How To Write A Character Who's Smarter Than You

[@FilmJunk1e]

Edit: The abrupt cut at 1:33 is due to a section being copyright striked and resulting in the video getting removed (I used Shoot To Thrill for a cool edit). Don't worry, no analysis was removed :) Also, Small correction for 7:25 At 7:25, I accidentally used the wrong take for my commentary, leading to my point not being fully illustrated. The point I was trying to make was this: These scenes, aside from what they actually do for the plot/characters, often *feel* like they exist solely to show off a character's intellect as compared to it *feeling* like it also advances the plot/does something for the story. It sorta ties into the point I tried to make with Conan, Handsome Jack, and Tony being rude. From what i've seen, the way a scene makes the audience feel is just as important as what the characters do in that scene. Which is why I thought it so crucial that regardless of how useful a scene really is for the film, or what that character is doing, it's very important to make sure it expresses itself correctly to the viewer in a way that they don't find boring or offputting. I hope this clears up my point :D

[@bevobexley4087]

You say the 3 body problem scene feels like it's there solely to show off these characters' intellect and cite it as a bad example. You misread the scene: that is exactly the point because the man at the bar has underestimated them and they're shaming him for that underestimation. It's a common bar joke with accomplished women in bars, Criminal Minds did it way back when. Tony is in the cave with someone he perceives as an equal (able to share his intellect) whereas the women are being perceived as less than, so they show they are more than. Do you think there are other examples in the 3 body problem?

[@torappuda]

​@@bevobexley4087That's why it's bad. It serves no plot relevance other than for the two girls to state how smart they are to another character and to the viewer. Do you remember "show don't tell"?

[@FilmJunk1e]

@@bevobexley4087 Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanna establish my point :) The problem is not the fact that there was an annoying man in the bar they had to shoo away, or what it's meant to represent in real life. It's that the encounter itself really does feel absolutely random and is not written very well, as it's flat and one dimensional. It has low plot relevance, is never used to do anything for the story, and only ends up serving as what many would deem to be "annoying" or "boring" exposition for the 2 main characters. That's why, at least for me, it ends up feeling like it's there just to show off the characters, without that being the intention. Now i'm not saying Iron Man's examples are perfect, because they're not, but they certainly are better compared to the "bad examples" I used. I would point to something like the bar scene in Good Will Hunting for an example of how to do this better. It's a much more complex dynamic, which flows smoothly and doesn't feel random. Here, it serves multiple purposes for both the characters and the plot while being entertaining, resulting in a scene that doesn't feel like it exists just to show off a character's intellect. The scene goes like this: Will, Chuckie, and his friends go into a Harvard bar. Chuckie sees some attractive girls, so he goes over to try and rizz them up. A harvard student comes along and acts like a douchebag, trying to make Chuckie look dumb for talking to the girls (who were clearly just using the Chuckie rizz as a form of entertainment). The harvard student shows off how smart he is in an annoying and degratory way, trying to embarass Chuckie in front of everyone. This backfires on him when he gets dunked on by Will, who comes over to stick up for his friend. This is what the scene does: 1. Introduces an important new character Skylar (girl at the bar) which ends up becoming our main character Will's love interest. 2. It showcases Will's intellect not just by telling us what he does, but in a battle between him and a Harvard student (using a Harvard student here is wicked smart because everyone already has this image of what Harvard means in their head, resulting in the film not having to demonstrate both character's intellect but instead only Will's). 3. It showcases how close him and his group of friends are to each other, especially between Will and Chuckie (he's the one Ben Affleck played). They all have each other's backs, and stick up for one another without hesitation. So lets see why this doesn't feel random: 1. Chuckie hitting up the girls fits his personality, so it makes sense for him to lead the scene in this direction after the group had entered the bar. 2. The annoying Harvard student's interjection into their conversation doesn't feel random, because it's cleverly hinted during their conversation that the girls know him, calling him by name and telling him to "go away". This shows us he'd probably done this a couple times in the past, and that the girls clearly dislike him. It's also a Harvard bar, so Will battling a Harvard student makes sense. 3. Will joining in on the conversation doesn't feel random, because after seeing how tight their friend group is, it makes sense he comes in to stick up for his best friend when an asshole is trying to make him look bad. The film uses this opportunity to show us Will's genius level intellect, demonstrating he knows more than the Harvard student simply by self learning at a public library, and presents it in a "fighting the bully" type scene which is always enjoyable. 4. The film uses this to introduce Will's love interest (the girl at the bar), and shows hints of her intrigue in Will's character. She has major plot relevance later on in the film. I highly recommend watching the scene on youtube. Its very well written and a great example of how to create a complex, smooth flowing, and entertaining scene revolving around a character kicking ass with their intellect, without making it seem like an attempt to show off a character. Btw i'm not tryna make anyone look bad, or prove anyone wrong. I just want to (hopefully for the final time lol) clear up my point!

[@foxanard]

@@bevobexley4087 your explanation just makes the scene even worse. You do realize this, yes?

[@bevobexley4087]

@@FilmJunk1e hm, interesting. thanks for additional insight & reply

[@DarthVader-3653]

the first iron man movie was such a believable and grounded way to start a cinematic universe; i genuinely think none of the other films could have done that

[@rickamsler3088]

and it is that grounded feeling that allowed nearly all of phase 1 to work so well. and slowly they pulled back and simply allowed the characters to do off screen what we had already seen them do on screen. Where marvel misstepped is allowing new characters to bypass that "grounding" and jump directly to the conclusions. the effect makes them feel more shallow to anyone that was paying attention.

[@LucianDevine]

@@rickamsler3088 Yup, they LITERALLY wrote the book on how to make a franchise, only to try and skip some steps in phase 4 and wondering why they had flop after flop.

[@T1Oracle]

There is absolutely nothing believable about building a flying, armored, robot suit, by yourself, in a cave, while held captive by terrorists! The idea that Tony Stark could do any of that stuff without a whole team of engineers and scientists working on it, is absurd. Even a rough prototype would be an enormous undertaking requiring expertise in multiple disciplines.

[@LucianDevine]

@@T1Oracle It didn't really fly. That was more of a last-ditch escape measure imo.

[@REIDiculous64]

I think Captain America could have worked as well, with just super soldiers and a fancy space rock to power weapons.

[@EnzoNotFerrari21]

People kept on talking about how tragic Thor and Wanda are, but no one talks about the GOAT: Yinsen. His family was literally killed by terrorists. Then he was kidnapped, tortured, imprisoned in a dirty cave with terrible living conditions, and ended up dying in that same cave. And yet, he still is calm and helps develop Tony to be the best hero in the MCU.

[@PathOfDistrAction]

No way his family was literally killed ? Like literally literally or literally literally?

[@pn6463]

​@@salmanmahyuddin8384i searched up Everywhere there was no such scene shot, where did you get this news from?

[@salmanmahyuddin8384]

@@pn6463 thats odd. i couldn't find it either. did i have a false memory? sorry, i could've been too delusional because i was so sure i had seen such a scene

[@brianhowe201]

The arab guy who helped tony escape in the first movie?

[@EnzoNotFerrari21]

@ ye

[@TheDidYouKnowChannel]

I heard somewhere else once: “if you want a smart character, create a problem, take one week to solve it, then have your character solve it in five minutes” It’s easier when the audience can see how the character got there with the benefit of hindsight.

[@RPGgrenade]

oooh I kinda like that one. It's interesting because there's an actual frame of reference to know how they figure it out.

[@jacobhargiss3839]

Bingo. Intelligence is mostly about how fast you can think.

[@GhoostTheManic-wf4it]

That's, wait that's clever actually. I actually REALLY like that!

[@userunfriendly9304]

The issue is creating a problem that you have to be smart to solve. Stupid people make stupid problems.

[@cosmic8437]

@@jacobhargiss3839 when irl intelligence is only partly how fast you can think, there are definitely smart people out their who are slow at processing information. But in a story sense its the best way to show intelligence.

[@Cold_Aspect]

the soundteam did such a good job with Tony's suit

[@dryames4319]

Golden comment. Part of the reason why lightsabers became so iconic.

[@peterkirk8510]

Yeah, I feel like it says something that when I read your comment I can hear the charging noise of his hand cannon thing

[@Americanbadashh]

@@peterkirk8510 SAME! And the clang of the armor when he's landing.

[@PaddyRoon7]

Got a lot worse as the suit was "improved." They really should have kept the clanking metal sounds from the first film, was so satisfying.

[@VanguardJester]

"don't waste your life" if only he could see him now.

[@Sean-qg3gg]

He is seeing him “-from the second place podium.” - TS

[@Aynshtaynn]

Since they're both ded, in theory he can

[@hoonhur5681]

Tony could've seen Yinsen in endgame at the same place Thanos saw gamora

[@LucianDevine]

I like to think that he was waiting for Tony in the afterlife so that he could tell him how proud of him he was.

[@lifeiscats1337]

In the ground

[@ishaan863]

such a good point that i never thought about before, but the progression checkpoints in Iron Man's suit are CRAZY. Big arc reactor -> cave arc reactor -> cave suit -> new arc reactor -> new suit -> prototype with icing issue -> mission ready gold alloy suit. THAT is what makes the whole thing believable, and FUN to watch.

[@ishaan863]

And what's more, the checkpoints end up becoming plot points! The cave suit is worn by the antagonist, the big reactor helps defeat him, the first arc reactor ends up saving his life.

[@natperXD]

@@ishaan863 Don't forget about the icing problem was also another why the antagonist was beaten. Or was the first way to defeat him.

[@Talon1124]

Tony Stark Always Lewrns From His Mistakes. Those checkpoints progress through the entire continuity.

[@LucianDevine]

@@ishaan863 The cave suit wasn't worn, but it was used as the starting point to design the Warmonger suit, and we even saw the first set of antagonists dig the pieces out of the desert and reassemble it using Tony's own designs from the cave. They didn't just skip to Stane showing up at the camp and them having all the pieces in the right places. Just showing them gathering and assembling before Stane betrays them sets up the entire finale in an understandable and believable way. We can even understand why they were doing it, because they saw what both the Mark 1 and Mark 2 suits were capable of first hand.

[@lovelyhippo7826]

It happens non-stop through the MCU. Tony get hits with the electric whips from whiplash, so he adds protection against that overcharging his suit when thor strikes him in Avengers. His nanobot shield erodes his main suit as it takes hits in infinity war, so he creates an energy shield in endgame. He wasn't fast enough to catch war machine in civil war, so he creates a stronger booster when chasing the ship in infinity war.

[@1wayroad935]

There is also the very important fact that Robert Downey is so good at the role of Tony Stark. A lesser actor wouldn't have been able to sell those scenes.

[@m3c427]

he is iron man, I find it so poetic how both corelate so much, tony pushed himself out of that cave to be born a new man and Robert with his drug problems, both with an snarky personality and air of superiority, he just fits into that character so well, replacing him as iron man is something that I cant see anyone being able to accomplish so well as he did

[@LucianDevine]

There is a reason that RDJ FOUGHT for the role, even though he was initially denied by the studio, and why Jon Favreau fought or RDJ when he was initially denied by the studio. They both knew that RDJ was perfect for the role.

[@occasionalsnipa9262]

If Iron Man was produced in 2024: Introducing Jack Black as Tony Stark

[@pallpksp9142]

I just can't imagine an Iron man that isn't Robert Downey, his Iron man is just iconic

[@JonathanMuncherian]

Originally it was going to be Tom Cruise

[@Woodside235]

You mention that the audience likes Tony despite him being an ass, because he's funny. I think it's additionally, maybe even more so, that he's demonstrably flawed; not put on a pedestal; not immune to the consequences of his actions. Sympathetic. While the counter-example characters you use, they come across as pompous in a way the writers did not intend. And so the audience pushes back against them. Tony is pompous at times, but the dialogue is not written nor framed as if it condones his behavior.

[@jacobhargiss3839]

As well, we see that other characters have very real issues with him. Alot of the new marvel characters just sort of get praised for everything. When tony is an ass, the people around him acknowledge that he is being an ass.

[@fortcastellan1730]

The first act of Iron Man is a mini-movie all on its own. It made us fall in love with Tony, it gave him a fully-realized story-arc, it was (from what I've seen) incredibly comic-accurate....The entire rest of the movie was just 'the further adventures of Tony Stark.'

[@ludwigvanmichael1183]

The best part of Tony Stark is that he is flawed, and the plot KNOWS that he is flawed. I've seen so many movies in which the main characters are complete assholes and do/say the most outrageous things and the plot just goes "isn't this character great!". Tony has had his mistakes blow up in his face (any times literally) and he loses someone or something important to him everytime, instead of coming out unchanged by the consequences of his actions.

[@wambokodavid7109]

This is what cap fanbois don't seem to grasp.cap is "perfect 🙄 all the way even when wrong he never admits it and instead hides behind some speech he cooks to justify it.tony fuks up and he acknowledges it, hell people bash him for it but learns from his mistakes.its why I trust him...he's one mistake away from being a villain but realizes and overcomes.

[@THENemesisXX99]

​@@wambokodavid7109I'll give you the benefit of a doubt and assume you have examples to list off?

[@MarioMonte13]

​@wambokodavid7109 I wish cap got to have a scene like Tony's in Civil War when the mother of some peacekeeper confronted him about her son's death. Cap never gets called out for the consequences of his actions, he's just always right

[@wambokodavid7109]

@@MarioMonte13 exactly...if he was confronted like that, he'd concoct some story how this is war one man can be sacrificed for all blah blah blah...

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@wambokodavid7109 Idk what you mean, he doesn’t tell Tony what happened to his parents, and that leads to a permanent seperation between the two during the end of Civil War, which forces Cap to stay on the run, and finalizes that the heroes who were on Cap’s side in CW were still going to be considered enemies to Tony and the general public. Cap is just noble where Tony isn’t, so his mistakes are different things. Trust in the government gets put into question in Winter Soldier. Cap’s frustrations and difficulties with Tony nearly stop things like Vision from being created in Age of Ultron. Cap didn’t stand besides Tony in IW, and so later Tony remarks “you weren’t there” to Cap in Endgame

[@JoshuaOdionson]

One aspect that Ive thoroughly enjoyed is that with every problem Tony encounters, he puts safety measures in his following suits, as well as seeing the progression of his suits. In Iron Man 3, all those extra suits that were activated during the "House Party" and then the official names and designations for those suits, you can see a clear progression in them, as well as Tony playing with different ideas. He didnt want to fall for the same mistake twice.

[@Piyestagram]

because tony learns from his mistakes

[@rezlevin]

if you played the companion mobile game it gave so much info about the suits, it was insane

[@Contredanse]

"A smart man recognizes that even extraordinary things are built from ordinary ones." Thank you for this.

[@stray_cat2922]

Back when MCU humor is actually humorous

[@Fellamemes]

When your first arm bone is called the humerus

[@abyssusnox]

*cues the screaming llamas from love and thunder *

[@livingashtree1942]

The sweet old days... god i miss them

[@DanialTarki]

The kid with the ice cream was a funny shot

[@Al.j.Vasquez]

Don't forget, he gets humbled by Ho Yinsen (i mistakenly said Ivan before editing this) who can speak many many languages and dialects, the same man who was put on a task to kinda recreate Tony's work with incredibly limited resources and facilities, Tony was humbled into delivering the best he could have, because it was necessary, not because he or his intelligence were challenged to do so.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Right exactly. Iron Man 2 perfectly portrays this. He has to face his flaws and become a better man in order to surpass Ivan (who is basically a villain mirror reflection of him), and to save everyone. IM3 focuses more on finalizing who Tony is, but some of the biggest defining moments for Tony were in IM2

[@resenasarirmz6909]

Something that is oftenly overlooked is the music, it has a lot of personality by combining rock and tipical orchestra instruments in a perfect way, it sounds serious, cool and (idk how to say this but) playboyish when it has to, Ramin Djawadi definitly cooked with this one. For me the BEST Iron Man theme.

[@dryames4319]

Undoubtedly. Also, the lack of ACDC in later MCU films is unforgivable.

[@ver_nick]

Ramin Djawadi is a genius, however I have to pay credit to Brian Tyler for an absolutely amazing motiff in Iron Man 3.

[@khweziyoudontneedtoknow9043]

I still remember watching this movie as a kid on a sunday night. I was severely sleep deprived the following day at school but it was so worth it. Easily top 3 best marvel movies of all time.

[@VulReid]

This video made in a cave with nothing but a box of scraps

[@Griot-Guild]

I'm not film junkie 😢

[@darkursrike3161]

Yinsen not only was a savior... but he saved the man that invented the guns that killed his family, he knew him as a drunkard, a playboy, the most arrogant and privileged man in the planet. and still not only saved him, but sacrificed himself for him, for a man that he didn't even knew would become the hero that would save the universe. and the most beautiful thing Is that it parallels the sacrifice that Iron Man did, not Tony Stark, Tony died on that cave, Yinsen saw Iron Man, He created Iron Man. both of them saved the universe the same way, with an act of love and sacrifice.

[@Joe-z3n]

now that you say this... damn...

[@Flamango47]

It really was a perfect start for the mcu and it's still in the top 10 best Marvel movies imo. Great video for a great movie.

[@kudbettinkohen1935]

Top 10? More like top 1 by far.

[@17absolut]

That first movie is a trilogy witin itself 🤩

[@TheforeverPigeonKing]

I think the thing that makes stark the best example of intelligents is that he fails. Like you won’t see your typical smart character fall flat on their face, yet Tony does and actively builds upon it. He’s a scientist/engineer, he expects failure and learns from it. Like if he just figured out how to fly without all the test scenes, it wouldn’t feel like he worked for it.

[@izukumidoriya8600]

I think that's part of the reason a lot of people, me included honestly, just don't like Riri. She shows up and has a fully functioning flight suit after being able to brag the whole time, she shoots an officer WHILE she's leaving the building then carpet bombs a blockade when she shows back up and she's just meant to replace Tony?

[@Nexus-56]

Yeah also rdj too iconic to be ironman no one can replace him​@@izukumidoriya8600

[@Vgamer311]

So… you’re saying that Tony learns from his mistakes?

[@izukumidoriya8600]

@@Vgamer311 Yep, he learns to be more careful with who he supplies his tech too and then uses that knowledge to not share his suit tech with people

[@JustADudeDoingSomething]

I think what separates tony from other smart characters is that tony accepts his imperfections despite his personality. Despite being a super genius, he is still learning and we can see this with every new suit he builds. Despite being a narcissist, he is humble when it matters. Everything negative and positive about him makes him feel like an actual human being. He is a complex character who should be perfect, yet he has so many flaws. That's what makes him so lovable.

[@1nterzept661]

It’s insane to me how the first Iron Man live action movie has such a simple plot line yet manages to have better quality than most of the Phase 4-6 MCU films and series.

[@ScientificTate]

I’d say that’s the most key part of it being good, no expectations to set up the next big thing

[@scottallen2966]

That scene about the millenium falcon was spot on. Honestly even a consular I made for a dnd session (who specialises in technology) wouldnt be able to repair a ship hes never been on properly. At most he could use one of his subclass features to let his force heal be able to repair constructs limitedly (thus doing a small patch job, his specialty was droids initially so better than nothing)

[@Goose_squad]

my biggest beef with that starwars scene is a "bypass" in electronics requires a secondary instillation to reroute the power. yanking out a random ardwino board isn't a bypass. its just a disconnect. so the point of her "being smart" was even goofed up with bad lingo.

[@happyvirus6590]

5:47 "That's not how the Falcon works" 😂

[@KrazyStargazer]

I'm confused...hasn't Rey been shown to be a scavenger up till this point? I mean...I'm not saying it would magically make her a genius. But it would at least mean she knows her way around vehicles no?

[@samroka3624]

@@KrazyStargazer Not necessarily. A scavenger is not a mechanic. The most Rey would need to know, as a scavenger who sells what she finds, is how valuable and usable a part is, and how to remove it without damaging it. While Rey was shown to be familiar with star destroyers (and most probably TIEs and Lambda class shuttles as well), the Falcon is a heavily modified corellian freighter from a time before the Empire with a rare off center cockpit. She should have absolutely no idea how to either pilot or fix it. Much less better than the guy who has owned it for decades.

[@KrazyStargazer]

@samroka3624 I always thought Chewie was more so the mechanic and Han was moreso the pilot. Wasn't it also kind of a joke in the OG trilogy that even he didn't always get the Falcon to work how he wanted? As for Rey I wouldn't say she would have "no" idea how it works. It's like saying I couldn't pilot a Ford Model T just because I'm from the modern era. Like if I fidjit around I'm sure I can drive it pretty fine. And isn't it established that if you have the force it helps your piloting skills? In fact force users most early function before becoming warriors was to act as space compasses through slipspace? Now look I'm not saying Ray and company don't get away with some BS but no more so than swashbucklers like Indy or the OG Star Wars cast in their time. I mean Anikin was a kid and he used the force to win and outcompeate several older racers. And anikin was shown to be a handy mechanic. Didn't Ray also help BB8 with some mechanical stuff?

[@WardenLoveless]

​@@KrazyStargazerRey is established in a previous scene as saying her boss(who owned the Falcon at the time) installed that compressor and that it was really hard on the hyperdrive. Which is something Han agrees on her with. But giving this movie any credit for anything isn't trendy

[@samroka3624]

@@KrazyStargazer I talked about Rey's mechanic skills not Han's. It doesn't even matter that Chewie is better than Han as a mechanic since he was also aboard the Falcon in that scene. If I remember right, the joke was that the Falcon was so old it was kept together with the Star Wars equivalent of duct tape and therefore constantly had systems failing. All cars have the same necessary controls in the exact same places, so no you wouldn't have any trouble except if you only can drive an automatic and the car is manual. However, Star Wars ships are very different depending on manufacturer, type and class of ship. That isn't even getting into that the Falcon is, as I said, heavily modified, and doesn't even resemble other ships of it's class on the inside. Which is already a unique class in the first place. There is a reason only Han, Chewie and Lando pilot it. For Rey it would be like if you tried to go from driving a Ford Model T to trying to drive a semi truck with no prior experience. The Force will help with piloting if you actually have the skills to even accelerate and steer what you try to pilot. Which Anakin had, as he had been established to have competed in races before and lost. The Force isn't an instant win button in a lot of instances. The race we see is the first one he actually won. As for his mechanic skills, well, he was a slave owned by a mechanics shop owner and was expected to do a lot of the work. He started learning from the time he could first hold tools. His skills is shown with C-3PO and the pod racer he built from scratch. However he never fixes a fault with a spaceship's systems in the movie as he wouldn't know how without a lot more learning. Fixing droids and landspeeders is a lot different to fixing spacefaring ships afterall. R2 did all of that instead, since he was actually established to be able to do so. Rey was not.

[@morganleanderblake678]

my nephew recently made me sigh. He was like, "...so why don't they ever call the other avengers if they're in so much danger?" in the individual movies. Oh kid. You're going places.

[@Jeicemeiser]

Now that you mention it, seeing the development and subtle failures of his suit innovations did do a lot to make Iron Man’s suits interesting and their limits understandable. Even in IM3 you see him test and toy with some of the features of his new suit, making the payoff later that much sweeter. I think the nano suit in Infinity War was missing this completely, Tony just shows up with a magic super suit that does whatever it needs to, and as awesome as that is it’s probably my least favorite suit he owns

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

Proper heroes ALWAYS make tons of mistakes. The key is that they're forced to learn quickly, else, they would've perished. And fortunately, they almost always have a team alongside them. When you consider SW, LotR, The Matrix, HP, and pretty much all of the Marvel "single hero" stories (especially The First Avenger), indeed, they follow the lessons from Joseph Campbell. 💪😎✌️ The last 6+ years of films have NONE of that going on! And that's why they don't land well: no one's impressed by "heroes" who are already invulnerable in every way. And btw, even Superman was constantly vulnerable in ways which DIDN'T involve his powers. *That* is how you do it, my superfriends. 💪😎✌️ 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@Luciferismee]

“I bypassed the compressor.!” Yea right…

[@kemsatofficial]

The only crazy technology in Ironman is the power source: the miniaturized arc reactor. We could actually build that suit, but it would need a power cord to supply the power. Packing that much power into something so small is currently impossible for humans. Could be impossible in general too. We don’t know yet.

[@iamnobody350]

And thats the point. Tony is a genius, beyond anything humanity has achieved (aside from maybe wakanda) He's the "Da Vinci" of his time

[@32BitJunkie]

I mean packing that much power is easy, hiroshima was only a few grams of uranium actually converting to energy. E=MC^2 baby; Antimatter would run that suit until tony dies of old age, EZ. Iiiit's also the most expensive material known to man and would probably fry his ribcage, but hey, details =P

[@Mate_Antal_Zoltan]

The power source would be fine, just strap a big battery to your back. The real problem would be the G-force. I know this dead horse has been beaten down to its last atom, but it's still a very important point to make. You would turn into goo in the Iron Man suit.

[@user-fs9mv8px1y]

​@@Mate_Antal_Zoltanhandwaved inertia dampers like on star trek

[@dontseemyprofilepic3157]

@iamnobody350absolutely ridiculous. Merchant of Death sounds way better /s

[@lionshazz]

3 body problem is not above criticism for character writing of course, but the point of comparison at 6:45 is a bit unfair. The dialogue was intentional -- they were "talking up" their jobs in order to get the man who interrupted their conversation hitting on them to leave. It's not shown here but they chuckle a bit right after driving him off.

[@privatesectorsec]

It also was (I think) in the first episode so it was an easy but not the best way to show more about some of the main characters

[@jordanleighton6893]

It’s also a classic issue of just because somebody is generally more intelligent doesn’t mean they’re better at everything, and it doesn’t mean that the length of the average word in their sentences double

[@izukumidoriya8600]

Sometimes it even has them need less words since they know the best word to describe the situation instead of needing to explain it in a few sentences

[@maxcox4173]

I can’t believe I’m defending force awakens cuz wow it was bad, BUT removing something actually can solve a mechanical problem. For example, if you have a blower motor resistor that failed, removing or bypassing it would allow your heater to turn on at full power only. Or removing a faulty o2 sensor could normalize a fuel/air ratio problem. A spark plug that’s gapped incorrectly is WORSE than no spark plug at all. It’s niche, and they could’ve explained what she did better by saying “bypassing the compressor tricks the hyperdrive into functioning normally because it’s not capable of detecting an abnormality that doesn’t actually affect standard hyper speed flight.” Just wanted to point out removing something entirely COULD fix a problem

[@zteam1000]

So I'm particularly vulnerable at the moment and it doesn't take much to make me cry, but thanking your dad for being your Iron Man at the end has made my cheeks wet. Good video dude. It's rare to see someone have a fresh take on a movie that's almost 17 years old.

[@Golgoro]

5:49 "i yanked out the alarm battery"

[@LucianDevine]

For me, it's the failures that came along with the building and perfecting process. We see Tony doing and inventing these crazy things that are leagues above the rest of the world, but we also see the hiccups along the way. Everything from the thrusters in the boots, the flight control pulser, to the icing problem when he naturally pushed the Mark 2 to it's limits on the first test flight is important. The first 2 are necessary to make the first flight believable, and the 3rd one is important for the final fight.

[@Fellamemes]

This is so underrated wth

[@phantom5328]

5:59,right when the explosion happened an ad played.I was supposed to be studying so had to hold my laughter SO HARD from how badly it got me.

[@dasoftieguy]

The believability of the tech not only comes from a fictional basis but also the realism that comes with some of the tech in it Like when you deep-dive into some of the first suits where he takes rockets out of his hands it would look impossible from just seeing the suits exterior, but then the testing montage reveals an exoskeleton that makes a gap between the skin and the shell where things can be stored. The Mk3 Hydrogen-based repulsors are actually real tech that you could recreate today with enough resources, and most parts of the shell such as the boots that have the jet propulsors are designed to look similar to their real-life counterparts (Ej. Mk3's boots have those little holes on the back, similar to the centerpiece of some jet engines)

[@RAWDEAL064]

Love how star wars is now being used as a "what not to do" with storytelling. Orson Scott Card does a good job of writing for geniuses. The entire Ender universe is entirely about genius level intelligence, of multiple species. It never feels forced, and hes even able to make them look dumb somtimes

[@Halo916_]

One thing you kinda mentioned briefly is that Tony is also shown to learn from many of just mistakes. I mean, just look up “Tony Learns From His Mistakes” and there are entire compilations of things. It’s not just how he makes his armor better, but how he makes sure it can fit any future circumstances. One of my favorite examples is this: in Iron Man 2, Tony learns that his suits have a weakness to electricity. In Avengers, he has modified his suit to now absorb electricity to make it easier to fight against it and he ends up at over 400% power in his suit when Thor uses Mjolnir. Then in Endgame, Tony’s newest suit has a port to absorb the electricity that Thor gives him to power up his attacks. It shows Tony not just fixing a problem, but then taking a side effect of the solution and making it better.

[@oodam]

that quote at the end had me emotional bro chill - great video!

[@trotbot10]

Damn bro the end

[@zackbill603]

Just to be a little fair to that scene from The Three-Body Problem: it wasn't only there to show how smart the characters are (although I agree that it sorta feels like it), it's also there to serve an expository purpose - those two characters' field of study is actually kinda necessary information for the plot. Don't get me wrong, that whole scene was really badly done, but I can kinda see how it happened. The series is trying to adapt a book that's really weird to adapt.

[@FilmJunk1e]

Yes, I totally agree and that's actually exactly my point! Sorry for not explaining myself well enough in the video, I should have made it more clear. The point I was trying to make was that these scenes, aside from what they actually do for the plot/characters, often feel like they exist solely to show off a character's intellect as compared to it feeling like it also advances the plot/does something for the story. It sorta ties into the point I tried to make with Conan, Handsome Jack, and Tony being rude. From what i've seen, the way a scene makes the audience feel is just as important as what the characters do in that scene. Which is why I thought it so crucial that regardless of how useful a scene really is for the film, or what that character is doing, it's very important to make sure it expresses itself correctly to the viewer in a way that doesn't annoy them. Hope this clears up my point :D

[@zackbill603]

@@FilmJunk1e That does clear it up, thanks for the detailed response! I get what you were saying now - not "the writers obviously just put this in to demonstrate the characters' intellect", but that it does still make the viewer feel that way. I agree that at the end of day, that's as big of an issue.

[@josepmariasebastian8886]

In my opinion one of the outright "un-adaptable" books.

[@zackbill603]

@@josepmariasebastian8886 Yeah, I have a hard time seeing the series pull off anything close to what the Liu was able to with the books. Still, very curious how they end up handling the next two books - it's gonna be a challenge.

[@vengeance160]

@@zackbill603 There is much better and more faithful chinese adaptation that exists.

[@technicalleon]

Great video! I was Marvel fan even before the MCU was born and I knew about Iron Man from the comics and the cartoons, but the Iron Man movie still managed to blow me away! The way they grounded the fantasy of thr Iron Man tech and made it as close to reality as possible really captured my imagination. Totally agree that they did an amazing job showcasing his intelligence by showing, not telling. They showed every step of the process and we were there to witness it all, and it was glorious. Iron Man left such a deep impression on me when I was younger that I decided to study engineering. Tony literally changed the course of my life, second only to Jesus. I'm glad I got to witness Tony's story to the end.

[@vidal9747]

1:40 If we are considering indirect murder, how the hell Tony was able to kill more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

[@CvBurgundy]

Upper estimates of the death toll in Hiroshima and Nagasaki total out to around 246,000 people. The death toll of the Second Congo war was around 5.4 million - Which is about 5.2 Million more deaths. This could indirectly linked to the many arms dealers that existed between 1998 and 2003, which could include Stark Industries for all we know.

[@TheArklyte]

In MCU Stark Industries could literally be holding patents for AR-15, AR-18 and, after 1991, AK. That short list cover three main firearms families that make up majority of infantry service rifles used worldwide by all sides of all conflicts. The other problem is that we don't know how much MCU differs from our reality before that. Maybe usage of chemical and biological weapons by non-state actors is widespread there? If Avengers can't help put ahead world peace while having Thor and Vision on the team, likely the nuclear weapons are also more prolific.

[@alaricvis09]

As a fan of the books, I'm glad I watched the Tencent version of 3 Body, and not the Netflix slop.

[@deltadark5748]

One of the better mcu movies Ive watched, still holds up really well compared to some others Also please do not overdose on films, junkies need a limit

[@DragunovDio]

the millenial falcon thing is like "oh yeah fix your check engine light just by disconecting the light"

[@elijahknox4421]

I love how every time a KZbinr talks about bad writing, they go to the star wars sequels

[@soldierstride554]

The progression point is the visual example of "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't do hard work". A smart character that doesn't exert effort yet achieves great things just isn't satisfying. What makes a smart character smart is indeed the scale of their achievements and how fast they can do it, but also the fact they are still just people and need to work towards it.

[@isaachunsberger2484]

Theres a reason Iron Man is probably the biggest reason the supe hero genre is so big. The first Iron man movie brought comic books to life and gave depth to the characters. it jumpstarted 15 years of Marvel movies, along with DC trying to match their magic.

[@mimikcute4662]

To be fair, in the case of Rey, Force users can cheat at a lot of things because the Force whispers answers to them all the time. Both Anakin and Luke were good at technology, and the old Sith even had a technique called Mechu-deru, which is basically technopathy.

[@ArcNine9Angel]

If only that was part of the intention with the story-telling. But we know it wasn't. 😅

[@H3rcules]

Jon Favreau really killed it on this film, it will forever be engrained in my brain. I miss when marvel films had an ounce of practical not just a green stage.

[@saranshsarafmr23r06]

the message on the end, just won my heart

[@RetroCube]

7:09 I also like this part because he’s actually explaining the problem to Yinsen in a way that still keeps the audience interested. I always loved that we’re with Tony and watching him break down issues and try new things, rather than just random technobabble for one sentence and it’s automatically fixed. Feels a lot more realistic.

[@Two_Thumbz]

Hit me right in the feels with the end. Thanks!

[@BuckshotShelby17]

I watched Iron Man 1 as a kid as many have, and fell in absolute love. Loved the R8 and the realistic take of the movie. The first 2 will always be the best Later on in life I always watched it while doing homework in high school (strangely it helped me do math better haha) and then post school, working on my business and projects. Now today, I own an R8 and am actively working on funding an Ironman project with incredible engineers. It’s amazing how much of an inspiration that love was and is

[@kaiserxion]

Saying Tony Stark doesn't have a super power is selling him short. His super intelligence is his super power. Most people with his level of intelligence are only that intelligent in one of two fields but he can essentially learn anything. That's above a human level of intelligence. People also tend to underestimate the power of science. We have things science has created that can allow us to create more things that other animals couldn't possibly understand and given the right items we can over power any other animal. P.S. Great video lol

[@ver_nick]

Conan and Schlansky example was unexpected, because I absolutely love this duo. The whole video is really great!

[@Anonymous-fr2op]

I think Robert's charisma also plays a part. Cuz in the comics, tony genuinely seems annoying at times.

[@canonicallyVII]

Understatement of the year

[@claudius3359]

I've never read any Iron Man comics,just summaries and when he cameos on other stuff,so this is gonna be kind of a wild guess. I don't think it's just his charisma.It's also because despite his annoying antics being funny,the movie acknowledges that he's wrong.He's wrong and he needs to learn from his mistakes to change. Meanwhile the comics has been going on for a while.So even if Tony does learn something in a story arc,it's not impossible that the writers will put him to square one.

[@Shyuthrosnaevin]

9:53 "was it Ivan?" wait hold on wtf niko bellic said that exact same line when he made a very similar remark 😭

[@monty-my54]

Yup! To vlad if I remember correctly

[@TheBreadPirate]

Brilliant summary! Take small achievable, goals, and expand them to make the genius look smart.

[@mr_minepiesek]

12:40 - 13:16 how beautifully said

[@Sirperfluous]

I loved the quote at the end. So wholesome, and a really good quote

[@rebelblade7159]

Smartness and superpowers are same in the way that they are like tools and not the person themselves. Using smartness or having superpowers as the only part of a character's identity makes them no different from being a machine. Their personality, goals, struggles and internal conflicts along with interactions with other characters is what makes them human while their powers or intellect are simply used by them rather than being their defining trait.

[@N8_MODEL_0001]

The Rey example leaves out context, even if you still think its a poor use of that scene. Han and Rey had previously talked about how the Falcon's owner after Han lost it added a compressor to the hyperdrive, this was Rey removing that compressor they had discussed, which she presumably recognized as a scrapper. I didn't like the use of Rey's character either but using bad examples can backfire your whole point. Good video otherwise.

[@andrewsturrup8751]

The point being made is that the whole scenario feels contrived to push a “Im smarter than you” narrative. I haven’t seen the movie but Im gonna guess there’s no explanation for the compressor being installed or what it’s supposed to do. In that case it exists solely for the character to demonstrate their superiority.

[@cameroonkendrick6312]

I love the teamwork between Thor, cap, and iron man. Thor can borrow caps shield and cap can borrow Thors hammer and combine it to make a huge vibration attack. Cap can reflect iron man’s laser to create a powerful laser that can effortlessly wipe out an area of enemies and Thor can charge up iron man’s suit to make crazy attacks

[@Gonz-o8j]

Tiny detail that Jhon Fabreu is a kind of genius, but in a sense of how he works characters, and he is constrained, so he was able to make a smart character be believable by working in an angle, by that I mean he shows the superior inteligence of Tony Stary trought his wit.

[@lezhilo772]

7:03 I think this scene also serves the purpose of building Auggie and Jin's characters: they are confident in their abilities, they aren't afraid to show it, and they are annoyed by the guy and want to get rid of him. The scene also serves as exposition because when scientific concept is such a big part of the show, having the main characters spell out their jobs for the audience is appropriate. Now many people know what scientists actually do.

[@McKennaBates]

First video from this channel I've watched. Awesome video.

[@ellisalinea4777]

Still the best mcu movie

[@dryames4319]

Facts💪🏾

[@Makememesandmore]

Well, as all of us writers say... if you think your character has too much trauma... GIVE THEM MORE

[@Makememesandmore]

Mine lost one of their parents, got their wings and halo torn off, became half-blind, got locked in a facility, got hated on by literally everyone there for holding back valuable information, got tortured for that information, got her power, her only defense, locked away in cubes (Basically everything that made her an Angel, gone)... burnt the place down... because she was an angel no human wanted anything to do with her, got infected by a Shadow, got betrayed by the friends (she literally saved the lives) of and thrown into yet another cage and treated like an animal because she was 'dangerous'. That's about as far as I've gotten lmao. I definitely have some suppressed trauma up there.

[@rigonegrete5169]

Beautiful video, subscribed fasho 💐

[@McKennaBates]

4:14 Oh, there was definitely a reason for him being alive.

[@PrometheanConsulting]

As someone who works intimately with technology prototyping, I wish everyone could experience the magic and joy of taking something from concept to something you can hold in your hands and do something that was once science fiction.

[@MEYH3M]

Alright because you mentioned handsome jack you've earned my sub 😂❤

[@shiruotakuno28]

Tldr: Tony learns from his mistakes.

[@Zombiesnyder13]

Kevin Feige was the only one at the time capable of saving this movie from AVI ARAD

[@UdayKharat-ch6d]

The Title of the video cannot be more PERFECT than this

[@KingdomOnslaught]

Something I find really cool about the creation of the suit is it shows the audience Tony's step by step process for creating and testing the suit. As the movies go on, of course we no longer get a long drawn out creation sequence, but because of these scenes in the first film we as the audience can bridge the gap from one suit to another. By going over all the details in the first Iron Man movie, all subsequent movies that include Iron Man let the audience know that new suits came with a similar building/testing process and even though we don't see it, we can believe that it is something that happened which allows us to welcome any new upgrades Tony might appear with.

[@e.a.n_a.n.t.h.o.n.y]

You cooked with this vid ✋🏼😮‍💨🤚🏼

[@nickgerald4359]

2:11 “Becomes depressed” Literally in every movie he’s in he gets depressed. Big mood

[@johnsmith-jq1uc]

best mcu film

[@jonatandewaele637]

"while for me personally this universe has already come to an end" man, I feel that, for a long time I wondered how they'd ever wrap up such a complex and amazing cinematic universe, but they just slowly strangled it

[@Oaisus]

The only problem with the movie is the purpose of the arc reactor. In the cave he was told that the thing in his chest was an electro magnet to keep shapnel out of his heart but Pepper pulls that part out later and when Stain takes the arc reactor for his suit Tony just kind of starts dying? It makes no sense.

[@LucianDevine]

I mean, Tony wasn't going to be in a good way when Pepper pulled out the magnet either. They just fixed the problem before it could escalate. Compare that to the later scene when Tony is paralyzed for about 15 minutes in addition to the lack of the arc reactor powering the electromagnet. We don't know how far away his lab is from the couch he was on, or how long it took him to get there, and we don't need to. We can see how dire of a situation he's in without needing to see the whole journey.

[@Oaisus]

@LucianDevine He wouldn't just get better if shrapnel did start getting into his heart and the magnet was turned back on.

[@JamesHock]

Damn, now I need to go rewatch Iron Man

[@zewps9502]

5:35 actually as a Star Wars nerd I have to challenge this. Her actions make complete sense within universe, and its believable that she'd know to do it (being a Jakku scrapper teaches you a lot about little things like this). Her piloting skills are questionable but like hey that's not an exclusive thing lol. The writing point about it just being there to show her 'being smart' is valid tho. It's still a stupid scene story-wise. And kinda character-wise tbh, cause Han should know that just as much as she should, if not more. And, y'know, she acts kinda over the top about it, leading to a lot of people being turned off of the character after this scene.

[@hazzak4354]

Bro the Handsome Jack comparison is perfect He's such an underrated villain in mainstream media

[@Plorrry]

I agree completely! Iron man 1 was a movie to showed us his intellect (in action), rather than telling us (with dialogue).

[@marcusp2885]

Another grounding aspect is the fact that a lot of suits (the ones that don't fly in the scene) are real physical suits with little motors and stuff moving them, they look like they could be physically possible because they are based on something that could almost be physically possible. This grounding and art direction makes the process of building things and tony's mechanical intelligence feel like it makes so much sense.

[@imjustbudder]

Had me tear up a bit at the end. Was not expecting that.

[@Maria_Bar]

Now this is a love letter I never knew i needed. And that's not me crying in the end. Dammit

[@HCarrero928]

Please post more video on character analysis im obsessed with your content!

[@sundernewar2002]

The thing where you said that about Tony building a fictional suit but still seems believable is because of the steps shown is actually very accurate and I think thats what makes him different from Riri Williams(Iron Heart), because in Wakanda Forever 2 times she just spawns with a suit without showing the effort to make it. And she was shown unbelievably genius because she made a sensor that detects vibranium but she made it for a school project or something.

[@lewa1938]

That ending Woah what a quote Sounds like he is a legend if you give him that title Wishing both of you the best 🖖

[@ricardoadrianluciogarza6592]

I like how they used the icing problem as a chekhov's gun at the end. Tony knew about it and solve it, cuz we saw how he tested the suit and failed again and again. At the end he got the best armor he could build at that moment, he wasnt an expert using it but he knew better than the bad guys. They didnt know about it, so Stane's suit started to freeze when they got high in the sky. So there it is: everyone who saw the Freezing scene before the fight knew about that, so Tony used what he knows and what we know and gave it a try and BOOM! He shows he's smart cuz he used the same information we had but in a creative and unexpected way to fight Stane!

[@BoxySonic]

I love how the movies reflect Robert's real world transformation