….
[Next Day of [Iron Man:1] Release]
The digital clock on Stan Lee's bedside table read 2:47 AM when his phone began vibrating against the wood, a persistent rhythm that pulled him from shallow sleep.
He reached for it, bleary-eyed. The screen came alive with an avalanche of notifications, texts, emails, tagged posts - scrolling faster than his sleepy mind could process.
The sound was wrong, too many tones at once. Like applause played through broken speakers.
Messages filled the feed like static from another world. Old names he hadn't seen in decades.
Colleagues who had vanished into quiet retirements. Artists he had once mentored, now sending emojis and exclamations that felt strangely unreal in the stillness of his dark room.
All saying variations of the same thing:
Congratulations on your success
Did you see it?
Iron Man is incredible.
This changes everything.
There were also a few texts implying 'we always believed in you'.
He opened his laptop.
The internet had exploded in the three hours since midnight screenings ended on the East Coast.
Twitter was trending with #IronMan in the number one position.
Reddit's front page contained four separate threads about the film, each with thousands of comments.
MeTube already had fan-recorded clips from theaters - shaky cam footage of the final reveal, the post-credits scene, audience reactions.
Stan scrolled through reviews, professional and amateur alike, absorbing the consensus forming in real-time.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Fresh
He clicked through to read individual reviews:
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times:"'Iron Man' is a triumph of character over spectacle, though it delivers spectacle in spades. Robert Downey Jr. doesn't just inhabit Tony Stark - he becomes the definitive interpretation, erasing any possibility that another actor could have done this better. Director Regal Seraphsail demonstrates once again that he understands something fundamental about superhero cinema: the person inside the suit matters more than the suit itself."
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone:"Seraphsail has done it again. After redefining what a comic book adaptation could be with 'Spider-Man: Web of Destiny,' he's now proven that success wasn't a fluke. 'Iron Man' is tighter, darker, and somehow more fun than any superhero film has a right to be. The cave escape sequence alone is worth the price of admission. But it's the quieter moments - Tony working in his workshop, his banter with his AI Jarvis, his complicated relationship with Pepper Potts - that elevate this from summer blockbuster to genuine cinema."
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times:"What strikes you about 'Iron Man' is its unexpected maturity. This is a film about weapons manufacturing, about the military-industrial complex, about American intervention and the consequences of unchecked capitalism - and somehow it manages to explore these themes while delivering thrilling action sequences and laugh-out-loud comedy. Seraphsail's screenplay never feels preachy, instead allowing these ideas to emerge naturally from Tony Stark's character arc. It's sophisticated filmmaking disguised as popcorn entertainment."
Stan felt something unfamiliar tightening in his chest - not anxiety, but its opposite.
Validation, relief and joy, even.
For decades, he had fought to prove that comic book characters deserved serious treatment - that beneath the costumes and powers were stories about humanity, morality, and identity.
Most Hollywood adaptations had missed that entirely, treating the source material as children's fare to be simplified and sanitized.
Regal understood. More than that, he cared.
Stan opened another tab and navigated to Box Office Mojo. The preliminary numbers were already being reported:
Thursday Night Previews: $18.7 million
That figure sat alone on the page, stark and undeniable. The site's analysts had added a note: "This represents the second-highest preview gross for any non-sequel, behind only Spider-Man: Web of Destiny ($22.1M). Projections for opening weekend have been revised upward to $115-125 million domestic."
Stan did the mental calculation.
If those projections held, Iron Man would have one of the biggest openings of the year.
Not just for a superhero film - for any film.
His phone vibrated again.
This time it was Zephyr Owlsworth calling.
"Did I wake you?" Zephyr asked, though his tone suggested he knew the answer.
"Couldn't sleep if I tried." Stan admitted. "Have you been reading the reviews?"
"For the past two hours." There was a smile in Zephyr's voice. "Stan, they love it. Not just comic book fans - actual film critics are praising it like it's a legitimate work of cinema."
"Because it is." Stan said quietly.
"Yes." Zephyr paused. "Because it is."
They stayed on the line for a moment, neither speaking, both processing what this meant.
MarvelD Comics had struggled for years, their film adaptations either modest successes or outright disasters.
Now, in the span of eighteen months, Regal Seraphsail had given them two billion-dollar franchises and critical acclaim.
"He is doing what we always hoped someone would do." Zephyr said finally. "Making these characters receive the respect they deserve."
Stan nodded, even though Zephyr couldn't see him. "I am going to the first show tomorrow morning, for a second viewing. Want to join?"
"I already bought my ticket."
….
By sunrise, the conversation had spread globally.
In London, The Guardian published an early review calling Iron Man "the most politically astute blockbuster since the original Star Wars." In Tokyo, fans lined up outside theaters hours before the first screening, many wearing homemade arc reactor replicas.
In Mumbai, industry analysts were already calculating the film's potential impact on international markets.
Social media became a living, breathing organism of reaction and analysis.
On Reddit's r/movies, a thread titled "Iron Man: Official Discussion Thread" accumulated over 8,000 comments in six hours:
u/FilmFan2000:Just got out of the midnight showing. Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. That ending. That post-credits scene. Regal is building a cinematic universe and I am here for all of it.
u/MarvelManic:Robert Downey Jr. just gave the performance of his career. Fight me.
u/CinemaSnob87:The cave sequence is some of the most tense filmmaking I've seen all year. Regal knows how to build dread without resorting to cheap jump scares. You FEEL Tony's desperation.
u/ActionJunkie:Can we talk about that final battle? The weight of those suits when they collide - you could feel every impact. None of that weightless CGI nonsense. These felt like actual machines.
u/ThematicAnalysis:What impressed me most was how the film handles Tony's moral awakening. He doesn't become a hero overnight. He's still arrogant, still flawed, but he's trying. That scene where he watches the news report about civilians killed by Stark weapons - RDJ's face says everything.
u/PostCreditsHunter:NICK FURY. AVENGERS INITIATIVE. I SCREAMED IN THE THEATER.
u/SkepticalViewer:Okay, unpopular opinion: I thought it was good, not great. The villain felt underdeveloped and the third act was a bit formulaic. I still enjoyed it, but I don't think it's the masterpiece everyone's claiming.
u/FilmFan2000:@SkepticalViewer Fair criticism, but I would argue Obadiah works specifically because he's not a world-ending threat. He's personal. He's Tony's sins made manifest. The movie isn't about defeating a supervillain - it's about Tony confronting what he's built.
The thread continued for thousands more comments, dissecting every frame, debating themes, sharing fan theories about future films.
On Twitter, celebrities began weighing in:
@KevinSmith:IRON MAN is exactly what superhero movies should be. Smart, funny, thrilling, and actually ABOUT something. Regal Seraphsail is the real deal. Best comic book film since his own Spider-Man.
@joss:Just saw Iron Man. Incredibly jealous of Regal right now. He's doing everything right. Can't wait to see where the MDCU goes from here.
@neilhimself:Saw IRON MAN last night. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect. The writing is sharp. The action is visceral, and that ending - gutsy move that pays off beautifully.
MeTube became flooded with reaction videos. Fans recorded themselves watching the post-credits scene, their genuine shock and excitement captured in shaky vertical video:
"WHAT?!"
"NO WAY!"
"DID HE JUST SAY AVENGERS?!"
"YEAH HE DID."
"BUT WHAT'S THAT? SOMETHING SPECIAL?"
These clips accumulated millions of views within hours, becoming their own form of marketing as viewers sought to relive the communal experience of discovery.
….
At 9:00 AM Pacific Time, the major trade publications released their analyses.
Variety:
Box Office: 'Iron Man' Soars to $18.7M Thursday Night
By Claude Brodesser-Akner
Marvel and LIE Studio's "Iron Man" got off to a red-hot start Thursday night, earning $18.7 million from late-night shows. The figure positions the Robert Downey Jr.-starrer for a possible $120 million opening weekend, which would rank among the year's biggest debuts.
The preview gross demonstrates that writer-director Regal Seraphsail's brand has significant pull with audiences. Coming off last year's "Spider-Man: Web of Destiny" ($1.21 billion worldwide) and his Oscar-winning work on "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Seraphsail has established himself as one of Hollywood's most bankable filmmakers.
Industry insiders credit the film's success to several factors: Downey's charismatic performance, Seraphsail's faithful-yet-fresh approach to the source material, and an aggressive marketing campaign that emphasized character over spectacle.
"This isn't just a superhero movie," said one anonymous studio executive. "It's a genuinely good film that happens to feature a guy in a metal suit. That's a distinction audiences recognize and appreciate."
The Thursday number also suggests strong word-of-mouth is already building. Exit polls showed an A+ CinemaScore - extremely rare for any film, let alone a comic book adaptation…
The Hollywood Reporter:
'Iron Man' Review: Robert Downey Jr. and Regal Seraphsail Forge a New Marvel
By Todd McCarthy
With "Iron Man," director Regal Seraphsail and star Robert Downey Jr. have accomplished something remarkable: they've made a superhero film that works as both spectacular entertainment and serious character study. The result is the most satisfying comic book adaptation since... well, since Seraphsail's own "Spider-Man: Web of Destiny."
Downey inhabits Tony Stark so completely that it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. His performance balances arrogance and vulnerability, humor and pathos, in ways that elevate what could have been a standard origin story into something genuinely compelling…
….
By noon, the audience word-of-mouth had reached critical mass.
The film's CinemaScore, a measurement based on exit polls of opening night audiences, came back as A+. Only a handful of films received that grade each year. For a superhero film to achieve it was virtually unprecedented.
….
By Sunday evening, the numbers were finalized.
[Iron Man: 1] had earned $128.3 million domestically in its opening weekend, the second-highest opening of the year, behind only [Spider-Man: Web of Destiny]'s record-breaking $137 million.
Internationally, the film added another $96.7 million from 57 markets.
Total global opening: $225 million.
Industry analysts immediately revised their projections. Iron Man was now tracking for $600-700 million worldwide, potentially higher if word-of-mouth remained strong.
For Regal, the success meant something different than just numbers.
It meant the plan was working.
The MarvelD Cinematic Universe, a phrase that had existed only in his mind and a few confidential pitch documents - was becoming real.
Not just as a concept, but as something audiences wanted, anticipated, and would return for.
Spider-Man had proven that comic book characters could carry billion-dollar franchises.
Iron Man had proven that success wasn't dependent on one character. The model was replicable.
And the post-credits scene had promised more was coming.
Now, Regal just had to deliver on that promise.
He stood at his apartment window, looking out over Los Angeles as the city lights flickered to life in the twilight. Somewhere out there, families were leaving theaters, discussing what they'd just seen.
Critics were finalizing their reviews. Studio executives were having emergency meetings about how to replicate this success.
And Regal was already thinking about the next film.
….
The theater doors swung open, releasing a flood of animated chatter into the evening air.
Among the crowd, a young boy walked with his chin held high, a subtle smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Fifth viewing, and the magic hadn't worn off even slightly.
Around him, voices overlapped in enthusiastic discussion.
"That suit-up sequence was incredible!"
"I know, right? And the way he delivered those one-liners..."
"RDJ absolutely nailed it. The casting was perfect."
"Never thought I would root for him like this. He is… different now."
The boy's smile widened imperceptibly.
He let the conversations wash over him like a familiar song, each compliment, each moment of awe adding another layer to the warmth growing in his chest.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to a contact simply labeled "Dad."
One ring. That's all it ever took.
"Hey, kiddo."
The voice on the other end was warm, slightly tired, but instantly attentive.
"Hey, Dad. How is your day going?"
"Long, but good. Just wrapped up. What about you? Anyway, where are you?"
"I just watched a new superhero film." the boy said, his tone carefully casual. He paused, timing it perfectly. "And Dad... gotta say, he was pale in comparison to you."
The laugh that came through the phone was genuine - rich and unguarded. "Alright, alright. You're too much, you know that?"
"Just calling it like I see it."
"Get home safe, okay? Love you."
"Love you too, Dad."
They talked for a minute more about nothing in particular, dinner, homework, the dog - before the call ended.
Robert stood there for a moment, phone still in hand, staring at nothing in particular.
The makeup trailer around him felt suddenly quieter.
He set the phone down slowly, his smile fading into something more complex - pride and humility intertwined, the weight of being someone's hero in a way that had nothing to do with a script.
He picked up the arc reactor prop from the table, turning it over in his hands, and allowed himself a moment that no camera would ever capture.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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