I don’t know how you guys were raised, but when you have a television telling you things you don’t want to hear, you toss it out the window.
When you have a friend telling you things you don’t want to hear, well, same goes…
I really wish I could have talked about the new Iron Man 2 trailer sooner. I think after my extended run of Iron Man comics in 2008, people have come to associate me with the franchise very closely. People expect that I will have something to say about it. And, well, I do.
But first, here’s the trailer in all it’s glory (in the unlikely event that you haven’t seen it yet.)
Okay, first thoughts? SUITCASE ARMOR?!?!? YESSSSSS!!!
Seriously, folks, if you’re not a fan of Iron Man, you don’t know what a big deal that is. For years, Tony Stark was known to travel with a briefcase that contained the boots, gauntlets and helmet of his armor. He wore a chest piece under his clothes and his arms and legs would then be covered by a pliable mesh that would then harden when the armor was sealed.
It was totally impractical and goofy considering A.) You’d never be able to fit a helmet, two gauntlet and two boots into a standard-sized briefcase and B.) Wouldn’t people see the ridges of the chest piece sticking out through Stark’s shirt? But you went with it because, you know, it was a comic book.
The producers of the movie took a somewhat silly concept and made it alarmingly practical. Instead of the armor being inside the briefcase (or, in this instance, suitcase) they made the SUITCASE ITSELF the armor?! Friggin’ brilliant. Why someone at Marvel didn’t figure that one out years ago is beyond me. You gotta think there are some old school Iron Man scribes slapping their foreheads over that one! I can’t wait to see this new armor in action.
I know that geeking out over the suitcase armor seems like a very specific thing to concentrate on. But to me, it’s indicative of the care and affection the producers have for the character. They didn’t need to throw in the suitcase armor. If they wanted to throw a shout-out to the geeks, they could have thrown in the Stealth Armor or maybe the torso of a Hulkbuster Stark is working on in his garage. Whatever.
But to include the suitcase armor, give it prominence in an action sequence AND make it practical? That’s special. And, giving it the red and silver color scheme of the Silver Centurion armor was a nice touch, too.
As for the rest of the trailer, I think it’s expertly cut together and certainly generates a lot of excitement. But I’m concerned that it establishes too much of a narrative flow. Watching it, I kind of got the sense I knew how the story was going to shake out. I hope they can squeeze in a few more surprises, but I’m starting to become concerned that I might have to enter “lock-down mode” a little early. Iron Man 2 doesn’t come out until May 7. That’s going to be a long time to wait!
Of course, I have all of the new Iron Man 2 merchandise to keep me company until then. I have a problem, people. How bad is it? I saw a circular for Toys R’ Us in the newspaper on Sunday that said new Iron Man 2 toys were on sale and I went over my lunch hour on Tuesday to pick up a bunch of new figures. I’ll have to take a picture. They’re pretty sweet. In fact, I should take a picture of my office sometime. It’s littered with Iron Man figures. Probably 50 or more. It’s sick.
I KNOW you guys have an opinion about the new trailer. So let’s open up the conversation in the comments area below. Tell me what you think of the Iron Man 2 trailer. Fire away!