Chapter 83

When filming, Gwyneth often came to find Xu Can, gathering around him to chat whether there was anything or not.

Xu Can didn't really care for her and always kept things professional.

"Xu, shall we take a photo together?" Gwyneth wanted to pull Xu Can to stay on the red carpet a little longer.

"You take pictures here, I'll go in first."

"Hey, wait!" Gwyneth hurriedly chased after him.

Arriving at the scene, under the applause of the audience, Xu Can sat in the creative seat.

Without extra nonsense, the theater quickly darkened,

and the long-awaited audience quickly quieted down, watching Xu Can’s brand-new masterpiece with excitement!

……

The screen lit up; it was the familiar opening.

The crayon-drawn spaceship gradually rose into the sky, the silky transition quality instantly improved,

and the spaceship changed from hand-drawn to a real spaceship made with special effects!

Tearing through the void, descending into the galaxy!

The magnificent cosmic wonders on the screen once again impacted the audience's vision!

Everyone seemed to feel that the opening animation was more brilliant and more impactful!

The starry sky gradually turned into two words, Galaxy-Picture!

[Produced by Galaxy Pictures]

That's right, this was the show-off operation of the company's special effects team!

They improved the opening previously made by Industrial Light & Magic, using their own strong technical strength to create a cooler opening!

Immediately following was the scene that Marvel fans were quite familiar with.

Panels of comics flipped quickly, the Iron Man in the comics flickered,

gradually forming a word, Marvel!

[Produced by Marvel Studios]

Because this time it was independently produced by Galaxy Pictures, Columbia Pictures, which was responsible for distribution, only had one line of subtitles.

[Distributed by Columbia Pictures Sony Entertainment]

Accompanied by AC/DC’s rock music, a team of military Humvees drove into the frame from a distance.

[A Film by Director Xu Can]

……

Years later, countless Marvel fans still held a pilgrimage mentality,

on the world-monopolizing online streaming platform "GalaxyTV+", ordering this classic Marvel opening work *Iron Man*!

Especially on the Chinese internet, every time they saw this, the screen would be covered by the same barrage.

"The place where dreams begin!"

[Kunar Province, Afghanistan]

A convoy of military Humvees approaches from the distance, kicking up clouds of dust.

The classic AC/DC rock track kicks in—this is Tony Stark’s signature background music.

Stark sits in the back of a Humvee, holding a glass of liquor. Several soldiers stare at him with strange expressions, saying nothing.

"Is this atmosphere supposed to be me being escorted to a military tribunal?"

"A bit ridiculous, isn't it? What did I do wrong?"

"Why aren't you saying anything, brother Forrest Gump?"

In this very first scene, Robert Downey Jr. perfectly captures the image of Tony Stark: arms dealer, playboy, and billionaire.

He excels at using a sharp, biting tone and loves to drop pop-culture references in his dialogue.

The original script didn't have that line; Xu Can gave Downey some creative freedom, and he added the "Forrest Gump" reference on the spot.

Similar situations would occur repeatedly later on.

From that conversation onward, Robert Downey Jr. had deeply merged with Tony Stark.

Thanks to Tony Stark’s wisecracking, the atmosphere in the vehicle finally lightened up, and the soldiers even began to joke with him.

"Mr. Stark, have you really slept with all 12 of the cover girls from the model magazine?"

"Great question." Stark takes off his sunglasses. "Not exactly."

"The March girl had a scheduling conflict, so that didn't happen, but the December girl is a twin, so... you know."

The image of the cynical playboy is reinforced once again; at this moment, he is still a genuine jerk.

The audience in the cinema frowns—is this really a superhero?

Just as they are laughing and chatting...

BOOM!

Fire shoots into the sky!

The sudden explosion flips the lead Humvee, and the intense visual and auditory effects startle the entire audience in the theater!

Immediately after, the Humvee Stark is in is raked by heavy gunfire.

The young soldiers who were just laughing a moment ago lose their lives in an instant.

Stark struggles to crawl out of the vehicle, just about to hide behind cover to call for help,

when a missile lands right beside him.

[Stark Industries]

"What the..."

Before the F-word can escape his lips, Tony Stark is blasted unconscious.

When he wakes up, he is already surrounded by a group of terrorists.

Ding—

[IRON MAN!]

"Tony Stark, genius inventor, son of the legendary weapons developer Howard Stark."

"Built his first circuit board at age 4, built an engine at age 6..."

"Stark Industries co-founder Obadiah takes over the company until Tony Stark becomes the youngest CEO at 21, leading Stark Industries into a brand new era."

At the awards ceremony, as Tony Stark’s good friend, Colonel Rhodes prepares to present the trophy,

but Tony Stark himself is having a blast at the casino, not caring one bit about some damn award.

After the ceremony, Tony encounters a female reporter for an interview, who brings up Stark Industries manufacturing lethal weapons.

Tony believes he has done nothing wrong; he is just a businessman.

The reporter is relentless, and the two return to Tony Stark’s mansion for an in-depth interview.

Filming this intimate scene was quite awkward at the time, as Robert Downey Jr.’s wife, Susan Downey, was one of the producers.

She watched the whole thing from the sidelines, causing the scene to be retaken several times.

It wasn't until Xu Can asked her to go out and take a break that the take was successfully completed.

So much so that when Robert Downey Jr. watched this part in the theater, he quickly grabbed his wife’s hand.

Back to the film, the reporter wakes up in the morning and meets Tony Stark’s assistant, Pepper.

She thinks that because she slept with Stark, she will become the mistress of the mansion,

little knowing that the real mistress is standing right in front of her.

After shooing the reporter away, Pepper meticulously urges Tony Stark to head to the airport, the ambiguity between the two kept just right.

Watching this, Xu Can was originally just watching the movie when he suddenly felt someone touching his leg.

Looking down, he discovered it was "Pepper" Gwyneth Paltrow!

She was sitting with her legs crossed, but one high heel had slipped off, and her toe was intentionally or unintentionally brushing against Xu Can’s leg.

Gwyneth’s upper body was also leaning very close to Xu Can; he could even feel her warm breath tingling against his ear.

*This lady, please restrain yourself, don't disturb my movie watching.*

Xu Can calmly moved a bit further away.

To be fair, although Pepper has many freckles, her figure and looks are quite good, and she has quite a few fans.

However, she has far too much negative press.