Heroes and the Creation of Myth: Iron Man 2 (2010)

Superheroes occupy a nearly-unique position in the history of human character creation. They are creatures of myth, but at the same time people with the concerns of human beings, even when they are themselves alien. This puts them in a position to not only be the subjects of myth, but to interact with and in some cases control the creation of the mythology which surrounds them.

In this series I set out to analyze the different ways heroes participate in the creation of their own mythology. I've decided to begin with the largest single continuity ever attempted in film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the time leading up to the release of The Avengers: Infinity War I'm going to watch or rewatch the eighteen existing MCU films in order to look at them specifically from this perspective. Today we're returning to the master of manipulating his myth, Tony Stark, in Iron Man 2 (2010).

As the product of the PR machine of a narcissist-turned-superhero, the Stark Expo is everything we're looking for in this series. The opening ceremony features a dramatic entrance by Iron Man, who literally falls out of the sky into an adoring crowd. It has dancers dressed as Iron Man. It has J.A.R.V.I.S. automatically removing the Iron Man suit from Tony Stark in full view of the crowd. It has Tony giving a keynote speech that's all about how great he is, and the audience eating it up.

This is the Tony Stark who decided to make Iron Man part of his public identity, fully realized. But the Stark Expo isn't just about boosting Tony's ego, though it certainly serves that purpose. Tony believes that he has brought an era of peace to the world, and he wants to make sure that idea is in the public consciousness as much as possible. Iron Man as a metal suit is tactically effective. Iron Man as a myth not only supports Stark's giant ego, it also helps maintain the peace that the factual Iron Man created. If no one can defeat Iron Man, no one will be inspired to try. At least, not unless they have personal motivations.

We see the same principle at work in Tony's testimony before the U.S. Senate. Tony is brash and rude partly because he enjoys it, but it also serves a larger purpose. By using humor, especially directed against elected officials, Tony draws attention to a proceeding that might otherwise have been too dull to attract much interest. C-Span is hardly most people's idea of regular viewing. But C-Span with the outrageous stylings of the world's most powerful man is another thing again. As he leaves the hearing to the cheers of the crowd, and the humiliation of both rival Justin Hammer and political enemy Senator Stern, Tony is on top, and Tony always being on top is the heart of the myth that he wants.

But all is not well in the private life of Tony Stark. The very act of being Iron Man is slowly poisoning him, something no one could take with equanimity, and equanimity is a totally foreign concept to Tony. And because of this, Tony's mythmaking, always on the edge of unproductive megalomania, goes completely off the rails.

The first evidence of this breakdown isn't so bad. Spontaneously deciding that he should drive his own Formula One car isn't particularly out of character for Tony. I appreciate the regular driver in this scene, who has enough self-confidence to have no problem being visibly angry at his employer, who also happens to be the world's most popular man, on international television. But Tony runs over people he perceives as smaller than him (which is everyone) on a regular basis. It's how he gets to be Tony Stark. We don't necessarily even see this as the first step in Tony's breakdown until it becomes fully obvious during his birthday party.

Drinking and the Iron Man suit don't mix. Be sure to remember that if you ever get your hands on one. Tony shows up for his birthday party drunk and with no concern for a future he doesn't believe he'll get to see. He endangers his guests, offends Pepper, fights with his best friend, and in the process completely destroys his mansion. This is a Tony who has clearly lost control, one who no longer has any concern for the effect his actions have on his public image. He surely knows that this party will be world news for days, and yet he doesn't care. Faced with his own mortality, he's doing his best to destroy all the mythmaking effort he put into the Stark Expo and everything else since Iron Man's debut.

And this is essentially where we leave Tony until the very end of this movie, though it's not yet half-over. He deals with his poisoning problem with the help of Nick Fury and his father. He defeats Vanko and Hammer, rebuilding his friendship with Rhodey in the process. But while all of these are important to the plot and to Tony's personal journey, only the fact of the final fight has any impact on Tony's myth, and he doesn't have time to choreograph that. He has to concentrate on winning. But Tony isn't the only superhero in this film. (In fact there are two others, but apart from some fantastic stories that might be told by Hammer Industries security, Black Widow still doesn't have a public existence.)

At Tony's disastrous birthday party, Colonel Rhodes first takes on a legacy Iron Man suit and the role of War Machine. And he has to deal with his own identity, and his own myth. Where Tony is content with the capabilities of the suit he designed, Colonel Rhodes decides to arm his to the teeth with the assistance of Hammer. He then brings it with live ammo to Hammer's demonstration at the Stark Expo. It's hard to know if this is a conscious decision by Rhodes to separate himself from Iron Man and assert his own personality, or if he's just naively looking for maximum ordnance load. Either way, he quickly learns to regret it when Vanko hijacks control of his suit and uses him to lead the attack on Tony. It's appropriate that it's Pepper who bails him out of this situation, as Rhodes is clearly in need of a dose of humility, and she's both talented and experienced at delivering it in challenging circumstances.

At the very end, we see Tony back in control of the creation of his myth, as he gets Nick Fury to force Senator Stern to honor him and Rhodes for their efforts in defeating Hammer and Vanko, despite Stern's clear desire to do almost anything else. The symbolic victory over political opposition is more important for Tony than the real victory over merely physical enemies. Tony Stark is back on top.

Previous entries in this series:
Part 1: Iron Man (2008)
Part 2: The Incredible Hulk (2008)