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*muses* Just a random thought, looking back at the three movies Tony Stark was in. IM1, IM2, Avengers. Is it just me, or is the Iron Man basically one of the flashiest, most heavily armed distractions ever?
I'm just looking at the climactic battles of the three movies. And, ah ... in all three of them, when the final battle hits, most of what Tony is doing is actually just distracting the bad guys and soaking up enemy fire, to give other people the chance to cut them off at the pass. And, not even just general other people. Two specific ones: Natasha and Pepper.
Just ... Okay. IM1, the fight with Obie. It's all Tony's plan, but he's running on empty and knows it, and is basically doing his damnedest to disable the Iron Monger as much as he can, and then lure it into range of the really, really big gun Pepper is pointing at the ceiling for him. The shot that kills Obie? Pepper fired it.
IM2, Vanko, Hammer and the droids. Tony is basically distracting the enemy's heavy artillery, keeping it controlled (and alive, in Rhodey's case) and laying down suppressing fire, while Pepper moves to get Hammer and the Expo under control, and Natasha moves to take down Vanko and disable the droid army. Now, Tony and Rhodey take down Vanko in the end, and prevent his last gambit from blowing Pepper to smithereens, but if Natasha hadn't been there, they'd have been fucked (also vice versa, teamwork is fabulous). Pepper cornered Hammer, Natasha killed Vanko's control (and saved Rhodey), and Tony and Rhodey between them hammered the shit out of the heavy artillery.
Then Avengers, and fabulous as the last battle is, every single one of the male superheroes is basically laying down suppressing fire and keeping the situation contained, while Natasha goes to choke off the access point and render the army moot (or at least controllable). The nuke was a massive hiccup, and because of Tony, one that helped them a lot in shutting down the Chitauri, but Natasha and Selvig were the ones up top actually shutting the situation down. Again, all part of the plan, and teamwork is awesome. *grins*
It just ... struck me, looking at Tony specifically. He is badass as all fucking get out, and the list of kills to his name includes most of a terrorist cell, Vanko, a significant number of Leviathans and Chitauri, and he made some big dents in Obie and the droids too. But he also narratively functions as a massive firesink, and a big, flashy, red-and-gold disguise for the fact that his supporting cast, and particularly those two women, are dangerous as hell too, and most likely to be the ones to actually shut you down once Tony's weaponry and big mouth stop distracting you from the fact that the ladies have their finger on the big red buttons.
I mean, Natasha and Pepper are actually two for two between them. Pepper killed the Iron Monger and coralled Hammer, and Natasha has actually fatally damaged the control points for two completely separate armies.
*smiles faintly* And I love that, while Natasha is a trained government assassin who makes a living from going for the enemy's weak point while their firepower is distracted elsewhere, Pepper is supposedly just a particularly patient and unflappable businesswoman. In both cases where she ended up on a battlefield, the first things she did were to try and hook up with authorities who knew what they were doing (usually SHIELD), and then tried to control the situation around the fighting. Which is a) sensible, considering she's an unarmed woman on a field with things trying to kill the Iron Man, and b) kinda badass. Especially since she actually does fire the killing shot when she has to, too.
*shakes head, grins* I don't know. I love and adore Tony madly, with all his badass and genius and straight-up scariness sometimes, but I also love that he's perfectly happy to function as a great big shiny distraction and firesink for the fragile, seemingly weak ladies who will totally kill your ass while he has you distracted. Heh.
In summary? Lone wolf my ass. Tony's been functioning as part of a team since IM1. He just apparently never noticed. *shakes head, grins at him*
*shrugs absently* Just something that occurred when thinking about those three movies in sequence, is all.
Just ... Okay. IM1, the fight with Obie. It's all Tony's plan, but he's running on empty and knows it, and is basically doing his damnedest to disable the Iron Monger as much as he can, and then lure it into range of the really, really big gun Pepper is pointing at the ceiling for him. The shot that kills Obie? Pepper fired it.
IM2, Vanko, Hammer and the droids. Tony is basically distracting the enemy's heavy artillery, keeping it controlled (and alive, in Rhodey's case) and laying down suppressing fire, while Pepper moves to get Hammer and the Expo under control, and Natasha moves to take down Vanko and disable the droid army. Now, Tony and Rhodey take down Vanko in the end, and prevent his last gambit from blowing Pepper to smithereens, but if Natasha hadn't been there, they'd have been fucked (also vice versa, teamwork is fabulous). Pepper cornered Hammer, Natasha killed Vanko's control (and saved Rhodey), and Tony and Rhodey between them hammered the shit out of the heavy artillery.
Then Avengers, and fabulous as the last battle is, every single one of the male superheroes is basically laying down suppressing fire and keeping the situation contained, while Natasha goes to choke off the access point and render the army moot (or at least controllable). The nuke was a massive hiccup, and because of Tony, one that helped them a lot in shutting down the Chitauri, but Natasha and Selvig were the ones up top actually shutting the situation down. Again, all part of the plan, and teamwork is awesome. *grins*
It just ... struck me, looking at Tony specifically. He is badass as all fucking get out, and the list of kills to his name includes most of a terrorist cell, Vanko, a significant number of Leviathans and Chitauri, and he made some big dents in Obie and the droids too. But he also narratively functions as a massive firesink, and a big, flashy, red-and-gold disguise for the fact that his supporting cast, and particularly those two women, are dangerous as hell too, and most likely to be the ones to actually shut you down once Tony's weaponry and big mouth stop distracting you from the fact that the ladies have their finger on the big red buttons.
I mean, Natasha and Pepper are actually two for two between them. Pepper killed the Iron Monger and coralled Hammer, and Natasha has actually fatally damaged the control points for two completely separate armies.
*smiles faintly* And I love that, while Natasha is a trained government assassin who makes a living from going for the enemy's weak point while their firepower is distracted elsewhere, Pepper is supposedly just a particularly patient and unflappable businesswoman. In both cases where she ended up on a battlefield, the first things she did were to try and hook up with authorities who knew what they were doing (usually SHIELD), and then tried to control the situation around the fighting. Which is a) sensible, considering she's an unarmed woman on a field with things trying to kill the Iron Man, and b) kinda badass. Especially since she actually does fire the killing shot when she has to, too.
*shakes head, grins* I don't know. I love and adore Tony madly, with all his badass and genius and straight-up scariness sometimes, but I also love that he's perfectly happy to function as a great big shiny distraction and firesink for the fragile, seemingly weak ladies who will totally kill your ass while he has you distracted. Heh.
In summary? Lone wolf my ass. Tony's been functioning as part of a team since IM1. He just apparently never noticed. *shakes head, grins at him*
*shrugs absently* Just something that occurred when thinking about those three movies in sequence, is all.
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