Image via Marvel
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Iron Man 2 is a decade old this month. The movie was released back in May 2010, and although it made over half a billion dollars globally, it also received mixed reviews from the critics.
It's important to remember that this was only the third movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first team-up movie, The Avengers, was still two years away. The success of this soon-to-be a multi-billion dollar franchise wasn't set in stone. And so, Iron Man 2 had a lot of heavy lifting to do. It had to further Tony Stark's self-discovery, but it also had to set up the umbrella narrative of the Avengers initiative.
Iron Man 2 is not as focused or hard-hitting as the firstIron Man, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, it's a deconstruction of Tony Stark. The movie dares to portray its hero, not as a lovable jerk, but an actual jerk who's too selfish and ego-driven to hold himself accountable. It does more to dig down into the myth of the superhero than most of the MCU movies that followed.
Here are 21 cool Easter Eggs in Iron Man 2, a film that some feel is the most underrated installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is currently available to watch on Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
2.Identical Framing
The filmmakers deliberately framed Ivan in the same pose as Tony from the first movie, when he was building the first Iron Man suit in the cave. It parallels their experiences; at this point in their lives, both men are creating something brilliant out of scraps.
3.The bird
Ivan's pet cockatoo was actor Mickey Rourke's idea; he didn't want to play a one-dimensional evil villain, and so he conceived of the bird as a way to give his character some humanity. When Rourke had to fly in for reshoots, Jon Favreau gifted Rourke his own cockatoo named Sonny. Both the original bird (Elvis) and Sonny appear in the film; if you look closely, their crests are different.
4.AC/DC
The '80s rock band AC/DC is a prominent part of the soundtrack in Iron Man and Iron Man 2. In Iron Man 2, the AC/DC song that's playing when Tony lands at the Stark Expo is "Shoot To Thrill." We hear this song again in The Avengers, during the scene when Tony defeats Loki for the first time.
5.The Ironettes
Several of the Ironettes, the dancing girls onstage at the Stark Expo, are members of the Los Angeles Chargers cheering squad.
6.Walt Disney Parallels
The old film of Howard Stark that Tony projects is very reminiscent of Walt Disney's filmed pitch for EPCOT. The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment in August 2009, about nine months before the release of Iron Man 2.
7.Larry Ellison cameo
Larry Ellison, the co-founder of the Oracle Corporation, has a cameo during the backstage scene at the Stark Expo, when Tony is pushing through the crowd to get to his car.
8.Seth Green cameo
There are a couple of other cameos in the backstage scene. Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Family Guy) appears very quickly in a crowd scene.
9.Stan Lee dameo
Marvel visionary Stan Lee also makes a cameo in the backstage scene, as a man who Tony mistakes for Larry King.
10.Hail Hydra
We learn in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Senator Stern is secretly a member of HYDRA, a covert group that creates international conflicts in its quest for global domination. It's no wonder that Stern led the Senate hearing to make Tony surrender the Iron Man suit to the U.S. government.
11.Moving on
When Rhodey is called as a witness for the Senate hearing, he whispers to Tony, "It's me, and I'm here, so get over it and move on!" This is a meta-reference to Terrence Howard, who played Rhodey in the first Iron Man movie. It's a wink to the fans that Don Cheadle is now the actor behind the character, and not to question or nitpick it any further.
12.Hope
The artwork that Tony wants to hang up in his workshop is very reminiscent of the Obama poster "Hope," which went viral during Obama's campaign for President of the United States in 2008. The original "Hope" poster was created by Shepard Fairey, based off a photograph by Mannie Garcia.
13.Director cameo
Director Jon Favreau cameos as Happy Hogan, Tony's driver and bodyguard who later became Head of Security for Stark Industries. He's reprised this role in several MCU films, most recently in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
14.Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair
A Vanity Fair journalist named Christine Everhart is writing a feature on Justin Hammer. This is the same character from the beginning of the first Iron Man movie, who hooks up with Tony following his awards ceremony in Las Vegas. She is played by Leslie Bibb.
15.Elon Musk cameo
At the cocktail party in Monaco, Tony briefly interacts with Elon Musk, who is the real-life CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
16.Mark I Armor
To further the parallels between Ivan and Tony, the filmmakers made their Mark I armors look similar to one another. Both men had father figures they were trying to live up to, and both men created their first miniature arc reactors under difficult circumstances.
17.Suitcase armor
Tony's suitcase armor was based off of early artwork for the Iron Man suit by Bob Layton, which depicted the suit as more sleek and form-fitting than later armor iterations. Layton was also one of the creative forces behind "Demon in a Bottle," a 1979 comic book storyline that dealt with Tony's alcoholism.
18.DJ AM
The DJ at Tony's birthday party is DJ AM, who died of a drug overdose several months after filming his role. The movie is dedicated to his memory.
19.Swinging sticks
If you like the weird kinetic sculpture in Pepper Potts' office, you can buy one from the Museum of Modern Art's online store. It'll cost you though; it's $289 for non-members without tax.
20.The Shield
We can see Captain America's signature shield in Tony's workshop. Tony uses it for a pretty anticlimactic purpose; he slides it under the coils to make them level to the table.
21.Wakanada Forever
At the end of the movie, we can see a map behind Nick Fury of various places of interest for SHIELD. One of them is situated in Africa. This is Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther.
22.Important business
Both Nick Fury and Agent Coulson mention that they're working on something important in the southwestern United States. This is a direct reference to Thor, who was exiled from Asgard and subsequently lands in New Mexico. In the end credits scene, we finally see a shot of Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, which has also crashed in New Mexico. The first Thor movie was released a year after Iron Man 2 in May 2011.