History YMMV / IronMan2

** This movie is the closest the MCU has come to portraying Tony as an alcoholic like in the comics, but here his excessive drinking and unstable behavior is merely a reaction to slowly dying from his implanted arc reactor. [[https://nerdbastards.com/2013/04/22/the-iron-man-story-you-wont-see-on-the-big-screen/ The reason for this]] is that [[ExecutiveMeddling Disney and Marvel didn't want the series to have such a dark and troubling subject as alcoholism]].

** The scene of Tony Stark rediscovering the new element.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Used in caption memes to describe people working hard on something that one wouldn't think should be worked on.[[/labelnote]]

** '''Dhrone Bettuh.'''[[labelnote:Explanation]]Vanko's reply to Hammer insisting on PoweredArmor[[/labelnote]]
** '''Software shit.'''[[labelnote:Explanation]]Vanko says this after effortlessly HollywoodHacking into Hammer's systems after typing a bit on a computer.[[/labelnote]]

* MagnificentBastard: [[BigBad Ivan Vanko]] is the son of Anton Vanko, a disgraced colleague of Howard Stark. Vowing to destroy [[Characters/MCUIronMan Tony Stark]]'s reputation [[SinsOfOurFathers for his father's pitiable fate]], Ivan developed his own arc reactor from his father's designs with limited materials and attacked Iron Man at a Grand Prix in Monaco for the sole purpose of disproving Iron Man's invincibility. Despite losing, Ivan observed that Tony was suffering from palladium poisoning and was content with knowing that Tony would be dead soon before being broken out of prison by Tony's rival Justin Hammer, making a deal to team up to take Tony down. Taking advantage of Hammer's resources while [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending to be incompetent]], Ivan created [[AttackDrone Hammer Drones]] and his own PoweredArmor for Hammer's presentation before hijacking the drones' programming and setting them loose on the crowd. Joining the fray, Ivan's suit proved a match for Iron Man and his friend War Machine, and despite losing again, Ivan [[TakingYouWithMe used his death to set off explosives in every piece of machinery he made]], nearly killing Iron Man. With his determination and skills, Ivan Vanko proved to be the ultimate EvilCounterpart to Iron Man.

** Creator/BillOReilly, who makes a surprising cameo as himself, commenting on his show about [[spoiler:Pepper Potts becoming CEO of Stark Industries]]. It's much like the segments on his show in real life, but the fact that he was in ''Iron Man 2'' made it hilarious. Became a FunnyAneurysmMoment in later years when sexual harassment claims were filed against him that ended his [[Series/TheOReillyFactor show]] and [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor career]] as a result.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Ivan Vanko actually has a more developed and interesting backstory than many of the other MCU Phase 1 and Phase 2 antagonists, who generally tend to fall into the category of GenericDoomsdayVillain or turn out to be essentially just mooks for {{Greater Scope Villain}}s, but the movie's having to spend so much of its time introducing new characters and setting up things for ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' means that Vanko ends up an under-developed AnticlimaxBoss in the finished product.

** This is the film where two members of [[Film/TheAvengers2012 original six Avengers]] meet each other for the first time, Tony and Natasha. [[spoiler:In ''Avengers: Endgame'', they both would die sacrificing themselves. The fact that a major scene has them discussing what they would do if it was their last night on earth lends an additional layer of sadness and poignancy since both are closer to the end of their lives than they suspect]].

** The U.S. Marshall played by Creator/KateMara.
** The kid wearing the Iron Man helmet got a lot more popular once it turned out that he was really a young Peter Parker, to the point where detractors point to his cameo as being the best part of the movie.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Hammer's technology is treated as a joke here. Which makes the reappearance of the company in ''Series/LukeCage2016'' as the manufacturer of the Judas bullet harder to bear.

** During that same scene, Hammer says that if the "Ex-Wife" were any smarter, it would write a book that made ''Literature/{{Ulysses}}'' look like it was written in crayon. ''Ulysses'' actually '''''was''''' written in crayon: Creator/JamesJoyce's eyesight was failing, so he used crayons and large sheets of paper to make it easier for him to write.

** The two members of [[Film/TheAvengers2012 original six Avengers]] meet each other for the first time, Tony and Natasha. [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice Guess what happens to them]] [[Film/AvengersEndgame several years later...]] The fact that a major scene has them discussing what they would do if it was their last night on earth lends an additional layer of sadness and poignancy since both are closer to the end of their lives than they suspect]].

** Also, Tony watches his father's video message telling him, "What is and always will be my greatest creation... is you.", only to confront [[spoiler:the Winter Soldier for killing just his mother [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar years later.]]]]
** A DeletedScene shows Vanko making a transaction with a man who is revealed to be a Ten Rings agent. Jon Favreau points out in the commentary about the {{Foreshadowing}} for "what's to come with [[ArchEnemy The Mandarin]]". [[spoiler: ''Film/IronMan3'' would infamously throw all of this foreshadowing away and try to claim that the Mandarin did not exist in the MCU. Fan backlash to this was so huge that Marvel made [[Film/AllHailTheKing an entire short film]] to retcon it away, but Tony would never encounter his arch-nemesis on the big screen before his death in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' like Favreau originally planned, leaving the Ten Rings story arc to be concluded in the ''Shang-Chi'' movie instead.]]
** An early scene has Tony reprimanding Pepper for coming near him while sick and asking her to wear a mask, to which she replies “that’s rude.” Come 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, and people who refused to wear masks during it, that little exchange is more than a little bit uncomfortable.

** The kid who was dressed as Iron Man at the Stark Expo was later revealed by WordOfSaintPaul to be a young Peter Parker. This makes the scene in the climax especially heartwarming as Tony's compliment to him probably helped kickstart Peter's superhero career after he got his powers.
** Moreover, a good portion of this movie is about one’s legacy: both Tony dealing with his father’s, and trying to leave one himself. So in this scene, Tony ends up saving the life of the person he’ll later be entrusting that legacy to.

** TheStinger where [[spoiler:Thor's hammer is found]]. Viewers may assume that it's government presence that circling the area. [[spoiler:As ''{{Film/Thor}}'' reveals, it's just a bunch of macho dudes trying to pull out the hammer]].

** The Internet is riddled with comparisons between Tony's Senate hearing and Hank Rearden's trial in ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. ''Film/IronMan3'' turns Jack Taggert into "J. [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Taggart]]" -- Jim Taggart is the name of an antagonist in ''Atlas Shrugged.''

** According to WordOfSaintPaul, the Expo kid wearing an Iron Man helmet from the climax, was a young [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] and he was played by director Creator/JonFavreau's son Max Favreau. Two years after this film came out, and the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan unrelated Spider-Man movie]] has another actor named Max (Max Charles) playing a young Peter Parker, before he [[TimeShiftedActor grows]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield up]]. This is later made doubly ironic when Jon's character Happy Hogan was put in charge of looking after Peter for Tony in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' and crushes on his [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate mother]] May in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome''.

** Hacked CCTV footage from North Korea during the Senate hearing reveals that they developed a ChickenWalker-esque mech which [[EpicFail fails horribly]]. Tony quips that it's probably one of the countries 5-10 years away from perfecting mobile suits of his grade. [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} Around 5 years later (or more) in South Korea...]]
*** Speaking of, the Hammer drones' heads resemble Bastion's.

** Happy is OvershadowedByAwesome when helping Natasha take down the compound guards, only getting one guy while she gets half a dozen. ''Iron Man 3'' has Tony promote him to head of Stark Security as thanks for his commitment to the job, and ''Spiderman: Far From Home'' has him successfully evacuate Peter Parker's friends when the BigBad starts gunning for them.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The kid who was dressed as Iron Man at the Stark Expo was later revealed by WordOfSaintPaul to be a young Peter Parker. This makes the scene in the climax especially heartwarming as Tony's compliment to him probably helped kickstart Peter's superhero career after he got his powers.

** Also, Tony watches his father's video message telling him, "What is and always will be my greatest creation... is you.", only to confront [[spoiler:the Winter Soldier for killing just his mother [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar years later]]]]

** '''[[https://www.deviantart.com/seph-hunter/art/I-VANT-MY-BURD-163543844]]'''[[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to Vanko's insistence on not working until Hammer retrieved his pet bird from Russia[[/labelnote]]

** '''[[http://seph-hunter.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2pdb8k I vant my burd!]]'''[[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to Vanko's insistence on not working until Hammer retrieved his pet bird from Russia[[/labelnote]]

** According to WordOfSaintPaul, the Expo kid wearing an Iron Man helmet from the climax, was a young [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] and he was played by director Creator/JonFavreau's son Max Favreau. Two years after this film came out, and the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan unrelated Spider-Man movie]] has another actor named Max (Max Charles) playing a young Peter Parker, before he [[TimeShiftedActor grows]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield up]]. This is later made doubly ironic when Jon's character Happy Hogan was put in charge of looking after Peter for Tony in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' and dates his [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate mother]] May in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome''.

** '''IVAN VANKO BUILT THIS IN HIS BASEMENT! ''...WITH A BURD!!!''''' [[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to the first film's meme about how Tony built his first suit in a cave, Vanko build his whips in his apartment with very few evident resources.[[labelnote]]

** '''IVAN VANKO BUILT THIS IN HIS BASEMENT! ''...WITH A BURD!!!'''''
** '''[[http://seph-hunter.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2pdb8k I vant my burd!]]'''
** '''Dhrone Bettuh.'''
** '''Software shit.'''
** '''Tony Stark ''created a new element''.'''
** [[spoiler:ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is coming back to Earth.]]
** "I think I did okay!" *explosion*

** According to WordOfSaintPaul, the Expo kid wearing an Iron Man helmet from the climax, was a young [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] and he was played by director Creator/JonFavreau's son Max Favreau. Two years after this film came out, and the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan unrelated Spider-Man movie]] has another actor named Max (Max Charles) playing a young Peter Parker, before he [[TimeShiftedActor grows]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield up]].

** Ivan Vanko's burd, either his original burd or the new one which Hammer bought for him.

** Senator Stern is an ass [[spoiler: [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier and a HYDRA operative]]]], and Hammer is an idiot, but both of them make a lot of valid points in the senate hearing. Tony is a loose cannon, his suit is a weapon (whether he likes the term or not) of the sort that would ordinarily be denied a private citizen, and he is acting totally independent of anyone who could review his actions or rein him in if he gets out of control. None of these things are remotely desirable traits in someone who is trying to be a one-man police for the whole world.

** The video footage of the Hammerdroid's test malfunction [[spoiler:(twisting around so fast it snaps the pilot's spine) evokes a ThatsGottaHurt gasp of sympathy from the audience. But Hammer's mealy-mouthed attempts to gloss over the failure by insisting that the pilot survived cross it back into a joke at his expense is quite funnier, as is his later statement that people are reluctant to volunteer to test them "for some reason."]]

* SoOkayItsAverage: Consensus is that while it still has the same one-liners and action sequences other MCU movies have it falls flat compared to the first movie and most other MCU movies in general.

** Senator Stern is an ass, and Hammer is an idiot, but both of them make a lot of valid points in the senate hearing. Tony is a loose cannon, his suit is a weapon (whether he likes the term or not) of the sort that would ordinarily be denied a private citizen, and he is acting totally independent of anyone who could review his actions or rein him in if he gets out of control. None of these things are remotely desirable traits in someone who is trying to be a one-man police for the whole world.

** Hammer's last line in the movie counts as this. "You're making a problem for me? I'm gonna make a problem for YOU. [[WeWillMeetAgain I'll be seeing you again...REAL soon!]]" And after a decade and 20 movies...he was still never heard from again.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Consensus by most people is that while it still has the same one-liners and action sequences other MCU movies have it falls flat compared to the first movie and most other MCU movies in general.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Consensus by most people is that while it still has the same one-liners and action sequences other MCU movies have it falls flat compared to the first movie and most other MCU movies in general.