Back to the last seconds of “Iron Man” in 2008, and to a small sequence which served as a starting point for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Today, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has 33 feature films divided into 5 different phases, numerous television series and countless characters who have often reunited or crossed over from one film to another. 16 years ago, however, everything still had to be built.
A true pioneer among the general public, the first Iron Man (directed by Jon Favreau under the leadership of producer Kevin Feige) discreetly laid the foundations for what would soon become the most lucrative franchise in the history of cinema.
The first stone of the MCU
Carried by a Robert Downey Jr. back on the scene in better shape than ever, served by a very effective screenplay and impressive visual effects, Favreau’s film had collected a promising gross of 580 million dollars at across the world, and (perhaps more importantly) the approval of fans.
Indeed, in addition to its many qualities, Iron Man had the merit of ending with a sequence full of promise, which aficionados of the Marvel universe have certainly not forgotten. Remember…
Marvel Studios
At the end of his fight (and his victory) against Obadiah Stane, aka Iron Monger, Tony Stark gave a press conference in front of dozens of journalists. While he was supposed to read a simple statement to officially explain the latest events without arousing suspicion about his secret identity, he took everyone by surprise by closing the film with these four little words:
“I am Iron Man.”
But things didn’t stop there. Indeed, 8 minutes later, the credits having scrolled for a long time on the screen, Jon Favreau’s film reserved for the few spectators who had the patience to remain installed in their seats a very last surprise, and a major surprise!
Inaugurating the now famous tradition of post-credits scenes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the final hidden sequence of Iron Man above all initiated a project of a much greater magnitude than the film we had just seen.
In these few images, we could see Tony Stark returning home at night, greeted by the mysterious silhouette of a man wearing a long black coat and an eyepatch.
“You are now part of a larger universe.”
“Do you think you’re the only superhero in the world?”the latter asked the man who, a few hours earlier, boasted of being Iron Man in front of the whole world.
“Mr. Stark, you are now part of a larger universe, even if you don’t know it yet.”
Played by Samuel L. Jackson, the stranger then introduced himself as Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, and declared to a somewhat disconcerted Tony that he had come to talk to him about the “Avengers” and “Initiative Project”.
16 years later, everyone has been able to observe the considerable effects that this very small scene had on the cinema industry.
(Re)discover our video dedicated to Iron Man…
