Iron Man 2 — 2010 Marvel Studios sequel and early MCU entry

In Moscow, the dying Russian scientist Anton Vanko watches as Tony Stark reveals at a press conference that he himself is Iron Man (seen at the end of Part One). With his last words, Vanko reveals to his son Ivan, also a physicist, that Stark's fame should have been his. Ivan discovers plans for the original arc reactor (still translated as "ARK reactor" in the first part), which Anton had developed with Tony's father Howard Stark, in the latter's estate. Based on the plans, Ivan develops his own scaled-down arc reactor and plasma whips powered by the reactor.

Six months later, Tony Stark opens a new edition of the "Stark Expo" once created by his father. Behind his typically self-centered facade, he hides health problems as the palladium from the arc reactor in his chest that keeps him alive slowly poisons his blood. Even the artificial intelligence Jarvis is unable to find a suitable replacement for the palladium. Tony even keeps his state of health a secret from his personal assistant "Pepper" Potts. He is also threatened with trouble from another quarter, as the United States Senate demands that he make Iron Man technology available to the military. His biggest critic, Senator Stern, questions weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer, who is now the U.S. military's new primary supplier following Stark Industries' withdrawal from the weapons business, as well as Tony's friend, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, as witnesses to question Tony's suitability as an independent defender of the U.S. from threats. Rhodes, at Stern's insistence, shows satellite footage of states hostile to the U.S. where, in his estimation, attempts are also being made to design an "Ironman suit." In turn, Tony shows the Senate footage that shows that all attempts to replicate Iron Man's armor - by Iran, North Korea, and Hammer Industries - have not been even remotely successful. Tony confidently proclaims that he has successfully "privatized" world peace.

Due to his increasing health problems and because he no longer wants to bother with the day-to-day operations as head of Stark Industries, Tony decides to cede management to Pepper. On a whim, he appoints Natalie Rushman, a notary public who works for Stark Industries' legal department, as his new assistant. On a visit to the HistoricMonacoGrand Prix, Tony unceremoniously decides to enter the race himself as a driver. However, Ivan Vanko, who has taken to the track disguised as a marshal, attacks the competitors with his plasma whips, including Tony. After Pepper and Tony's chauffeur and bodyguard "Happy" Hogan rush to his aid and bring him the case containing his compact Iron Man armor, Tony is victorious after an exhausting battle, rendering Ivan's arc reactor harmless.

When Tony visits Ivan in prison, he learns from him not only that their fathers knew each other and Ivan considers the Starks to be thieves, but also that Ivan knows about his health problems. While Tony returns to the US, Justin Hammer frees Ivan from prison and makes it look like Ivan died in an explosion. Hammer makes a proposal to Ivan to upgrade the battle armor he developed so that together they can expose Tony Stark to the public and the United States government. Tony, meanwhile, finds out that Anton Vanko, who had once fled the Soviet Union for the U.S., and his own father Howard had been colleagues until Vanko, who had in fact pursued his own financial interests, was deported again.

Knowing he won't live much longer, Tony throws a big birthday party where, heavily intoxicated, he gets up to a lot of mischief in his Iron Man armor. Rhodes, no longer willing to witness his friend's self-destructive behavior, then dons Tony's old "Mark II" armor and confronts Tony. After a fight that severely damages Tony's mansion, Rhodes flies off in the armor and turns it over to the U.S. military, which then orders Hammer to outfit the armor with new weaponry.

Meanwhile, Nick Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence, visits the hungover Stark to recruit him for a planned superhero team. To his surprise, Tony learns that Natalie Rushman's real name is Natasha Romanoff and that she has been planted at Stark Industries by S.H.I.E.L.D. to monitor him. Romanoff injects Tony with a drug that temporarily suppresses the symptoms of his progressive palladium poisoning. In order to find a cure for his condition, Fury places Stark under house arrest and hands him various documents of his father, including test footage of the official presentation film of the 1974 Stark Expo. Tony, who until then had known his late father only as an aloof, emotionally cold man, finds among the footage a message addressed to him in which Howard calls his son his "greatest creation" and urges Tony to complete the work he has begun.

After a failed attempt to apologize to Pepper and tell her the truth about his health, Tony accidentally discovers the model of the 1974 Expo site. Back in his workshop, he has Jarvis make a holographic copy. Eventually he realizes that it is a hidden message, the model of a new element. After setting up a "prism accelerator" (similar to a particle accelerator) in his workshop, he manages to use it to synthesize the element. Shortly after, however, he receives a call from Ivan letting Tony know that he is still alive and planning a sensational action. Tony realizes that this is probably related to Justin Hammer's upcoming appearance at the Stark Expo. Without testing the new element first, Tony puts it in his arc reactor and heads to the Expo in a new suit of armor.

Meanwhile, there, Hammer presents the combat armor converted by Ivan into remote-controlled drones, the "Hammer Drones", and their leader, James Rhodes, in his converted armor. When Tony arrives and asks Rhodes to help him evacuate the Expo, Vanko takes control of the drones and Rhodes' armor, using them to attack Tony and the visitors. While Tony lures his opponents away from the spectators, Agent Romanoff elicits information from Hammer that Vanko is at his factory. Together with Happy Hogan, Romanoff goes there and takes out the guards, but is forced to realize that Vanko has disappeared. In exchange, she manages to reboot Rhodes' armor, allowing him to regain control and help Tony fight the drones.

After destroying the drones, Vanko confronts them in another suit of armor equipped with enhanced plasma whips. They manage to defeat Vanko and incapacitate his armor. Vanko then triggers a self-destruct mechanism that blows up his own armor and the drones. Tony and Rhodes escape, and at the last second Tony saves Pepper from an exploding drone.

Pepper, tired of the constant stress, decides to resign her position as CEO of Stark Industries. She and Tony kiss and Rhodes flies off in his armor without Tony trying to stop him.

Some time after this, Nick Fury presents Tony with Agent Romanoff's final evaluation of his fitness to be a member of the "Avengers Initiative". While she rates Iron Man as fit, Tony Stark is deemed unfit due to his personality. Instead, Fury offers him a position as a consultant. In return, Tony asks for a favor, which Fury promptly fulfills: At a medal ceremony for Tony and Rhodes, it falls to Tony's biggest critic, Senator Stern, to conduct the ceremony.

In the post-credit scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, who had previously been pulled from overseeing Tony's house arrest, arrives in the New Mexico desert at the site where Thor's hammer was found.

Iron Man / Anthony "Tony" Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the son of industrialist Howard Stark and the CEO of Stark Industries since his father's death. Tony has been a genius inventor since childhood and has a reputation as a risk-taking playboy as an adult. One of the basic ideas behind the portrayal of the role is that of a "modern day Howard Hughes". In the movie Iron Man, Tony was attacked and seriously injured by terrorists following a weapons presentation in Afghanistan. To save his life, an electromagnet was implanted in his chest. Tony then replaced the magnet with a miniature version of the arc reactor he developed. After his escape, he retired from the armor business and developed a high-tech armor powered by the reactor in his chest. The media gave the armored superhero the name "Iron Man" (German: "Eisenmann"), and at a press conference Tony confessed to the public that he was Iron Man himself. In Iron Man 2, however, Tony must realize that palladium, one of the main components of the arc reactor, is slowly poisoning his blood. Certain he won't live much longer, he becomes increasingly self-destructive and even puts his personal assistant, "Pepper" Potts, in charge of Stark Industries. Meanwhile, he refuses to give the technology underlying his Iron Man armor to the military in the face of the U.S. Senate. Eventually, however, Tony manages to synthesize a new element that is an effective replacement for palladium, putting an end to Tony's health problems.

Three new armors of Iron Man can be seen in the film: "Mark IV" is the armor with which Tony ends up at the "Stark Expo" and which he later wears at his birthday party, "Mark V" is a special armor for emergency purposes that can be transformed into a large "briefcase" for transport purposes and is used in the fight against Ivan Vanko in Monaco, and "Mark VI" is the armor that Tony develops at the end of the film and uses for the fight against the "Hammer Drones" and Vanko. While the "Mark IV" armor is barely different from its predecessor, "Mark III" from Iron Man, the "Mark V" armor is painted in red and silver hues. In turn, the biggest change to the "Mark VI" armor is the triangular shape of the repulsor transmitter on the chest, highlighting the change from the round, palladium-based core of the arc reactor to the new, triangular core made of the newly discovered element. The "Mark I", "Mark II", and "Mark III" armors from Iron Man are also seen in Tony's workshop in the film, and James Rhodes eventually gives the "Mark II" armor to the U.S. military, who has it refitted.

Ivan Vanko / "Whiplash" (Mickey Rourke) is the son of the Russian scientist Anton Vanko, who once developed the arc reactor together with Tony's father Howard. However, since Anton, who had fled the Soviet Union for the United States, had pursued his own financial interests, Howard reported him to the authorities, who deported him again. The Soviet leadership then had Anton deported to Siberia, where his son Ivan was eventually born. Ivan became a physicist himself, but after selling nuclear secrets to Pakistan, he too ended up in prison. After his father's death, Ivan discovers the plans of the original arc reactor in his father's estate. He immediately begins building his own scaled-down version and also develops two plasma whips powered by the reactor. He uses the whips to attack Tony Stark in Monaco, but loses after a brief battle. Tony's rival Justin Hammer frees Vanko from prison so he can improve the armor Hammer developed. Vanko turns the armor into drones, but he controls them remotely and causes them to attack Tony and the audience at the official presentation. After Tony and Rhodes defeat the drones, Ivan confronts them in armor of his own, including enhanced plasma whips. However, with combined forces, the two manage to defeat Ivan and incapacitate his armor, whereupon he activates a self-destruct mechanism that causes the armor to explode.

Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is in the service of the US Air Force and is a personal friend of Tony Stark. In Iron Man 2, he must mediate between Tony and his superiors, who would like Tony to donate the technology underlying his armor to the military. When Tony drunkenly endangers party guests in his armor at his birthday party, Rhodes dons Tony's old "Mark II" armor to talk some sense into his friend. He then takes the armor and gives it to the military, who has it refitted. However, when he presents the armor at the Stark Expo, Vanko takes control of it and forces Rhodes to fight Tony until S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff manages to reboot the armor's systems. Rhodes then helps Tony fight Vanko.

Virginia "Pepper" Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is Tony Stark's personal assistant and closest confidante. In Iron Man 2, Tony appoints her as the new CEO of Stark Industries. While Pepper tries to run the corporation, Tony angers her with his increasingly self-destructive behavior. After he saves her from an exploding "hammer drone" as Iron Man and she learns that Tony nearly died of palladium poisoning, she resigns as CEO, which results in a kiss between her and Tony.

Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) is the head of Hammer Industries and thus Tony's direct competitor and personal rival. One of the basic ideas behind the character is that of a "second-rate Tony Stark". The relationship between the two is modeled on the relationship between Bugs Bunny (Stark) and Daffy Duck (Hammer). After Tony's retirement from the defense business, Hammer became the new main supplier to the US military. Hammer frees Vanko from prison to upgrade his armor. When he realizes he can't control Vanko, he tries to pressure Vanko. Instead, Vanko takes control of the drones at the Stark Expo presentation and gets them to attack Iron Man and the audience. While Iron Man fights the drones, S.H.I.E.L.D agent Natasha Romanoff elicits Hammer's confession that he is working with Vanko. Pepper Potts then informs the police, who arrest Hammer.

Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is an agent for the Secret Service S.H.I.E.L.D. who has been planted at Stark Industries under the alias Natalie Rushman to monitor Tony. At the beginning of the film, she works as a notary in the company's legal department until Tony appoints her as his new personal assistant. Pepper Potts is initially jealous of her as a result, and even suspects her of being responsible for Tony's increasingly self-destructive behavior. After Tony learns that Natasha works for S.H.I.E.L.D., he taunts her in Pepper's presence, but is surprised to find that she and Pepper are now on good terms. As Vanko sets the "Hammer drones" on Iron Man, Natasha elicits Justin Hammer's location from Vanko and heads to Hammer's factory with Tony's chauffeur and bodyguard, "Happy" Hogan. After overpowering the guards, she enters Vanko's lab and uses his computer to reboot the systems of Jim Rhodes' armor so he can help Tony fight the drones.

Jarvis (voice of Paul Bettany) is an artificial intelligence that controls all the systems in Tony Stark's home and workshop, and often speaks with a sarcastic undertone when interacting with Tony. Jarvis is also responsible for the development and control of Tony's Iron Man armor.

Howard Stark (John Slattery) is Tony's father, who died 20 years ago and was not only involved in the Manhattan Project, but was also one of the founding members of the secret service S.H.I.E.L.D.. In addition, he had once developed the original arc reactor with Ivan Vanko's father Anton. At the beginning of Iron Man 2, Howard is seen in a presentation film he had once shot for the Stark Expo of 1974. Later, Tony receives several reels of film from S.H.I.E.L.D., containing not only screen tests of the presentation film, but also a personal message to Tony. To Tony's great surprise, his father, whom he had known only as an aloof, callous man during his lifetime, proudly refers to his son as his "greatest creation" and asks him to complete his work. Eventually, Tony realizes that Howard had hidden in the model of the 1974 Expo site the blueprint for a new element that he had been unable to produce himself due to the comparatively limited technology of his own time. In addition to Howard Hughes, who was also one of Tony Stark's main inspirations, Howard Stark's appearance in the film is said to be reminiscent of Walt Disney.

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is the director of the Secret Service, S.H.I.E.L.D. At the end of Iron Man, he visited Tony at his home and proposed that he become a member of a planned superhero team. In Iron Man 2, he seeks out Tony when he is suffering from a severe hangover the day after his birthday party and reveals to him that his new personal assistant, "Natalie Rushman", is actually working for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Fury places Stark under house arrest and instructs him to find a solution to his health problems. To help him, he gives Tony personal papers from Stark's father Howard, who was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and is assigned to monitor Tony's house arrest. Nevertheless, Tony manages to temporarily leave his mansion to visit Pepper Potts at Stark Industries' corporate headquarters, which Coulson doesn't realize until Tony returns. While Tony builds a "prism accelerator" in his workshop that will allow him to synthesize a new element, Coulson bids Tony farewell with the information that he has been assigned to a new mission in New Mexico. There, in a post-credits scene, he finally arrives at the site where Thor's hammer was found.

Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) is one of Tony's biggest critics and demands that Tony make the technology behind his Iron Man armor available to the US military. However, Tony manages to dismiss all of Stern's criticisms during his Senate hearing. At the end of the film, at Tony's request, Stern is persuaded by S.H.I.E.L.D. to personally award Rhodes and Tony a medal.

"Happy" Hogan (Jon Favreau) is a former boxer and Tony Stark's chauffeur and bodyguard. In Iron Man 2, he carries the "briefcase" that hides Tony's "Mark V" armor in Monaco and brings it to his employer when he is attacked by Ivan Vanko at the racetrack. Later, he and Natasha Romanoff infiltrate the Hammer Industries factory where they suspect Vanko is. While Happy, with a lot of effort, knocks a guard to the ground, Natasha manages to overpower the entire remaining guard force.