Iron Man 2 (2010) – Complete Annotations

25:00-30:00

And we’re off to Monaco, the glamorous small country on the Mediterranean. They are in the capital Monte Carlo.

It is the home of the Monaco Grand Prix, one of the most important events in the racing calendar, running since 1929.

The music here is called Monaco by The Declanator.

Stark arrives at Hotel de Paris, Place du Casino.

He arrives in a 2009 Rolls Royce Phantom.

Hogan is holding an interesting looking briefcase.

The hotel’s interior is a studio set.

There’s a photographer from ACM – the Automotive Club of Monaco. We will see Vanko in an ACM helmet later.

Stark is greeted by Elon Musk. The rich tech entrepreneur has companies like Tesla, PayPal and SpaceX all under his no doubt fancy belt. The filmmakers used him as inspiration for Stark.

Stark mentions the Merlin Engine, one of Musk’s inventions, the most powerful engine for its weight in the world.

Stark and Potts bump into Hammer and a familiar face – Christine Everhart, played by Leslie Bibb.

Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 6.48.48 PM
Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb in Iron Man 2 (2010)

Leslie BibbThis is Bibb’s 2nd appearance in the MCU. We last saw her in Iron Man (2008).

Bibb and Sam Rockwell are a couple in real life, and had been for several years before this film.

Blood toxicity is now 53%.

Onto the streets of Monaco, Stark prepares to race. The production only shot plates in Monaco, with a section of the track created in back in Los Angeles, in the parking lot Downey Studios – 12214 Lakewood Boulevard, Downey.

A couple of racing driver names seem to be nods. Locke could be collector Chris Locke, who donated cars for this sequence. Chapman is likely Colin Chapman, a F1 Team Manager.

30:00-35:00

Stark goes for a drive. In a 1978 Wolf WR Ford Replica.

As Stark drives off, he passes a tent that reads Maximillian FAVREAU – obviously a nod to the director.

American racing driver Tanner Foust is driving the car.

Some of the wider shots were made by the production shooting empty track, and adding the cars later with CGI.

One of the other cars is sponsored by Roxxon Oil. Roxxon are a big evil corporation in the comics. A Roxxon building was seen in Iron Man (2008).

Vanko is in disguise.

The music here is Monaco Drive, leading into First Confrontation.

Vanko – we can call him Whiplash now – walks onto the track and unleashes his whips. He cuts through a car or two.

Hogan and Potts invade the track as Stark is attacked. Stark tries to fight him with his bare hands.

Hogan runs Whiplash over, but it doesn’t stop him. Hogan’s first meeting with Tony Stark was pulling him out of a racing car crash.

Two real Rolls Royces – combined value of close to half a million dollars – were destroyed in this scene. They were built for the film.

Stark asks to be given the ‘football’. This is the nickname of the suitcase that the President of the United States has, that holds the nuclear codes.

35:00-40:00

That briefcase turns out to be an Iron Man suit. Mark 5.

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Iron Man armour Mark 5 in Iron Man 2 (2010)

Stark has kept Iron Man suits that fitted in a suitcase in the comics. There’s also a very famous red and silver suit that Iron Man wore a lot in the 1980s. That was an awesome suit.

Whiplash‘s whips can deflect Iron Man‘s repulsors.

Iron Man defeats Whiplash and pulls out his arc reactor.

Stark visits Vanko in a Monaco prison. A set?

The music here is Jailhouse Talk.

Rourke spent time researching Russian prisoners and helped create the tattoo look that we can see here.

40:00-45:00

Senator Stern is on real news station msnbc.

Stark and Potts on the plane.

Vanko busts out.

The prison is Lincoln Heights Jail, 421 North Avenue 19, Lincoln Heights.

Where did they find such a good lookalike for Rourke? In their own stunt department. He’s Rourke’s stunt guy, Mark Kubr. He also worked on Iron Man (2008) and work on Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

The music here is Ivan Escapes.

The lookalike is killed, as well as a guard.

He is taken to Justin Hammer. Hammer’s facility is SpaceX, located in Hawthorne, California. It is owned by Elon Musk who we saw earlier. Real SpaceX employees are in the background. 1 Rocket Rd, Hawthorne, California.

45:00-50:00

Hammer and Vanko strike a pact.

Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2
Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2

At Stark’s, Potts and Romanoff are on the phones.

Behind them is the statue L’Homme qui marche I, created by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti.

Rhodes walks in as they watching news. One of the presenters is Christiane Amanpour for CNN.

Stark is sitting in his 1932 Ford Model B. It actually belongs to Jon Favreau.

Stark reviews newspaper clippings. All the papers are fakes except the Los Angeles Times.

Anton Vanko defected in 1963.

Rhodes begins to suspect something is wrong with Stark.

Then we’re back at Queens, New York, in an establishing shot. It’s the home of Hammer Industries.

The building exteriors and interiors are still SpaceX Hawthorne.

50:00-55:00

Vanko reviews Hammer’s creations.

We get a better look at Hammer’s assistant, Jack, played by Jack White. White is a food stylist and would work on Th0r (2011).

Stark at home. Toxicity is 89%.

Stark mentions the watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre.

At the party, we hear California Love by 2Pac featuring Dr Dre, from his 1996 album All Eyes On Me.

The DJ is DJ AM, a hugely successful international DJ. Sadly, he had died in a drug overdose by the time this film was released. This film is dedicated to him.

55:00-60:00

Stark refers to Gallagher when shooting the watermelon. He is referring to the comedian who smashed watermelons as part of his act.

There was an alternate scene from the birthday that was deleted.

Rhodes arrives in Stark’s Mark 2 armour.

The music here is Rhodey Dons Suit.

In the comics, his War Machine armour is grey.

The inevitable fight between Iron Man and…War Machine Mark 1?

The music they fight to is Another One Bites The Dust by Queen, taken from their 1980 album The Game.

It goes into It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, taken from the album It Takes Two, released in 1980.

Stark calls Rhodes a War Machine.

After a big explosion, Rhodes leaves.

5 thoughts on “Iron Man 2 (2010) – Complete Annotations

  1. It would be better if you stopped writing as if the person reading this doesn’t know the plot or characters. It’s annoying, nobody is going to read this without having watched them in the first place so why are you writing things like “Stark checks his blood and there’s something wrong. Toxicity is 19%.”

    Nobody cares about the actual plot unless you have real info to back it up.

    1. It’s more trying to put markers if you’re trying to watch along. It’s supposed to be a written commentary. I get your point. I’ll just need to find other ways of letting people know where they are in that 5 minute section.

  2. You say that “There’s definitely some of [Steve] Jobs in Stark, and it’s the butt of a joke that would feature in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017).”

    How do you know that?

    1. We’ve seen some photos on set of a Steve Jobs film poster starring Nathan Fillion as Simon Williams, Wonderman – as Tony Stark. I assume it will be an Easter egg that I will write about when I ever get there!

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