Why I thought he should be in Iron Man 3 was because of the developing relationship with Tony Stark we saw in Avengers. I wanted to see more of that.
But there's another possibility that's somewhat more intriguing.
Bruce Banner isn't just the person who can turn into The Incredible Hulk, he's also a very good scientist. Tony Stark is a science heavy inventor. In fact, the Marvel Universe has several excellent scientists it can call on.
Imagine a movie where the problem couldn't be solved with superheros but instead needed
Tony Stark is the genius who can invent whatever it turns out is needed. Bruce Banner and Betty Ross are both top scientists. Banner knows more about gamma radiation than anyone else on earth, Ross was his colleague and, by all accounts, equal. If Banner is the top on gamma radiation then Ross must outstrip him somewhere else.
Jane Foster is one of the two foremost experts on portals and the fabric of reality and all that stuff. She has a sidekick she can bring with her. I've previously pointed out that the giant gaping plot hole in the Avengers is that they didn't call Jane Foster in. Erik Selvig is the other of the top two experts on portals but after the Avengers he probably needs some time off at least a portion of which is spent with a therapist.
So right there we've got Banner, Ross, Stark, Foster, and Darcy Lewis (Foster's sidekick.)
Four well studied people who have achieved genius either through natural inclination or hard work (or both), and one less academically advanced person to keep them grounded and remind them that common sense can still work even when dealing with holes in the fabric of reality (and carry a Taser.)
The hard part would be finding a problem big enough that they couldn't solve it by sitting around a table in a coffee house and talking for half an hour while writing on the backs of napkins. This would have to be something that goes beyond aliens invading New York, it would have to be something BIG.
And I would watch the hell out of that movie.
I think that one of the problems with a universe that has superheroes in it is that everything tends to be about the superheroes. Which makes sense up to a point - I mean, if you're telling a story about a world that's like ours only it has some sort of weird stuff in it, you're probably telling a story about the people involved with the weird stuff, or else why put it in? - but I think that superhero stories in particular are prone to regard superheroes as the only people who matter.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point of all those people doing normal science when there are superhero scientists who can casually invent antigravity?
On a metalevel, the people who like superhero stories will mostly say "where are the superheroes", while the ones who don't will say "oh, it's a superhero universe, not interested".
Have I said all this before? Sorry if so.
The argument that you're making certainly has a fair amount to back it up, however I also think that there's a certain amount of narrative capital invested in the characters at this point. Agent Coulson, for example, had a hell of lot of people who loved him and he was definitely non-super. He was just a guy.
DeleteSo I think there's a counter argument to be made that there is an audience for Tony Stark even if he isn't being Iron Man, there is an audience for Bruce Banner and Betty Ross even if there's no turning green, there is an audience for Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis even if Thor isn't showing up.
That last one is probably the smallest audience because neither one is a main character, but if you put those three audiences together, even given the inevitable overlap between them, I think you could get a movie with enough of a built in audience to be profitable, how profitable depends on how good of a movie it is. In the end its success would depend on word of mouth, as is usually the case.
There's no reason Thor can't show up, or Jane can't call him/have a Skype conference. And really no reason the super alter egoes couldn't come a little bit into play. Just have them use their big sexy brains to set up the plan.
Delete(Still soliciting ways to save the Avengerverse via archery alone...or archery and, erm...gentlesness, was it?)
I think in terms of this issue, it's quite telling that the end of Iron Man 3 noted that "Tony Stark will return" and not "Iron Man will return." I think we may see Tony Stark without the suit in his next outing. Honestly, I'd love to see Tony just be the scientist and Pepper Potts be the superhero.
DeleteI would like to see more Pepper in any and all forms. It's too bad she didn't keep superpowers, but she can still have a suit... But she's another character with super skills in near-ordinary pursuits. If Pepper is with you, your party gets a massive bonus to all skills involving business, organization, negotiation, etc. Also Pepper + Natasha was a hell of a combo in Iron Man II...
Delete...yeah!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, so glad you made this a post.
I have read a few fanfics that got close to this, but there is not reason why a movie, or at least a large portion of a movie, couldn't as well.
"This would have to be something that goes beyond aliens invading New York, it would have to be something BIG."
ReplyDeleteLike aliens invading Texas!
(Every person I ever met from Texas was obsessed with pointing out just how BIG! Texas is...)
I'm rather fond of the Alaskan Rebuttal: "OK, we'll split in two, and then you'll be the third biggest state".
Delete>>>And I would watch the hell out of that movie.
ReplyDeleteSo would I.
(I'm already trying not to fancast a very specific person as Betty#3 in my head.)
---Redcrow
Trying not to? But why? (Share? Please? I love fancasting!)
DeleteBecause my reasons for fancasting her are ridiculous. But I'd like to hear other people's ideas.
Delete---Redcrow
I, for one, have nothing against ridiculous. Not trying to pressure you, just saying.
DeleteOooohhh, I want to see that movie. What if they try solving the problem superhero style and it doesn't work, so they have to SCIENCE! their way out of it? I doubt Hollywood would go for that, it would probably have to be 'they have lost their powers! And must SCIENCE! the world saving solution!' I would especially like it if the women were the ones who came up with the solution.
ReplyDeleteKay
After a certain amount of reflection I want Maria Hill to do the recruiting.
DeleteIn part to deal with the problem Firedrake describes of people being let down by a lack of superheroes, and in part just to set the tone, I'd want there to be a scene --featured in the trailers-- in which she explains that the problem is too big to be solved by kicking ass and taking names and, "I'm not here to get Iron Man and the Hulk. They couldn't help. I'm here to get Tony Stark and Bruce Banner." (Or should that be "Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner"?)
And the most logical problem for the assembled scientists to be dealing with is that the portaling to earth had destabilized things on an existential level. (See the damage Loki's initial portal caused, then Thor came without the help of the Rainbow Bridge, and the gods only know what holes in the fabric of reality the bad guys from the next Thor movie will punch.)
Most logical doesn't necessarily mean that would have to be it, but it would make sense as the kind of world threatening thing that could call for bringing together the scientists.