Chapter 146

Winning the "Most Watered-Down Oscar" Best Actress for *Shakespeare in Love* wasn't much of an accomplishment,

founding a company to sell three-no IQ tax products with no bottom line;

at a ski resort, she crashed into an elderly man and broke four of his ribs, walked away without helping, and instead spun herself as the victim,

"What the old man lost was his health, but I lost half a day of wonderful skiing time";

as for throwing diva fits and using family connections to crush competitors,

constantly clinging to famous male stars for a wave of traffic, then staging breakups for another wave of traffic—she's got Hollywood's playbook down cold.

A perennial magnet for hate, ranked as America's most disliked actress—number one—that's Gwyneth Paltrow.

Xu Can didn't dislike her, but he didn't want any entanglement either,

lest some scandal blow up, handing her free publicity for nothing and leaving himself smelling bad.

His own backyard already had Stone Sister, Mei Mei's battle royale, plus the mess with Kristen—trouble enough.

Xu Can's obvious move to keep his distance left Gwyneth Paltrow a little deflated; she pursed her lips and obediently watched the film.

……

Tony Stark arrived at the U. S. military base in Afghanistan and showed the military Stark Industries' latest product, the Jericho missile.

After launch, the missile split into a rain of projectiles before the mountain, and when they hit the ground they unleashed violent shockwaves, as if the entire mountain would be leveled by the tremendous firepower!

Tony Stark spread his arms, looking as if he commanded the world—he was genuinely proud of his family's weapons. At this moment, he was nothing but a cold-blooded merchant.

Until that scene at the film's opening, Tony Stark was quite ironically wounded by his own weapons, on the brink of death, his chest riddled with shrapnel.

He was held hostage by terrorists and kept alive by an electromagnet in his chest; the shrapnel crept toward his heart every second, his life on a countdown at all times.

The terrorists forced Tony to build missiles in the cave, and only then did Tony realize the Yan Zhongxing of the situation.

So Stark Industries' missiles weren't used to keep the peace.

These powerful weapons had actually been sold to these terrorists!

He, Tony Stark, was actually an executioner?

Tony's faith collapsed; he was no longer arrogant and proud, his heart filled with self-reproach, even losing the will to survive.

Fortunately, after the doctor's persuasion, Tony Stark's eyes regained resolve.

He had to escape and stop Stark Industries from killing more people!

From the moment the electromagnet slammed into his chest, Iron Man was born!

Using missile production as cover, Tony Stark built the first-generation arc reactor, and in the cave, hammer by hammer, kept forging his ultimate weapon.

Until the terrorists sensed something was wrong and burst into the cave.

Boom!

The door was blown open, and a giant iron monster made its grand entrance, cutting a bloody swath!

"Oh oh oh oh oh! Yes!"

"Here it comes, here it comes!"

Held back for half an hour, the audience could finally get their fix!

Though the Mark I was crude and battered, against these AK-wielding terrorists, the iron armor was invincible!

Flamethrowers, shoulder missiles—Tony piloted the Mark I on a killing spree straight out of the cave!

Sadly, the doctor sacrificed himself covering Tony's escape, and Tony had to flee the scene.

He fired up the Mark I's bottom thrusters, and the massive thrust sent the cumbersome armor rocketing skyward!

Sadly, the armor was too crude—it came apart midair and crashed heavily into the desert.

U. S. search-and-rescue arrived in time; good buddy Colonel Luo Di came to Tony and brought him home.

At the Wenfabu Society, Tony Stark munched on a cheeseburger, sitting irreverently below the podium.

Before the media, he declared that Stark Industries' weapons were creating slaughter, and he intended to shut down Stark Industries' weapons division, effective immediately!

Reporters erupted; co-founder Obadiah looked utterly incredulous.

Below the stage, an agent in a suit found Little Pepper.

"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson."

"I belong to the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division…"

Little Pepper didn't even turn her head: "That's quite a mouthful."

"Yes, we're working on an abbreviation."

At this point, viewers who didn't know the story still hadn't caught on.

More Marvel fans were already going wild!

Isn't this S. H. I. E. L. D.! Could the rumors be true?

After Xu Can acquired Marvel, he really was planning to film *The Chouzhelian Alliance*!

For comic fans of this era, even a live-action *Spider-Man* would be a delightful surprise,

what would a live-action *Avengers* mean?

They could hardly dare imagine it!

If some other company or other creator were filming *The Avengers*, they might not be this thrilled.

But this was Xu Can's plan!

Something countless Hollywood companies, countless Hollywood superstars and famous directors had failed to achieve,

had actually been done by a 25-year-old from Huaxia!

The miraculous Eastern youth—truly the savior of the American comic circle!

……

After the press conference, Obadiah and Tony Stark had a fierce argument.

Tony's stubbornness made Obadiah realize he was no longer the playboy puppet he once was.

He was now the legitimate head of Stark Industries.

Obadiah's ambition could no longer be contained—the only path left was to eliminate Tony!

Tony had already built the second-generation Arc Reactor, asking Pepper to help swap it in and dispose of the original reactor along the way.

Far away in Afghanistan, the terrorists had also found the wreckage of the Mark 1 armor and were preparing to replicate his suit.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark was already using his AI, Jarvis, to research a new generation of armor—Mark 2!

The original Iron Man, due to limited investment, still had some minor flaws in details like the holographic projection VFX.

This time, Xu Can used his own company entirely to produce the VFX, costing only a third of outsourced effects!

Star River Digital's highly paid talent also gave them top-tier strength from the start—the VFX has already surpassed Avatar from late 2009, gradually reaching the photorealistic level of several years later!

In the gradual process of developing the Mark 2 armor, Xu Can set up many comedic beats according to the original.

The adorably dumb look of the two-armed dummy robot made the audience burst into laughter.

As a family-friendly sci-fi popcorn commercial film, Xu Can didn't pursue any deep storytelling—

Funny, good-looking, and thrilling enough, and "Iron Man" would be a success!

Judging from the live audience's reaction, his performance was no worse than the original Jon Favreau's, and the detailed adjustments made based on the original even made the film smoother and more natural.

Copying the answers + a top-tier director's golden finger,

The new "Iron Man" is equivalent to the original "Iron Man" Deluxe pro+!

Finally, with Tony's effort and talent, a silver Mark 2 armor was completed!

The audience's hearts were ignited along with Tony Stark's!

The moment Iron Man ignited the thrusters on his legs and accelerated out of the garage runway, the camera suddenly switched to Iron Man's first-person perspective!

The audience on the big screen was practically immersed, soaring into the sky alongside Iron Man!

The effect rivals Iron Man VR and Universal Studios' VR attractions—

An instant explosion!

"Ooooh, Jesus! Oh my God!"

"So freaking amazing! So thrilling!"

A rough-looking Mexican brother kept pounding the armrest of his seat, as if he'd taken blue ice, high as a kite.

"Ahhhh, my heart can't take it!"

Some female audience members even pressed their knees tightly together, trembling in their cinema seats.

For example, Pepper beside Xu Can reached over and grabbed Xu Can's arm directly.

"No way, sis? It never ends!"

The original Iron Man was very satisfying, but not this thrilling.