horns-of-mischief:
rdjinspiringlybeautiful:
The length of this scene that the Chinese version has makes a hell of a lot more sense than the 40 seconds of footage we got. Not necessarily the content but the composition of the scene.
Tony is literally re configuring himself. There is no way anyone can convince me that he doesn’t have Extremis at this point. The electromagnet may have pulled the shrapnel out but he had access to those throughout IM/IM2 and Avenger’s. He could have done that at any time if you go with that theory. Plus, the shrapnel may be gone but the cavity in his chest where the reactor lay is still there. And, he has already injected the transmitters in himself early in the movie. So yeah, Extremis, Tony, he has it.
What bothered me the most is the flippant way they dealt with it. This ‘little circle of light’ as Tony describes it to Bruce in Avenger’s changed his life so entirely. It changed his world view, the direction of his company, his moral compass. It changed the entirety of Tony’s life. He told Bruce that it was a ‘terrible privilege’ and yet in less than 40 seconds of film he disposes of it?
I felt it cheated not only the fans but wiped out so much of the journey that this character has taken over the past 5 years. I totally and utterly understand why they did it. To set up Tony with an Extremis reveal for Avenger’s but it could have and should have been handled more compassionately.
The arc may not define Tony but it did shape his character, helping to turn him from Howard’s genius child and Obadiah’s shadow puppet into the man Tony grew to become. Tony Stark the child entered that cave and Tony Stark the man left it and the arc reactor and what he endured to get it is a huge part of that transformation. It took three and three quarter movies to create, shape and characterize this man’s story and less than 40 seconds to end this act of it.
The only thing that gave me any comfort is Tony’s last line.
“I’m a changed man now. I AM Iron Man.” Indicating that he did indeed inject himself with the Extremis code and the suit and he are now literally one.
There had better be some Bleeding Edge armor and mind controlled satellite manipulation in Tony’s Avengers future otherwise this character, played with a brilliant sympathy by a gifted actor just took a pointless left turn into a dead end,
**
Uh thank You for that, I also felt cheated when they just disposed of the Arc Reactor like it was some kind of trinket X_x
I just feel like I have to give my opinion on this because a lot of people seem really unhappy but I feel like the point – at least the point made to me – was missed?
I think the reason most people are initially upset is because of the sentiment attached with the reactor. It changed Tony’s life, it changed his views, it rocked his world (get it~).
However.
Tony Stark is not a terribly sentimental person. Very rarely do we see depictions of sentiment with his character (Dum-E being the most notable). Pepper is, and it’s Pepper who saves the first reactor (which he told her to scrap) and gives it to him. When Tony removes the reactor, what does he give her? The shrapnel. In the shape of a heart. Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.
Tony doubts himself throughout the entire movie.
The man who wears the suit is Iron Man.
He is not Iron Man.
He does not feel sure of himself, sure of his place in the world, and he feels no real convictions. It sort of hits him that being a superhero is hard.
The glamor of being a knight in shiny, titanium-alloy armor is gone. He suffered because of New York. He had an experience that has also changed his life, much like Afghanistan.
When he destroys the suits, when he removes the reactor, he is accepting that it is not the suits who make Iron Man. It is not the little light in his chest that makes Iron Man.
He makes Iron Man.
He is Iron Man.
That, I feel, was the entire point of the movie. Tony was rarely in his suit and a majority of his heroic deeds were performed without the aid of “being Iron Man.” He was a man.
And that’s why, as much as the reactor means to me – being a fan of Tony, I understand the choice. Why would Tony choose to keep it? Don’t get me wrong, I think the situation could have been handled more carefully, but the idea was still there for me.
Tony Stark is Iron Man.
Iron Man is Tony Stark.
Iron Man has nothing to do with suits and arc reactors.
This. Even in the comics, the arc reactor was a crutch that Tony used until he was ready to make himself whole. If you like the character development that he had through the arc reactor, I don’t understand the desire to stop his character development there. Tony Stark is always evolving.
![iscahmckrae:
But, see…Jess didn’t just “answer the pepperoni.” He made his shirts argue with each other and suggested kissing in Three Stooges masks, said he’d play it cool like “Frank at the Sands,” and said that wearing a tux was “James Bond.” He didn’t just stand and try to figure out the crazy things they said, catching on to them only after they’d “done two other totally crazy things that [he couldn’t] figure out.” Jess both caught up and added bits of his own…at least when he decided to contribute to the conversation. But, the conversation didn’t leave him behind.
Don’t get me wrong—it was cool that Dean knew to “answer the pepperoni,” and that the things they said weren’t actually crazy. It’s just that, even in this respect, even pre-Jess, Dean was always a few steps behind.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/e8145409358ca46c9e166ff9beb481bf/tumblr_mms15sFALf1r1bmtso1_500.jpg)
