The Movie' Possible Effects on the Comics

With the upcoming Iron Man film, and from the buzz it’s impending success, there is bound to be some carry over from the film to the comics, especially if it is a hit. A primary reason for this is that the movie will draw in new fans that will know only what they saw in the movie, so to facilitate this crowd Marvel will more than likely let the movie influence the books as was the case with X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spiderman. How much will remain to be seen, but I think it is safe to assume that it will happen. In this article I will take a look at the different aspects of the comic that could be affected by the feature film.



The Armor

The armor is an obvious target for adjustment, but I think we know the changes won’t be major. For those that don’t know, Adi Granov, who designed the current Extremis armor, helped design the movie armor. As they are very similar, the majority of the difference residing in the helmet, gauntlets and boots since there are limits to what can be done for a wearable armor, unlike when you just draw it. I think you will see some of these aspects leak over so when new fans pick up the book they will see something similar. My guess is the helmets and boots will be the most affected, a little more bulky and less streamlined than before (and hopefully those two toe things on the boot will be gone, what are those anyways?)

Because the armor is so similar though, I don’t think it will be affected that greatly, but some changes will happen.



The Supporting Cast

Right now Iron Man’s supporting cast comprises mostly of Dum Dum Dugan, but the movie has the expected supporting cast of Rhodey and Pepper. As these were two of the more popular supporting characters throughout Iron Man’s history, I don’t think writers will have any problem with bringing them back. Pepper normally plays a role that doesn’t interfere too much with Iron Man going after the bad guys, rather supporting executive Tony more.

Pepper has been playing a more moral support role, and a secretary is always easy to add back in. She has made an appearance during the Civil War arc when she asked Tony to pull the plug on Happy’s life support. I think we will be seeing Pepper back for a regular role.

Rhodey always has his hands in both Tony and Iron Man’s affairs, and probably the best aspect of his character is that he always manages to take care of himself no matter the situation. Rhodey has been playing a supporting role in Marvel’s The Initiative, so he is already around, and with his own armor, and judging from an upcoming Initiative cover we will get to see him duke it out with Iron Man. While he may not be back in every issue, I think you can expect to see him pop up rather frequently as a recurring guest. If the Initiative comes to an end, which is very well possible with the upcoming Secret Invasion event, we could see Rhodey back in the pages of Iron Man as a supporting character once more.

Obadiah Stane will be the antagonist for the film. Last we saw in volume 1 issue 200, he took a rpeulsor to his head. I don’t think he’s coming back.



Extremis

One thing the movie wont have is Extremis, so that begs the question: will this be the end of Extremis for Tony Stark? While I’m sure many of us (myself included) are hoping this foul creation (does Warren Ellis ever think things out?) will be done away with prompting from the movie, Marvel has done quite a bit to pump up his newfound abilities from the nanotech virus, making it a key aspect of many of his recent victories, including tapping into satellites to end the Hulk’s rampage in World War Hulk.

But when new fans see this, they are going to be a bit perplexed as to what it is, what it does, and why in God’s name does the lower layer of the suit come out of his skin. Already it seems that the Knaufs are sowing the seeds of Extremis demise, and it may be in anticipation of the movie, or that Marvel actually listened to Iron Man fans who said it ruins the character, but I think I am going to go with the former.