has shifted over time:
12354-428: Is the star. The success of X-Men and Spider-Man without being star-driven pieces reassures [executives] that the film does have an upside commercially." Those considered for the role included Jim Caviezel , Timothy Olyphant , and Sam Rockwell . Rockwell was approached and was interested, but Favreau then met with Robert Downey Jr. , who he was convinced was the right actor for the role. Favreau chose Downey,
12567-547: Is then remade by Tony's long-lost foster brother Arno Stark . When Bruce Banner is shot in the head by the Ancient Order of the Shield, with his usual healing factor making an erratic job of reconstructing Banner's mind even if it can repair the physical damage, Stark is able to use Extremis to heal the damage to Banner's brain and restore him to full mental health without any of the usual side effects or powers. During
12780-490: Is to be fighting with the supervillain Red Skull. [...] He is 'a man out of time,' a walking emblem of greatest-generation propaganda brought to life in this splintered postmodern time." – Ta-Nehisi Coates Steve Rogers' personality has shifted across his editorial history, a fact that media scholar J. Richard Stevens sees as a natural consequence of the character being written and re-interpreted by many writers over
12993-441: Is ultimately able to return to the present. He resumes his exploits as a superhero, though his public identity is briefly supplanted by a sleeper agent from the terrorist organization Hydra . "Rogers' transformation into Captain America is underwritten by the military. But, perhaps haunted by his own roots in powerlessness, he is a dissident just as likely to be feuding with his superiors in civilian and military governance as he
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#173277624247113206-558: The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters , Fandomania.com ranked him at number 37. The Library of Congress selected Iron Man to be added to the National Film Registry in 2022, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Responding to the selection, Feige stated its inclusion on the Film Registry meant the film "has stood the test of time and that it is still meaningful to audiences around
13419-914: The Atlantic Ocean in the final days of World War II, where he spent decades frozen in ice in a state of suspended animation before being found and recovered. Captain America solo stories written by Lee with Kirby as the primary penciller were published in the anthology Tales of Suspense alongside solo stories focused on fellow Avengers member Iron Man beginning in November 1964; the character also appeared in Lee and Kirby's World War II-set Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos beginning in December same year. These runs introduced and retroactively established several new companions of Captain America, including Nick Fury , Peggy Carter , and Sharon Carter . In 1966, Joe Simon sued Marvel Comics, asserting that he
13632-489: The French Resistance , was retroactively established in comics published in the 1960s as another of Rogers' wartime lovers. When Rogers is revived in the post-war era, he begins a partnership and on-again off-again relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter ; introduced as Peggy's younger sister, she was later retconned as Peggy's grandniece to reflect Marvel's floating timeline . In comics published in
13845-481: The German American Bund , an American Nazi organization. When members began loitering on the streets outside the company's office, police protection was posted and New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia personally contacted Simon and Kirby to guarantee the safety of the publisher's employees. Simon wrote the first two issues of Captain America Comics before becoming the editor for the series; they were
14058-520: The Harvey Award for Best Writer for the series in 2006. After Brubaker's run on Captain America ended in 2012, a new volume of the series written by Rick Remender was published as part of the Marvel Now rebranding initiative, which saw Sam Wilson assume the mantle of Captain America in 2014. This was followed by a run written by Nick Spencer beginning in 2016, in which Captain America
14271-540: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by the writing teams of Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby , and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway , the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Terrence Howard , Jeff Bridges , Gwyneth Paltrow , Leslie Bibb , and Shaun Toub . In the film, following his escape from captivity by a terrorist group, world-famous industrialist and master engineer Stark builds
14484-496: The Patriot Act and post-9/11 debates on the balance between national security and civil liberties. While the ideological orientation of Captain America stories has shifted in response to changing social and political attitudes, Stevens notes how a central component of Captain America's mythology is that the character himself does not change: when the character's attitudes have shifted, it is consistently framed as an evolution or
14697-472: The Ultimate Marvel comics imprint. However, according to Latchman, Jackson originally appeared without any deal for him to reappear in later films: "It was just this weird idea that maybe people give a shi-- if we stick it on the end". The dialogue for the scene was also changed on set, with comic writer Brian Michael Bendis providing three pages of dialogue for the part, and the filmmakers choosing
14910-562: The Vietnam War origin of the character to Afghanistan, as he did not want to do a period piece . Art Marcum & Matt Holloway were hired to write the script, while Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby wrote another version, with Favreau compiling both teams' scripts, and John August then "polishing" the combined version. Comic book staff Mark Millar , Brian Michael Bendis , Joe Quesada , Tom Brevoort , Axel Alonso , and Ralph Macchio were also called upon by Favreau to give advice on
15123-532: The X-Men , but this was cut due to Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox holding the respective film rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men at the time. Favreau's main concern with the film's effects was whether the transition between the computer-generated and practical costumes would be too obvious. He hired Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to create the bulk of the visual effects for the film after seeing Pirates of
15336-527: The 1940s. Designed by Joe Simon, the costume is based on the United States flag , with Simon likening the character's appearance to that of "a modern-day crusader": chain mail armor, and a helmet adorned with wings in reference to the Roman god Mercury . Steve Rogers has worn other costumes when he has adopted alternate superhero alter egos: as Nomad he wears a domino mask and a black and gold suit that
15549-555: The 1944 serial film Captain America ; the character has subsequently appeared in a variety of films and other media , including the Marvel Cinematic Universe , where he was portrayed by actor Chris Evans from the character's first appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) to his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019). "It was a time of deep passion. Hitler
15762-499: The 1960s, many stories gave increased focus to Rogers' civilian identity, particularly his struggles as a "man out of time" attempting to adjust to the modern era. Often, stories depict a brooding or melancholic Rogers as he faces both a physical struggle as Captain America, and an ideological struggle as Steve Rogers to reconcile his social values with modern times. The character is frequently conflicted by his World War II-era "good war" morality being challenged and made anachronistic by
15975-512: The 1960s. In 1969, Sam Wilson was introduced as the superhero Falcon and later became Captain America's sidekick, making the characters the first interracial superhero duo in American comic books. Possessing the power to communicate with birds, Wilson is initially depicted as a former social worker living in Harlem , though this identity is revealed to be the result of memories implanted by
16188-613: The 1980s, Rogers dated and became engaged to civilian Bernie Rosenthal , though they ended their relationship amicably after Bernie left New York to attend law school. In the 1990s, Rogers had a romantic entanglement with the alternately villainous and antiheroic Diamondback , a member of the Serpent Society . The title of "Captain America" has been used by other characters in the Marvel Universe in addition to Steve Rogers, including William Naslund , Jeffrey Mace , and William Burnside . John Walker , also known as U.S. Agent,
16401-419: The 1990s, culminating in the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996, and "Heroes Reborn" was introduced as part of an effort to increase sales. As part of the rebrand, Liefeld illustrated and co-wrote with Jeph Loeb a run on Captain America that was ultimately cancelled after six issues. Marvel stated that the series was cancelled due to low sales, though Liefeld has contended that he
16614-499: The 2010 "Stark: Disassembled" storyline, Tony is forced to erase portions of his memory in order to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining access to the list of people registered under the Superhuman Registration Act . These actions resulted in his falling into a persistent vegetative state, in which his brain is unable to even regulate the autonomic functions of his body. During this period, Stark's colleagues play
16827-453: The 2014 " Original Sin " storyline, when exposure to Uatu 's eye after his murder causes Banner and Stark to remember that Stark had tampered with the original gamma bomb and was thus indirectly responsible for Banner's transformation into the Hulk, Banner uses a modified Extremis to trigger his transformation into the Hulk while retaining his intellect to ensure his revenge on Stark. Even after
17040-467: The CG Iron Man. When editor Dan Lebental started compiling an initial edit of the film in late 2007, it was quickly realized that the final act of the film was not working, as it was "basically two robots punching each other". They tried shortening the sequence, which did not help as it became "both emotionally unsatisfying and abruptly anticlimactic". Marvel rehired Marcum and Holloway, as all of
17253-544: The Caribbean: At World's End and Transformers . The Orphanage and The Embassy did additional work, with the latter creating a digital version of the Mark I armor. To help with animating the more refined suits, information was sometimes captured by having Downey wear only the helmet, sleeves and chest of the costume over a motion capture suit, and skydivers were filmed in a vertical wind tunnel to study
17466-440: The Extremis upgrade, although he has spent time researching his activities between then and his restoration. Tony later discovers that his brain still has access to Extremis, which he began using again. During the 2012 "Believe" story arc, Tony learns that Maya Hansen has been killed and various new versions of Extremis have been released onto the black market, prompting him to track them down and eliminate them. The Extremis virus
17679-505: The Machine guitarist Tom Morello , who also makes a cameo appearance in the film, contributed guitar performances to the score. The film also features a big band -style arrangement of the Iron Man theme song from the 1966 cartoon The Marvel Super Heroes from frequent Favreau collaborators John O'Brien and Rick Boston . A soundtrack featuring Djawadi's score was released by Lions Gate Records on April 29, 2008. In July 2006, with
17892-551: The Mark III with illustrator Phil Saunders. Granov's designs were the primary inspiration for the film's, and he came on board the film after he recognized his work on Jon Favreau's MySpace page. Saunders streamlined Granov's concept art, making it stealthier and less cartoonish in its proportions, and also designed the War Machine armor, but it was "cut from the script about halfway through pre-production." He explained that
18105-469: The Red Skull. He later receives a winged suit from the superhero Black Panther that enables him to fly. Other characters who have served as Rogers' sidekick include Golden Girl (Betsy Ross), Demolition Man (Dennis Dunphy), Jack Flag (Jack Harrison), and Free Spirit (Cathy Webster). Over the course of several decades, writers and artists have established a rogues' gallery of supervillains to face Captain America. The character's primary archenemy
18318-557: The Ten Rings to kill Stark, but the group reneged when they realized they had a direct route to Stark's weapons. Potts meets with Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. , an intelligence agency, to inform him of Stane's activities. Stane's scientists are unable to duplicate Stark's miniaturized arc reactor, so Stane enters Stark’s home and steals the one from his chest. Stark manages to replace it with his original reactor. Potts and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempt to arrest Stane, but he dons his suit and overpowers them. Stark fights Stane but
18531-435: The United States, and LG Group also made a sponsorship deal with Paramount. Worldwide, Burger King and Audi promoted the film. Jon Favreau was set to direct a commercial for the fast-food chain, as Michael Bay did for Transformers . In the film, Tony Stark drives an Audi R8 , and also has an "American cheeseburger" from Burger King after his rescue from Afghanistan, as part of the studio's product placement deal with
18744-532: The War Machine armor "was going to be called the Mark IV armor and would have had weaponized swap-out parts that would be worn over the original Mark III armor," and that it "would have been worn by Tony Stark in the final battle sequence." Production was based in the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California . Howard Hughes was one of the inspirations for the comic book, and
18957-459: The action). Favreau felt that improvisation would make the film feel more natural. Some scenes were shot with two cameras to capture lines said on the spot. Multiple takes were done, as Downey wanted to try something new each time. It was Downey's idea to have Stark hold a news conference on the floor, and he created the speech Stark makes when demonstrating the Jericho weapon. Downey improvised
19170-420: The activation signal to a frequency Daredevil cannot detect. This plan was ended when Pepper Potts exposed Tony's true feelings about the world after his inversion. Following the eight months ellipsis after 2015 " Secret Wars ", Tony Stark has returned to his normal self with no signs of his moral inversion personality. The status of the Extremis virus remains unknown. Extremis received favorable reviews and
19383-542: The actors successfully breathe life into their otherwise conventional roles". Roger Ebert and Richard Corliss named Iron Man as among their favorite films of 2008. It was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of the year and by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time . Tony Stark was also selected by Empire as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time , and on their list of
19596-527: The aftermath of the September 11 attacks , Rogers reveals his secret identity to the world. Following the disbandment of the Avengers , he discovers that Bucky is still alive , having been brainwashed by the Soviets to become the Winter Soldier. Later, in reaction to government efforts to regulate superheroes , Rogers becomes the leader of an underground anti-registration movement that clashes with
19809-423: The aim of the series was to depict "the emotions this hero was going through" in the wake of 9/11, and the "guilt and anger a man in his position would feel". In 2005, Marvel relaunched Captain America in a new volume written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Steve Epting . The run saw the publication of " The Winter Soldier ", which reintroduced Captain America's previously deceased partner Bucky Barnes as
20022-480: The arms are made of and how they work. ... Mandarin was an Indonesian terrorist who masqueraded as a rich playboy who Tony knew. —Alfred Gough on his draft for Nick Cassavetes' and New Line's aborted version By July 2000, the film was being written for New Line Cinema by Ted Elliott , Terry Rossio , and Tim McCanlies . McCanlies' script used the idea of a Nick Fury cameo to set up his own film. In June 2001, New Line Cinema entered talks with Joss Whedon ,
20235-610: The art to reflect this. [...] I saw Iron Man as not just a superhero in a suit; rather he is a pilot or weapon. To me, the Iron Man armor is more akin to a jet fighter than it is to an outfit. The story, which lasts about three to four days in comic book time, takes place at an undefined time after the founding of the New Avengers and before the Stamford catastrophe (which led to the Marvel Civil War ). Tony Stark
20448-599: The best lines for filming on set. It was filmed with a skeleton crew in order to keep the cameo a secret, but rumors appeared on the Internet only days later. Feige subsequently had the scene removed from all preview prints in order to maintain the surprise and keep fans guessing. An alternate version of the Nick Fury post-credits scene was filmed in which he specifically mentions "gamma accidents, radioactive bug bites and assorted mutants ", referencing Hulk, Spider-Man and
20661-473: The brain that keeps a complete blue print of the human body. When we're injured, we refer to that area of the brain to heal properly. Extremis rewrites the repair center. In the first stage, the body essentially becomes an open wound. The normal human blueprint is being replaced with the Extremis blueprint. The brain is being told the body is wrong. Extremis protocol dictates that the subject be placed on life support and intravenously fed nutrients at this point. For
20874-655: The character fight gangsters rather than wartime enemies in Captain America Comics #42 (October 1944), appearing as a high school teacher in Captain America Comics #59 (August 1946), and joining Timely's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad , in All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946). The series nevertheless continued to face dwindling sales, and Captain America Comics ended with its 75th issue in February 1950. Horror comics were ascendant as
21087-521: The character fought enemies associated with communism during his brief revival in the 1950s before shifting back to Nazi antagonists in the mid-1960s, while comics since 9/11 have frequently depicted the character facing terrorist villains. Steve Rogers' first love interest was Betsy Ross, introduced in his World War II-era comics as a member of the Women's Army Corps who later became the costumed superhero Golden Girl. Peggy Carter , an American member of
21300-402: The character specifically in response to the American non-interventionism movement . Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the state of American society and government. Having appeared in more than ten thousand stories in more than five thousand media formats, Captain America is one of
21513-431: The character was often criticized for being two-dimensional as a result. He argues that this was an intentional device, writing that these critics "failed to grasp the true implication of his being. Steve Rogers never existed, except perhaps as an abstract device for the convenience of storytelling. Captain America was not an embodiment of human characteristics but a pure idea." Following the character's return to comics in
21726-662: The character's inconsistent position on the use of deadly force across his editorial history "is perhaps a tacit acknowledgment of the violence, or the threat of violence, at the heart of American hegemony." "Cap is one of the hardest hero characters to write, because the writer cannot use some exotic super-power to make his episodes seem colorful. [...] All he has to serve him are his extraordinary combat skills, his shield, and his unquenchable love for freedom and justice." – Stan Lee The Super-Soldier Serum has enhanced Captain America's strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, reaction time, and natural self-healing ability to
21939-468: The company after they completed work on Captain America Comics #10. The authorship of Captain America Comics was subsequently assumed by a variety of individuals, including Otto Binder , Bill Finger , and Manly Wade Wellman as writers, and Al Avison, Vince Alascia , and Syd Shores as pencilers. Superhero comics began to decline in popularity in the post-war period. This prompted a variety of attempts to reposition Captain America, including having
22152-531: The company's dangerous Extremis serum for some "greater" purpose. Hansen calls Tony Stark, whom she met years ago at a meeting of the minds. Back in the Texas slaughterhouse, the two men return to find Mallen almost completely recovered in appearance. He is alive, having almost punched through the locked metal door. Stark arrives in Texas in the middle of a teleconference with his board of directors, rejecting their requests that he resign as CEO of his company and take
22365-415: The company's manager, advises Stark that this will bankrupt Stark Industries and ruin his father's legacy. In his home workshop, Stark builds a sleeker, more powerful version of his improvised armor suit as well as a more powerful arc reactor for it and his chest after testing a prototype. Personal assistant Pepper Potts places the original reactor inside a small glass showcase. Though Stane requests details,
22578-504: The compromising demands of the post-war era. Prior to Bucky Barnes' return to comics in the 2000s, many Captain America stories centered on Rogers' sense of guilt over Barnes' death. Culture scholar Robert G. Weiner argues that these stories mirror the post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt held by many war veterans, and that this trauma distinguishes the character from other well-known superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man : while those characters became heroes because of
22791-545: The conspiracy storyline of "Secret Empire" reflected what writer Steve Englehart saw as broad disillusionment with American institutions in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, the "Streets of Poison" storyline by Mark Gruenwald in the 1990s was intended to address anxieties around the drug trade and debates on the war on drugs , and "Civil War" by Mark Millar was widely interpreted as an allegory for
23004-418: The corporate predecessor to DC Comics – by hiring freelancer Joe Simon to create a new superhero for the company. Simon began to develop the character by determining who their nemesis could be, noting that the most successful superheroes were defined by their relationship with a compelling villain, and eventually settled on Adolf Hitler . He rationalized that Hitler was the "best villain of them all" as he
23217-567: The debut issue, which outstripped even the circulation of news magazines such as Time during the same period. Captain America Comics was additionally one of 189 periodicals that the US Department of War deemed appropriate to distribute to its soldiers without prior screening. The character would also make appearances in several of Timely's other comic titles, including All Winners Comics , Marvel Mystery Comics , U.S.A. Comics , and All Select Comics . Though Captain America
23430-476: The defense contractor Stark Industries from his late father Howard Stark , tours in war-torn Afghanistan with his best friend and military liaison, James Rhodes , to demonstrate the new "Jericho" missile. After the demonstration, his convoy is ambushed by a terrorist group, the Ten Rings and Stark is gravely wounded by a missile used by the attackers—one of his company's own. He is captured and imprisoned in
23643-432: The design beginning with Captain America Comics #2. The revised round shield went on to become an iconic element of the character; its use as a discus -like throwing weapon originated in a short prose story in Captain America Comics #3, written by Stan Lee in his professional debut as a writer. Timely's publication of Captain America Comics led the company to be targeted with threatening letters and phone calls from
23856-450: The development of the "Super-Soldier Serum". Though the serum successfully enhances Rogers to the peak to human physical perfection, a Nazi spy posing as a military observer destroys the remaining supply of the serum and assassinates its inventor , foiling plans to produce additional super soldiers. Rogers is given a patriotic uniform and shield by the American government and becomes the costumed superhero Captain America. He goes on to fight
24069-486: The entire show ... Gwyneth Paltrow , widening her eyes and palpitating, can't do much with an antique role as Stark's girl Friday , who loves him but can't say so; Terrence Howard, playing a military man who chases around after Stark, looks dispirited and taken for granted". IGN 's Todd Gilchrist recognized Downey as "the best thing" in a film that "functions on autopilot, providing requisite story developments and character details to fill in this default 'origin story' while
24282-517: The escape. Three men enter a disused slaughterhouse in Texas, where two of them inject a willing third, whom they call " Mallen ". This injection contains an experimental drug which makes him fall to the floor in immense pain. A bizarre physical change overtakes him; his horrified compatriots flee the room, locking him in. Miles underground in his Coney Island "garage", Stark is awakened from sleep and several weeks of work, isolation, and diminished self care by his secretary's phone call, reminding him of
24495-634: The fantasy of the Mandarin's rings be appropriate. The decision to push him into the background is comparable to Sauron in The Lord of the Rings , or Palpatine in Star Wars . Favreau also wanted Iron Man to face a giant enemy. The switch from Mandarin to Obadiah Stane was done after Bridges was cast in that role, with Stane originally intended to become a villain in the sequel. The Crimson Dynamo
24708-463: The film on multiple gaming platforms. Downey, Howard and Toub reprise their roles from the film. A 30-second spot for the film aired during a Super Bowl XLII break. Hasbro created figures of armor from the film, as well as Titanium Man (who appears in the video game) and the armor from the World War Hulk comics . The 7-Eleven convenience store chain helped promote the film across
24921-436: The film also directly referenced Sony Pictures ' Spider-Man 2 (2004) by identifying Stark as the creator of Otto Octavius 's bionic arms. In order to build the general public's awareness of Iron Man and elevate him to the same level of popularity as Spider-Man or Hulk , Marvel conducted focus groups , trying to find a way to remove the general perception that the character is a robot. The information Marvel received from
25134-642: The film regarding certain scenes and dialogue depicting the military. This included changing Stark from being opposed to arms deals, to instead becoming one who sells his technology to the U.S. military. Exterior shots of Stark's home were digitally added to footage of Point Dume in Malibu , while the interior was built at Playa Vista, where Favreau and Riva aimed to make Stark's home look less futuristic and more " grease monkey ". Filming concluded on June 25, 2007, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada . Favreau,
25347-455: The film still in pre-production, Favreau and Arad attended San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film, where the film's armor design, drawn by Adi Granov , was revealed along with the announcement that the Mandarin was intended to be the antagonist of the film. The following year, Favreau returned to San Diego Comic-Con to once again promote the film with Downey and Feige, where a teaser trailer
25560-399: The film to be believable by showing the construction of the Iron Man suit in its three stages. Stan Winston , a fan of the comic book, and his company, who Favreau worked with on Zathura , built metal and rubber versions of the armor. The Mark I design was intended to look like it was built from spare parts. The back is less armored than the front, because Stark would use his resources for
25773-435: The film was made available on Disney+ beginning on November 12, 2021. Iron Man earned $ 319 million in the United States and Canada and $ 266.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $ 585.8 million. In its opening weekend, Iron Man grossed $ 98.6 million in 4,105 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking first at the box office, giving it the eleventh biggest-opening weekend at
25986-444: The film's final line, " I am Iron Man ", which Feige felt was inline with the character's personality. Bridges described this approach as "a $ 200 million student film", and noted that it caused stress for Marvel executives when the stars were trying to come up with dialogue on the day of filming scenes. He also noted that in some instances, he and Downey would swap characters for rehearsal to see how their own lines sounded. Paltrow
26199-502: The film, while nonetheless finding "disappointment [in] a climatic [ sic ] battle between different Iron Man prototypes ... how did Tony's nemesis learn how to use the suit?" In one of the first major-daily newspaper reviews, Frank Lovece of Newsday lauded the film's "emotional truth ... pitch-perfect casting and plausibly rendered super-science" that made it "faithful to the source material while updating it – and recognizing what's made that material so enduring isn't just
26412-536: The film. Fox sold the rights to New Line Cinema the following December, reasoning that although the Vintar/Lee script was strong, the studio had too many Marvel superheroes in development, and "we can't make them all." We worked with Michael Crichton 's researchers to find a grounded realistic way to deal with the suit. The idea was he needed the suit to stay alive. He's the same guy we used with Spider-Man 2 to come up with Doc Ock 's inhibitor chips and what
26625-592: The filmmakers acknowledged the coincidence that they would film Iron Man creating the flying Mark III where the Hughes H-4 Hercules was built. Favreau rejected the East Coast setting of the comic books because many superhero films had already been set there. Filming began on March 12, 2007, with Matthew Libatique serving as director of photography. The first few weeks of filming were spent on Stark's captivity in Afghanistan. The cave where Stark
26838-428: The first Timely character to debut with his own ongoing series without having first appeared in an anthology . Simon sought to have Jack Kirby be the primary artist on the series: the two developed a working relationship and friendship in the late 1930s after working together at Fox Feature Syndicate , and had previously developed characters for Timely together. Kirby also shared Simon's pro-intervention views, and
27051-456: The first week and generating a gross of over US$ 93 million. There were a total of 9 million copies sold and an accumulated total sales of over $ 160 million (not including Blu-ray). For the home releases of the film, the image on the newspaper Stark reads before he announces he is Iron Man had to be altered because of amateur photographer Ronnie Adams filing a lawsuit against Paramount and Marvel for using his on-location spy photo in
27264-526: The focus groups was used to formulate an awareness-building plan, which included releasing three animated short films ahead of the film's release. The shorts were called "Iron Man Advertorials", and were produced by Tim Miller and Blur Studio . Jon Favreau was hired to direct the film in April 2006, celebrating getting the job by going on a diet, losing 70 pounds (32 kg). Favreau had wanted to work with Marvel producer Avi Arad on another film after they both worked on Daredevil . The director found
27477-417: The government" to fund something that would better all of mankind and bring a better future; the Iron Man idea was never a weapon of war, but the start of a process that would merge men with machines and make humanity great. Twenty-four hours into his coma, the cocoon which has covered his body bursts; Stark awakens, healed and newly fit. An internal control sheath for his Iron Man armor is now contained within
27690-430: The hallucinations appeared because the excess information was filtered into the same place Stark subconsciously stored his guilt to stop himself facing it. When the Mandarin attempts to release Extremis on a large scale as part of his plan to 'reshape' the human race, it is revealed that Maya's initial version of Extremis can only be successful when used on people who possess a rare genetic sequence, found in only 2.5% of
27903-418: The heavy use of speed lines . The first issue of Captain America Comics sold out in a matter of days, and the second issue's print run was set at over one million copies. Captain America quickly became Timely's most popular character, with the publisher creating an official Captain America fan club called the "Sentinels of Liberty". Circulation figures remained close to a million copies per month after
28116-461: The hero's name, but felt there were already multiple comic book characters with "super" in their names. He worked out the details of the character, who was eventually named "Captain America", after he completed sketches in consultation with Goodman. The hero's civilian name "Steve Rogers" was derived from the telegraphy term " roger ", meaning "message received". Goodman elected to launch Captain America with his own self-titled comic book, making him
28329-552: The high-tech cool of a man in a metal suit, but the human condition that got him there". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, praising Downey Jr.'s performance and stating, "At the end of the day it's Robert Downey Jr. who powers the lift-off separating this from most other superhero movies". A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "an unusually good superhero picture. Or at least – since it certainly has its problems –
28542-416: The hollows of his bones, able to emerge upon mental command. He can integrate himself not only into his armor, but phone, computer, and even satellite networks. Maya confronts Tony on the potential strain his organs will suffer, only to find that the Extremis formula allowed him to grow entirely new organs. Using an older version of the Iron Man suit stored in a suit case, Tony explains that the autonomous armor
28755-517: The human population. This percentage includes Tony Stark and Maya Hansen, but does not include the Mandarin. Anyone without this sequence who is exposed to Extremis will be killed by it. When industrialist Michael Hall attempts to create his own suits of armor based on the Carnage symbiote , Iron Man attempts to hack the suits, but Carnage is able to "hack" Iron Man in return by using the technological/biological interface elements of Extremis. During
28968-405: The mantle of Captain America and assumes the title of " Nomad ", the "man without a country". He eventually re-assumes the title, and later declines an offer from the "New Populist Party" to run for president himself. He again abandons the mantle of Captain America to briefly assume the alias of " The Captain " when a government commission orders him to work directly for the U.S. government. In
29181-432: The mirror." Extremis is referred to as a "virus" throughout the story. The verbatim description offered by its inventor Maya Hansen, goes: "...Extremis is a super-soldier solution. It's a bio-electronics package, fitted into a few billion graphite nanotubes and suspended in a carrier fluid. A magic bullet, like the original super-soldier serum—all fitted into a single injection. It hacks the body's repair center—the part of
29394-413: The most popular and recognized Marvel Comics characters , and has been described as an icon of American popular culture . Though Captain America was not the first United States–themed superhero , he would become the most popular and enduring of the many patriotic American superheroes created during World War II. Captain America was the first Marvel character to appear in a medium outside of comic books, in
29607-522: The most significant storylines appearing in Gruenwald's run was " The Choice " in 1987, in which Steve Rogers renounces the identity of Captain America to briefly become simply "The Captain" after the United States government orders him to continue his superheroic activities directly under their control. After Gruenwald departed the series, writer Mark Waid and artist Ron Garney began to author Captain America in 1995. Despite early acclaim, including
29820-528: The newest version of the Iron Man armor and takes off into the sky. Meanwhile, the injected man's body, still lying in the Bastrop warehouse, is now covered completely in a bizarre layer of scar tissue. Later, at Futurepharm Corporation offices in Austin, Texas, Dr. Aldrich Killian commits suicide after typing and printing his confession. The note informs co-worker Maya Hansen that he has stolen and "loosed"
30033-436: The next two or three days, the patient remains unconscious within a cocoon of scabs. (...) Extremis uses the nutrients and body mass to grow new organs. Better ones..." Effects of the Extremis process, apart from the changes specific to Tony Stark, included: greatly accelerated healing; immensely-boosted immune system; generation of "new, improved organs" (Tony's cardiovascular and respiratory systems were greatly upgraded); and,
30246-794: The obvious physical changes, Extremis also affected Stark mentally, allowing him to process information extraordinarily quickly, on a subconscious level, to help him better cope with the direct technological link he now possessed to his armor (even as his standard thought processes remained at a human norm). As a result, his brain, taking in more information than he could consciously process, began to sublimate it into his unconscious mind, causing Stark to experience occasional hallucinations of particularly relevant information, manifesting as people whose deaths he felt personally responsible for, such as Captain America or Happy Hogan . These hallucinations served to make him aware of facts that he had noted subconsciously while not recognizing their relevance or existence on
30459-463: The only Captain America stories he would ever directly write. While Captain America generated acclaim and industry fame for Simon and Kirby, the pair believed that Goodman was withholding the promised percentage of profits for the series, prompting Simon to seek employment for himself and Kirby at National Comics Publications. When Goodman learned of Simon and Kirby's intentions, he effectively fired them from Timely Comics, telling them they were to leave
30672-510: The opportunity to create a politically ambitious "ultimate spy movie" in Iron Man , citing inspiration from Tom Clancy , James Bond , and RoboCop , and compared his approach to an independent film—"[i]f Robert Altman had directed Superman "—and Batman Begins . Favreau wanted to make Iron Man a story of an adult man literally reinventing himself after discovering the world is far more complex than he originally believed. He changed
30885-413: The original 56-year copyright term has expired. Marvel challenged the claim, arguing that Simon's 1966 settlement made the character ineligible for copyright transfer. Simon and Marvel settled out of court in 2003, in a deal that paid Simon royalties for merchandising and licensing of the character. Writer and artist Dan Jurgens took over Captain America from Waid in 2000, positioning the character in
31098-458: The original Arc Reactor (used to still the shrapnel lodged in Stark's chest and prevent it from puncturing his heart) and Iron Man suit (something powered by the same thing keeping him alive that would allow for the two of them to escape their captors). Tony confesses that the terrorists could not be allowed to use his weapons, and that his military contracts were nothing more than "stealing money from
31311-442: The peak of human physical perfection. His physical conditioning is superior to any Olympic athlete who ever competed. He is additionally an master tactician and field commander, and has achieved mastery in a variety of hand-to-hand combat styles, including boxing and judo . The precise parameters of Captain America's physical prowess vary across stories due to editorial dictates and artistic license taken by authors; Steve Englehart
31524-529: The phone to end the attack. Meanwhile, the Ten Rings gather the pieces of Stark's prototype suit and meet with Stane, who has been trafficking arms to the Ten Rings and has staged a coup to replace Stark as Stark Industries' CEO by hiring the Ten Rings to kill him. He subdues Raza and has him and the rest of the group killed. Stane has a massive new armor suit reverse-engineered from the wreckage. Seeking to track his company's illegal shipments, Stark sends Potts to hack into its database. She discovers that Stane hired
31737-461: The physical components of the Extremis virus from his brain, eliminating a tumor that may have killed him, but furthering Doc Green's development into what appears to be a contemporary incarnation of the Maestro . However, Doc Green eventually realized that his current state was only temporary and he would eventually return to normal, but a Doc Green A.I. he created to facilitate his efforts at finding
31950-480: The physics of flying. For shots of the Mark III flying, it was animated to look realistic by taking off slowly, and landing quickly. To generate shots of Iron Man and the F-22 Raptors battling, cameras were flown in the air to provide reference for physics, wind and frost on the lenses. Favreau conceived of the head-up display shots so audiences would not become disconnected from Stark when watching scenes with
32163-567: The popularity of superheroes declined in the post-war period and Captain America Comics was discontinued in 1950. The character saw a short-lived revival in 1953 before returning to comics in 1964, and has since remained in continuous publication. Captain America's creation as an explicitly anti-Nazi figure was a deliberately political undertaking: Simon and Kirby were stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supporters of U.S. intervention in World War II, with Simon conceiving of
32376-417: The processing speed and durability of Iron Man's armor. Suffering severe injuries and damage to his armor, Iron Man and the police manage to repulse Mallen, though civilian casualties are present. Mallen flees, leaving Stark trapped beneath a burning car with his armor at zero power. Stark saves himself and the car's passengers by raising his armor to 1% power by drawing from the flames' thermal energy, though he
32589-415: The reintroduction of Captain America's love interest Sharon Carter, their run was terminated after ten issues as a result of Marvel's " Heroes Reborn " rebranding in 1996. The rebrand saw artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld , who had left the company in the early 1990s to establish Image Comics , return to Marvel to re-imagine several of the company's characters. Marvel faced various financial difficulties in
32802-673: The respective companies. Three other vehicles, the Audi S6 sedan, Audi S5 sports coupe and the Audi Q7 SUV, also appear in the film. Audi created a tie-in website, as General Motors did for Transformers . Oracle Corporation also promoted the film on its site. Several tie-in comics were released for the film. Iron Man premiered at the Greater Union theater at George Street, Sydney , on April 14, 2008. The film began releasing in international markets on April 30, and
33015-510: The rights to develop Iron Man for the big screen, with Stuart Gordon to direct a low-budget film based on the property. By February 1996, 20th Century Fox had acquired the rights from Universal. In January 1997, Nicolas Cage expressed interest in portraying the character, while in September 1998, Tom Cruise expressed interest in producing as well as starring in an Iron Man film. Jeff Vintar and Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee co-wrote
33228-607: The role, which resulted in Favreau leaking the news that Downey was in talks to the press; the positive reaction and enthusiasm to this story helped convince the executives, with Downey cast in the role in September 2006. Rockwell would later portray Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 (2010). Downey earned $ 500,000 for the role. While preparing for filming, Favreau and Downey were given a tour of SpaceX by Elon Musk . Downey said, "Elon
33441-434: The same time as well as her extensive involvement with the formula. Maya allows herself to be taken away, though she justifies her actions by comparing the Extremis serum to the atomic bomb, saying, "It had to be used once in anger so that it would never be used in anger again." Maya then declares that Tony is no better than she is, to which Iron Man replies "No. But I'm trying to be... And tomorrow I'll be able to look myself in
33654-545: The scene. A Walmart -exclusive DVD release included a preview of Iron Man: Armored Adventures . The film was also collected in a 10-disc box set titled " Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled " which includes all of the Phase One films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on April 2, 2013. The IMAX Enhanced version of
33867-460: The screenwriters had been released from their commitments at the end of filming, who suggested the act should call back to earlier in the film when Stark was learning that one of the limitations of the suit was it freezing at high altitudes. Favreau was hesitant to commit to this change, as it would cost an additional $ 6 million dollars. However, the impending writers' strike forced him to move forward with this idea, with Marcum and Holloway submitting
34080-410: The script. In May 2006, Arad left Marvel Studios to become an independent producer. Because he was on staff when the deal was made for Iron Man , he retained producer credit on the film. By July 2006, Matthew Libatique was attached to serve as cinematographer. Favreau planned to cast a newcomer in the title role, as "those movies don't require an expensive star; Iron Man's the star, the superhero
34293-419: The script. The Mandarin had originally been envisioned as a rival to Tony Stark with a building of his own right next to Stark Industries , with the Mandarin eventually drilling a hole underneath Stark Industries to steal all of Stark's technology for himself; associate producer Jeremy Latcham described such story as "crazy terrible" and "underwhelming". Favreau felt only in a sequel, with an altered tone, would
34506-417: The series from 1985 to 1995. Various artists illustrated the series over the course of Gruenwald's decade-long run, including Paul Neary from 1985 to 1987, and Kieron Dwyer from 1988 to 1990. In contrast to DeMatteis, Gruenwald placed less emphasis on Steve Rogers' life as a civilian, wishing to show "that Steve Rogers is Captain America first [...] he has no greater needs than being Captain America." Among
34719-499: The series was also re-titled Captain America beginning with issue 223 in 1978. Owing to the series' lack of a regular writer, Captain America editor Roger Stern and artist John Byrne authored the series from 1980 to 1981. Their run that saw a storyline in which Captain America declines an offer to run for president of the United States. Following Stern and Byrne, Captain America was authored by writer J.M. Dematteis and artist Mike Zeck from 1981 to 1984. Their run featured
34932-465: The series was cover titled as Captain America and the Falcon beginning February 1971, which it would maintain for the next seven and a half years. These political shifts were significantly shaped by comics created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema , who joined the series in 1972. In a 1974 storyline written by Englehart directly inspired by the Watergate scandal , Captain America
35145-412: The series, and was replaced by Gene Colan . In 1969, writer and artist Jim Steranko authored a three-issue run of Captain America . Despite the brevity of Steranko's time on the series, his contributions significantly influenced how Captain America was represented in post-war comics, reestablishing the character's secret identity and introducing a more experimental art style to the series. "This
35358-469: The side effect of increased aggressiveness. Tony Stark had the super-powers removed from the Extremis compiler, though, effectively 'exchanging' them for the ability to interface directly with machines and his own armor. But Mallen retained said super-powers, resulting in his high-level super-strength, super-speed, advanced invulnerability, and the abilities to breathe fire and project arcs of electricity from his hands, as well as being bullet-proof. As well as
35571-400: The span of multiple decades. However, Stevens identifies two aspects of the character's personality that have remained consistent across expressions: his "uncompromising purity" and "his ability to judge the character in others". Early Captain America stories typically paid little attention to Rogers' civilian identity; in his 1970 book The Steranko History of Comics , Jim Steranko notes that
35784-616: The spirit of the Cold War and McCarthyism , the character was billed as "Captain America, Commie Smasher" and faced enemies associated with the Soviet Union . The series was a commercial failure, and was cancelled after just three issues. Romita attributed the series' failure to the changing political climate, particularly the public opposition to the Korean War ; the character subsequently fell out of active publication for nearly
35997-425: The studio attached director Nick Cassavetes to the project for a target 2006 release. However, this deal ultimately fell through, and Iron Man's film rights returned to Marvel. In November 2005, Marvel Studios worked to start development from scratch, and announced Iron Man as their first independent feature, because the character was their only major one not already depicted in live action. Paramount Pictures
36210-540: The superhero genre with a deft intelligence and infectious sense of fun." On Metacritic , the film has an average score of 79 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Among the major trade journals, Todd McCarthy of Variety called the film an "expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza" with "fresh energy and stylistic polish", while Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised
36423-493: The superhero the press has dubbed "Iron Man". In a post-credits scene , S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury visits Stark at home, telling him that he has become part of a "Bigger Universe", and that he wants to discuss the " Avenger Initiative ". Additionally, Faran Tahir appears as Raza , the leader of the Ten Rings ; Paul Bettany voices J.A.R.V.I.S. , Stark's personal AI system; and Clark Gregg appears as Phil Coulson , an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Will Lyman provides
36636-582: The ten best films of 2008. It received two nominations at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects . In 2022, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Two sequels have been released: Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013). Tony Stark , who has inherited
36849-405: The terrorists and save himself and his friend, only to witness a stray bullet kill Yinsen on impact. Mallen replies that his parents died the same way. Tony points out that when Mallen killed 50 people, he did so with no knowledge of who or what they were, and did so twenty years after the fact. Now superior to Mallen, Iron Man explains that he had to be the one to stop the terrorist, seeing Mallen as
37062-487: The three men from the slaughterhouse arrive at the FBI field office. While Kennedy, now a futurist following nature and an idealistic way of life, harangues Tony and Maya on their military work and thus-far-failed promise, Mallen sets the FBI office on fire using his new biological powers. Maya catches the story on the news, realizing that the terrorists are in fact using Extremis and causing casualties of over 50 civilians. Back in
37275-537: The time, ninth-widest release in terms of theaters, and the third highest-grossing opening weekend of 2008 behind Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight . It grossed $ 35.2 million on its first day, giving it the thirteenth biggest-opening day at the time. Iron Man had the second-best premiere for a non-sequel, behind Spider-Man , and the fourth biggest-opening for
37488-611: The title character. Iron Man premiered in Sydney on April 14, 2008, and was released in the United States on May 2, as the first film in Phase One of the MCU. It grossed over $ 585 million, becoming the eighth-highest grossing film of 2008 , and received praise from critics, especially for Downey's performance as well as Favreau's direction, the visual effects, action sequences, and writing. The American Film Institute selected it as one of
37701-593: The title role; the actor was signed in September. Filming took place from March to June 2007, primarily in California to differentiate the film from numerous other superhero stories that are set in New York City. During filming, the actors were free to create their own dialogue because pre-production was focused on the story and action. Rubber and metal versions of the armor, created by Stan Winston 's company, were mixed with computer-generated imagery to create
37914-447: The two recognize that Tony's actions actually saved Bruce's life, Bruce modifies Extremis to modify his usual transformation creating a new Hulk persona known as "Doc Green" (a form of Hulk that is similar to Bruce Banner's Merged Hulk form) who retains Bruce's intellect and the Hulk's strength. After Doc Green attacked and depowered other gamma mutants as he believed that they were a threat, the Hulk then asked Shadowcat for help to remove
38127-444: The typically ephemeral nature of comic book deaths , until he returned in 2005 as the Winter Soldier. Initially introduced as a brainwashed assassin and antagonist to Captain America, Bucky's memories and personality were later restored, and he was re-established as an ally to Steve Rogers. Rick Jones briefly assumed the role of Captain America's sidekick and the public identity of Bucky following Captain America's return to comics in
38340-512: The van, Mallen tells his compatriots that he is only getting started. In flight back to Texas, Maya tells Stark Extremis is a military nanotechnology serum that was another attempt to recreate the Captain America Super-Soldier Serum, and that the new formula interfaces with the brain's 'repair center' and directs the body to rebuild itself from scratch as if it were all wound tissue to be replaced. Stark receives
38553-479: The very earliest issues. This is similar for Adi Granov: "My first official introduction to the character occurred a year prior to Extremis . [...] Upon reading the script, I realized how realistic Warren's approach was to the story. [...] When illustrating the book I wanted my art to mirror the realism in Warren's writing [...] I felt that Warren wrote a story that's a sort of techno-thriller action story and I wanted
38766-416: The villain the Mandarin and Pepper Potts as a love interest. Hayter removed the Mandarin and instead chose to pit Iron Man against his father Howard Stark , who becomes War Machine . Hayter said "you want to try to mirror your hero with your villain as much as possible" for his reasoning behind making Howard the villain. He also made Bethany Cabe the film's love interest over Potts. In December 2004,
38979-629: The villainous Red Skull and other members of the Axis powers both domestically and abroad, alongside his sidekick Bucky Barnes and as a member of the Invaders . In the final days of the war, Rogers and Barnes seemingly perish after falling from an experimental drone plane into the northern Atlantic Ocean . Rogers is found decades later by the superhero team the Avengers , the Super-Soldier Serum having allowed him to survive frozen in
39192-524: The villainous Red Skull and other members of the Axis powers . In the final days of the war, an accident left Captain America frozen in a state of suspended animation until he was revived in modern times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes leader of the superhero team the Avengers , but frequently struggles as a "man out of time" to adjust to the new era. The character quickly emerged as Timely's most popular and commercially successful wartime creation upon his original publication, though
39405-466: The voice-over during the opening award ceremony. Director Jon Favreau plays Harold "Happy" Hogan , Stark's bodyguard and chauffeur , and Samuel L. Jackson makes a cameo appearance as Nick Fury , director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in a post-credits scene. Jackson's face was previously used as the model for the Ultimate Marvel imprint version of Nick Fury . Other cameos in the film include Stan Lee as himself, being mistaken for Hugh Hefner by Stark at
39618-592: The world". A sequel written by Justin Theroux and released in the United States on May 7, 2010, saw Favreau, Downey, Paltrow, Gregg, and Jackson returning. Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in the role of Colonel Rhodes, who is also seen as War Machine. Also starring are Mickey Rourke as villain Ivan Vanko , Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer , and Scarlett Johansson as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff . Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios released
39831-458: Was "hated by everyone in the free world", and that it would be a unique approach for a superhero to face a real-life adversary rather than a fictional one. This approach was also intentionally political. Simon was stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supported U.S. intervention in World War II , and intended the hero to be a response to the American non-interventionism movement . Simon initially considered "Super American" for
40044-494: Was accompanied by the miniseries Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America written by Jeph Loeb; the character was later revived in the 2009 limited series Captain America: Reborn . Brubaker's run on Captain America , which ran across various titles until 2012, was critically and commercially acclaimed; Captain America #25 (which contains the character's death) was the best-selling comic of 2007, and Brubaker won
40257-507: Was also a villain in early drafts of the script, including at one point combining the character with the Mandarin. Favreau felt it was important to include intentional inside references for fans of the comics, such as giving the two fighter jets that attack Iron Man the call signs of "Whiplash 1" and "Whiplash 2", a reference to the comic book villain Whiplash , and including Captain America's shield in Stark's workshop. Favreau wanted
40470-422: Was announced as Marvel's distribution partner for Iron Man . According to associate producer Jeremy Latcham, "we went after about 30 writers and they all passed," saying they were uninterested in the project due to both the relative obscurity of the character and the fact that it was solely a Marvel production. When the film did have a script, even the requests for rewrites met with many refusals. Early scripts for
40683-588: Was born in the 1920s to an impoverished family on the Lower East Side of New York City . The frail and infirm Rogers attempts to join the U.S. Army in order to fight in the Second World War , but is rejected after being deemed unfit for military service. His resolve is nevertheless noticed by the military, and he is recruited as the first test subject for "Project Rebirth", a secret government program that seeks to create super soldiers through
40896-531: Was cast as love interest Virginia "Pepper" Potts in January 2007; and Jeff Bridges was cast in an undisclosed role in February. Don Cheadle had also been approached for the role of Rhodes, and would eventually replace Howard in the role starting with the sequel, Iron Man 2 . Choosing a character to be the villain of the film was difficult, as Favreau felt Iron Man's arch-nemesis the Mandarin would not feel realistic, especially after Mark Millar gave his opinion on
41109-407: Was changed to its current circular design due to a complaint from MLJ Comics that the original design too closely resembled the chest symbol of their superhero The Shield . The shield is depicted as constructed from an alloy of vibranium and adamantium , two highly resilient fictional metals appearing in Marvel comic books. It is portrayed as both a virtually indestructible defensive object and
41322-481: Was fired after he refused to take a lower pay rate amid Marvel's bankruptcy proceedings. Waid would return to Captain America in 1998, initially with Garney as arist and later with Andy Kubert . In 1999, Joe Simon filed to claim the copyright to Captain America under a provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 that allows the original creators of works that have been sold to corporations to reclaim them after
41535-525: Was frequently debated by readers in the letters to the editor section in Captain America . Marvel maintained a position of neutrality on Vietnam; in 1971, Stan Lee wrote in an editorial that a poll indicated that a majority of readers did not want Captain America to be involved in Vietnam, adding that he believed the character "simply doesn't lend himself to the John Wayne -type character he once was" and that he could not "see any of our characters taking on
41748-466: Was given an editorial order to give the character superhuman strength in the 1970s, but the change did not remain permanent and was soon forgotten. Steve Rogers is also a skilled visual artist, having worked as a commercial illustrator prior to joining the military, and several storylines have depicted the character working as a freelance artist. The basic design of Captain America's costume has remained largely consistent from its original incarnation in
41961-568: Was grabbing all of Europe, we had Nazis in America, Nazis holding mass meetings in Madison Square Garden . [...] Captain America was created in that atmosphere, he was a natural outgrowth of the passionate mood of the country." – Jack Kirby In 1940, Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman responded to the growing popularity of superhero comics – particularly Superman at rival publisher National Comics Publications ,
42174-414: Was highly acclaimed, bringing Captain America from one of Marvel's lowest-selling titles to its top-selling comic, and the conflict between America as it idealizes itself to be and America in reality would recur frequently as a theme in Captain America comics in the subsequent decades. In 1975, Roy Thomas created the comic book series The Invaders . Set during World War II, the comic focuses on
42387-570: Was introduced as a villainous Captain America in 1988, and Isaiah Bradley was established in the 2003 limited series Truth: Red, White & Black as an African American man who acquired superpowers after being used as a test subject for the Super-Soldier Serum. Rogers' sidekicks Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have also alternately held the title of Captain America: Barnes in 2008 following Rogers' death in 2007 , and Wilson following Marvel's 2012 rebranding campaign Marvel Now! . Within
42600-463: Was legally entitled to renew the copyright on the character upon the expiration of the original 28-year term. The two parties settled out of court, with Simon agreeing to a statement that the character had been created under terms of employment by the publisher, and was therefore work for hire owned by the company. Captain America's self-titled ongoing series was relaunched in April 1968, with Lee as writer and Kirby as penciller; Kirby later departed
42813-444: Was less comfortable with improvisation, so Favreau would take notes on things she said during rehearsals or in off-handed moments that were in line with the character to incorporate into Potts' dialogue. The crew conceived a post-credits scene featuring Nick Fury and called Samuel L. Jackson to ask him if he would be interested in playing Fury, as Jackson had learned a few years earlier that his likeness had been used for Fury in
43026-463: Was my job as a director to show that it was the best choice creatively ... everybody knew he was talented [and] certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realized that the character seemed to line-up with Robert in all the good and bad ways." Casting director Sarah Halley Finn suggested Downey create an audition tape to help persuade them. The executives were still not convinced, despite Favreau and Feige recommending Downey for
43239-428: Was not the first United States-themed superhero – a distinction that belongs to The Shield at MLJ Comics – he would become the most popular patriotic American superhero of those created during World War II. Captain America's popularity drew a complaint from MLJ that the character's triangular heater shield too closely resembled the chest symbol of The Shield. This prompted Goodman to direct Simon and Kirby to change
43452-521: Was particularly drawn to the character in this regard. Goodman, conversely, wanted a team of artists on the series. It was ultimately determined that Kirby would serve as penciller , with Al Avison and Al Gabriele assisting as inkers ; Simon additionally negotiated for himself and Kirby to receive 25 percent of the profits from the comic. Simon regards Kirby as a co-creator of Captain America, stating that "if Kirby hadn't drawn it, it might not have been much of anything." Captain America Comics #1
43665-427: Was published on December 20, 1940, with a cover date of March 1941. While the front cover of the issue featured Captain America punching Hitler, the comic itself established the Red Skull as Captain America's primary adversary, and also introduced Bucky Barnes as Captain America's teenaged sidekick . Simon stated that he personally regarded Captain America's origin story , in which the frail Steve Rogers becomes
43878-583: Was released in May 2013 to tie-in with the release of the Iron Man 3 film as part of the Marvel Prose Novel series. Iron Man (2008 film) This is an accepted version of this page Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name . Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures , it is the first film in
44091-560: Was released in the United States on May 2, 2008. Iron Man was the first film released in Phase One of the MCU. The film was re-formatted and screened in IMAX for the first time on August 30, 2018, as part of Marvel Studios' 10th anniversary IMAX festival. The film was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 30, 2008, in the United States and Canada, and October 27, 2008 in most of Europe. DVD sales were very successful, selling over 4 million copies
44304-828: Was replaced by a version of himself later known as "Hydra Supreme", loyal to the villainous organization Hydra , culminating in the 2017 crossover event Secret Empire . As part of Marvel's Fresh Start rebrand in 2018, a new Captain America series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates with art by Leinil Francis Yu was published from 2018 to 2021. A new volume of Captain America written by J. Michael Straczynski began publication in September 2023. As of 2015 , Captain America has appeared in more than ten thousand stories in more than five thousand media formats, including comic books, books, and trade publications. The character's origin story has been retold and revised multiple times throughout his editorial history, though its broad details have remained generally consistent. Steven "Steve" Rogers
44517-487: Was shown. With much of the visuals not yet ready, Favreau worked with ILM to have the flying shots ready, saying "I knew that I had to make a splash because there was zero anticipation for the film at the time". Stan Winston Studios also brought a life-sized replica of the film's armor to display at the convention. Marvel and Paramount modeled their marketing campaign for Iron Man on that of Transformers . In May 2008, Sega released an official tie-in video game based on
44730-400: Was someone Tony probably hung out with and partied with, or more likely they went on some weird jungle trek together to drink concoctions with the shamans." Additional casting for the film occurred over the next few months: Terrence Howard was announced in the role of Stark's best friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes in October 2006. He had been the first actor cast for the film; Gwyneth Paltrow
44943-426: Was the '70s – prime anti-war years – and here was a guy with a flag on his chest who was supposed to represent what most people distrusted. No one knew what to do with him." – Steve Englehart In contrast to the character's enthusiastic participation in World War II, comics featuring Captain America rarely broached the topic of the Vietnam War , though the subject of Captain America's potential participation
45156-402: Was the way of the future, though its low processing speed made it useless until now. Tapping into a satellite cluster, Iron Man finds Mallen heading towards Washington, intent on killing the president. Having the police evacuate the city, Iron Man confronts Mallen. During the fight, Iron Man reveals several aspects of his past, saying that he was forced to kill nearly 50 people in order to escape
45369-460: Was unavailable to score the film, Djawadi sought out the role himself. Favreau had a clear vision of heavy metal music and guitars for the project, saying that Tony Stark was more of a rock star than a traditional superhero. Djawadi subsequently composed most of the film's score on guitar, before arranging it for orchestra. Djawadi had help with arrangements and additional cues from Hans Zimmer and Remote Control Productions , and Rage Against
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