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Iron Sky Review

03 Apr 2012

Some things are best enjoyed in small doses. And, if Iron Sky is anything to go by, moon-Nazis fit firmly into that category. The Finnish oddity posits the notion that Hitler sent a military unit into space in 1945, to hide out in a swastika-shaped fortress until they’ve built an Earth-annihilating super-weapon. For the first half hour the lunar lunacy is enjoyable, with surprisingly impressive effects and design. But once the action switches to our planet, it gets bogged down by obvious political satire (the President is a Sarah Palin clone, complete with stuffed moose in the Oval Office) and tonal lurches. Like Machete, it works better as a trailer than a feature, although it does boast surely the year’s best bikini-waxing gag.

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Sadly, a promising premise about Nazis invading from the moon is much more amusing in theory than in execution.

By Leslie Felperin

Leslie Felperin

• Film Review: ‘Traitors’ 11 years ago
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What’s not to like about a movie with Nazis from the moon invading Earth? With Udo Keir as the Fuehrer? The high concept behind sci-fi comedy “ Iron Sky ” is an immediate winner, and the trailer has already built an instant following via a viral marketing campaign, but sadly, the final product is much more amusing in theory than in execution. Made by the Finnish filmmakers behind the oft-downloaded “Star Wreck” spoof series, pic can at least count on support from its small army of fan investors, but otherwise, poor word of mouth may sabotage its plans for world domination.

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At least the effects are pretty good. That’s especially true of the outer-space shots shown in the opening sequence, in which astronauts land on the moon in the year 2018 as a barely disguised campaign stunt to secure the re-election of the president of the United States (Stephanie Paul, a dead ringer for Sarah Palin). However, when the astronauts venture over the wrong moon hill, they come up against space-helmeted stormtroopers , sporting swastika armbands, who shoot one Earthling dead and take hostage the other, James Washington (Christopher Kirby), a brother from our planet chosen only for his media-friendly good looks and race.

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Explicatory dialogue reveals that since 1945, a colony of escaped Nazis has been hiding out on the dark side of the moon, preparing for an invasion of their home planet that will establish the Fourth Reich as the new, new world order. Ailing Fuehrer Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (Kier, underused) has chosen strapping Aryan Klaus Adler (Goetz Otto) as his successor, putting him in charge of the impending long-distance Blitzkrieg.

Adler has himself chosen zealously patriotic schoolteacher/scientist Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) to be his bride based on her eugenic charms. But Renate feels a spark of sympathy for Washington, whom her mad-scientist father (Tilo Prueckner) has turned into a white man via “albinizing” injection.

One way or another, they all end up back on Earth, and through a tortuously silly turn of events, Adler and Renate end up being spokespeople for the president after winning support from her ruthless campaign manager, Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant). But when Renate runs into Washington on the streets, he manages to enlighten her about the true history of her Nazi heritage, a process that involves getting her to see the full-length version of Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” one of the pic’s better gags.

The film’s other funny joke is the reveal in a U.N. Council meeting that every developed nation had used its satellites to make secret weapons of destruction — except Finland, that is. Unfortunately, apart from some passable knockabout stuff and a few other visual gags, that’s about it, and even over the course of the pic’s lean 92-minute running time, it never feels like much more than an overextended comedy sketch, the medium where helmer Timo Vuorensola learned his trade.

Ultimately, “Iron Sky ” is neither good enough to rep a proper breakout hit nor bad enough that it might attain cult status; it’s just kind of lame, the worst of all possible worlds.

Finland-Germany-Australia

• Production: A Blind Spot Pictures, 27 Films Prod., New Holland Pictures production, in association with YLE, with the support of the Finnish Film Foundation, Hessen-Invest Film, Eurimages, DFFF, Screen Queensland, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Media Development Media 121, in cooperation with Yleisradio. (International sales: Stealth Media Group, Los Angeles.) Produced by Oliver Damian, Tero Kaukomaa, Samuli Torssonen, Cathy Overett, Mark Overett. Executive producers, San Fu Maltha, Michael Cowan, Sean O'Kelly, Jason Piette. Directed by Timo Vuorensola. Screenplay, Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vuorensola, based on a story by Johanna Sinisalo, Michael Kalensniko, and a concept by Jarmo Puskala.
• Crew: Camera (color, widescreen, HD), Mika Orasmaa; editor, Suresh Ayyar; music, Laibach; production designer, Ulrika von Vegesack; art director, Jussi Lehtiniemi; costume designer, Jake Collier; sound (Dolby Digital), Heiko Mueller; visual effects supervisor, Samuli Torssonen; visual effects, Tuotantoyhtio Energia; stunt coordinator, Darko Tuscan; assistant director, Peter McLennan; casting, Uwe Buenker. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Panorama Special), Feb. 12, 2012. Running time: 92 MIN.
• With: With: Julia Dietze, Goetz Otto, Christopher Kirby, Tilo Prueckner, Udo Kier, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Michael Cullen. (German, English dialogue)

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Details: 2012, Rest of the world, Cert 15, 93 mins

Direction: Timo Vuorensola

Genre: Sci-fi

Summary: A sci-fi fantasy that imagines the Nazis escaping World War II to build a secret base on the moon, from which they plan a devastating counter-attack.

With: Christopher Kirby ,  Gotz Otto ,  Julia Dietze ,  Kym Jackson ,  Peta Sergeant ,  Stephanie Paul and Udo Kier

Our reviews

Philip french, mike mccahill, andrew pulver.

Andrew Pulver: Timo Vuorensola's community-generated Nazis-in-space comedy looks impressive, but fails to fulfil fans' hopes

User reviews

Related articles, iron sky loses the nazi plot on a cheap moon set.

Alex von Tunzelmann: This futuristic Nazi space movie takes off with some well-researched historical references, but soon veers off the rails into student improvisation

Iron Sky doesn't stand out from the crowdsourcing

How iron sky fell to earth.

Ben Child: With its Nazis in space, Iron Sky promised a comedy that would take flight – but did its fans' involvement drag it down?

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SXSW 2012: IRON SKY Review

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Iron sky: berlin film review.

Any Berlin screening of a cheeky exploitation parody about Nazis in space should be a riot, but Finnish director Timo Vuorensola's sci-fi comedy is uneven, its humor never quite matching the luster of its visuals.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Berlinale Film Festival Press Still Iron Sky - H 2012

BERLIN – There’s a funny premise behind Finnish director Timo Vuorensola ’s Nazis-in-space caper Iron Sky , and a confident grasp of sci-fi B-movie lore, with leather trench-coated Third Reich descendants ably subbing for the usual alien threat. There are also far sturdier production values than are generally assembled for this kind of Euro-lark. It’s just too bad the film runs out of comic juice long before its climactic nuclear showdown.

The good-looking Finnish-German-Australian co-production was resourcefully made on a budget of 7.5 million Euros ($9.9 million U.S.), around 10% of which came from online fan funding. Vuorensola has built a Web following with his culty sci-fi parody Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning . Viral marketing also is expected to figure in the distribution of the more ambitious Iron Sky , with prequel comics, a graphic novel, videogames and apps in the pipeline.

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The film aims to be a more overtly droll foray into the same territory as Starship Troopers , which also sent a fascistic armada into space. The goofy sensibility of Vuorensola and Michael Kalesniko ’s screenplay, based on a story by Finnish sci-fi author Johanna Sinisalo , lies midway between the deadpan, tongue-firmly-in-cheek quality of the Paul Verhoeven adventure and the straight-up spoof of, say, Galaxy Quest . But while the plotting is mostly sound enough, the dialogue would have required several more polishes to put Iron Sky in the league of either of those movies.

It’s the year 2018, seven decades after the end of World War II. A group of Nazi scientists headed by General Wolfgang Kortzfleisch ( Udo Kier ) has been occupying an extensive military base on the dark side of the moon since the original colonists quit Earth in 1945. They are biding their time and developing the technology to launch the Götterdämmerung. The mother of all warships, it will be the key to reclaiming their home planet.

Cute blond Earth expert Renate Richter ( Julia Dietze ) teaches classes to Aryan kids. Her laudatory views on Hitler were formed via a heavily edited copy of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator , which she deems “one of the world’s greatest short films.” Next in line for the Führer position is Klaus Adler ( Götz Otto ), a towering example of chiseled virility whose data research indicates that he and Renate are ideally matched to make genetically perfect babies.

Back on Earth, the Sarah Palin -esque U.S. President ( Stephanie Paul ) has sent a black astronaut – well, actually a model – named James Washington ( Christopher Kirby ) to the moon because “I thought it would look good.” But her re-election bid is in trouble, putting pressure on ruthless campaign manager Vivian Wagner ( Peta Sergeant ).

When James is captured on the moon, his smart phone points the way to a technological breakthrough for the Nazis, whose hardware is still stuck in the ‘40s. The discovery sends Klaus on a mission to Earth to retrieve more of the devices, accompanied by Renate and James. When they tangle with Vivian, operation “Meteor Blitzkrieg” is set off. That development thrills the President, since wartime incumbents always get re-elected.

There’s lots of good stuff here, just not enough subversive wit in the writing or skilled comic delivery from the cast. The nagging thought keeps arising that this is a comedy made by people with a feeble sense of humor. Despite the ample opportunities for political incorrectness in a movie about old-school Nazis Sieg-Heiling their way into present-day America, Iron Sky is almost coy on that front. There’s nary a mention of a Jew. Even the potentially outrageous stunt of a Master Race scientist ( Tilo Prückner ) subjecting a black man to albino-fication treatment is about as shocking – and not nearly as funny – as the Wayans brothers going undercover in White Chicks .

Best of the cast is the delightful Dietze. She brings a sweet balance of naivety and gumption to Renate, who flips sides once she sees the uncut Chaplin movie in a New York theater. As the men she is torn between, Otto and Kirby are fine, though both their characterizations could use some teeth.

Sergeant makes profanity-spewing uber-bitch Vivian abrasive but rarely amusing, even when she’s strutting around the flight deck of a spaceship in a leather catsuit with plumage collar. ( Jake Collier did the sharp costumes, borrowing from Thierry Mugler on that particular one.) As the president with a stuffed polar bear and a treadmill in the Oval Office, Paul makes you really wish Tina Fey were around. And the ever-eccentric Kier sometimes seems to be barely awake.

The hit-and-miss humor is made more frustrating by the production’s physical distinctions. Effects work down the line is solid, seamlessly mixing CGI with low-tech concept art while allowing for an occasional wink at vintage B-movie fakery. Production designer Ulrika von Vegesack does an especially impressive job on the Nazis’ imposing lunar fortress, making it a giant, rather forbidding mechanical toy. And the score by Slovenian avant-garde music collective Laibach adds character, mixing pastiche pop with symphonic elements.

The plot doesn’t quite hang together toward the end, but the real problem is that the jokes are just not there.

Venue: Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama Special)

Cast: Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Christopher Kirby, Udo Kier, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Tilo Prückner, Michael Cullen

Production companies: Blind Spot Pictures, Energia Productions, 27 Films Production, New Holland Pictures

Director: Timo Vuorensola

Screenwriters: Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vuorensola, based on a story by Johanna Sinisalo, original concept by Jarmo Puskala

Producers: Tero Kaukomaa, Samuli Torssonen, Olivier Damian, Cathy Overett, Mark Overett

Executive producer: San Fu Maltha

Director of photography: Mike Orasmaa

Production designer: Ulrika von Vegesack

Music: Laibach

Costume designer: Jake Collier

Editor: Suresh Ayyar

Visual effects supervisor: Samuli Torssonen

Sales: Stealth Media Group

No rating, 92 minutes

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Home Articles Movies Space Nazis, Explosions, and Laughs: Iron Sky Movie Review

Space Nazis, Explosions, and Laughs: Iron Sky Movie Review

By the screen spy team.

Published 12 years ago

Nothing about Iron Sky , Finnish director Timo Vuorensola’s insanely satirical sci-fi comedy, can be called ordinary. A co-production of Finland, Germany, and Australia, filmed partly in New York City and featuring a multi-national cast with nearly half the dialogue in German, the movie depicts a laughably venal, war-hungry US President at odds with similarly deceitful UN heads of state, all trying to prevent an invasion of Nazis from a secret base on the moon. Sounds like a sure summer hit, right?

The very existence of the film is almost as unlikely as its plot. Iron Sky was the buzz of the Internet when the idea was first pitched to the international SF community – the film’s producers sought (and received) crowd sourced funding and technical assistance from excited space Nazi enthusiasts worldwide, and managed to produce a polished feature film with enviable special effects for an astonishingly low budget. The trailer, released to promote Iron Sky’ s debut at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, looked professional and hilarious, with plenty of explosions, goose-stepping bad-guys, mad scientists, and racial and political satire, all set to a ponderous musical score by Laibach.

With such an enticing introduction, would-be fans waited impatiently for the film’s planned general release in April … but sadly most are still waiting, due to problems with distribution. Without advertising and promotional support for a large scale release, the film’s run has turned into a series of special one-night screenings, held wherever enough tickets can be sold. (Upcoming shows are listed on the Iron Sky official website .) Luckily my location coincided with one such screening last night, and I was able to experience Iron Sky on the big screen.

Stephanie Paul as the US President in IRON SKY (Photo © Blind Spot Pictures)

Presumably, anyone going to see Iron Sky understands what they’re in for: a ridiculous B-movie romp. The cultural and social themes are played completely for laughs. The US President, as portrayed by Stephanie Paul, is a Sarah Palin clone who spends most of her time in the Oval Office working out on an elliptical trainer surrounded by taxidermied Alaskan animals. Her campaign advisor is hard-as-nails advertising guru Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant), whose recent brilliant idea to ensure the President’s re-election was to complete a successful moon mission with an African-American astronaut (for which the posters read “Black to the Moon? Yes, she can!”). Although intended only as a publicity stunt, the moon landing goes horribly awry when the hapless black astronaut, James Washington (Christopher Kirby), stumbles upon a secret Nazi base on the moon and is taken captive by predictably racist Nazi scientists.  When they discover the power of Washington’s iPhone, the Nazis are spurred to invade Earth so that they may retrieve this advanced technology and TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Further hilarity ensues as mad Nazi scientist Doktor Richter (Tilo Prückner) succeeds in bleaching Washington into a blond, blue-eyed Aryan, and up-and-coming Fuhrer Klaus Adler (Götz Otto) and his idealistic fiancée Renate (Julia Dietze) accompany the now-white Washington on a mission back to Earth. Adler’s attempt to reach the US President by storming Vivian Wagner’s office turns out to be quite a bit more effective than he had hoped, as Wagner decides to use Adler and his team as the models for a militant new presidential PR campaign … which fits surprisingly well with the President’s over-the-top right wing Republican ideals.

Julia Dietze as Renate Richter, Christopher Kirby as James Washington & Götz Otto as Klaus Adler (Photo © Blind Spot Pictures)

Meanwhile, sweet and innocent Renate becomes disillusioned by the Nazis’ plan, and develops a relationship with Washington (who has been trying desperately to convince anyone who will listen that he’s actually a black astronaut, and the Nazis are invading). Things really take a violent turn when Adler’s rival, the current Fuhrer Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier), arrives on Earth. Soon the US President and the leaders of all the UN countries must come together to fight the Nazi menace and their terrifying massive warship, in a scathing parody of international cooperation (and with many humorous lines reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove ).

Unfortunately, just as the movie reaches its peak of biting satire and hilarity, the tone becomes suddenly serious. The filmmakers seem to have made a choice to end the film with an actual social message, which is a huge mistake. After nearly ninety minutes of cleverly snide dialogue and hysterical bombastic nonsense, we are treated to a series of ham-handed somber final scenes which are truly cringeworthy. The change in tone is completely out of place, and brings the audience’s mood crashing down; the crowd at our showing, which had been laughing and cheering uproariously until that point, became almost silent in obvious discomfort. I’m baffled as to what the director was thinking when he went in this direction … I’d personally love to see a recut version without the preachy ending, which I believe would make an infinitely better film.

The Nazis’ Valkyrie spacecraft attack (Image © Blind Spot Pictures)

Disappointing ending aside, the battle scenes alone (accompanied by Laibach’s soaring “Flight of the Valkyries”-inspired musical score) make it worth the effort to see Iron Sky in a theater, and I highly encourage anyone who plans to see it eventually to try to find a local showing. And even if you don’t manage to catch it on a big screen, if dark but silly political SF comedy is your thing, I urge you to find it on DVD (where I’m sure it will end up sooner rather than later).

Iron Sky is playing (sporadically) in theaters now.

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Iron Sky: The Coming Race

A follow-up to the film Iron Sky (2012) in which Nazis plan to take over the world after lying dormant in a secret military base on the moon. A follow-up to the film Iron Sky (2012) in which Nazis plan to take over the world after lying dormant in a secret military base on the moon. A follow-up to the film Iron Sky (2012) in which Nazis plan to take over the world after lying dormant in a secret military base on the moon.

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• Trivia On a Q&A following the red carpet premiere in Berlin, director Timo Vuorensola revealed that he might be working on a script for a third movie. Udo Kier's immediate response to this was "am I in it?", to which Timo's answer was "Yes".
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Iron Sky: Movie Review

Iron Sky is a 2012 alternate history black comedy about a world where the Nazis fled to the moon in 1945. In 2018 they invade Earth. It was directed by Timo Vuorensola.

Iron Sky: Logline

In 2018 a US astronaut is captured on the moon by Nazis who have been living there since 1945. He is forced to help them with their plans to conquer the Earth, and as the invasion begins he tries to prevent their super-weapon from destroying the world.

Iron Sky: Plot Summary

Warning: My reviews include spoilers. Major spoilers are blacked out like this [blackout]secret[/blackout]. To view them, just select/highlight them.

It’s 2018. An American space mission lands on the Moon. The astronaut, James Washington, discovers a moon-base but the Nazis who live there capture him. A Nazi scientist examines Washington’s iPhone and realises how far behind the lunar Nazis have fallen in computing power.

The moon-Nazi Führer, orders his second-in-command Klaus Adler, and Earth specialist Renate Richter to take a flying saucer to Earth and collect more computers, to power a super-weapon the Nazis have been building for decades.

Landing in New York, the Nazis introduce themselves to the President and begin a successful campaign of Nazi-style propaganda to get the president re-elected. They enjoy themselves on Earth so much that they forget their mission.

But We’re the Bad Guys?

The moon-Nazi Führer follows Adler to New York to find out why it is taking so long to retrieve the computers, but dies. Adler announces he is now the Führer, steals an iPad and returns to the moon. Renate, brought up on Nazi propaganda to believe that they intend a peaceful invasion of Earth, finally realises that Adler’s intentions are malign, and joins Washington in attempting to prevent the attack.

Adler launches the invasion of Earth using a fleet of space-Zeppelins and flying saucers, and a giant spaceship called Götterdämmerung, controlled by the stolen iPad. The nations of the world respond with a fleet of secretly constructed military spacecraft and battle commences.

Under cover of the space battle, [blackout]Renate and Washington take a flying saucer to the Götterdämmerung  and try to disable it. After a fight, Washington disconnects the iPad controlling the Götterdämmerung , and Renate kills Adler.[/blackout]

The [blackout]battle is over, but the Earth nations discover the Nazis mined huge amounts of priceless helium-3. Fighting over the spoils of war quickly degenerates. On the moon, Renate and Washington take charge of the few survivors of the battle as a nuclear war starts on Earth.[/blackout]

Iron Sky: Analysis

Iron Sky has a great high concept:

Nazis from Space!!!!

What could be more fun? What could possibly go wrong with such a great concept? Well…

Iron Sky  wants to be Doctor Strangelove – a cult black-comedy with a political punch. Unfortunately, black-comedy is a very difficult thing to pull off. Instead, Iron Sky  comes across as trying for a camp, B-Movie, “so bad it’s good” vibe.

The failures are almost all down to the plot structure, or lack of one. Iron Sky  has a Playing Defence plot (See Four archetypal plots ) but it lacks focus, sharpness and even logic. The antagonist’s quest, for an iPad to power the Nazi super-weapon, sets a tone of silliness that undermines any attempt at biting or black humour.

The movie also has no real protagonist. Washington is probably supposed to be the protagonist, but he doesn’t drive the story and practically disappears for large parts of the movie. Renate is the only other sympathetic character but isn’t a strong protagonist either.

The central section, where Adler becomes successful in US politics by using Nazi slogans, could have gone somewhere, but just disappeared again in order for the basically unrelated invasion finale. The invasion itself and the concluding space battle work well as CGI-fests, but they have very little emotional punch.

Comedy Space Nazis

The biggest problem though is that Iron Sky  just isn’t that funny. Most of the best jokes are in the trailer (“Vere are ve from?” “Ze dark side of ze moon!”) and the rest barely register a ‘huh?’. The satire of US politics could have worked, but it’s difficult to satirise a figure as ridiculous as Sarah Palin.

The acting is pretty mediocre as well. Not that it’s bad, it’s just no one stands out for the good guys as charismatic, or for the bad guys as particularly evil. There’s no central performance to grab the audience and carry them along.

This isn’t the actor’s fault though – there are too many weak characters in the movie – for example, the writers could easily have combined the two interchangeable Nazi leaders, Adler and the Führer.

Non-traditional Film Making

One thing I have to salute the makers of Iron Sky for is their use of crowdsourcing. They raised a considerable portion of Iron Sky’s  budget through crowdfunding and thousands of volunteers helped with design, research and marketing.

Though I have some problems with the screenplay of Iron Sky, it has some really nice art direction, and CGI that wouldn’t look out of place in a much bigger budget movie. Iron Sky  doesn’t look like a movie that got made on a $7.5 million budget, and that’s pretty amazing.

Iron Sky: My Verdict

A brave try, but it could have been so much better.

Want to watch Iron Sky?

Here’s the trailer:

Iron Sky is available from Amazon USA here and Amazon UK here .

A Kill in the Morning

If you liked Iron Sky (and particularly if you liked the idea of Iron Sky but found the movie itself weak) you’ll enjoy my novel A Kill in the Morning.  You can r ead the opening of A Kill in the Morning  for free by clicking  here.

Iron Sky: The Coming Race

Shortly after the release of Iron Sky, the producers announced a sequel. This time they would entirely crowdfund it, as they didn’t want to ‘compromise their vision’ by taking money from movie production companies.

Doubling down on the insanity of the first movie, Iron Sky: The Coming Race  has a dinosaur-riding Adolph Hitler leading an army of are reptilians from inside a hollow earth.

Yes, it’s as bonkers as it sounds.

Seemingly endlessly delayed, Iron Sky: The Coming Race finally arrived in 2019. It has similar strengths and weaknesses to the first movie, despite having three times the budget. If you liked the first movie, you’ll likely enjoy the sequel.

Iron Sky: The End Game

The plan was to set the final film in the trilogy, Iron Sky: The End Game , on Mars. Currently, there seems little likelihood of it ever appearing, as the production company went bankrupt.

Agree? Disagree?

If you’d like to discuss anything in my review of Iron Sky , please  email me.  Otherwise, please feel free to share it using the buttons below.

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In the sci-fi spoof Iron Sky: The Coming Race, Alien Hitler rides a T-Rex to war

Moon nazis, shape-changing lizard people, dinos, spaceships, the holy grail — what more could you want.

By Samantha Nelson

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2012’s Iron Sky was an intentionally funny B-movie, lambasting science fiction tropes with the same gusto as Spaceballs or Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery . The film failed to find the cult status it deserves, but it built a following just big and enthusiastic enough to crowdfund a sequel . The result is Iron Sky: The Coming Race , which arrives in theaters and on-demand services on Friday, July 19th.

The original Iron Sky was set in an imagined version of 2018 where astronauts, sent to the dark side of the moon by an unnamed US president bearing a striking resemblance to Sarah Palin (Stephanie Paul), discover Nazis have been hiding there since the end of World War II. What follows is a mashup of Independence Day , Wag the Dog , and Star Wars , where the president uses the Nazis to bolster her reelection campaign. Eventually, all Earth’s nations fight off the lunar threat together, in a feel-good team-up. But the alliance immediately devolves into chaos, as they turn on each other to fight over the Nazis’ supply of a rare energy source, triggering global nuclear war.

The Coming Race picks up in the immediate aftermath of that war, with a riff on a James Bond movie theme showing the president being evacuated to the Arctic, as Vladimir Putin strips off his shirt for an acrobatic martial-arts / dance routine set to a jaunty tune promising the end of humanity. As it turns out, both world leaders are lizard-people.

The film was inspired by the 1871 novel The Coming Race , by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who famously inspired a long-running contest for deliberately terrible writing . The new Iron Sky film posits that the Earth is hollow and home to the Vril, a race of shapeshifting immortal aliens who have been living in the planet’s core since the time of the dinosaurs. They adopted scales to communicate with the dinos, and apparently kept that default, when they aren’t meddling with human evolution or having proxy conflicts with each other by assuming the roles of prominent human leaders. Now that their human playthings have ruined the sport by making Earth largely uninhabitable, the Vril are left sulking in their favorite historical forms, which include Genghis Khan and Margaret Thatcher.

These absurd exposition dumps largely come from by Udo Kier, playing former Moon Nazi leader Wolfgang Kortzfleisch and his twin brother Adolf Hitler, both of whom are Vril. After the intro, the film fast forwards to the year 2047, where the remnants of humanity eke out a modest life in the remnants of the Moon base. Kortzfleisch sneaks back onto the Moon on a spaceship jury-rigged by Russian engineer Sasha (Vladimir Burlakov) and urges Obi Washington (Lara Rossi), the daughter of the first film’s protagonists, to journey to the center of the Earth. There, she can steal the Holy Grail from the Vril to save the human race — and more specifically, her mother Renate (Julia Dietze), who’s dying of some sort of unspecified plot disease.

The deeply convoluted storyline provides plenty of opportunities for spectacle. The special effects have been significantly improved since the original’s ugly moonscapes, allowing for goofiness like Hitler launching an attack from the back of a Tyrannosaurus rex , and a chase scene where Obi, Sasha, and Obi’s brawny and extremely good-natured soldier buddy Malcolm (Kit Dale) ride chariots pulled by triceratops. The Vril are apparently pretty nostalgic for their earliest days on Earth, and have given their city a decidedly Flintstones -inspired aesthetic.

But having so much going on keeps the writers from giving any one aspect of the story the time it deserves. Sasha and Obi have some genuinely charming banter as they debate which science fiction dystopia is worse: Sasha’s Mad Max -style irradiated Earth, or Obi’s resource-scarce Moon base, which harkens back to The Expanse or Battlestar Galactica . But with the dinosaurs and aliens taking up most of the film’s 90 minutes, that doesn’t leave enough space to explore either setting, in order to properly settle their argument.

Also largely missing is Iron Sky ’s dark political comedy, which centered around the disturbingly prescient plot point of a US president unapologetically delivering Nazi propaganda in front of cheering crowds. Scarcity-based science fiction is often used to comment on late-stage capitalism, but aside from the Moon base being reshaped from a swastika to a dollar sign, The Coming Race is silent on the matter. The one powerful political jab comes early in the film, when Renate initially tries to send Sasha and his ship full of refugees away, but is overruled, with her people agreeing to give them shelter, food, and blankets. They may be former Nazis, but they’re not monsters .

There’s a great gag late in the movie spoofing the absurdity of love triangles and the bury-your-gays trope, but the parody is also softer here. Too much of the comedic space is devoted to following a cult of Steve Jobs worshippers that’s set up a shrine on the Moon, reminiscent of an Apple store, where they preach the values of a “closed system.” The writers probably felt they had to lampoon Apple after the computing power of iPhones served as a major plot point in Iron Sky , but the jokes already feel dated.

Kier does admirable work with his high-camp performances, but they’re still lacking compared to Iron Sky ’s Peta Sergeant, who previously channeled Hitler in a remake of the Downfall meme where she verbally eviscerated her staff as the president’s campaign adviser. This time, the character who most embodies the spirit of the movie is Malcolm, who tags along for the dinosaur adventure, but leaves behind his power armor in favor of his lucky shirt, because he doesn’t want to get in trouble for taking the equipment off base. Even in the thick of things, he can’t seem to take the film’s premise seriously.

Like the original Iron Sky , The Coming Race has a dramatic ending that sets up the potential for another science-fiction-trope-packed sequel. While The Coming Race might not sell the need for this absurd series to continue, it at least provides a reason to go back and watch the original, and help its creators get the money they need to try to recapture their uniquely bizarre form of movie magic.

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Movie Review: Iron Sky (2012)

October 14, 2012 Comments (0) Film , Reviews  Like

The ambition of  Iron Sky is to scandalize American politics, notably the Republican Party, most notably Sarah Palin. In the future, the United States is cash-strapped and wholly-reliant upon foreign energy. To distract from this (and potentially bring home some odd space-fuel, ala  Avatar ), our presidential Palin surrogate (Stephanie Paul), whose Oval Office features an elliptical machine and the spoils of her kills, launches a manned moon-mission. All goes swimmingly. The lander has landed, the gigantic banner of the President unfurled, the astronauts roving the lunar surface. Then, one of them is shot. The other one is captured. The culprit? Nazis. Moon Nazis. Moon Nazis living in a swastika-shaped moon base, the descendants of a group of terrestrial Nazis who launched their own moon mission when it became clear that the Third Reich was to fall. For decades, they’ve lived on the moon, developing space-based attack strategies and educating their children on the glories of Hitler with a state-approved, 10-minute cut of   The Great Dictator . Clearly, a Fourth Reich is imminent.

For all that promise,  Iron Sky  falls apart quickly, wandering from the path leading to its eventual lunar blitzkrieg in order to chart the rise of ambitious Moon Nazi Klaus Adler (Götz Otto), who lands in the United States and sets about conquering it by becoming a campaign aide of the President, whose advertising takes on a certain red-white-and-black hue. Adler’s girl, “Earth expert” Renate (Julia Dietze) sneaks abord the ship, which also carries the moon mission’s black astronaut (Christopher Kirby), who has been bleached white by a Nazi scientist (Udo Kier). Why any of this happens is unclear. There’s supposed to be something funny about the Nazi’s dying a black man white, I suspect, but its one of many jokes about the first black man on the moon that falls treacherously flat.

The centerpiece here is the multi-national space battle launched to repel the Nazi invaders (from outer space), but even  Iron Sky ‘s impressive special effects can’t distract from the inane plot and cast of caricatures working to undermine. The battle gives rise to one of  Iron Sky ‘s biggest curiosities, which diminishes whatever pleasures sub-par space opera holds, when the president’s campaign manager (Peta Sergeant), the woman responsible for Adler’s terrestrial success, is installed as the captain of the United States of America’s massive starship. If the point was to criticize Palin or Washington croneyism or, well, anything, having the campaign manager do quite well for someone who, a day earlier, was almost murdered by a gaggle of Moon Nazis probably wasn’t the best way to get  Iron Sky ‘s point across.

But really, what greater purpose should  Iron Sky  have been promoting? Here’s a goofily premised movie trying unsuccessfully to lampoon a political target whose last day in the sun came years ago.  Zombie Strippers  did the same thing in 2008, taking a buzzworthy exploitation set-up and miring it in needless political commentary, politics (and existentialism) not being a thing within the grasp of a movie about strippers who become zombies. Maybe it seems pedantic to complain about a movie not being the sort of movie I would have made, but it seems like every year there’s a new movie promising a return to the grindhouse, promising a premise, a cast, or an idea that could and should live up to expectation, but does not. In 2008, it was  Zombie Strippers . 2010 had  Bitch Slap . Last year had Hobo with a Shotgun .  This year, it’s  Bad Ass   and  Iron Sky . And I thought digital filmmaking was supposed to liberating. Maybe it wasn’t the struggle against The Man that dignified a genre, but the struggle to produce.

Christopher Kirby , Entertainment One , Götz Otto , Iron Sky , Julia dietze , movie review , Peta Sergeant , Stephanie Paul , Timo Vuorensola , Udio Kier

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We Come In Peace

Rating: 4/10

Timo Vuorensola should be shot for wasting the amazing premise of Nazis on the Moon. Too much cheesy humour ruins a film that should have been played a lot straighter.

Running Time: 93 minutes

US Certificate: R UK Certificate: 15

Nazis on the moon? That looked Reich up my street and I’ve been eagerly awaiting it ever since the brave premiere at the Berlin Film Festival but alas, like the invasion of Russia, this is a massive missed opportunity.

In Timo Vuorensola’s Finnish effort there is a colony of Nazis waiting on the dark side of the Moon after escaping from Earth when World War Two ended in defeat. Hidden from Earth they kept their National Socialist ideals and waited patiently until the time was right to strike and after 70 years, aided by crazy scientist (Pruckner) and pure Aryan beauty Renata Richter (Dietze), Klaus Adler (Otto) leads a pretty naff invasion force against President Palin (Paul).

Why, oh why didn’t they just play it straight? Much more amusingly terrifying would have been this ridiculous premise played out deadpan with a group of nasty Nazis and some Expendables-like defence from planet earth. But instead we have a poor movie in the mould of a camp comedy auctioneer. As it is, half the cheesy jokes fall flat, certain characters just don’t work (Kirby’s James Washington being the main culprit), the Nazis are not scary or interesting and the whole plot is just a bit of a disjointed, uninteresting mess. Overall, it seems like, and is, an eclectic group of Europeans trying to do American humour and failing.

The final scene is impressively thought out and here are some amusing ideas and jokes – like the commander of a battleship being a scorned woman looking for revenge – but these are all very minor parts of the film that offer very little except a small snort of appreciation from the audience. You could argue that Iron Sky is kitsch and tongue in cheek and should be taken as that but it could have been so much better.

It's Got: Nazis from the moon - that has to be commended, some decent ideas

It Needs: To have been played straight with the funnies coming from the situation not forced cheesy jokes, scary Nazis

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Iron Sky at the IMDB

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Den of Geek

Iron Monkey Is the Cure for People Tired of American Superhero Movies

The 1993 wuxia classic Iron Monkey has everything that American superhero movie fans want and so rarely get.

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A cowardly governor hides under the covers, clutching his wives and hoarded riches. Outside the governor’s guard squabbles with warriors hired to provide extra protection. They all fear a secret defender of the people, a masked hero who has never failed to escape the grasp of oppressors. The warriors and the guards draw their weapons, ready and waiting. But when a sleekly masked figure all dressed in black lands within their midsts, they can do nothing to stop him. He floats above their heads, dives below their punches, and deflects all of their attacks.

He leaps from their heads and disarms them with a single swift move, making his way to the governor’s hidden treasure. Grasping the ill-gotten plunder, the figure slips away, thanking the governor for his “contribution” to the people. The Iron Monkey has struck again.

The above description could match any number of superhero hero movies, in which a masked figure battles the ruling class for the sake of the downtrodden. But as a wuxia classic starring Yu Rongguang and Donnie Yen , Iron Monkey features a level of wonder and clarity that’s been sorely missing from most superhero flicks as of late.

The Legend of the Iron Monkey

Directed by Yuen Woo-ping and written by Tsui Hark, Cheung Tan, Tang Elsa, and Lau Tai-Mok, Iron Monkey mixes fact with legend. The hero of the film might be the titular Iron Monkey, the alter ego of kindly doctor Yang Tianchun (Yu), but its true protagonist is Wong Fei-hung, portrayed by child actor Angie Tsang.

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Born in 1847, Wong Fei-hung was a master of Hung Ga and a physician who practiced acupuncture and other healing arts in the Po Chi Lam clinic in the Guangdong Province. Wong became a folk hero because he applied those arts for the good of the people against rich oppressors, as demonstrated in multiple movies, including a portrayal by Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China . Iron Monkey heightens Wong’s story though by connecting it to two heroes. The first is Wong’s father Kei-ying, portrayed by the great Donnie Yen.

So much of Iron Monkey engages in pure spectacle. The Chinese martial arts genre of wuxia, perhaps best known to Americans via Ang Lee ‘s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , features fantastic feats beyond just basic Kung fu mastery. The fighters soar through air on wireworks, they explode beams with their punches, and spring from the most unlikely of perches. In other words, wuxia has a fantasy aspect that recalls the powers of superheroes. But unlike Western action films, Hong Kong cinema puts a premium on clear choreography and legible fight sequences. In place of the heavy editing that Hollywood films rely on to make untrained actors look light top-level fighters, films such as Iron Monkey feature practiced martial artists and well-designed fight sequences.

When the climactic battle pits Wong’s father and the Iron Monkey, along with the Monkey’s sister Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) against the evil Investigator Hin-hung (Yen Shi-kwan) and his traitorous shaolin warriors, Yuen includes plenty of exaggeration to heighten the stakes. The camera zooms up at a touch angle on Hin-hung’s face, accentuating his malevolent smile. An extreme close-up on Hin-hung’s hand underscores the danger of the dreaded King Kong Palm.

Yet the battle remains completely comprehensible. Even when the heroic duo and Hin-hung stand atop of burning poles in their last battle, Yuen keeps the spacial arrangements and stakes clear. We see every punch and kick connect with its target. When one assailant dives around another or begins to fall toward the flames, Yuen provides a secondary shot to clarify the spacial dynamics between the characters. Insert shots last only for a second and accentuate punches, never muddying the action.

Super Morality

Early in the film, Yang prescribes treatments for two patients, one rich and one poor. He refuses payment from the poor patient but charges the rich one an exorbitant amount. When the rich patient protests, Yang smirks at the man’s audacity.

“You’re a wealthy man and medicine costs money,” he explains, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Surely, some would take issue with Yang’s straightforward class warfare, but such binaries should be familiar to anyone who likes superheroes. Although there are some exceptions (looking at you, most Steve Ditko creations), Superman set the model as a champion of the downtrodden with little patience for the wealthy.

Those class dynamics drive Iron Monkey . Although an exacting father who makes his expectations for his son clear, Kei-ying also sticks up for the oppressed. A standout early sequence features Kei-ying battling a group of thieves who would take advantage of their fellow poor, beating them with only an umbrella. When Kei-ying is forced to fight the Iron Monkey (hero vs hero due to a misunderstanding, another classic superhero trope), he does so only because the governor has captured Fei-hung and will release him only in exchange for the Iron Monkey. Sensing the man’s plight, the Iron Monkey joins Kei-ying to help Fei-hung. He that they share the same fight.

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Even though they always hold to a basic “good guy vs. bad guy” narrative, many Western superhero movies botch the class aspect. In the Sam Raimi trilogy, as in most of the comics (again… Ditko), Spider-Man is a down-on-his-luck working class guy who can’t catch a break. But the MCU reinvented him as a rich guy’s charity case, giving him untold resources to battle against those upset that the rich guy screwed them over. The clarity of Iron Monkey ‘s moral vision adds an urgency to its action. The stakes are good vs. bad, yes, and the conflict plays out with unbelievable fight sequences, but we all know anger against the powerful rich who exploit others.

Saving Superheroes

The only thing more exhausting than experiencing superhero fatigue is hearing people talk about superhero fatigue. Sure, Marvel Cinematic Universe entries may not make the money they once did, but hits such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse prove that people still want to watch superheroes—they just won’t accept a substandard product anymore.

Iron Monkey is anything but substandard. Atop its basic moral premise is not only scene after scene of outstanding action, but also broad humor that translates across cultures. The movie is filled with punches and pratfalls that can be appreciated by anyone who knows Buster Keaton or the Three Stooges, and James Wong’s take on the bumbling governor is always good for a laugh. Furthermore, there’s the basic beauty of Kung fu in a wuxia movie. Yu, Yen, and their co-stars create visceral fight sequences, punctuated by loud slaps when they hit. But, in fact, they’re working together for carefully choreographed interactions, which gives even the most brutal moments the feeling of poetry.

To be sure, we’ll get good superhero movies again. In the meantime, anyone who wants to see good guys fight bad guys in fantastic ways should be on the lookout for Iron Monkey .

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

Screen Rant

10 mcu movies & series robert downey jr.’s iron man could return in after his positive comments.

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Avengers: Secret Wars: Release Date, Plot Details & Everything We Know

Why iron man 4 never happened in the mcu, what every original avenger actor has said about returning in future mcu movies.

• Robert Downey Jr. could return as Iron Man in upcoming MCU projects, such as Deadpool & Wolverine, hinging on the multiverse, A.I., time travel, and more.
• Ironheart offers the potential for RDJ's Stark to return as A.I. to mentor Riri Williams following his sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.
• Avengers: Secret Wars emerges as a top contender for Downey's Iron Man return, given its scope, multiverse story, and potential roster.

Robert Downey Jr.'s recent Iron Man comments have led to debates about when and where Tony Stark could return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe , and there are a few movies and series that would be perfect for that to happen. Iron Man died in Avengers: Endgame . That moment is one of the most pivotal choices in the history of the MCU , which means that undoing it in any way could risk messing with one of the MCU's best movies and the perfect ending for the franchise's first star.

Still, there are plenty of ways in which Downey could return as Iron Man. While there is nothing solid at the moment, Downey Jr. has fueled Iron Man return rumors , as the actor revealed he continues to love the character and is now open to a return years after his last MCU appearance. If Marvel and Downey join forces to make that happen, a few upcoming MCU projects and other possible ones could see Iron Man return.

I Know The MCU's Best Way To Do Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man Return & It's Not Avengers 6

Robert Downey Jr. recently fueled hopes that he will return as Iron Man, and I think Tony Stark does not have to wait for Avengers: Secret Wars.

10 Deadpool & Wolverine

The mcu's major 2024 multiverse event, deadpool & wolverine.

A sequel to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first film in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Ryan Reynolds is returning to play the character, alongside Hugh Jackman, reprising his Wolverine role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. 

There are many reasons why Deadpool & Wolverine would be one of the best choices for Downey to come back as Iron Man. Whenever the actor decides to return as Tony Stark, if that ends up happening, it will have to be in a major moment or a giant project. Deadpool & Wolverine offers Marvel the opportunity to do both. Anticipation for the movie is high, with trailer records broken left and right. Deadpool & Wolverine is also the MCU's only 2024 movie .

As Marvel's sole theatrical release this year, all eyes are on what Deadpool & Wolverine 's multiversal story will bring. The film's use of the multiverse would lend itself well to a possible Iron Man return. RDJ could appear as limitless options of Iron Man variants from other universes , keeping Earth-616 Tony Stark's sacrifice untouched. A cameo could be secretly filmed since RDJ is open to returning.

Deadpool & Wolverine Brings Iron Man Back From The Dead In Wild MCU Theory

There are many Deadpool & Wolverine theories, and one of them ties into Robert Downey Jr.'s MCU return comments, bringing Tony Stark back to life.

9 Ironheart

A marvel comics story is perfect for iron man's return.

Set after Dominique Thorne's MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios' Ironheart series follows Riri Williams as she follows in Iron Man's steps as a high-tech superhero and crosses paths with Anthony Ramos' Parker Robbins a.k.a. The Hood, a magic user with ties to the dark arts. The six-episode Disney+ series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 5.

Without a doubt, Disney+'s upcoming Ironheart series would make for one of the easiest projects to explain how RDJ is back as Tony Stark. Dominique Thorne debuted as Riri Williams in the MCU with a supporting role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever . The movie saw her don two versions of her Ironheart suit, with the character showing that she had Tony Stark's brains and the will to succeed.

Now set to lead her own series, Ironheart could be mentored by Iron Man in the MCU , just like in the comics. In one of the multiple times Tony Stark died in the comics, the character left a backup of himself in the form of an A.I. That version of Tony was essentially him, just without a body, though the A.I. Tony could control Iron Man's armors. Iron Man's Avengers: Endgame sacrifice could be left untouched while RDJ returns as the A.I. Tony Stark to guide Riri Williams.

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man Return Feels Closer Than Ever 5 Years After His MCU Ending

While Tony Stark is dead, Robert Downey Jr. has recently made a return as Iron Man very much possible, and it would fit the MCU's new direction.

8 Armor Wars

Iron man is central to the movie.

Initially conceived as a Disney+ series, Armor Wars is an MCU movie centered on Rhodey Rhodes' mission to honor Tony Stark's legacy and keep his Iron Man technology from wreaking havoc when they fall into the wrong hands. Starring Don Cheadle as War Machine, Marvel Studios' Armor Wars adapts the eponymous comic book storyline to the big screen in the Multiverse Saga.

Armor Wars would be one of the best projects for RDJ's possible MCU return as Iron Man. Don Cheadle's Rhodey and Tony Stark are best friends . In Secret Invasion , it was heavily implied that Rhodey was switched for a Skrull after his accident in Captain America: Civil War . That would mean that the real War Machine was in stasis and not by his best friend's side when Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame .

The A.I. Tony from the comics could play a pivotal role in Armor Wars . The movie focuses on what happens to Stark Tech when it lands in the wrong hands. With Tony dead, multiple powerful individuals could be after his technology, with War Machine, Ironheart, and a couple of others trying to stop them. One of the secret Stark Tech projects could be the A.I. version of Tony , allowing the MCU to bring Iron Man and War Machine back together.

Armor Wars: Cast, Story Details & Everything We Know

War Machine's upcoming feature, Armor Wars, is based on a Marvel Comics event of the same name. Here's what Armor Wars is really about.

7 Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

Reports claim the movie will have a massive roster, avengers: the kang dynasty.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against the omnipotent Kang the Conquerer. The Kang Dynasty will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.

Downey's last MCU appearance was in an Avengers movie, and it is possible that if he comes back, his next time as Iron Man could be in the first film for Earth's Mightiest Heroes since 2019's Avengers: Endgame . Recently, it was reported that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will have a massive character roster . According to the report, more than 60 MCU characters could return for the next Avengers movie .

With so many characters possibly coming back, it would seem like the perfect project to see Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow return to the MCU somehow. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could either use the multiverse for RDJ's Iron Man return or another tool like time travel — from Avengers: Endgame — or the A.I. Tony Stark plot from Marvel Comics. Perhaps after failing, the new Avengers recruit the original team to help fight the Council of Kangs .

Avengers 5's Latest Director Rumor Has Me Even More Excited For The Next MCU Team-Up

Exciting updates about Marvel's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty have been reported, and among them is the director that I think would be perfect for it.

The Characters Are Linked

Marvel Studios' Vision is a limited series set in the MCU and released on Disney+. It reveals the fate of Paul Bettany's resurrected Avenger, which was last seen fleeing Westview at the end of 2021's WandaVision. After the original synthezoid died at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, his body was reassembled by the secret organization SWORD, and his consciousness was restored by Scarlet Witch's magically recreated version of the robot.

Recently, it was confirmed that Marvel Studios is moving forward with a Vision series . The WandaVision spinoff had been previously reported, though Marvel never made an official announcement on the show. Paul Bettany is set to return as White Vision. After Wandavision 's ending , the series should follow White Vision as he comes to grapple with the thoughts and memories of the original Vision and his new life, coming to terms with who he is.

While a Vision-centered series might not be the first choice for Iron Man to return in, the project could very well include Tony Stark due to a key connection. In the MCU, RDJ's Stark and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner created Vision . Trying to find himself, White Vision could go back to his origin, speaking to the Avengers who created him. Like in Ironheart , the A.I. Tony Stark would be the perfect fit for Vision .

MCU Vision Show: Everything We Know

WandaVision's ending left a lot of loose ends, as it ended with White Vision fleeing Westview, but the Vision show will answer everything.

5 Spider-Man 4

Peter parker and tony stark need to reunite, spider-man 4.

Spider-Man 4 is the first sequel to the MCU's Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland as the titular wall-crawler. After wiping his identity for the public's memory in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker continues his crime-fighting adventures without the aid of Iron Man technology or the support of his former allies.

Tom Holland's Peter Parker has been linked to Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark since his MCU debut . Other than Spider-man's supporting cast, no other MCU character has helped shape Peter's journey in the franchise more than Iron Man. RDJ's character recruited Spider-Man for his team in Captain America: Civil War , mentored him through multiple movies, created different suits for Spider-Man, made him an Avenger, and was by his side when Thanos snapped him.

After Spider-Man: No Way Home , Holland's Peter Parker finds himself at his lowest point . Living alone with no friends or family who remember him, Peter could turn to Tony Stark for guidance. As the MCU established that Spider-Man and Iron Man have a special bond, RDJ's Iron Man could have left his A.I. version for Peter. Alternatively, as a genius, Spider-Man could somehow come up with a way to recreate Tony Stark and build the A.I. himself.

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4 Doctor Strange 3

The multiverse is wide open, doctor strange 3.

Doctor Strange 3 follows the titular Marvel sorcerer after his confrontation with the Scarlet Witch and his first encounter with Charlize Theron's Clea in the post-credits scene of Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Benedict Cumberbatch returns once again for an action-packed MCU release that broadens the franchise's exploration of magic.

Avengers: Infinity War and part of Avengers Endgame allowed MCU fans to see the great chemistry between Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being the biggest multiverse movie in the MCU so far , as Doctor Strange traversed different universes while Spider-Man: No Way Home brought characters over to the MCU, Cumberbatch's hero has become one of the most important characters in the Multiverse Saga.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ' ending saw Charlize Thero debut as Clea and recruit Stephen Strange for a mission to stop an incursion. To complete his trilogy, Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange 3 could be all about that incursion or multiple such events, having the hero cross paths with several multiverse characters. RDJ could appear as one or more Iron Man variants that help Doctor Strange along the way.

Everything We Know About Doctor Strange 3

Here's everything we know about Doctor Strange 3, including any new & returning cast, what the story might be, and its potential release date.

3 Avengers: Secret Wars

The most likely choice, avengers: secret wars.

Avengers: Secret Wars is the sixth Avengers film and takes place during phase six of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. The film will see several heroes from the prior phases return and battle against a cosmic threat to rival Thanos, and borrows elements of the Marvel Comics event of the same name.

There have been several theories and rumors about Iron Man's return, and no matter how many possible paths are presented, the debates always end up leading back to Avengers: Secret Wars . The MCU movie just makes sense as the most likely project for RDJ to return as Tony Stark if he were to come back to Marvel. As the finale of the Multiverse Saga, Avengers: Secret Wars will have a similar job to Avengers: Endgame , and that requires bringing in the big guns.

To compete with the expansive scope of the comic book event it is based on, 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars will have to feature the biggest roster of any MCU movie by far . The movie is rumored to include both MCU characters and returning Marvel actors from non-MCU films. As the first hero of the franchise, Iron Man returning through the multiverse to save the MCU once more would be epic.

The culmination of phases 4, 5, and 6 of the MCU will be in Avengers: Secret Wars. Here's everything to know about the sixth Avengers movie.

2 Iron Man 4

The mcu hero's last solo movie was over a decade ago, marvel's iron man 4.

Marvel's Iron Man 4 is the fourth solo movie based on the titular Marvel Comics character. After Tony Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame, the MCU continues his legacy with the movie Armor Wars, starring Don Cheadle as War Machine, as well as the Disney+ show Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne as Stark's successor Riri Williams. The possibility of Robert Downey Jr. returning for another leading role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unlikely, but possible thanks to the concept of the multiverse.

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Holland are showing that MCU stars can go beyond their initial trilogies, with the Thor actor even being game to get started on Thor 5 . Based on how Marvel has now shifted its focus to its more popular franchises and sequels after a couple of years of MCU controversies, RDJ returning for Iron Man 4 becomes a possibility. To maintain its popularity, the MCU could bring back its most famous character for another solo film.

Despite Downey's constant MCU presence up to Avengers: Endgame , his last solo movie as Tony Stark was 2013's Iron Man 3 , which is now over a decade old . At that time, Marvel had no plans for its biggest heroes to go beyond their planned trilogies, though that has since changed. There are still so many solo adventures from the comics that the MCU could adapt for Tony Stark, and Iron Man 4 with RDJ would be a guaranteed movie to hit $1 billion for the MCU.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark kickstarted the MCU and defined its early years, so why did Marvel Studios never move forward with Iron Man 4?

1 Original Avengers Reunion

Mcu reports are exciting.

Finally, Downey Jr. could also return in an unannounced Avengers movie, though not with the new version of the team that will seemingly be assembled in the MCU by Sam Wilson. According to a report, Marvel Studios is considering a new movie with the original Avengers cast . The decision is based on how the MCU has had some rocky years since the end of the Infinity Saga, with a few projects either underperforming or being panned by critics.

Considering they played such a pivotal role in the MCU, there's great interest in the return of the original Avengers actors to the franchise.

The original six Avengers — Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow — still hold a special place in the fans' hearts as the MCU's best heroes. As such, having all of them together once again would result in another hit for the studio. The report claimed that Marvel would resurrect Iron Man and Black Widow for the movie , and the comics have shown there are many ways to do so. With Robert Downey Jr.'s latest MCU comments, Iron Man 's return is the closest it has been since his death.