On This Day In Marvel History: Iron Man Premiered

Today is the 10th anniversary of Iron Man premiering in theaters and kicking off the biggest cinematic chain of events we've ever seen.

On May 2nd, 2008, Iron Man premiered in theaters and changed our lives forever.

It was the birth of the MCU. It was the revival of Robert Downey Jr.'s career. IT. WAS. EPIC.

Sure, we had a Hulk movie first in 2003, but we don't count that because that movie was independent of the Marvel cinematic franchise. I mean, we've been cranking out Hulk movies since the 70's. It was exactly a "new thing". It was more like the movie executives thought "When was the last time we made a Hulk movie? 1990???? Wow, we're really behind on our Hulk quota..."

So when Iron Man was made, it was risky. This was a live action character we had never seen on screen before.

With a Hulk movie, you know, because of years of exposure and popularity, that it's going to make a set amount of money. You know those seats are going to be filled.

Iron Man wasn't like that. They didn't know if fans of the Iron Man comics were going to come see the movie. They didn't know if people who DIDN'T know who Iron Man was were going to see the movie. And they NEEDED these people to see this movie. Did you see the special effects and explosions? Those aren't cheap.

This movie also was Robert Downey Jr.'s biggest comeback after his last stint in rehab. After 2003, he was slowly starting to get his career back on track with Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang; and Zodiac. But Iron Man would be a movie that confirmed that he was back and better than ever.

Another thing that Marvel wanted was for Iron Man to potentially pave the way for an Avengers movie later down the line. Maybe. It was just a nice thought at this point.

So this movie had a lot at stake from the beginning, with a lot of people depending on it to be a success, which was not guaranteed. NO PRESSURE.

Don't worry Bob, Iron Man isn't a "B-list" hero anymore. If there were a level above "A", that's where Iron Man would be.

So happy anniversary to the movie that started it all! Iron Man! We're all glad it wasn't the flop that some executives secretly thought it was going to be.

(I would also like to point out that the use of AC/DC in the trailers and movies sold me 100%. Before I even knew what the movie was about, I was in love.)

Oh, and just in case you were curious..

Hulk (2003)
Budget: $137,000,000
Domestic: $132,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $245,360,480

Even though it was #1 at the box office, if it wasn't for the worldwide release, this movie wouldn't have made it's money back.

Iron Man (2008)
Budget: $140,000,000
Domestic: $318,412,101
Worldwide Gross: $585,174,222

Hulk made have beaten Loki, but Iron Man DEMOLISHED the box office.