Chapter 587: Duke Is My Enemy

Tony Stark was a super genius whose inventions and products were strictly top of the line. But Pepper Potts had led Natasha and a team of agents into Stark Industries to apprehend Obadiah Stane, putting them in imminent danger. With no time to build a second Arc Reactor, Tony had to use his underpowered, obsolete first-generation tech to fight Obadiah Stane's Iron Monger.

Iron Man arrived just in time to save Pepper Potts, Agent Coulson, and the rest, but found himself locked in a bitter struggle against the Iron Monger. The two fought from the ground to the sky, and from the sky to the sea. The Hollywood District was ravaged beyond recognition. The terrazzo on the Walk of Fame shattered to pieces, the Highland Center was smashed full of massive holes, and the portico of the Hollywood Chinese Theater was reduced to utter ruins.

Lacking any innate superpowers, Tony Stark relied entirely on his Iron Battle Suit. However, its severe lack of power made him no match for Obadiah Stane's Iron Monger, leaving him at a complete disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Obadiah Stane's mercenaries breached Stark Industries, preparing to encircle and eliminate Pepper Potts and Agent Coulson.

"Where is Black Widow?"

Drake suddenly noticed someone was missing. Naturally, he didn't believe for a second that the agent named Natasha Romanoff had fled the battle.

Right then, the camera abruptly shifted. Natasha Romanoff stripped off her suit to reveal a Lycra Bodysuit underneath. True to her moniker, the fully transformed Black Widow was deadly. She carved her way into the mercenary ranks from the perimeter. Utilizing masterful agility and an array of high-tech close-quarters weaponry, she took down the mercenaries one after another with incredible stealth attacks.

"Cool!"

Watching the beautiful agent's masterful skills and fox-like cunning, waves of amazed gasps rippled through the theater.

Drake's eyes widened until they nearly popped. For this sequence alone, the movie was entirely worth a trip to the theater.

Sure enough, that so-called online leak was absolutely not the final version Duke had edited.

"A goddess..." someone nearby murmured. "That's my goddess. God, save me."

Just to Drake's left, a boy suddenly declared to his companion, "From this day forward, Duke is my enemy!"

His companion asked in confusion, "Isn't Duke your favorite director? How did he become your enemy?"

"Because I've decided to become a Scarlett Johansson fan," he stated matter-of-factly. "Duke snatched away my goddess. If he isn't my enemy, who is?"

He didn't keep his voice down. Drake clearly saw several people nearby nodding in agreement.

Men were, in the end, simply creatures controlled by hormones.

While Natasha Romanoff showed off her skills, Iron Man lured the Iron Monger high into the atmosphere. The freezing temperatures up there caused the Iron Monger to ice over and plummet like a stone. Despite his depleted power, Iron Man relied on his backup reserves to slowly descend back to Stark Industries.

The factory, designed specifically for manufacturing weapons, had been reduced to a devastated mess.

After a series of stealth attacks, Natasha Romanoff was finally spotted by the mercenaries. She then demonstrated another of her skills: godlike marksmanship.

With Black Widow's support, Agent Coulson and his men also launched an assault from the inside. Caught in a pincer movement, the mercenaries were finally routed, allowing the scattered groups to successfully converge near the Arc Reactor.

It seemed a grand reunion was about to unfold.

Was it really going to end just like this? Many in the audience wondered.

Of course it wouldn't end like this. The Iron Monger reappeared. With his life hanging by a thread, Tony Stark lured his opponent directly above the Arc Reactor, intending to use the massive energy of the reactor's self-destruction to kill the Iron Monger. But Pepper Potts, manning the reactor's controls, couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.

In the nick of time, Natasha Romanoff leapt out and slammed the self-destruct button herself.

The Iron Monger was finished, and Iron Man obviously wasn't going to die. But since their massive battle had caused such a colossal commotion, the government and the military still needed to give the public and the media an explanation.

However, at the press conference, Tony Stark didn't read from the script Agent Coulson had prepared for him. He announced straight to the media—I am Iron Man!

The press conference erupted. The reporters went completely insane, and the theater went equally wild, the audience's emotions instantly pushed to a fever pitch.

From the start of the film to this very moment, the character of Tony Stark had delivered an entirely new breed of superhero. He brimmed with personal charisma, and publicly revealing his identity as Iron Man pushed that charisma to its absolute peak!

Never before in a Hollywood superhero movie had anyone ever revealed their identity so publicly.

Those traditional superheroes were all secretive, hiding behind masks and living double lives. Tony Stark was a complete outlier.

Yet it was precisely this outlier who gave them an entirely new experience, a fresh thrill.

This was undoubtedly one of the film's biggest surprises. How could anyone not love Tony Stark? How could they not love Iron Man!

In fact, when Drake saw this scene, he immediately thought of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Although he hadn't been there to experience it himself, he had heard his parents mention it countless times: when Darth Vader told Luke Skywalker, "I am your father," the theaters had virtually boiled over, and all of America basically short-circuited. Tony Stark announcing his identity as Iron Man gave him a similar feeling.

He only had to look at the people around him. After Tony Stark's announcement, no one could maintain their composure.

A superhero with this much personality was exactly what they loved.

But the film's surprises weren't over yet. Even though the credits had begun to roll, no one left the theater. The studio had long been promoting the fact that, unlike the leaked version online, there was one final surprise at the end of the movie.

And it truly was a surprise.

Tony Stark accused Natasha Romanoff of being a spy and disregarding whether he lived or died. In response, Natasha Romanoff brought up how she had once fought shoulder-to-shoulder with his father, Howard Stark, and Captain America, Steve Rogers. She then asked Tony Stark to delve into the freezing ice to save an American legend from World War II.

And Nick Fury brought up the initiative to establish The Avengers.

"The Avengers!" Drake muttered softly.

This was another massive piece of news, verifying all the passing dialogue mentioned earlier in the film.

However, he knew very well that this was likely a long-term plan. Who would the next movie feature? Could it be Captain America?

Judging by the information revealed in the final post-credits scene, only Captain America, Steve Rogers, fit the bill.

"Is the next one really Captain America?"

Seeing the movie reach its very end, Aerin Lauder finally couldn't hold back her curiosity. She asked Duke, "Or is it something else?"

"A reboot of Hulk, and Captain America," Duke answered softly.

The biggest problem with the first Captain America film was its distant historical setting. But as the commander of The Avengers, his origins had to be explained no matter what. Fortunately, Steve Rogers represented the orthodox American spirit, making such a character highly appealing in his own right.

While the era of Captain America's peak popularity was long past, strictly speaking, he was still one of Marvel's most famous comic characters. In the Marvel framework, he was the very first superhero in history.

Of course, according to the master plan, Natasha Romanoff would also appear in this movie.

Duke had already read the opening of the script drafted by Marvel's writing team. It featured Black Widow and Iron Man trekking deep into the frozen tundra to rescue Captain America, who was trapped in the ice. The main body of the film would then unfold entirely through Natasha Romanoff's memories.

For someone like Steve Rogers, ideals were more important than life itself. Getting him to align with S.H.I.E.L.D. would absolutely require a bridge.

Having fought alongside him during World War II, Natasha Romanoff was undoubtedly the most persuasive candidate.

Then there was Hulk. He could be considered one of Marvel's A-list comic characters, nearly on par with Spider-Man. Yet, his films were notoriously difficult to get right. Comics and the silver screen were entirely different mediums. When a character who couldn't control himself but possessed super-destructive capabilities was presented to an audience in movie format, how many people would actually like him?

Still, as one of the most powerful heavy-hitters in The Avengers, Marvel had no intention of abandoning a film adaptation for Hulk. They couldn't exactly connect The Avengers to Ang Lee's highly artsy take on Hulk, could they?

The new Hulk movie would probably struggle to recoup its costs through the box office alone. However, for this type of film, the box office was only one part of the revenue stream. Even if the entire project operated at a loss, taking the long view, producing a Hulk movie carried no downsides and plenty of benefits.

As Marvel's largest shareholder, Duke had already brought it up at the Marvel Pictures board meeting: the actor for Hulk had to be someone willing to sign a long-term contract.

Edward Norton had excellent acting skills, but leaned far too heavily into the indie-artsy side and had an incredibly volatile personality. He was completely out of the question.

The silver screen faded to black, and the Hollywood Chinese Theater was once again brightly lit. Applause erupted without a second of hesitation. From the back rows to the very front, every single member of the audience stood up to clap, bright and happy smiles plastered across all their faces.

The film left them feeling deeply satisfied, thoroughly entertained, and completely thrilled...

For the average audience member walking into a theater, very few were there to ponder the philosophies of life. This was more than enough to satisfy their viewing demands and entertainment needs. That psychological satisfaction translated into radiant smiles, fantastic moods, and a willingness to loosen their purse strings for the movie and its related merchandise.

At this exact moment in countless theaters across North America, audiences were standing up to applaud, paying their respects to this spectacular Iron Man.

Duke and Charles Roven led the entire cast and crew onto the small stage in front of the screen for a curtain call. Although the film had concluded, the audience seemed unwilling to leave. Even just getting one more look at the director and the actors would make them all the more satisfied.