Streaming crowds will never tire of a game-changing blockbuster that altered cinema forever

There are very few blockbusters in the history of cinema that can justifiably be called true game-changers that left the industry in an entirely different place than when they found it. As chance would have it, though, we got a pair of them in 2008, and they were both comic book adaptations – with The Dark Knight and Iron Man changing the trajectory of modern Hollywood.

The former set the stage for a decade of dark, gritty and intensely atmospheric big budget reboots, the vast majority of which would name-drop Christopher Nolan’s classic in an effort to drum up expectations and invite comparisons they couldn’t possibly hope to live up to.

Meanwhile, Iron Man launched not just Marvel Studios but its entire cinematic universe, turned Robert Downey Jr. from a has-been into an A-list superstar, set the template from which the franchise still follows 14 years later, and instilled the belief in every other major studio that rushing a shared series of interconnected films into existence as soon as possible would guarantee billions of box office dollars.

Obviously, it goes without saying that Iron Man captured lightning in a bottle, and it remains one of the MCU’s finest features to date. History already remembers Tony Stark’s live-action debut as one of the modern era’s defining moments for the film industry, and it’s incredible to even contemplate just how differently the entire pop culture sphere would look today had it bombed.

Jon Favreau’s spectacular origin story remains capable of drawing in old and new fans alike, as evidenced by its ascension up the iTunes global rankings this week, per FlixPatrol. No matter how times you’ve seen it, Iron Man continues to thrill, and ol’ Shellhead’s opening salvo has more than cemented its place as a pivotal moment for an entire medium.