50 Fun Facts About Iron Man 2

Who directed Iron Man 2?

He also returned as Happy Hogan, and conceived the story with Robert Downey Jr. before Justin Theroux wrote the script.

Iron Man 2 is which numbered film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

It followed Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and was released in May 2010 as part of Phase One.

Which element in Stark's arc reactor is slowly poisoning him?

He eventually synthesises a new element from a diagram hidden in his father's 1974 Expo diorama.

Who plays Ivan Vanko, the Russian physicist with electrified whips?

He visited Moscow's Butyrka prison to research the role and suggested half his dialogue be in Russian.

Vanko is an amalgamation of Whiplash and which other comics villain?

Crimson Dynamo turned up separately as a villain in the Sega tie-in game.

Which pet did Rourke pay for out of his own pocket to give Vanko?

He also paid for the character's gold teeth and suggested the tattoos.

Which tattoo on Rourke did Kevin Feige have digitally removed?

Feige worried it would confuse audiences ahead of Loki's debut in Thor the following year.

Who replaced Terrence Howard as James Rhodes?

He had only a few hours to accept the role and signed a six-picture deal.

Howard later claimed Downey 'took the money that was supposed to go to me' and did what?

Howard had been the first actor hired on Iron Man and its highest paid.

What name does Natasha Romanoff use while posing as Stark's new assistant?

Nick Fury unmasks her as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent at Randy's Donuts.

Which actress was in early talks to play Black Widow before Johansson?

Her commitment to Gulliver's Travels got in the way.

What did Johansson do before landing the part to convince Favreau she was right for it?

She had also researched other Marvel characters she might play, including the Blonde Phantom and the Wasp.

Who plays rival arms dealer Justin Hammer?

He had been considered for Tony Stark in the first film, and took the Hammer role without reading the script.

In the comics, Justin Hammer is what, to the actor's surprise?

Rockwell described his version as 'plucky comic relief' with a bit of an edge.

How many films did Samuel L. Jackson sign up for as Nick Fury?

Contract disputes nearly scuppered the deal; Jackson joked 'Maybe I won't be Nick Fury'.

Garry Shandling's senator character was named after which radio host?

The senator wants Stark to hand the armour to the government.

In his cameo, Stan Lee is mistaken for which TV personality?

In the first film he had been mistaken for Hugh Hefner.

Which tech CEO appears as himself at the Monaco restaurant?

Oracle's Larry Ellison, Bill O'Reilly and Christiane Amanpour also appear as themselves.

Who played the little boy in an Iron Man mask whom Stark saves from a drone?

Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts later suggested the boy was a young Peter Parker, and Feige agreed it was plausible.

To whose memory is the film dedicated?

He appears as himself and died before the film was released.

Which comics storyline about Stark's drinking did the film deliberately NOT adapt?

Executives feared an alcoholic Iron Man would hurt marketing and toy sales, so the thread was downplayed.

Which scientist was Stark modelled on, at the suggestion of Lethal Weapon's writer?

Black, who later directed Iron Man 3, pointed to Oppenheimer's depression at being 'the destroyer of worlds'.

Which villain cut from early drafts later debuted in Ant-Man and the Wasp?

Early drafts had Justin Hammer creating several villains alongside Whiplash.

Which comedy, starring Downey, had writer Justin Theroux co-written?

Downey recommended him to Marvel; Theroux's back later gave out from rewriting around the on-set improvisation.

Which animator, creator of Samurai Jack, storyboarded the film?

Adi Granov returned to supervise the armour designs.

What was the film's working title?

Principal photography began on April 6, 2009, at the Pasadena Masonic Temple.

Where was the bulk of the film shot?

Marvel had agreed to make this and its next three films at the Manhattan Beach facility.

Which Formula One boss retracted permission to film at the Monaco Grand Prix?

The crew shipped one Rolls-Royce Phantom to Monaco and shot the race itself in a Downey Studios car park.

Who drove Stark's racing car in the Monaco sequence?

The race cars were later added digitally to a track sequence.

A massive green screen for the Expo exterior was built at which Los Angeles landmark?

Hundreds of shipping containers were stacked, plastered and painted green.

How many days did principal photography last?

Production wrapped on July 18, 2009.

Who directed the post-credits scene in which Coulson finds a hammer in New Mexico?

It was shot on the set of Thor with anamorphic lenses to match that film.

Which studio distributed Iron Man 2, the last Marvel film before Disney took over?

Disney bought Marvel for $4 billion in December 2009 but the existing deal ran through this film.

For how much did Disney buy Marvel Entertainment in December 2009?

Paramount still collected 8% of the box office on this film.

Which effects house built an all-digital suit for the Monaco chase?

ILM handled 527 shots and used CG suits almost everywhere else, unlike the first film's practical Stan Winston suits.

How many shots did ILM create for the film?

Eleven visual-effects studios worked on it in total, with Perception handling the Expo backdrops and screen graphics.

Which band's songs fill the film's soundtrack album?

Only two of the album's tracks actually appear in the film.

Who composed the score, with Tom Morello?

Richard M. Sherman of the Sherman Brothers wrote the Expo's theme, 'Make Way for Tomorrow Today'.

Which Disney songwriting legend wrote the Stark Expo theme?

It is a pastiche of the 1960s World's Fair tunes the Sherman Brothers actually wrote.

In front of which Downey film did the first theatrical trailer premiere?

A second trailer was unveiled on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the 2010 Oscars.

Which comics writer scripted the Sega video game tie-in?

The game scored a dismal 41 on Metacritic despite Cheadle and Jackson voicing their characters.

Why was the international release brought forward before the US one?

It opened across 54 countries between April 28 and May 7, 2010.

Where did Iron Man 2 premiere on April 26, 2010?

US wide release followed on May 7 in 4,380 theatres, 181 of them IMAX.

Roughly what did the film gross worldwide?

It cost around $170 million to make and about $150 million to market.

What was the film's US opening weekend, then the fifth-highest ever?

Only The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3, New Moon and Dead Man's Chest had opened bigger.

Which two films outgrossed it domestically in 2010?

Internationally it ranked seventh for the year.

What approval rating did the film earn on Rotten Tomatoes?

Critics praised Downey but called it inferior to the original; CinemaScore audiences gave it an A.

For which Academy Award was Iron Man 2 nominated?

It lost to Inception at the 83rd Academy Awards.

How much muscle did Downey reportedly put on to reprise the role?

Six-year-old Davin Ransom played Tony as a child.

Who took over directing duties for Iron Man 3?

Favreau stayed on as Happy Hogan; Black's film added Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley's fake Mandarin.