Iron Man (2008 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iron Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jon Favreau
Produced by	Avi Arad Kevin Feige
Screenplay by	Mark Fergus Hawk Ostby Art Marcum Matt Holloway
Starring	Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard Jeff Bridges Gwyneth Paltrow Leslie Bibb Shaun Toub
Music by	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography	Matthew Libatique
Editing by	Dan Lebental
Studio	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	April 14, 2008 (2008-04-14) (Sydney) May 2, 2008 (2008-05-02) (United States)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$130–140 million
Money made	$585.8 million

Iron Man is a superhero movie from 2008. It's based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. This film was made by Marvel Studios and was the very first movie in the huge Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Jon Favreau directed the film. It stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, who becomes the superhero Iron Man. Other stars include Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In the movie, Tony Stark is a super-smart inventor and rich businessman. He gets captured by a terrorist group. To escape, he builds a special suit of armor. After he gets free, he makes an even better suit and becomes the hero known as Iron Man.

Making an Iron Man movie had been planned for a long time, even since the 1990s. But Marvel Studios finally got the rights back in 2005. They decided to make it their first movie that they paid for themselves. Filming happened from March to June 2007, mostly in California. The movie used both real armor suits and computer effects to bring Iron Man to life.

Iron Man first showed in Sydney, Australia, on April 14, 2008. It came out in the United States on May 2, 2008. It was the first movie in the MCU's "Phase One." The film earned over $585 million worldwide. Critics really liked it, especially Robert Downey Jr.'s acting. Many also praised the directing, special effects, and action scenes. The film was even chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2008. In 2022, it was added to the United States National Film Registry because it was seen as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Two sequels followed: Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).

Meet the Characters

Downey promoting the film at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con

Howard preparing for the role by riding an F-16 flight simulator

• Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man: He is a super smart inventor and the head of Stark Industries. He makes weapons for the U.S. military.
• Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes: He is Tony's good friend. He works for the United States Air Force and helps with weapons development.
• Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane: He is Tony's business partner and mentor. He tries to take over Tony's company and fights Iron Man in a big suit.
• Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts: She is Tony's personal assistant. She is very organized and helps Tony a lot.
• Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart: A reporter for Vanity Fair magazine.
• Shaun Toub as Ho Yinsen: He is captured with Tony Stark. He helps Tony build the first Iron Man suit to escape.

Other characters include Faran Tahir as Raza, the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist group. Paul Bettany is the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony's smart computer system. Clark Gregg plays Phil Coulson, an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Director Jon Favreau also plays Happy Hogan, Tony's bodyguard.

At the very end of the movie, Samuel L. Jackson makes a surprise appearance as Nick Fury. He is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. This scene hinted at more Marvel movies to come.

Making the Movie

Filming for Iron Man started on March 12, 2007. The first scenes filmed were about Tony Stark being held captive in Afghanistan. The cave set was very long and had air conditioning to make it feel cold, like a real cave. Tony's escape was filmed in Lone Pine. Other outdoor scenes were shot in the Olancha Sand Dunes.

Filming also took place at Edwards Air Force Base. The filmmakers worked with the United States Department of Defense to make sure military scenes looked real. Tony Stark's amazing home was created using digital effects for the outside, placed over footage of Point Dume in Malibu. The inside of his home was built on a soundstage. Filming finished on June 25, 2007.

The actors were allowed to make up some of their lines as they filmed. This made the movie feel more natural. Robert Downey Jr. especially liked to try new things in each take. It was his idea for Tony Stark to hold a press conference on the floor. He also created the speech Tony gives when showing off a new weapon.

Samuel L. Jackson appears as Nick Fury in the film's post-credits scene

The team decided to add a special scene after the credits. This scene featured Nick Fury. They called Samuel L. Jackson to play Fury, since his face was already used for the character in some Marvel comic books. This scene was filmed secretly. It was a big surprise for fans when they saw it in theaters.

Special Effects

The director, Jon Favreau, wanted the special effects to look very real. He wanted the computer-made suits to blend perfectly with the real ones. The company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created most of the visual effects.

To make Iron Man fly, they filmed skydivers in a special wind tunnel. This helped them understand how flying would look. For shots of the Mark III suit flying, it was animated to take off slowly and land quickly. Tony Stark's helmet also showed a cool "head-up display" (HUD) with information. This helped audiences feel like they were inside the suit with him.

The ending of the movie was changed during post-production. The original ending was just two robots fighting. The writers suggested a new idea based on an earlier part of the film. This new ending made the fight more exciting and meaningful.

Movie Music

The music for Iron Man was composed by Ramin Djawadi. He was a fan of Iron Man because the hero doesn't have superpowers. Director Jon Favreau wanted the music to sound like heavy metal music with lots of guitars.

Djawadi mostly used guitars to create the film's score. He then arranged it for an orchestra. Tom Morello, a guitarist from the band Rage Against the Machine, also played guitar on the score. The movie also features a cool big band version of the classic Iron Man cartoon theme song from 1966. The soundtrack was released on April 29, 2008.

Release and Home Video

Iron Man first showed in Sydney, Australia, on April 14, 2008. It was then released in other countries and came out in the United States on May 2, 2008. It was the very first movie in "Phase One" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2018, the movie was shown again in IMAX theaters to celebrate Marvel Studios' 10th anniversary.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 30, 2008. The DVD sales were very successful. Over 4 million copies were sold in the first week. In total, more than 9 million copies were sold.

More Iron Man Movies

A sequel, Iron Man 2, was released on May 7, 2010. Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson all returned. Don Cheadle took over the role of Colonel Rhodes, who also becomes War Machine in this movie. Other new stars included Mickey Rourke as the villain Ivan Vanko and Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff.

A third movie, Iron Man 3, came out on May 3, 2013. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle returned. Shane Black directed this film.

Awards and Recognition

Iron Man won many awards and was recognized for its quality.

Many film critics, like Roger Ebert, listed Iron Man as one of their favorite films of 2008. The American Film Institute also named it one of the ten best films of the year. Empire magazine included it in their list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time." Tony Stark himself was chosen as one of "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time" by Empire. In 2022, Iron Man was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. This means it's considered a very important film for its culture, history, or art.