Post by haxemon on Apr 16, 2020 13:38:05 GMT
So I've been watching New Rockstars as they break down all the MCU films again with hindsight of all the films through Endgame (a worthwhile Youtube hole to fall into by the way). But after watching the IM3 video I have to rant a bit.
Why do people still think Tony "retired" at the end of that film? I feel like I'm the only person on Earth that took him tossing the arc reactor that used to be in his chest into the ocean as really only being an exclamation point on having the shrapnel removed. The entire film is about him being Iron Man with or without the suits and realizing that his "tinkering" was obsessive and not his best work. He says he's Iron Man and he is. The idea that he'd simply be more focused on building better suits (and other things) rather than slapping together every half-assed idea he has before rushing it to get to his next half-assed idea was super clear to me at the time.
By the way, on arc reactors, the one he tossed was just one of MANY arc reactors he has since every empty suit in the house party, not to mention Rhodey's suits are powered by their own. I would assume that when he puts on a new suit that it either runs on the suit's reactor anyway and his personal one serves as a backup only. So tossing one arc reactor into the ocean is like tossing a single cigarette into the trash - it could be symbolic but hardly constitutes "quitting" with any seriousness. Every film has seen him update not only his suits by his reactor tech anyway - so that one was doomed for the scrap heap even if he hadn't had the surgery since he'd inevitably build a better one and swap it out, then repeat.
Then you factor in that it was pretty clear that the MCU wasn't going to continue (just yet) without Stark/RDJ/Iron Man. I mean, I get how the single snapshot of him tossing the arc reactor can hint at retirement, but in context of the film itself, let alone the larger MCU "in universe" and as films, there's really no way anyone could have legitimately believed he was never going to suit up again.
Or so I thought at the time at least.
Finally, fixing his heart was something he could have done at any time. If he hadn't been racked with guilt and self-loathing after escaping in Iron Man 1 and beyond (frantically trying to put the genie back in the bottle, turning to alcohol, setting his affairs in order etc.) he could have spent a few hours in the lab and come up with the exact same solution we saw at the end if IM3. I don't believe he used Extremis as part of that solution but since Extremis was actually perfected by him anyway, he could have done that without the events of IM3. What happened in IM3 was Tony finally coming (mostly) to terms with his guilt and allowing himself to save himself for once rather than martyr himself with the shrapnel in his chest as some sort of punishment. He no longer needed that reminder that he'd made mistakes in his past. So tossing the specific reactor that was allowing him to wallow in guilt and self-punishment was symbolic of him forgiving himself and accepting that he could continue to do good in his life without that albatross in his chest.
I feel like the "he retired, why is he back like nothing happened" narrative spawned from people who only watch the trailers. Nothing in IM3 really indicates that Tony would stop being Iron Man or stop trying to save the world. It's the opposite. He just allows himself to do it in a healthier way.
End Rant (for now at least). Thanks for reading LOL.
Why do people still think Tony "retired" at the end of that film? I feel like I'm the only person on Earth that took him tossing the arc reactor that used to be in his chest into the ocean as really only being an exclamation point on having the shrapnel removed. The entire film is about him being Iron Man with or without the suits and realizing that his "tinkering" was obsessive and not his best work. He says he's Iron Man and he is. The idea that he'd simply be more focused on building better suits (and other things) rather than slapping together every half-assed idea he has before rushing it to get to his next half-assed idea was super clear to me at the time.
By the way, on arc reactors, the one he tossed was just one of MANY arc reactors he has since every empty suit in the house party, not to mention Rhodey's suits are powered by their own. I would assume that when he puts on a new suit that it either runs on the suit's reactor anyway and his personal one serves as a backup only. So tossing one arc reactor into the ocean is like tossing a single cigarette into the trash - it could be symbolic but hardly constitutes "quitting" with any seriousness. Every film has seen him update not only his suits by his reactor tech anyway - so that one was doomed for the scrap heap even if he hadn't had the surgery since he'd inevitably build a better one and swap it out, then repeat.
Then you factor in that it was pretty clear that the MCU wasn't going to continue (just yet) without Stark/RDJ/Iron Man. I mean, I get how the single snapshot of him tossing the arc reactor can hint at retirement, but in context of the film itself, let alone the larger MCU "in universe" and as films, there's really no way anyone could have legitimately believed he was never going to suit up again.
Or so I thought at the time at least.
Finally, fixing his heart was something he could have done at any time. If he hadn't been racked with guilt and self-loathing after escaping in Iron Man 1 and beyond (frantically trying to put the genie back in the bottle, turning to alcohol, setting his affairs in order etc.) he could have spent a few hours in the lab and come up with the exact same solution we saw at the end if IM3. I don't believe he used Extremis as part of that solution but since Extremis was actually perfected by him anyway, he could have done that without the events of IM3. What happened in IM3 was Tony finally coming (mostly) to terms with his guilt and allowing himself to save himself for once rather than martyr himself with the shrapnel in his chest as some sort of punishment. He no longer needed that reminder that he'd made mistakes in his past. So tossing the specific reactor that was allowing him to wallow in guilt and self-punishment was symbolic of him forgiving himself and accepting that he could continue to do good in his life without that albatross in his chest.
I feel like the "he retired, why is he back like nothing happened" narrative spawned from people who only watch the trailers. Nothing in IM3 really indicates that Tony would stop being Iron Man or stop trying to save the world. It's the opposite. He just allows himself to do it in a healthier way.
End Rant (for now at least). Thanks for reading LOL.
I'll be spending next weekend with some family I like and trying to avoid any remotely controversial conversations with others that I spend the rest of the year avoiding 