A stuttering superhero sequel that served as a worrying sign of things to come gets overstuffed on streaming

One of the major problems with the current makeup of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the ever-expanding mythology tying itself in knots to connect into a cohesive whole. While it’s been one of the major bugbears of the Multiverse Saga since the credits rolled on Avengers: Endgame, it’s easy to forget the issue first reared its head as early as Iron Man 2.

Jon Favreau may have helped usher in a brand new age of superhero cinema with the phenomenal first installment that transformed Robert Downey Jr. from has-been into A-list megastar, gave rise to the franchise that would dominate the industry for the next decade and a half, and still ranks as one of the MCU’s best-ever entries, but the sequel ended up creaking under its own weight.

As well as furthering Tony Stark’s story, Iron Man 2 went overboard by introducing a pair of villains who both ended up equally underused in Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko and Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, while Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was introduced to the masses at the same time as Don Cheadle’s Rhodey continued his evolution into War Machine, without even mentioning Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg stopping by to leave a trail of breadcrumbs towards Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Avengers.

It was a lot to take in, and it was a huge driving force behind Iron Man 2 being labeled as a crushing disappointment, while it still hasn’t been given that full-blown reappraisal as of yet. Either way, Disney Plus subscribers are content to revisit the MCU’s sophomore adventure, given that it’s ended up as one of the most-watched features on Disney Plus for the first time in a long time, per FlixPatrol.