Iron Man, the beginning of something truly special

Remember the days when you could get away with making a wishy washy, sub-par super hero movie?

No neither do, I.

Long gone are the rubber nipple, camp days of Batman and Robin with the new millennium bringing along a plethora of, mostly, well done comic book adaptations.

Iron Man continues this trend and looks set to rival Spider-Man as Marvel's most successful comic-book-to-movie super hero. That's a huge statement I know, but before Spidey fan boys pull out their pitch forks and come for my head, let me explain.

Iron Man isn't the most popular super hero, the masses never really heard of him until the massive hype for the movie began. So how exactly do Marvel promote one of their generally unknown super hero franchises?

They do it themselves.

Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to the Iron Man movie franchise from 20th Century Fox in 2006. From here they poured $135 million into it and brought in an all-star cast to really bring the comic book alive.

Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark and is brilliant in the role. Tom Cruise was originally rumoured too play the billionaire industrialist but after Downey Jr. as Stark, you wouldn't be able to imagine anyone else.

He's cocky, enigmatic and determined in his performance. I cannot emphasise this enough, Downey Jr. makes this movie what it is, without him it would have probably flopped.

Terrence Howard plays Lieutenant James Rupert Rhodes, who comic book fans will know as Iron Man's ally War Machine. While he doesn't become War Machine in Iron Man, there is a very subtle hint that he will dawn the War Machine armour in the inevitable sequel.

What Iron Man begins is a universe of comic book movies that will all interlink. The Hulk follows next, with Robert Downey Jr. rumoured to make a cameo appearance as Tony Stark. Already linking between these is the existence of the agency SHIELD and with that we'll soon see a movie starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Following this there will be a Captain America movie and then an Avengers movie, all set within the same universe and allowing huge potential for crossovers.

So why is the Iron Man more important than the Spider-Man franchise?

It has set the ball in motion for what could be the coolest super hero movies ever made.

And without giving too much away about Iron Man. The ending is superb, a definite thumbs up and I would tell anyone, comic book fan or otherwise to go see this movie.