The first Iron Man movie is fascinating to me because it very precisely follows the conventional “well-meaning but sheltered prince betrayed by evil wizard” arc, except the prince himself is also a wizard. I don’t think I’ve seen that one anywhere else.
(Go ahead, try and tell me the battle at the end isn’t a classic wizard’s duel. Sure, there’s punching, but it’s practically background noise; the actual ebb and flow of the contest springs from the combatants finding and exploiting technicalities and loopholes in each others’ “magic”.)
This is really interesting given that medieval imagery and themes have always been a huge part of Iron Man mythos. Starting from the very obvious; Tony Stark is literally a knight in shining armor.
The sheltered prince, kidnapped by bad guys when his evil wizard mentor fears he’s growing to powerful, only realizes exactly how powerful he is when he rescues himself. He brings his new found power home, and the evil wizard mentor tries to steal it for his own.
But in the wrong hands, the power is destructive. The evil mentor can’t wield it correctly, and is defeated.
The power Tony comes home with is a Good one. A renewable energy resource, a clean power. Tony earns this power by going through the first half of his hero’s journey. (Call to adventure (demonstrating Jericho) -> crossing the threshold (waking up in the cave, in a literal new world) -> a new mentor (Yinsen) -> tests and trials (I mean, good god Tony was regularly tortured for three months not to mention Yinsen having him to reflect on his life) -> Transformatation (TONY STARK BECOMES IRON MAN).)
Tony is able to wield this power because he has faced demons (literal and figurative) and has come through them a better person. Stane can’t, because he hasn’t, not like Tony.
And not to mention that in 616 history (I know we’re talking MCU here but, bare with me) medieval fantasy is something that comes up a lot in Tony stories. There’s even an arc where Doctor Doom goes back in time to get Morgan LeFay to use her power to Take Over The World and Tony goes back in time to stop him! That’s amazing!!! Themes of Knighthood and old concepts of chivalry have always been a part of Tony’s story, so it’s really fucking cool that IM plays out like this!
And the magic doesn’t even have to be metaphorical!
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
ALT
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