CON: Iron Man 2

Hall H is officially out of control for IRON MAN 2. I have never seen this place so packed as it is right now. They’re cranking SHOOT TO THRILL by AC/DC as we wait for the panel to start, which is cool in itself because they don’t usually blast music in between panels like this. And now they’re rockin’ it, going with the overall excitement building for what they’re gonna show us for IRON MAN 2.

Mike Sampson was supposed to cover this puppy, and he’s still trying to get in now. I doubt it’ll happen. Plus, the internet went out on me after 2012, so now we’re doing it AlmostLive. Better than a stick in the eye, yo!

So with that, I present to you the play by play of the IRON MAN 2 panel. Here we go!

• The crowd is going insane, and they’re about to introduce IRON MAN 2.
• The Access Hollywood dude is here again, this time pimping an Iron Man T-shirt. People are booing the hell out of him. He’s pretending he doesn’t notice.
• Jon Favreau is now on stage, Flip camming the crowd. The crowd can’t stop cheering.
• Now he’s showing some behind the scenes footage. A quick tease of cool shite. Oh snap, Robert Downey Jr. just came on stage!
• People are going NUTS! Came up without being announced, just there when the lights come up.
• It’s Jon’s sons 8^th birthday. Downey gets the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to Max.
• And now Downey wants Jon to show the real footage!

 

 

• Like a long trailer, the footage rolled like this. Ironman chilling on the giant Donut in L.A., without his mask off, eating a donut.  Sam Jackson shows up as Nick Fury, trying to get him to join the team. They’re having coffee inside the donut shop now, Nick Fury and Iron Man. Nick Fury asks if he could use some help.
• Then, Gary Shandling is a senator in a senate hearing with Tony Stark in the hot seat, questioning as to whether Stark has the Iron Man weapon , and wants him to turn it over to the U.S. Government. Stark says no, it’s his. Then Rhodes comes up, it’s John Cheadle in uniform testifying. Stark says something snarky to Shandler, Shandler says FUCK YOU MR. STARK. Stark wins, meeting adjourned.
• Now the bad guy is revealed with some TOOL rockin’ in the background. Hell yeah. Hello Mickey Rourke! Badass! He’s narrating why he hates Tony Stark so much, as it shows him creating his own Iron Man like heart. Now we see him as Whiplash. Then they’re at a race track, and he’s whiping electric chains and shit around. There’s a few scenes of Black Widow kicking ass here and there. Now Iron Man is pissed. He’s flying through the air at night, dodging missles and whatnot. AMAZING. The Iron Man theme blares, but it’s not over yet. It’s followed by some Sam Rockwell action, as the new arms dealer, selling arms to Rhodes. Oh snap, they show War Machine blowing shit up—his suite is covered with big ass guns and shit.
• STANDING OVATION!!!!! PEOPLE ARE GOING CRAZY!!!
• Sam Rockwell is now on stage, now Scarlett JoHanson is in the house, and now Don Cheadle! WOW! Where’s Mickey Rourke?
• Jon thanks the Comic Con for making IRON MAN successful to begin with. They just wrapped last week, and put together something just for us. Awesome stuff.

• They kept the same tone, and plans on leading this up with the new THE AVENGERS film.
• Downey is thankful for the opportunity being there, and being involved.
• What was it like for Cheadle coming on board this franchise for the first time? He was nervous, but everyone was nice. The War Machine outfit was very heavy. He dug it.
• Scarlett Johanson as Black Widow. How did the audition go?
• She really wanted to be in the movie, and Downey says she got it because she was super hot. She also dyed her hair red at a first meeting to ensure she got the part. She did the fighting and the stunts during the filming of the picture herself. Well, most of them.
• Sam Rockwell thinks it’s amazingly awesome to be here in Hall H. The trailer for IRON MAN2 just blew his mind. It was the first time anyone on the panel had seen the footage.
• Q&A time. Little kid calls the film ORGASMIC, which people laugh about.
• Will Jon be directing THE AVENGERS movie?  He’s working with Kevin Brannaugh on THOR after he finishes IRON MAN 2, so he doesn’t really know. It’s supposed to shoot after IRON MAN 2, so there’s a possibility. He doesn’t deny it outright.  
• A guy who worked for Marvel Studios during the filming of IRON MAN wanted to know if it was JonF that made him do the research for IRONMAN. I guess reading every Iron Man comic over the last 30 years sucked ass.

 

• How was it working with Mickey Rourke? He’s crazy and over the top, and has most of his screen time with Sam Rockwell. Rockwell says it was fabulous working with Mickey.  He was very professional, and they smoked some cigarettes together.
• Mickey’s character is Russian, as Ivan Venko and Whiplash. To do research, Mickey went to a Russian prison to see what it was like. Jon found out about it through TMZ. They think Mickey is a sex god in Russian cause of 9 ½ WEEKS.
• What are the main themes of this movie?
• Cheadle talks about the idea of Needing Help,and Working with Other People. That’s one thing they worked with. Also,the pressure of being a superhero. They use the same tone from the first film, but it does touch on Demon in a Bottle from the original books.
• Q for ScarJo. Tell us about the training and stuntwork she did. She did some mixed martial arts training to get into the character. She put in a ton of time to get it all down, because she wanted people to see HER doing the stunts, not a stuntwoman.
• Cheadle wants to see the footage again. So they oblige. Footage again, baby!
• Once again, the footage was AWESOME as it was the first time around. Blew everyone here away.
• Next Question, for Don Cheadle, how much was of his performance was influenced by Terrance Howard?
• He tried to do it based on what he had the script, and where the character was this time around. But it’s hard not to be influenced in some form of fashion from Howard.
• How much was the original source material used as influenced for the film? The questioner calls out the original creator, only to find out the guy’s in the audience, and then come up on stage to talk about it.
• The guy visited the set, was treated like royalty, and he told them he was proud of the first movie, and he’s impressed with what he’s saw for the second movie as well. He gives Downey a hug, then makes his way off stage.
• The last question is such a waste, something about Cheadle being cast as War Machine. Everyone laughs… and dismisses it.
• Surprisingly enough, lots of Qs for Don Cheadle.
• Does he prefer to play the hero in IRON MAN 2 or the villain in METEOR MAN. He has no idea what that other movie is.
• That’s it, standing ovation from everyone there.  IRON MAN 2 is a hit! The fans have voiced their opnion,it’s gonna rock!

I guess I should thank Mike Sampson for not being able to get into Hall H, since the footage they showed was f*cking kick-ass in every way imaginable. What made it even more awesome was that it had the same look and feel of the first film, so I would only expect this to be as awesome of a movie as the original was. Plus, did I mention Sam Jackson as Nick Fury makes another appearance? Hells yeah. Ok ya’ll, keep your eye out for the footage! It is bound to blow you away!