# So I just saw Iron Man (unboxed minor spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283 "2008-10-03T07:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/61 "2008-10-05T15:12:48Z")
> [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](#): > > Sure, but it would be easy enough, if they wanted to, to demonstrate they really WERE that superhero after the fact. Have the doubters set up any test they chose that only the superhero could do, and then do it. > > The problem with the other things (moon landings and 9/11) is we can’t reenact them to prove the doubters wrong. Your superhero scenario doesn’t have the problem. The last thing “doubters” want are the facts. Facts put them out of business. We have telescopes that can see things we left on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/62 "2008-10-05T22:20:48Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Yeah, Hollywood has done some amazing things with superheroes so far, but if they can make these two cool on screen without MAJOR compromises to their looks and backstories I’ll eat my hat. Eh? Captain America: Get Aaron Eckhart–I honestly think he’s the best guy out there to play him right now–or cast a good unknown. Shoot some grim, gritty, realistic World War II antics and set up the Red Skull / super serum stuff, then plop him into the twenty-first century (with the requisite Tony Stark [del]unrequited sexual tension[/del] cameo). The whole frozen-in-ice thing would probably have to be retooled–cryogenics, maybe?–but I’m sure they can pull it off. And Thor would be great in the hands of someone like Guillermo del Toro–_Hellboy_ was a great example, in fact. I think they can do it. Now the Wasp and Ant-Man, those would _really_ need some work… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/63 "2008-10-05T22:26:28Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > The last thing “doubters” want are the facts. Facts put them out of business. We have telescopes that can see things we left on the moon. Ding! No doubt one group will back out of the negotiations for the test, claiming that its being rigged, another group will scour the intarwebs to find evidence disproving whatever was shown on TV, etc., etc., etc. Look at all the things with the Randi Challenge, where you have the _minor_ psychics showing up to participate, but the ones that get all the publicity in the popular press staying the hell away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/64 "2008-10-05T22:33:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, when Pepper asked Tony what his Social Security number was, I immediately said “five.” Oh, was that gag established in comic continuity? I hadn’t realized. > [@](#): > > The last thing “doubters” want are the facts. Facts put them out of business. We have telescopes that can see things we left on the moon. Eh, not really. If you shine an incredibly powerful laser at the retroreflectors, and point a high-aperature telescope at it, you can get a handful of photons back. That’s not really what I’d call “seeing”, and anything else, you can just forget about. Plus, those lasers and telescopes are operated by NASA, and the hoax folks obviously aren’t going to take their word on it. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/65 "2008-10-05T22:38:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, was that gag established in comic continuity? I hadn’t realized. I dunno, it was just a guess on my part. See enough movies and lines just start to suggest themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/66 "2008-10-05T22:51:12Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I see the trailer for Punisher: Warzone, and I think “OK, the last Punisher movie? Awesome? This one? Looks lame.” > > Seems that starting from Iron Man and proceeding through Incredible Hulk, we may be doomed to a downward slope in movie quality with each new Marvel movie. Let’s hope I’m wrong! :eek: I’m one of about seventeen people that liked the 2004 Punisher, but I would hardly call it awesome and though I’m really enjoying the current spate of Marvel movies on the whole, their quality’s definitely been middling taken in toto. Though I liked Punisher, the third Spiderman, all the Blades, and DareDevil, I’m in the minority on those, and I think most would agree that Hulk, Ghost Rider, Elektra, both F4s, and X-Men: The Last Stand are all execrable. That leaves the first two Spideys and the first two X-Men movies as the only ones that are really all that well regarded. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/67 "2008-10-05T23:03:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Eh, not really. If you shine an incredibly powerful laser at the retroreflectors, and point a high-aperature telescope at it, you can get a handful of photons back. That’s not really what I’d call “seeing”, and anything else, you can just forget about. Plus, those lasers and telescopes are operated by NASA, and the hoax folks obviously aren’t going to take their word on it. :GASP: Do I know something you don’t about science? The VLT in Chile can resolve the surface of the moon to less than a meter. It’s not owned or operated by NASA, either. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/68 "2008-10-05T23:37:13Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I has a question: In the convoy attack scene at the beginning of the movie, the guy who wanted a picture jumped out, slammed the door, yelled “STAY HERE!”, turned around, and a great many holes got punched simultaneously through him and the side of the hummvee, which made for a great shot, but I’m wondering, is there a weapon that actually does that? Would a frag grenade do that, or a claymore loaded with buckshot, without knocking the vehicle on its side, or were we looking at pure Hollywood there? All of the above. The blast from grenades and antipersonal mines is realatively small compared to the sharapnel they shoot off. A Claymore isn’t “loaded with buckshot”. It basically consists of a block of explosive and hundreds of buckshot-like balls on the “FACE TOWARDS ENEMY” side. Of course, one might wonder how the shrapnel came through the door but didn’t kill Tony, but whatever. And Iron Man or not, I’m sure plenty of people already want to kill Tony Stark. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/69 "2008-10-05T23:58:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > All of the above. The blast from grenades and antipersonal mines is realatively small compared to the sharapnel they shoot off. A Claymore isn’t “loaded with buckshot”. It basically consists of a block of explosive and hundreds of buckshot-like balls on the “FACE TOWARDS ENEMY” side. Of course, one might wonder how the shrapnel came through the door but didn’t kill Tony, but whatever. I can only assume the shrapnel didn’t harm him because he’s Tony Muthafucking Stark, and nothing short of having a mortar shell go off almost literally in his face was going to take him down even without the Iron Man armor. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/70 "2008-10-06T00:45:09Z")
Well, if you kill your protagonist in the first 5 minutes of the movie, it makes for a very short film. Unless you are filming _The Spirit_, of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/71 "2008-10-06T01:44:03Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You know one of the very very few things that bothered me about that movie? Why did he suddenly have holes cut in most of his t-shirts for the reactor? I mean, I know I saw at least one where it was only outlined, but the rest it definitely was a hole in the shirt. > Why? I watched it again last night and looked closely. He did not cut holes in his shirts- it is just the incredibly bright blue-white light of the reactor shining through his wife-beaters. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/72 "2008-10-06T01:47:26Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I can only assume the shrapnel didn’t harm him because he’s Tony Muthafucking Stark, and nothing short of having a mortar shell go off almost literally in his face was going to take him down even without the Iron Man armor. 🆒 Well, he was wearing body armor- one assumes that it is the latest and greatest that Stark Industries has to offer. Granted, it failed the second time around… And I guessed “5” as the first number of his SSN because that;s my first number too, and we are of an age and he should have grown up on the west coast, so that would track. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/73 "2008-10-06T01:59:00Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > And I guessed “5” as the first number of his SSN because that;s my first number too, and we are of an age and he should have grown up on the west coast, so that would track. I’m roughly the same age as Downey, but grew up in Ohio, my SSN begins with a “four” but I guessed “five” because they clearly _couldn’t_ take the time to have him give a whole SSN (not to mention the legal ramifications of doing so, though I would have gone with Dick Nixon’s just because) and because “five” is probably the number most likely to pop into someone’s head, it being the mid-point between 1 and 10. (Though if Stark _was_ a math whiz and was trying to be funny, then saying something like “3.141596” etc., or some other oddball mathematical number, would have made for a great joke.) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/74 "2008-10-06T02:31:01Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Well, he was wearing body armor- one assumes that it is the latest and greatest that Stark Industries has to offer. Granted, it failed the second time around… I’ve been told that most kinds of body armor (kevlar vests, bicycle helmets, etc.) aren’t designed to work well more than once or twice anyways. One solid hit and it can damage the whole thing so it won’t work twice. Of course, one solid hit WITHOUT said armor does you a lot worse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/75 "2008-10-06T02:45:11Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > (Though if Stark _was_ a math whiz and was trying to be funny, then saying something like “3.141596” etc., or some other oddball mathematical number, would have made for a great joke.) He’s a math whiz, not a nerd. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/76 "2008-10-06T02:47:42Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > He’s a math whiz, not a nerd. 😛 There’s a difference? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/77 "2008-10-06T13:36:24Z")
Of course. A nerd lives in his mom’s basement A math whiz lives in a mansion and has millions of dollars ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/78 "2008-10-06T14:02:19Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > I watched it again last night and looked closely. He did not cut holes in his shirts- it is just the incredibly bright blue-white light of the reactor shining through his wife-beaters. Even early on in the movie? I was pretty sure it was actually cut. I’ll have to check again. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/79 "2008-10-06T14:26:02Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Ding! No doubt one group will back out of the negotiations for the test, claiming that its being rigged, another group will scour the intarwebs to find evidence disproving whatever was shown on TV, etc., etc., etc. .. Sorry, but this is nonsense. There is a reason there are no real life conspiracy nutjobs claiming, for example, that Michael Phelps can’t swim really, really fast. Why? Because it is too easy to prove Michael Phelps can swim really, really fast. Put him in a pool, grab your stopwatch and have him swim. If someone doubted Tony Stark was Iron Man and he wanted to prove he really was, all he would have to do is put on the suit in front of them and do something only Iron Man could do. Like, maybe, pick them up and fly them from California to Afghanistan in a few hours, or something. I’m really not getting what you seem to think is a problem, here. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283/80 "2008-10-06T14:36:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > A math whiz lives in a mansion and has millions of dollars And lives in his _own_ basement. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-iron-man-unboxed-minor-spoilers/466283.md?page=5)