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5 Reasons Why The Iron Man Animated Series Was Insane (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

1. But no really, it is insane. 

Insane

Perhaps what is the most insane thing about this show however, is that for all of its plot holes, lack of visual cohesion, and slipped in swears, it actually features plot points that would be later redone in Iron Man 3. Seriously, without giving away anything beyond the trailer, two episodes are devoted to a wounded Tony Stark who is forced to abandon his cracked Iron Man suit in a frozen tundra. The armor’s AI is apparently also the narrator of the show, and when in this episode, replays a memory module playback, a literal best of reel of Tony Stark’s past, complete with different camera angles and shots of things Tony Stark wasn’t even present for.

Had the show ran for more than two seasons, it’s quite likely that we would’ve gotten a plot of Tony Stark being trapped under a really big tree watching a playback of him watching a playback, ad infinitum. To answer the question about how you can even transfer memories in hologram form, I answer that Tony Stark built nano-weave armor in a cave with a box of scraps. Oh, and also a hologram projector, and a surprisingly realistic Tony Stark mask.

That’s not me being flippant, that’s the show. During the inevitable clip show episode, which appears in the first season oddly enough, both the Scarlet Witch, Jim Rhodes, and British wizard axe enthusiast Century question how Tony is able to show us his memories, only for Tony to continue feeding us the plot of a filler episode, likely avoiding the undeniable truth that Tony Stark realized long ago that he is just an animated character in a fictional universe, a dream of a psychopath’s ghost.

Even the villains acknowledge how much of a “bummer” it is for the Mandarin to force them to watch flashbacks, only for the episode to pull back into the brain of Tony Stark as he zones out during his own wedding. To recap, that’s a memory of Tony watching Tony watching memories. Oh but wait, that’s not even Tony Stark contemplating his life, it’s a Tony Stark robot. Androids do dream of electric sheep apparently, and this robot technically just married Spider-Woman, who proceeds to waltz with her as the episode ends as the robot loops “It was a lovely wedding,” chest circuitry in full visibility. Mind you, this is a Stark designed simuloid, which is a term real doll enthusiasts use to describe their PVC based partners, a thing which I really wish I didn’t know, so you know that Stark robot is going to work right and properly. Spider-Woman likely inserted her own, Saturday night home alone, program into the absurdly detailed cyber brain.

I understand that clip show episodes are typically always bad, with Community’s flashback episodes being the sole exception to the rule, but Iron Man is already a show made up of clips of old episodes. So essentially, someone deemed a flashback of a flashback episode necessary. That’s a level of phoning it in that would only be eclipsed by that episode of Friends, where Chandler has to spend the holidays in Malta so he flashes back to other Christmas episodes. Just phoning in a cop-out.

 

Of course this is just the insanity that appears in Season 1, so let us know what you think—is this one of those shows that you’re just supposed to turn your brain off for? Is it racist that Jim Rhodes is afraid of water? Is the Season 2 rendition of “Iron Man” the best intro song in television history? Let us know in the comments!

About the author

Chris Davidson