Heather doesn’t remember Iron Man

We take our first steps into the wide, wide universe of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular hero. This movie, directed by Jon Favreau, kicked off the entertainment juggernaut that is the MCU, so even though Heather has technically seen the movie before, we’re going to revisit it to start our Marvel superhero journey. Fortunately, she doesn’t remember any of it.

We’ll discuss how RDJ’s charm offensive makes an offensive character likeable, if there’s chemistry between Tony Stark and his executive assistant Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), and if the movie still holds up over fifteen years later.

00:00 Intro

00:36 Preconceptions

04:38 What exactly is the MCU, anyway?

06:02 Indie film cred

10:18 Movie clip

12:56 Reactions

16:50 Grounded in reality

20:00 Stan Lee's challenge

21:41 Charm offensive

24:19 Recap

26:49 That weapons factory really tied the room together

28:38 Terrence Howard was fired for being Terrence Howard

30:05 Writer-director-actor-bodyguard

30:57 JARVIS!

31:54 Hot sake and ethical flight attendant strippers

34:22 International date line

35:20 The Ten Rings

36:54 Escape and goodbye

39:26 Have it your way (rock bottom)

40:58 No longer man-ooo-facturing weapons

42:32 SHIELD is kind of a big deal

45:06 Science-based (just not physics)

47:55 Chemistry is a science

49:07 Gwyneth Paltrow has never heard of Operation

49:48 Masking done right

51:58 Would you kiss your boss at a work event?

57:29 Terrorism is terrifying

01:00:37 Why does Dan know what Louboutins are?

01:01:22 The big bad (not really a surprise)

01:05:57 Drink more Ovaltine

01:09:03 Crucial to make voice scary when being a bad guy

01:12:31 I am Iron Man

01:13:30 Post credits!

01:18:11 Closing thoughts

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