Iron Man (TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iron Man
The title card for Season 1 of Iron Man
Genre	Superhero Action Adventure
Created by	Stan Lee Larry Lieber
Voices of	Robert Hays James Avery John Reilly
Narrated by	George Johnson
Theme music composer	Keith Emerson (1st season) William Kevin Anderson (2nd season)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Avi Arad Stan Lee Rick Ungar
Producer(s)	Glen Hill Dennis Ho Ted Tchoe
Camera setup	Setup
Running time	26 minutes
Production company(s)	Marvel Entertainment Group Marvel Films Rainbow Animation Korea
Distributor	Genesis Entertainment New World Entertainment
Release
Original network	First-run syndication
Picture format	480i
Audio format	Dolby Surround
Original release	September 24, 1994 (1994-09-24) – February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)
Chronology
Followed by	The Avengers: United They Stand

Iron Man, also known as Iron Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated TV show based on the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man. The series aired from 1994 to 1996. It was shown as part of The Marvel Action Hour. This hour-long block also included the Fantastic Four animated series. Each show had a half-hour episode that played back-to-back. The show also had a toy line with many different Iron Man suits.

This Iron Man series was one of the few TV shows to be re-recorded in THX sound. This was common for movies but rare for TV shows back then. After the live-action Iron Man movie came out in 2008, old episodes started airing again on the Jetix block on Toon Disney.

Series Overview

List of Iron Man episodes

The Iron Man series only lasted two seasons. However, it had a big change between seasons. The company that made the show changed. This led to a very different story, mood, and style. The two seasons hardly looked like they were part of the same show.

First Season

The first season of Iron Man was mostly about "good versus evil." Billionaire Tony Stark fought the evil Mandarin as the armored superhero, Iron Man. The Mandarin wanted to steal Stark's technology and Iron Man's armor. He led a group of villains. These included Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash, and Grey Gargoyle. Other villains were Hypnotia, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom, and Justin Hammer.

To fight these villains, Iron Man had his own team. This team was called Force Works. It included Century, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Spider Woman.

Most episodes in this season were single adventures. They had a clear beginning and end. Two stories had two parts near the end. The show's titles were often dramatic, like old Marvel comics. For example, "The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat." Most episodes were new stories, not based on comic books. The two-part story "The Origin of Iron Man" was the closest to a comic book tale. It told a new version of how Iron Man became a hero.

A small side story in the first season was about the Mandarin secretly watching Force Works. In "The Wedding of Iron Man," Tony Stark realized they were being spied on. The Mandarin knew where the heroes would be. Stark and his team set up a trick. They made the Mandarin believe that Iron Man and Tony Stark were two different people. They used an android to pretend to be Tony.

Second Season

In 1995, Marvel changed the animation studio for The Marvel Action Hour. They also got new writers and new music. The first season's quiet keyboard theme music was replaced. The second season had an intense electric guitar theme. It featured the words "I am Iron Man!" Tony Stark's longer hair in the second season was based on how he looked in the comics in the late 1980s.

The new stories in season two were longer. They often spanned multiple episodes. They were not "open and shut" cases anymore. These stories had themes of trickery and consequences. The Mandarin was no longer the main villain. His powerful rings had been scattered. He appeared less often, usually at the end of stories. He was trying to get his rings back.

Another change was that Force Works mostly left the series. They separated from Stark after he tricked them. He did this to work secretly with the Mandarin. This was to stop Fin Fang Foom and other Dragons from taking over Earth. After Stark faked his death, Force Works broke up. Only Julia Carpenter and James Rhodes kept working with him. This led to conflicts between Stark and Hawkeye later on.

Also, War Machine developed a fear of being stuck inside his armor. This was also based on a comic book story. He overcame this fear before the final episode. In season one, Rhodes was often War Machine. But in season two, he stayed out of his armor for most of the time. This was because of a scary experience where he was trapped underwater in the armor. Rhodes eventually got over his fear and wore the War Machine armor again.

Before finding his last two rings, the Mandarin got his eighth ring from MODOK. This happened in the episode "Empowered." In the finale, the Mandarin got all his rings back. He used a special mist to make all technology useless. Iron Man reunited with Force Works to stop him. The Mandarin unmasked Iron Man before their final fight. Iron Man reflected the power of Mandarin's rings, destroying them. The Mandarin then lost his memory and was left helpless. After the Mandarin was defeated, MODOK and his henchmen were sent to jail.

The series was canceled after its ratings were not very good.

Crossovers with Other Marvel Shows

Iron Man and War Machine also appeared in other Marvel animated series.

The Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series)

Dorian Harewood played War Machine again in an episode of The Incredible Hulk. He first stopped Rick Jones from seeing Tony Stark (voiced by Robert Hays) at Stark Enterprises. But he took Jones to Stark when Jones said he needed help finding Bruce Banner. War Machine later fought alongside Jones and Iron Man against the Hulkbusters.

Spider-Man (1994 TV series)

A different version of Iron Man (voiced by Robert Hays) and War Machine (voiced by James Avery) appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. They first showed up in the episodes "Venom Returns" and "Carnage." In these episodes, Dormammu wanted Venom to steal a machine from Stark Enterprises. This machine could release Dormammu from his dimension. Spider-Man and War Machine defeated Venom. But Venom got help from Carnage. After the villains stole the machine, War Machine was hurt. So Iron Man teamed up with Spider-Man to stop them.

Iron Man also made a brief appearance in the episode "The Spot." Tony Stark fired Dr. Jonathon Ohn from a project because it was dangerous. Iron Man later appeared in the three-part episode "Secret Wars." In this story, the Beyonder created a war between good and evil. The heroes won, and everyone was sent back to Earth without remembering what happened.

Cast

Main Characters

• Robert Hays – Iron Man/Tony Stark, Living Laser
• James Avery – War Machine/James Rhodes (Season 1, episodes 1–5), Whirlwind (Season 1, episodes 1–10), Blacklash (1994–1995)
• Ed Gilbert – Mandarin (Season 1), Grey Gargoyle, Ultimo
• Robert Ito – Mandarin (Season 2)
• Jim Cummings – MODOK, Century (in "The Beast Within")
• Dorian Harewood – War Machine/James Rhodes (Season 1, episode 6 onwards), Whirlwind (Season 1, episode 11 onwards), Blacklash (1995–1996), Stilt-Man
• John Reilly – Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Beetle
• Katherine Moffat – Scarlet Witch/Wanda Frank (Season 1), Rachel Carpenter
• Jennifer Darling – Scarlet Witch (Season 2), Hypnotia (Season 2)
• Casey Defranco – Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter (Season 1)
• Jennifer Hale – Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter (Season 2), Ghost
• James Warwick – Century (Season 1)
• Tom Kane – H.O.M.E.R., Century (in "Hands of the Mandarin"), Stingray, Ghost, Sunturion

Other Voices

• Philip Abbott – Nick Fury
• Neil Dickson – Dreadknight
• Linda Holdahl – Hypnotia (Season 1)
• Chuck McCann – Blizzard
• Neil Ross – Fin Fang Foom, Wellington Yinsen, Howard Walter Stark (Season 1)
• Tony Steedman – Justin Hammer (Season 1)
• Efrem Zimbalist Jr. – Justin Hammer (Season 2), Firepower
• Matt Frewer – Leader
• Ron Perlman – Hulk/Bruce Banner
• David Warner – Arthur Dearborn

How the Show Compares to the Comics

Season 1 Differences

The first season of the show did not use many comic book stories. The main exception was Iron Man's origin story. In the show, Tony Stark was hurt by Justin Hammer and the Mandarin. They also caused the death of Tony's father. Tony was wounded by slivers near his spine, not shrapnel near his heart. Stark and Ho Yinsen (named Wellington in the show) were held captive by the Mandarin. Yinsen was killed by the Mandarin when Tony first became Iron Man and escaped.

The Mandarin himself was changed a lot. His rings made him look different. He gained green skin and bigger muscles. But the show kept his connection to Fin Fang Foom. In the cartoon, the Mandarin was once Arnold Brock, an archaeologist. He found alien gems that became his rings. Touching the main gem changed him. His skin turned green, and he became very smart. The rings in the show had many powers, like shooting blasts and changing objects.

Fin Fang Foom was an ally of the Mandarin at first. But in season two, it was revealed he tricked the Mandarin. He wanted to help his fellow Dragons invade Earth. He was supposedly killed in an explosion that scattered Mandarin's rings.

The Mandarin's helpers were usually solo villains in the comics. Justin Hammer, for example, was his own criminal boss. MODOK was a scientist who wanted to cure criminal minds. He was turned into MODOK by his boss, Red Ghost. In season two, MODOK became more of a funny character.

Force Works came straight from the comics. But their normal jobs were not shown much. Spider-Woman was the vice president of research for Stark Enterprises. The cartoon's Scarlet Witch was very different from the comic character. She was a mystic who read tarot cards. She had an Eastern-European accent. Her power was called a "hex sense," which let her do many things.

In a story made just for the cartoon, Spider-Woman and Scarlet Witch both liked Iron Man. In the first season, Tony Stark did not seem to like either of them back. But in the second season, he seemed to have feelings for Julia. However, his "lone wolf" attitude made a relationship hard. Julia Carpenter even "married" Tony Stark in a trick. This was to make the Mandarin believe Tony Stark was not Iron Man.

Spider-Woman's daughter, Rachel Carpenter, also appeared. She was older than in the comics and more rebellious. She liked dance music and arcades. But she learned to like classical music after it helped recharge Iron Man's armor.

Season 2 Adaptations

The second season changed completely. It started to adapt major Iron Man comic book stories. These included "Dragon Seed" (as "The Beast Within"), "Armor Wars", and "The Hands of the Mandarin." More characters from the comics were introduced. These included H.O.M.E.R., Firebrand, and Sunturion.

This version of Firebrand was the son of a former Stark Industries employee. Firebrand attacked power sources and demanded money. Iron Man had to use his Inferno Armor to fight him. War Machine had to overcome his fear of water to save Iron Man and Firebrand.

In "The Armor Wars" story, Justin Hammer had Ghost steal Iron Man's armor designs. He sold them to other armored criminals. For example, Beetle's armor was based on Stark designs. Iron Man attacked him and turned off his armor. Stilt-Man's armor also used Tony Stark's technology. Iron Man used a special device to disable it. Crimson Dynamo also used Stark technology in his armor. The Controller used slave discs based on Iron Man's tech. Iron Man defeated him too.

The Mandroids appeared in "Armor Wars (Part 2)." Iron Man fought them and Hawkeye. He used special devices to disable their armors. He also attacked Stingray, but found out Stingray's armor did not use his designs. When War Machine tried to stop him, Iron Man disabled his armor too.

Justin Hammer also created Firepower. This was a powerful armored warrior meant to defeat Iron Man. Iron Man faked his death to fight Firepower. He returned in a new armor. After defeating Firepower, Iron Man confronted Justin Hammer. Iron Man put a virus on Hammer's computer. This virus deleted all records of his designs and uploaded them to the internet. This likely made Hammer's company go bankrupt.

Madame Masque appeared in "Beauty Knows No Pain." She was a former love of Tony's. She became obsessed with her beauty. She joined the Maggia and became Madame Masque. She kidnapped workers and Julia Carpenter. Iron Man had to get a special gem for her. After getting the gem, Madame Masque became Isis. She realized she wanted Tony. Iron Man, War Machine, and Spider-Woman fought her. Iron Man destroyed the gem, turning her back into Madame Masque.

Iron Man's armor in the show was the Mark XI "Modular Armor". This was the suit he wore in the comics at the time. The first season changed his helmet to have a mouth slit. But the second season brought back the "mouthless" comic book design.

Iron Man's Armor

Iron Man's modular armor was his main suit in the animated series. The first season changed the face plate to have a mouth slit. But the second season changed it back to the "mouthless" look from the comics. The Season 1 armor was shown in flashbacks.

A cool part of the first season was the animation of Tony Stark putting on his armor. He would turn his briefcase into his armor. This sequence was used often.

The idea of Iron Man changing armors was a big part of the show. The first season had the hydro-armor and deep space armor from the comics. The second season focused even more on different armors. Stark's new suit could change into different forms. Each form had special abilities for different situations. The hydro-armor and space armors were part of this. More armors from the comics, like the stealth armor and Hulkbuster armor, were added. The series also created new armor designs, including:

• Subterranean drill armor: Brown and gold, with a drill on the arm for digging.
• Inferno armor: Red and gold, resistant to extreme heat. It could spray fire-extinguishing foam.
• Samurai armor: Blue and grey, but never used in a fight.
• Radiation armor: Blue and silver, to protect against radiation. It could fire x-ray blasts.
• Lava armor: Red and silver, could survive being in magma.
• Magnetic armor: Purple and silver, could create electromagnetic pulses.
• Bio-energy armor: Red and gold, powered by DNA. Used against the Mandarin's anti-technology field.
• Hydro armor: Yellow with a glass helmet, used for underwater missions.
• Space armor: Used to fly into space. It had a jet pack.
• Stealth armor: Dark gray, used to be silent and avoid radar.

The toy line also had two armors not seen in the show. These were a silver arctic armor and the Silver Centurion suit, called hologram armor.

Home Media Release

On October 8, 2007, both seasons were released together on DVD in Europe. This was a three-disc set. Later, in 2010, a UK company released two sets. One had all 26 episodes on 4 discs. The other was a six-disc box set called Iron Man: The Ultimate Collection. It included the 1960s Iron Man animated series.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in other regions. It came out on March 30, 2010, in three separate volumes. It was released in North America on May 4, 2010. This was just before the movie Iron Man 2 came out. The series is also available to stream on Disney+ since November 12, 2019.

Alternate Versions: Japan

When the show aired in Japan, the opening song was changed. It featured a new J-pop song called "Eien ga Ai ni Kawaru Toki" (When Eternity Becomes Love). This song was by the group Pretty Cast. Scenes from different episodes were mixed into the original opening animation. The ending credits sequence was also changed in a similar way.

Comics

Marvel published an eight-issue comic book series based on the show:

• Marvel Action Hour: Iron Man (November 1994 to June 1995).

See also

In Spanish: Iron Man (serie de televisión) para niños