Iron Man (TV series) 3004559 225733293 2008-07-15T03:36:33Z TMC1982 96890 /* External links */ {{About|the 1994 Animated TV Series|other uses|Iron Man (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox Television | bgcolour = | show_name = Iron Man (1994 TV series) | image = [[Image:1994 Iron Man Cartoon Season 1 Title.jpg|250px]] | caption = The title design for Season 1 of ''Iron Man''. | format = [[Animated television program|Animated]] | camera = | picture_format = | audio_format = | runtime = approx. 26 minutes/episode | creator = | developer = | executive_producer = | starring = [[Robert Hays]]<br>[[James Avery (actor)|James Avery]]<br>[[John Reilly (soap opera actor)|John Reilly]]</br>([[Iron_Man_%28TV_series%29#Cast|see below]]) | narrated = | opentheme = | endtheme = | country = {{USA}} | network = [[Broadcast syndication|First-run syndication]] (1994-1996) <br/> [[UPN Kids]] (1998-1999) | first_run = | first_aired = [[September 24]], [[1994 in television|1994]] | last_aired = [[February 24]], [[1996 in television|1996]] | num_episodes = 26 | list_episodes = List of Iron Man episodes | website = http://members.aol.com/drg4/im.html?f=fs | imdb_id = 0115218 | tv_com_id = 3848 }} '''''Iron Man''''' is an [[animated television series]] based on [[Marvel Comics]]' [[superhero]] [[Iron Man]]. The series aired from [[1994 in television|1994]] to [[1996 in television|1996]] in [[Television syndication|syndication]] as part of ''[[The Marvel Action Hour]]'', which packaged ''Iron Man'' with another animated series based on Marvel properties, the ''[[Fantastic Four (1994 animated series)|Fantastic Four]]'', with one half-hour episode from each series airing back-to-back. The show was backed by a toy line that featured many armor variants. Interestingly, this series of Iron Man was among the few television series to be rerecorded in [[THX]]. This may have been usual at the time for a motion picture, but it is rare for a television series. Off the heels of the release of the live-action ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'' film in [[2008 in film|2008]], reruns began airing on [[Toon Disney]]. ==Series overview== Although only lasting two seasons, ''Iron Man'' was the subject of a major overhaul between seasons when its production studio was changed. The result was a massively changed premise, tone, and general approach, which left the disparate seasons scarcely recognizable as being two halves of the same series. ===First season=== [[Image:The Origin of Iron Man Episode.jpg|left|thumb|[[Iron Man]]'s design on the first season of his 1990s animated series.]] The first season of ''Iron Man'' featured little more than a ''[[Masters of the Universe]]''-style battle of "good against evil", as billionare industrialist Tony Stark battled the evil forces of the world-conquering [[Mandarin (comics)|Mandarin]] as the armored superhero, Iron Man. In his evil endeavours to steal Stark's technology and Iron Man's armor, the Mandarin led a group of villains consisting of [[Dreadknight]], [[Blizzard (Donnie Gill)|Blizzard]], [[Blacklash]], [[Grey Gargoyle]], [[Hypnotia]], [[Whirlwind (comics)|Whirlwind]], [[Living Laser]], [[MODOK]], [[Fin Fang Foom]], [[Justin Hammer]]. To combat these villains, Iron Man had the help of his own team (based on [[Force Works]], a then-current comic book team which has since faded into obscurity), including [[Century (comics)|Century]], [[War Machine]], [[Scarlet Witch]], [[Hawkeye (comics)|Hawkeye]] and [[Julia Carpenter|Spider Woman]]. The season consisted mostly of single-episode open-and-shut-case adventures, with two two-part stories late towards the end. Unlike many other Marvel animated series, despite featuring over-the-top titles that paid homage to the early [[Stan Lee]] written Marvel comics of the [[1960s]] (for example, "The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat", and "Rejoice, I am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer"), almost none of the episodes were adaptations of comic book stories, consisting instead of original stories penned by [[Ron Friedman]], occasionally collaborated on by Stan Lee himself. The closest the season came to adapting a comic book tale was in the two-part "The Origin of Iron Man," which recounted a (modified and modernized) version of the character's comic book origin (see below) just before the season concluded. This late-run recounting of the title character's origin is symptomatic of what is generally thought of as the season's greatest weakness - despite (or perhaps because of) having such a large cast of characters, very few of of the show's heroes and villains were actually developed in any way, leaving viewers unware of their personal stories and powers. <ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/retrospective/ironman/part2.php Marvel Animation Age<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The show is generally held to have been at its best when filling in these origin blanks (MODOK in "Enemy Without, Enemy Within,"<ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/episode/enemywithout/ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Iron Man and the Mandarin in their self-titled "The Origin of..." episodes<ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/episode/originmandarin/ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>), but these were rare occasions, with virtually every other plot simply consisting of the Mandarin attempting to steal Stark's newest invention and being bested, often through very strange and illogical means (with the nadir perhaps being Iron Man somehow using the energy of a small tape-player to restore his armor to full power in "Silence My Companion, Death My Destination"<ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/episode/silencemy/ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>). Animation for the first season was produced by the [[Rainbow Animation Group]], but compared poorly to other Marvel shows such as ''[[Spider-Man (1994 TV series)|Spider-Man]]'' and ''[[X-Men (TV series)|X-Men]]'', coming off as outdated and very [[1980s|'80s]]-esque, featuring many visible errors at a time when such things were on a decrease in cartoons. One of the most distinctive pieces of animation in the season was an amor-donning [[stock footage]] sequence for Stark, which saw the hero transform his briefcase into his armor and suit up for action. The sequence was not without its own limitations - it depicted Stark standing in his lab, wearing a white jacket, but would be used regardless of where Stark was or what he was wearing in the episodes themselves, creating massive visual disconnects. Additionally, in all but one instance (in "The Origin of Iron Man"), the sequence featured some brief moments of primitive CGI, in which Stark levitated his helmet from the ground and donned it. The "dead air" the sequence created would often be somewhat forcibly filled by lines of dialog from off-screen characters, which were inserted later in production - actor [[Jim Cummings]] (MODOK) would frequently have to provide the voice of the off-screen War Machine during the sequences, (whose regular actor [[James L. Avery, Sr.|James Avery]] was evidently not available for the pick-ups) but sounded nothing like the character. ===Second season=== [[Image:1994 Iron Man Cartoon Season 2 Title.jpg|thumb|right|The title design for Season 2.]] In [[1995 in television|1995]], Marvel switched ''The Marvel Action Hour'' to a new animation studio (as previously mentioned, the animation in Season 1 was provided by the Rainbow Animation Group, while the animation in Season 2 was provided by [[Koko Enterprises]]), and with it came new writers (Ron Friedman was replaced by [[Tom Tataranowicz]]<ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/interviews/tom/ Tom Tataranowicz Talks Iron Man]</ref> for Season 2) and new music for each sequence, coupled with a new direction for the series. The first season's subtle keyboard [[theme music]] for ''Iron Man'' (composed by [[progressive rock]] artist [[Keith Emerson]]) was replaced by an intense [[electric guitar]] theme featuring the repeated refrain of "I am Iron Man!", while showing Tony Stark beating red-hot iron plates into shape with a blacksmith's hammer<ref>[http://tv.ign.com/articles/870/870971p2.html The greatest thing to come from the first-ever Iron Man-centric TV series is the incredibly awesome second (and final) season opening credits. Those credits feature a shirtless, mulleted Tony Stark using a large hammer to create his armor, while cheesy faux-metal plays, complete with a familiar refrain – "I am Iron Man!" – That's both awful and wonderful all at once.]</ref>. Tony Stark's longer hair style in the second season was based upon the artist [[M.D. Bright|Mark Bright]]'s depiction of Stark from the late 1980s, which is where most of the episodes from Season 2 were based upon. The new storylines spanned multiple episodes and were no longer "open and shut" cases. They formed a linking narrative, featuring themes of duplicity, consequence, and phobias. Also, the stories were no longer centered on the Mandarin, whose rings had been scattered and whose power had been depleted. While the Mandarin did appear in these episodes, his appearances were reduced to cameos in the cliffhangers at the end of the story, as he tried to retrieve each ring. [[Image:05 Iron Man Season 2 Design Fire and Rain.jpg|thumb|left|Iron Man's second season design.]] Another change was that Force Works was mostly written out of the series, parting ways with Stark after he deceives them in order to work in secret against the Mandarin. This split would be revisited with Stark's ensuing conflicts with [[Hawkeye (comics)|Hawkeye]] over the course of several episodes. Also, [[War Machine]] develops a phobia of being trapped inside his armor (also based on a then-current comic storyline), but this is resolved before the final episode. In the finale,<ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/episode/handsmandarin1/ The Hands Of The Mandarin, Part One]</ref><ref>[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/episode/handsmandarin2/ The Hands Of The Mandarin, Part Two]</ref> the Mandarin, having regained all of his rings, unleashes a mist using the heart of darkness to render everything technological useless. Iron Man reunites with Force Works in order to stop him. The Mandarin unmasks Iron Man before their final showdown ends in his apparent death. After disappointing [[Nielsen Ratings|ratings]], the series was cancelled. ==In comparision with the comics== As described above, the first season of the series bases very few of its stories on the comic books, aside from its retelling of Iron Man's origin. In modernizing the character's origin story, Tony Stark is not injured in a Vietnamese war zone, but in an act of industrial sabotage plotted by [[Justin Hammer]] and the [[Mandarin (comics)|Mandarin]]. Wounded not by a chunk of shrapnel near his heart, but by slivers near his spine, Stark and [[Ho Yinsen]] (whose first name is changed to Wellington) were held captive by the Mandarin, rather than [[Wong Chu]]. The Mandarin himself was subject to heavy modification, altered by his rings to a much greater extent than in the comics. He gained green skin (a fate which befell other Asian villains in animation around the time, such as [[Doctor No]] in ''[[James Bond Junior]]'' and [[Ming the Merciless]] in ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'') and an enhanced musculature, but the show ''did'' retain the connection between his origin and [[Fin Fang Foom]]. Aside from these origin stories, the only episode to draw on a comic book in any way was "Rejoice! I Am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer," which featured the Mandarin's robotic servant [[Ultimo (Marvel Comics)|Ultimo]] from the 1960s, but featured his appearance and alien-born origin from the 1990s. The Mandarin's minions (with the exception of the original character, [[Hypnotia]]) were all solo operators in the comics, most significantly arms-dealing business man Justin Hammer, who was a criminal mastermind in his own right, rather than a villain who would serve another. [[Force Works]], on the other hand, were lifted straight from the comics, but their actual civilian roles were never defined in the cartoon, save for [[Julia Carpenter|Spider-Woman]], who was recast as the vice president of research and development for [[Stark Enterprises]]. Notably, the cartoon's [[Scarlet Witch]] owes next to nothing to the comic book character: here, she is a mystical, tarot-reading spiritualist identified in the closing credits as "Wanda Frank" (as opposed to the comics' "Wanda Maximoff"), who speaks with a thick Eastern-European (or according to the [[closed captioning]], German!) accent and refers to other characters as "pumpkin" and "cupcake." Her power is identified as a "hex sense," but what the ''means'' is never explained, and seems to allow her to do anything, from shape-changing to matter manipulation. In a sub-plot crafted solely for the cartoon, Spider-Woman and the Scarlet Witch vie for the affections of Iron Man. The second season performed a complete turnaround, and began regularly adapting major Iron Man comic book stories including "Dragon Seed" (as "The Beast Within"), "Armor Wars" and "The Hands of the Mandarin" and introducing more characters derived from the comic books, including [[HOMER (comics)|HOMER]], [[Firebrand (Marvel Comics)|Firebrand]], [[Sunturion]] and more. Stark's armor on the show was the [[Iron Man's armor#Modular Armor|Mark XI "Modular Armor"]], which was the suit he was wearing in the comics at the time. The first season modified his helmet design to add a traditional mouth slit, but the second season restored the "mouthless" comic book design. {{details|Iron Man's armor}} ==Future== A new ''Iron Man'' series was in production in [[History of French animation|France]] for airing in 2006 alongside a new ''Fantastic Four'' series, in effect reviving ''The Marvel Action Hour'', though it remains to be seen if they will be aired together or not. In September 2006, the ''Fantastic Four'' series aired on [[Toonami]] at 8:00 p.m. every Saturday; the ''Iron Man'' series did not. ==Cast== * [[Robert Hays]] - [[Iron Man|Iron Man/Tony Stark]], [[Living Laser]] * [[James Avery (actor)|James Avery]] - [[War Machine|War Machine/James Rhodes]] (Season 1, episodes 1-10), Whirlwind (Season 1, episodes 1-10), [[Blacklash]] (Season 1, episodes 1-10) * [[Jim Cummings]] - [[MODOK]], [[Century (comics)|Century]] ("The Beast Within" only), many additional supporting characters (including [[Bill Clinton]]) and stand-in vocals for War Machine, Grey Gargoyle & Justin Hammer * [[Dorian Harewood]] - War Machine/James Rhodes (Season 1, episode 6 onwards)), [[Whirlwind (comics)|Whirlwind]] (Season 1, episode 11 onwards), [[Blacklash]] (Season 1, episode 11 onwards), [[Stilt-Man]] * [[John Reilly (soap opera actor)|John Reilly]] - [[Hawkeye (comics)|Hawkeye/Clint Barton]], [[Abner Jenkins|Beetle]] * [[Jennifer Darling]] - [[Scarlet Witch|Scarlet Witch/Wanda Frank]] (Season 2), [[Hypnotia]] (Season 2) * [[Casey Defranco]] - [[Julia Carpenter|Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter]] (Season 1) * [[Jennifer Hale]] - Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter (Season 2), [[Ghost (Marvel Comics)|Ghost]] (shared) * [[Tom Kane]] - [[H.O.M.E.R.]], [[Century (comics)|Century]] ("Hands of the Mandarin" only), [[Stingray (comics)|Stingray]], [[Ghost (Marvel Comics)|Ghost]] (shared), [[Sunturion]] * [[James Warwick]] - [[Century (comics)|Century]] (Season 1), Sam Jaggers, General Hirsch * [[Ed Gilbert]] - [[Mandarin (comics)|The Mandarin]] (Season 1), [[Grey Gargoyle]], [[Ultimo (Marvel Comics)|Ultimo]] * [[Robert Ito]] - The Mandarin (Season 2) ===Recurring cast=== * [[Philip Abbott]] - [[Nick Fury]] * [[Neil Dickson]] - [[Dreadknight]] * [[Linda Holdahl]] - [[Hypnotia]] (Season 1) * [[Chuck McCann]] - [[Blizzard (comics)|Blizzard]] * [[Richard McGonagle]] - Walter Stark (Season 2) * [[Neil Ross]] - [[Fin Fang Foom]], [[Ho Yinsen|Wellington Yinsen]], Walter Stark (Season 1), Blizzard ("The Beast Within" only) * [[Tony Steedman]] - [[Justin Hammer]] (Season 1) * [[Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.]] - [[Justin Hammer]] (Season 2), [[Firepower (comics)|Firepower]] ===Guest cast=== * [[Dimitra Aryls]] - Martha Stark * [[Sarah Douglas]] - Alana Ulanova * [[Jeannie Elias]] - Veronica Benning * [[Matt Frewer]] - [[Leader (comics)|The Leader]] * [[Jamie Horton]] - [[Controller (Marvel Comics)|The Controller]], [[Ghost (Marvel Comics)|Ghost]] (shared) * [[Julia Kato]] - Dr. Su-Yin * [[Todd Louiso]] - The Hacker * [[Gerard Maguire]] - [[Titanium Man]] * [[Neal McDonough]] - [[Firebrand (Marvel Comics)|Firebrand]] * [[Ron Perlman]] - [[Hulk (comics)|Hulk/Robert Bruce Banner]] * [[Stu Rosen]] - [[Crimson Dynamo]] * [[Marla Rubinoff]] - Elastika * [[William Morgan Sheppard]] - [[Dum Dum Dugan]] * [[Scott Valentine]] - Dark Aegis * [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]] - Arthur Dearborn * [[Lisa Zane]] - [[Madame Masque]] ==List of episodes== {{main|List of Iron Man episodes}} ==DVD release== On [[October 8]], [[2007]], both series were released together in a [[Region 2]] three-disc set. The set retails for £14.99 RRP, which is particularly cheap for a full season set of an animated series. However, the show features no subtitles or extras and has static menus. In [[Region 1]], [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] owns the rights to it, as well as many other Marvel animation programs of the 1980s and 1990s, and has shown no plans to release it. ==Alternate versions== ===Japan=== When the show had aired in Japanese television stations, the opening sequence was changed, featuring a new [[J-Pop]] theme song by [[Prettycast]], and splicing in scenes from various episodes alongside the original opening animation, a similar change was made to the ending credits sequence. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.ironmancommunity.com Iron Man Comic Strip Community Site] *{{imdb title|id=0115218|name=Iron Man}} *{{Tv.com show|id=3848|title=Iron Man}} *[http://members.aol.com/drg4/im.html?f=fs DRG4's Iron Man: The Animated Series page] *[http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironman/ Marvel Animation Age - ''Iron Man''] *[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/i/iron1994.htm International Catalogue of Superheroes] *[http://www.pazsaz.com/ironman.html Iron Man - Pazsaz Entertainment Network] *[http://www.virtualtoychest.com/ironman/ironman.html Virtual Toy Chest] *[http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=160760 Avengers In Animation - A Look Back] *[http://tv.ign.com/articles/870/870971p2.html The History of Iron Man on TV] {{Marvel animated universe}} {{Iron Man}} [[Category:1990s American animated television series]] [[Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States]] [[Category:Marvel animated universe]] [[Category:Marvel Comics animation]] [[Category:1994 television series debuts]] [[Category:1996 television series endings]] [[Category:Iron Man television series]] [[it:Iron Man (serie televisiva 1994)]] [[nl:Iron Man (animatieserie)]] [[pl:Iron Man: Obrońca dobra]] [[fi:Rautamies (vuoden 1994 animaatiosarja)]]