Comments on: Iron Man a Second-Tier Superhero?

By: Robby Reed

Robby Reed — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:59:44 +0000

For the SECRET ORIGINS OF IRON MAN, check out...

http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/422

By: FireWolf

FireWolf — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:13:03 +0000

Yup...Hellboy is coming out with a second movie that looks quite good. I am looking forward to the IronMan movie this weekend (if i can find time to go out and see it).

By: Paul Barnes

Paul Barnes — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:14:29 +0000

Don't forget these other, non-top movies made from superheroes: Hellboy, Punisher (TWO!) and Spawn.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:14:23 +0000

The stable of Marvel superheroes were all a bit after my prime comic-reading period. I remember buying and reading the issue in which Tony Stark first got the yellow suit; I lost interest around the time he got he snazzy red-flashed one.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:26:23 +0000

Of course it depends on what you mean by second-tier hero. From the sound of it popularity outside of their respected community is what was meant. Sort of like Jordon and Babe Ruth is known by a very large population outside of their respected sports. Under those criteria Iron Man is right on the cuff. Someone like my girlfriend would recognize Batman or Superman, a 50/50 chance of knowing Iron Man and less than that in recognizing Ghost Rider until I took her to that movie.

Within the Marvel Universe I would say he is in the top tier but not the very top. Also if your talking selecting a hero for their overall abilities including non-fighting ones, he would be a popular selection. He is defiantly no Jubilee. As a child I thought he was OK but like the Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Ghost Rider and Wolverine better. I like him better then Cyclops, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Power Man.

By: Derrick

Derrick — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:05:50 +0000

Your in my geeky wheel-house here, and I would agree with one of your last points about the limitations of the Iron Man suit. Robocop was one of the only movies able to pull off the armored suit bit, and he had to move almost painfully slow with the realistic looking exo-skeleton that probably weighed about 100 lbs. The suit and the CGI were probably the biggest thing preventing a tv show or a movie in the past.

Iron Man has been a core Marvel character for decades, and definitely a much more interesting back story than say the Fantastic Four or Daredevil. The other point against his popularity might be the adult nature of his character. He's a whiskey drinking womanizer with a Roger Clemens-like libido which doesn't make for an appealing family friendly super-hero. I think the popularity of Wolverine in the X-Men movies showed that on that contrary that type of flawed adult character is probably more appealing in a way, even to children.