The MCU has progressed immensely in 10 years. In fact, it has ventured so far, that according to the Black Panther co-writer, the debut MCU film won’t even be as much of a success today as it was back then. He believes that the problem is that, Tony Stark aka Iron-Man, might no longer be the kind of a guy who would be considered as a hero today. Joe Robert Cole says:
Think back to Tony Stark, him being douchey and being okay. If that character, Stark, was created in a movie today, I wonder if the response would be like, ‘Oh, it’s cool that he’s douchey and disrespectful to women… That’s fine.’ I think we’re at a different place. I think it’s a better place.
Today’s media has a very different stance on women, and things are vastly different from how they were a decade ago. Addressing an SXSW crowd (via Indiewire), Joe Robert Cole said that in his opinion a man who treated women the way Tony Stark did in debut Iron-Man film would be as warmly welcomed as he was in 2008.
There is no doubt that the first impression of Tony Stark, wasn’t truly of a nice guy. An initial, reckless, chat with a lady reporter in Iron-Man culminates in the two sharing a bed that night. That might be the kind of thing that Joe Robert Cole refers to. However, it must also be clarified that after Tony Stark spent time in prison, he was greatly reformed.
In Cole’s word, Tony Stark being a “douche” person is due to the need of watching him evolve over the film’s run-time. Going further, Tony Stark has matured even more. Today’s Tony Stark is not the same guy that he was in the original Iron-Man. During his last appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming, we saw him mentor an impulsive and young Peter Parker, that won’t have been something that the original Iron-Man would have done.
No matter what might have happened or might happen, Joe Robert Cole is certainly upbeat about the current state of films. He believes that audiences won’t readily accept the Tony Stark of first Iron-Man film the same way that he sees him, and according to him, that’s a good thing.
Art reflects the prevalent culture. Therefore, movies are always going to change with the time. Marvel Cinematic Universe has undergone great change during the last ten years, and it is beyond doubt that much more will change ten years from now. You can watch the modern Tony Stark in Avengers: Infinity War releasing next month.
