Steve Jobs was apparently one of Iron Man 2‘s harshest critics, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger. Widely considered a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and ’80s, Jobs was, alongside Steve Wozniak, famously a co-founder of Apple. He also served as the company’s Chairman and CEO. Following Disney’s acquisition of the animation studio, Pixar, he also held a seat on the House of Mouse’s board of directors and was actually had a hand in Disney purchasing Marvel, to begin with. Jobs sadly passed away in 2011, aged 56 years old.
The similarly Disney-owned Marvel Studios has continued to ride the wave of success from Avengers: Endgame‘s release earlier this year. As well as shattering the box office record previously held by James Cameron’s Avatar, the film enjoyed widespread praise from fans and positive reviews from critics. Despite that, Disney has already turned its attention to an Oscar campaign for the franchise redefining installment. Since kicking off with 2008’s Iron Man, not every film has been met with similar fanfare, however. As Marvel Studios first worked to find their footing, numerous early outings barely made a blip on the radar and others were outright lambasted.
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Jobs considered Iron Man 2 to be deserving very much of the latter. In the pages of his recently released autobiography, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Iger recalled a phone call between himself and Jobs. “When Iron Man 2 came out, Steve took his son to see it and called me the next day,” Iger wrote. “‘I took Reed to see Iron Man 2 last night,’ he said. ‘It sucked.'” In his book, Iger goes to acknowledge that even he knew that Iron Man 2 was far from an Oscar-winning film but that, still, he “couldn’t let him feel he was right all the time.” As a result, while simultaneously respecting Jobs’ opinion, Iger defended the film as a financial success.
Since his passing, Jobs has himself been the subject of two autobiographical projects – one starring Ashton Kutcher in 2013 and another starring X-Men: Dark Phoenix actor Michael Fassbender in 2015. Iron Man 2, meanwhile, was written by The Leftovers star Justin Theroux and directed by Jon Favreau, who also helmed the inaugural installment. Though Favreau has remained connected to the MCU – via his role as Happy Hogan in such outings as Spider-Man: Far From Home – he moved on to oversee other Disney projects. He most recently directed the live-action remake of The Lion King and has developed the highly anticipated Star Wars small-screen spinoff, The Mandalorian, for the Disney+ streaming service. The first trailer for The Mandalorian was unveiled in August.
Iger’s book has offered a number of revelations since its release – including George Lucas’s opinion of The Force Awakens and the fact that Disney almost purchased Twitter. Iger also suggested that Apple and Disney may have merged if not for Jobs’ untimely passing. In terms of the second Iron Man outing, fans will no doubt have their own thoughts on whether or not Jobs was accurate in his assessment. At the time, however, Iron Man 2 was heavily criticized for its underwhelming villains and for being more of an overstuffed set-up for future MCU installments than a fully functional movie in its own right.
Source: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger
- Black Widow (2020) release date: May 01, 2020
- Eternals (2020) release date: Nov 06, 2020
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) release date: Feb 12, 2021
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021) release date: May 07, 2021
- Black Panther 2 (2022) release date: May 06, 2022
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2021) release date: Nov 05, 2021
