MMU Iron Man Armor count...

Okay, I’ve reviewed my MMU Blu-rays and have come up with the following. Feel free to correct me...

First, in Iron Man there was the suit Tony built in the cave. That’s Mark I. The Silver suit he test rides is Mark II. The Gold version is Mark III…

…and now we get into the first question mark: The Gold Mark III is never made. Tony looks at it and tells JARVIS to “throw a little hot-rod red in there”.

Does that make the Red and Gold version Mark III? Mark IV? Mark III-A?

Regardless, my understanding is that whatever version that is, that’s what he wears throughout the rest of the film.

Iron Man 2 shows us Tony’s Hall of Armor, which confirms that the Red and Gold from the first film is Mark III, and the suit he wore to the opening of the Stark Expo is Mark IV.

This makes the Silver and Red “suitcase” armor Tony uses to fight Whiplash/Ivan Vanko at Monte Carlo the Mark V.

Now, the suit Tony wears at his birthday party…the one he fights Rhodey in…should still be the Mark IV.

“Wait a minute…” you may be asking. ‘…what about War Machine?”

Well, that suit was upgraded by Justin Hammer based on the Mark II.

Now we face Question #2: Does a “Non-Tony Stark Approved” upgrade on an Iron Man armor count?

My answer – No, it doesn't.

Therefore, the suit we see at the end of IM2 with the new element is the Mark VI.

Which leaves The Avengers. The Mark VII is what we see at the beginning of the film, the one that comes apart as Tony walks into Stark Tower. The one he wears in the final battle - which follows him out the window and assembles around him mid-fall - is the last one we've seen thus far: the Mark VIII.

So, if the armor we've seen in the IM3 trailers is the Mark XLII, there's gotta be XXXIV (34) more elsewhere in the film.

*Whew...*

My Thoughts On Captain America...The Movie

Okay. So a while back I explained my opinions on the Thor movie and how it would connect to the Marvel Movie Universe. I’ve thought it through, and figured how to do the same thing with Captain America:

First the plot – the first act would be about Steve Rogers, growing up in New York in the thirties, enlisting in the army, getting selected for the ‘Super-Soldier’ program (that is mentioned in Incredible Hulk) and ends with Steve completing the process and getting the new body. Act 2 would be about his army days, sneaking around, being an inspirational leader on the battlefield, meeting Bucky and having him learn Steve’s secret identity, and would end with Cap being defeated and/or captured by the Red Skull. The final act would be Steve’s victory against the Red Skull, defeating whatever Nazi plans he had, and the movie would end with Cap (and Bucky) continuing the never-ending battle for victory in WWII.

So basically, it’s the plot of the 4-part The Adventures of Captain America mini by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire from 1991/1992.


But the major difference is in the post credits…

There’s a shot of a newspaper headline dated at least a year after the movie takes place, but still during World War II, that reads: CAPTAIN AMERICA MISSING!!! Then we see darkness, but obviously underwater. Lights are shining from around and behind the camera into the water in front of us. Then we see an iceberg, with a familiar shield encased in it, and an arm, and the rest of Cap’s body. Coming into frame, on either side, we see the sources of the lights – Iron Man’s glove, and Thor’s hammer…

That’s it. That’s all you need. The movie itself connects to The Incredible Hulk, and the post credits connect to Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Thor.

Done deal.

My Thoughts On Thor...The Movie

I saw Iron Man 2 last week (which is FANTASTIC by the way), and know how Marvel managed to connect it with Thor, the next installment of the Marvel Movie Universe.

Here’s my question: How will Marvel connect Thor with the previous two movies (Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk)?

Here’s my answer…

The explosion of the Arc Reactor – which was a unique achievement that has never existed before, and therefore no one could predict the ramifications of its detonation – was somehow noticed by the gods of Asgard. Either it woke them out of some form of suspended animation, or brought them back into existence, or just made them aware of the power humans now have and they feel threatened. This would cause some of the gods, most likely Tyr and Loki, to want to attack humanity in self defense. They would enlist the Frost Giants, Dark Elves, trolls and others as their army. Other Asgardians, including Odin, Thor, Balder, Sif, Valkyrie and the Warriors Three, would try to stop them, believing that humanity should be left alone. The resulting battle, with humanity at stake, causes the tremendous storm we see in The Incredible Hulk.

But how does this explain the presence of Thor’s hammer at the end of Iron Man 2?

Instead of Odin sending Thor to Earth to learn humility (as it was in the comics), Thor winds up on Earth during the battle, and forgets everything about his Asgardian self. It could be from an injury, or it could be from a spell cast on him by Loki. While the rest of the movie deals with Thor recovering from the injury/spell and rediscovering himself, the battle ends with Loki’s forces victorious, and preparing to invade Earth…

Now I have to figure out how to connect this with the Captain America movie.