This past weekend in San Diego, lucky Comic-Con goers got a sneak peek at the first publicly viewed "Iron Man 2" footage, fueling the fervor for the hotly anticipated sequel. Over the next four days, we'll keep those fires burning bright by bringing you inside "Iron Man 2" -- all from a series of stories about our set visit a few weeks back. Today, we start with an overview of "Iron Man 2," in theaters, May 7, 2010.
By Randy Ma
One of the coolest scenes in "Iron Man" was Tony Stark engineering the Iron Man suit in his workshop where he interacted with holographic images. We had a chance to revisit Tony's workshop on the set of "Iron Man 2" where we were required to wear padded slippers to walk around. The reason being, the entire floor of Tony's workshop was covered with a reflective black tile utilized to reflect interactive, holographic images anywhere in the room!
While we looked around, there were remnants of the first film throughout. There was the gaping hole in the ceiling referencing Tony's first flight test.
But there was a lot of new, too--like all models of the Iron Man suit being on display, including the newly joined Mark IV. This new suit has much broader shoulders and wrist guards compared to the Mark III, which still displays battle damage from the fight with Iron Monger.
Elsewhere in the shop were newly added posters and signs on the walls from various oil conglomerates. There is even a poster in the same style of Barack Obama's presidential campaign poster showing a "stark" red and blue silhouette of Iron Man. It is clear "Iron Man 2" is injecting the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the current "realities" of society.
But the most interesting section was a carpeted corner that looked unkempt and much more cluttered. This section seemed separate from the rest of Tony's workshop. It featured numerous blueprints, an old film projector, newspaper clippings, a German passport and numerous references to NASA. It appeared Howard Stark was connected with the Manhattan Project, which will be an important clue in discovering what Tony's father was working on. The entire set provided a very Cold War aesthetic indicating a Russian slant to the film.
In addition to walking on the set, we were privy to witness two scenes being film for "Iron Man 2." The first scene depicted Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) looking down at a scale model of the Stark Expo, which closely resembles the New York World's Fair Pavilion. This included a Unisphere at the center of the convention. As the camera panned from the level of the model towards Tony looking inquisitive at the Stark Expo, he spoke to himself, "The key to the future is...where?"
The second scene we saw featured a much more animated Tony, as he interacted with Jarvis in his workshop. The sequence required Tony to utilize the holographic-floor as he paced around the workshop to investigate further into the main pavilion of the Stark Expo. Prior to filming the sequence, we saw Downey speak with the post-production director regarding the ideal gestures and motions to best interact with the planned projected images.
In this scene Tony reconstructs the main pavilion by enlarging and relocating structures with his hand motions. Doing so evidently allows Tony to reach a conniption prompting him to remark to Jarvis, "I am discovering-rediscovering-a new element."
Having viewed these scenes it became apparent that a central mystery in "Iron Man 2" requires Tony to look into his father's past, specifically the Stark Expo. This will play a major role in the energy crisis, which is a chief issue in the film.
Come back tomorrow for more from the "Iron Man 2" set as Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige weighs in!
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