Iron Man, being a superhero and all, is best known for saving lives. He’s notable for repelling alien invasions and punching out world-threatening bad guys. This is impressive and all, but let’s consider his actual best accomplishment: the superpower of getting dressed by having bits of high-tech metal plates fly onto his body without having to lift a finger.
A video compiled by Marvel-centric YouTuber “jenniffer morgan” helpfully illustrates just how useful this ability actually is, bringing together every clip of Iron Man suiting up from just under a decade of movies.
Watch on to see Tony Stark strapping into the tin can prototype armor featured in the very first Iron Man, Tony Stark standing still while a room full of machine arms whiz and whir his suit’s various shiny pieces into place, and Tony Stark summoning his fancy murder clothes onto his body on command. There are Tony Starks of all kinds here, all for your enjoyment.
Featured in the video, too, are scenes showing Iron Man’s equally handy ability to have robots remove the suit just as quickly as he puts it on, and, though it’s not the point of the compilation, the deeply impressive fact that Robert Downey Jr. has refused to noticeably age since 2008. (A painting of a gray-goateed, rusting metal Iron Man must be hidden in his attic).
The video’s a good example of the evolution of both fictional Iron Man suit designs and real-world CGI accomplishments. Turns out, in both cases, having a shit-ton of money makes for good lookin’ robots. It also makes immediately clear why someone, ignoring the legal ramifications, would want to steal a person-sized prop version of the armor from a Los Angeles storage facility. What’s the wrath of a Hollywood lawyer next to the deluded belief that you may never have to, like, manually put on socks or do up your buttons ever again.
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