Is it me or is the casting terrible? The actors are too old. I have been reading Iron Man comics since issue 150ish. It has been a long time. Given his history, he should be about 26 or so years old at the time that he becomes Iron Man with the suit.
His history goes like this (I have changed some elements in italics to change the Vietnam element to something more contemporary.)
Tony Stark enters the undergraduate engineering program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, the mascot is the Beavers) in Cambridge, MA while only 15 years old and graduates at the top of his class. At the age of 21, he inherits his father's company, Stark Industries, after his parents are killed in a car accident. One of the first things Stark does is to buy out the company that made the faulty brakes on his parent's car and correct the mechanical problem.
**Lets say that he makes the changes to the brakes by age 22.
While on a visit to Iraq to see how his new mini-transistors could assist the American war effort, Stark is caught in a booby trap. Captured by an Iraqiinsurgent named Omid Al-Abdullah, and dying from a piece of shrapnel lodged in his heart from the booby trap, Stark is pressed into building weapons for Omid Al-Abdullah, along with a fellow prisoner, the famed physicist Yin Sen (later called Ho Yinsen). However, Stark and Yin Sen use the workshop to secretly design and construct a suit of powered armor an iron exoskeleton that gives Stark tremendous strength as well as other abilities that will not only keep Stark's heart beating, but also allow him to escape. Yin Sen sacrifices himself to buy Stark time to charge the bulky suit of armor, and as Iron Man, Stark makes short work of Omid Al-Abdullah and his men. On the way back, Iron Man encounters a wounded American Air Force helicopter pilot, Jim Rhodes.
**To be a pilot in the US military you have to be a Warrant Officer or Line officer which requires a college degree. So, lets say Rhodes is 18 when he goes to college, graduates at 21 and gets commisioned in the Air Force by 22. Training can take a year or two to get enough flying hours in to see action. That would put him at 24. Judging from the comics Tony and Jim are roughly the same age so that would mean that if Tony when to Iraq at qge 22/23 he was held captive for a year or more. I highly doubt that he and Yin bult the suit in a few months starting from scratch, although it is possible given his intellect.
Introducing himself as Stark's bodyguard, Iron Man and Rhodes manage to defend themselves against the pursuing Iraqis before making it back to American lines. On his return to the US, Stark continues to improve the armor, establishing a dual identity as the adventurer and superhero Iron Man. He also greatly expands his father's company, Stark Industries, eventually renaming it Stark International.
**So, lets say that the whole ordeal takes Tony 2 years from the time he was captured to the time he escaped and was sent home. He would be 25ish. Note that being a pilot requires a 6 year military commitment not the normal 4 year so that means Rhodes wont get out of the USAF until he is 28. This would mean that the upgrades and expansion of the company take a couple of years.
The cover for Iron Man is that he is Stark's bodyguard and corporate mascot.
**So, it is not out of the realm to think that Tony is 28 before he hits full swing as Iron Man. Robert Downey, Jr. is 41. So, the movie would imply that he beomes a superhero at the young age of 41?! !@#$% It took him from age 21 when he got the company to 41 to make a suit. WTF?! Terrance Howard is 37. So he nearly spends an entire professional career in the USAF, in truth, in the comics, he was probably out by age 29.
Hollywood just screws everything up .
Check out his different armors.
http://www.ironmanarmory.com/armors.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man's_armor
The only one they left out was the Hulkbuster Armor
His history goes like this (I have changed some elements in italics to change the Vietnam element to something more contemporary.)
Tony Stark enters the undergraduate engineering program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, the mascot is the Beavers) in Cambridge, MA while only 15 years old and graduates at the top of his class. At the age of 21, he inherits his father's company, Stark Industries, after his parents are killed in a car accident. One of the first things Stark does is to buy out the company that made the faulty brakes on his parent's car and correct the mechanical problem.
**Lets say that he makes the changes to the brakes by age 22.
While on a visit to Iraq to see how his new mini-transistors could assist the American war effort, Stark is caught in a booby trap. Captured by an Iraqiinsurgent named Omid Al-Abdullah, and dying from a piece of shrapnel lodged in his heart from the booby trap, Stark is pressed into building weapons for Omid Al-Abdullah, along with a fellow prisoner, the famed physicist Yin Sen (later called Ho Yinsen). However, Stark and Yin Sen use the workshop to secretly design and construct a suit of powered armor an iron exoskeleton that gives Stark tremendous strength as well as other abilities that will not only keep Stark's heart beating, but also allow him to escape. Yin Sen sacrifices himself to buy Stark time to charge the bulky suit of armor, and as Iron Man, Stark makes short work of Omid Al-Abdullah and his men. On the way back, Iron Man encounters a wounded American Air Force helicopter pilot, Jim Rhodes.
**To be a pilot in the US military you have to be a Warrant Officer or Line officer which requires a college degree. So, lets say Rhodes is 18 when he goes to college, graduates at 21 and gets commisioned in the Air Force by 22. Training can take a year or two to get enough flying hours in to see action. That would put him at 24. Judging from the comics Tony and Jim are roughly the same age so that would mean that if Tony when to Iraq at qge 22/23 he was held captive for a year or more. I highly doubt that he and Yin bult the suit in a few months starting from scratch, although it is possible given his intellect.
Introducing himself as Stark's bodyguard, Iron Man and Rhodes manage to defend themselves against the pursuing Iraqis before making it back to American lines. On his return to the US, Stark continues to improve the armor, establishing a dual identity as the adventurer and superhero Iron Man. He also greatly expands his father's company, Stark Industries, eventually renaming it Stark International.
**So, lets say that the whole ordeal takes Tony 2 years from the time he was captured to the time he escaped and was sent home. He would be 25ish. Note that being a pilot requires a 6 year military commitment not the normal 4 year so that means Rhodes wont get out of the USAF until he is 28. This would mean that the upgrades and expansion of the company take a couple of years.
The cover for Iron Man is that he is Stark's bodyguard and corporate mascot.
**So, it is not out of the realm to think that Tony is 28 before he hits full swing as Iron Man. Robert Downey, Jr. is 41. So, the movie would imply that he beomes a superhero at the young age of 41?! !@#$% It took him from age 21 when he got the company to 41 to make a suit. WTF?! Terrance Howard is 37. So he nearly spends an entire professional career in the USAF, in truth, in the comics, he was probably out by age 29.
Hollywood just screws everything up .
Check out his different armors.
http://www.ironmanarmory.com/armors.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man's_armor
The only one they left out was the Hulkbuster Armor
(LOL)
