Iron Man is the 109th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Erica Russell, Ian Weinreich and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2008 Marvel superhero film Iron Man. It was published on July 7, 2015 to coincide with the theatrical release of the MCU film Ant-Man. It is 3 minutes 30 seconds long. It has been viewed over 7.3 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Iron Man on YouTube
"A film based on the equivalent of leftover scrap metal, proving that Marvel can build a franchise around just about anybody, except The Hulk." ~ Honest Trailers - Iron Man
Script[]
From the company that went bankrupt in the '90s and sold off the rights to its most popular characters (Marvel) comes a film based on the equivalent of leftover scrap metal, proving that Marvel can build a franchise around just about anybody, except The Hulk:
Iron Man
Experience the massive success that Marvel turned into a formula for printing money, where you take a half-forgotten B-list superhero, cast an unknown or half-forgotten B-list actor, have him fight a generic villain that will only last one movie, fall in love with a generically strong female character, make a ton of quips, talk a bunch of science, destroy some public property, cram Stan Lee in there somewhere, have a blue beam shoot up in the sky, set up an Avengers movie, and force the audience to sit through five hundred visual effects guys' names just to catch a few extra seconds. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You grew up loving Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman. Now, get ready for a hero that makes them look like huge nerds by comparison, and meet Tony Stark, a hard-partying Robert Downey, Jr.-ish weapons designer who's the perfect match between actor and role, that allowed him to spend the next seven years making a fortune by pretending to look at a screen, pretending to play with some holograms, doing a little voice-over [Tony Stark: Keep going!], and basically act like himself until someone says "Cut". Nice work if you can get it.
Cheer for a hero whose power is his intelligence, not some magical hammer (shows Thor attempting to lift Mjolnir), as Tony craps out new technology the way you and I crap out breakfast, like this weapon that's used against him (rocket-propelled grenade), these weapons that are used against him (Jericho missiles), this weapon that's used against him (Sonic Taser), this weapon that's used against him (Obadiah Stane's armor suit) [Obadiah Stane: Tony Stark has build his suit in his cave!!], this miracle technology that becomes a weapon that's used against him (Ivan Vanko's whips), and of course, Ultron. Seriously, Tony, just do the world a solid and stop working [Obadiah Stane: Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever!].
So revisit the Marvel masterpiece that started it all, without which there would be no Marvel Cinematic Universe, no Avengers, no Guardians, no Winter Soldier, leaving Hollywood in the terrifying position of having to develop something original. (makes shivering noises) Ugghh.
Starring Bruce Wayne (Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man), Miss Moneypepper (Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts), Obadiah Vein (Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane), Terrence How Hard Could It Have Been to Take a Pay Cut for the Sequels? (Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes), Obligatory Stan-eo (Stan Lee as Himself), and The Iron Giant (prototype Iron Man suit).
Honest title for Iron Man - Marvel Man. Title design by Robert Holtby.
Marvel Man
(shows Obadiah Stane pulling up on a Segway) Wow, that's gotta be the only time someone has ever looked cool riding a Segway.
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other films featuring Iron Man, including Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Iron Man has a 98.0% approval rating from YouTube viewers. CinemaBlend described Screen Junkies approach as nitpicking and also that Screen Junkies "felt like they were reaching." CinemaBlend contended that Iron Man "a damn good film" and "one of the most influential superhero movies ever." Outer Space agreed that Iron Man is a "Marvel masterpiece," writing that "while Screen Junkies poke some fun at it, since that's their job, they also express admiration for the first film to establish Marvel's tried-and-true 'formula for printing money.'" Cnet also appreciated the Honest Trailer's discussion of the Marvel formula, writing "Screen Junkies hilariously points out that Marvel has taken the same approach to other films in recent years, taking an unfamiliar superhero like Iron Man, Thor or Star-Lord, casting a relatively unknown or half-forgotten actor as the lead, and have them fight a generic villain and fall in love with a strong female character."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Iron Man
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Erica Russell, Ian Weinreich, and Andy Signore
Edited by Anthony Falleroni and Dan Murrell
External links[]
- Iron Man Gets Picked Apart In This New Honest Trailer - CinemaBlend article
- 'Iron Man' Honest Trailer: "B-List Superhero" Played by "a Half-Forgotten Actor" - The Hollywood Reporter article
- Honest trailer for 'Iron Man' reveals Marvel's formula for success - Cnet article
- Honest Trailer for Iron Man Reveals 11 Steps to Making a Marvel Movie - Outer Places article
