Chapter 86

"Tony? What’s that noise?"

"Oh, I'm driving a convertible."

"Then why are you panting?"

"Oh, I'm jogging in a canyon."

"Aren't you driving?"

"That's right, I drove to the canyon to go jogging..."

Just then, the two F-22s had already locked onto Iron Man!

The military ordered the planes to open fire immediately!

Iron Man accelerated again, using supersonic flight to instantly shake off the U.S. military's most advanced 5th-generation fighters!

This aerial combat sequence was equally tense and exciting.

Xu Can referenced aerial combat shots from later films like *Top Gun: Maverick*, *Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2*, and *The Wandering Earth II*.

Utilizing a god-tier director's ultimate control over the lens, he took the essence and discarded the dross,

finally merging them into this improved version of the chase scene!

F-22 vs. Iron Man.

Adrenaline spiking!

After a series of dogfights, Iron Man broke radar contact and vanished from the F-22s' field of vision.

Then, he actually clung to the bottom of the plane! Everyone in the Air Force command center was scared half to death!

What the hell was that thing?

After toying with the F-22s, Tony Stark returned to his mansion. Facing Pepper, he knew his mission.

"I want to protect those people, protect those who are in danger because of me."

It was this very sentence that drove Iron Man to face death time and again, turning the tide in countless crises!

Of course, due to his intense obsession, he also created quite a few crises himself.

On the other side, Obadiah colluded with the terrorist Ten Rings organization, using Mark 1 technology to build a larger Iron Monger mecha.

However, he couldn't build a portable enough arc reactor.

So, Obadiah took advantage of Tony’s negligence and dug the life-saving reactor right out of his chest.

Tony Stark collapsed in despair, and the audience in the theater gasped.

At the critical moment, Tony saw the original reactor Pepper had given him.

This foreshadowing thrilled the entire audience; Tony Stark had a warm heart! Literally a heart!

Pepper had by now obtained evidence of Obadiah colluding with the enemy and selling arms privately.

She contacted the agent and rushed to bring people to arrest the traitor.

Obadiah had already obtained the reactor, installed it on the giant mecha, and transformed into the Iron Monger!

Ordinary agents couldn't contend with the giant steel mecha. Just as Pepper was in danger, Iron Man descended from the sky!

The two grappled, fighting from the factory to the highway, and then into the sky.

This fight scene was different from Spider-Man’s agility; two iron lumps could hardly perform acrobatics.

They were trading blow for blow, the fight filled with a sense of power and the texture of clashing steel!

Crisp, dull clangs echoed through the theater!

Although the final boss battle wasn't grand in scale, the fighting was spectacular enough!

Because the original reactor lacked energy, the Iron Monger gradually gained the upper hand.

Seeing things were going south, Tony hurriedly lured the Iron Monger to fly into the high altitude!

The two kept climbing, fiery light cutting through the night sky!

The Iron Monger clearly had more power and had caught up to Iron Man.

"You may be a genius, but my suit is more advanced than yours!"

"So, how do you solve the icing problem?"

"Huh?"

Full-body freezing caused the Iron Monger to shut down instantly, plummeting downward!

Unfortunately, the Iron Monger didn't die from the fall; his combat power was still stronger than Iron Man's.

At the critical moment, Tony had Pepper activate the large arc reactor below, luring the Iron Monger to the glass dome.

Tony was at his wit's end, and the Iron Monger looked like he was about to win.

According to movie logic, villains often give a speech, only to be counter-killed by the protagonist.

Everyone liked to complain about this; it was indeed a common flaw in movies.

But in reality, many people facing such a situation would likely find it hard to avoid.

Pushing to the enemy's crystal with a huge advantage, the enemy is respawning, but you refuse to push the crystal, wanting to continue fountain-diving, only to be counter-killed by the revived opponents and lose the game.

Obadiah still wanted to taunt him a bit.

"How ironic! You wanted to avoid making weapons, yet you created the most powerful..."

Before he could finish, the reactor exploded instantly, arcs of electricity piercing the clouds!

The Iron Monger was completely destroyed by the electric arcs, his massive weight making him teeter!

Before dying, Obadiah still wanted to drag Tony down with him.

Little did he know, Tony’s glove could be detached!

Obadiah fell into the reactor, engulfed in flames, leaving nothing behind.

The villain brought about his own destruction.

The next day, Stark Industries held a press conference to explain the scene of the superhero "Iron Man" fighting a large mecha the night before.

The incident had caused a huge stir, and clips of the battle had long since spread through society.

Facing the media's questioning, Agent Coulson had prepared a speech for Tony—flawless, so no one would suspect him.

Now, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division had been simplified to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tony Stark walked to the podium, intending to explain.

"I know yesterday's situation was bad, and you might imply that I am related to that superhero."

"I'm not the material for a superhero; I have many character flaws and have made many mistakes..."

"In fact..."

He stared at the speech, silent.

Facing the packed room of reporters and their cameras, looking at familiar faces, Tony Stark’s gaze remained sharp.

"Could it be?"

"No way, is he going to do that?"

"Wait, something feels off!"

This pause was long, and Xu Can specifically used the camera to slowly zoom in, giving Robert Downey Jr. a big close-up.

The audience below gradually realized that something was wrong.

Could it be... Tony didn't want to use the cliché method to cover up this incident?

The audience had vaguely sensed the ending!

Sure enough, Tony Stark’s next words would resonate for ten years!

"I am Iron Man."

I am Iron Man!

The whole place erupted!

The camera froze on Tony Stark’s meaningful smile,

and the film ended abruptly! Crisp and clean!

This time, unlike *The Dark Knight*, the audience wasn't plunged into deep thought.

The moment the film ended, the audience was already boiling over, rising in unison to applaud!

Indeed, as the inaugural work of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, *Iron Man* was positioned as a commercial sci-fi action film—a popcorn blockbuster.

It did explore some anti-war themes, individual heroism, and took a jab at the Americans' shady arms-dealing operations.

But essentially, it was all about the thrill; the audience's emotions were ignited, and that was that!

As a commercial film, *Iron Man* won unanimous praise from the entire audience.