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Iron Man (TV series)

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For the 2009 television series, see Iron Man: Armored Adventures.
Iron Man
The title card for Season 1 of Iron Man
GenreSuperhero
Based on
Iron Man
by
Voices ofRobert Hays
James Avery
Dorian Harewood
John Reilly
Ed Gilbert
Robert Ito
Jim Cummings
Katherine Moffat
Jennifer Darling
Casey Defranco
Jennifer Hale
James Warwick
Tom Kane
Narrated byGeorge Johnson
Theme music composerKeith Emerson
(season 1)
William Kevin Anderson
(season 2)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersAvi Arad
Stan Lee
Rick Ungar
ProducersGlen Hill
Dennis Ho
Ted Tchoe
Camera setupSetup
Running time26 minutes
Production companiesMarvel Entertainment Group
Marvel Films
Rainbow Animation Korea
Koko Enterprises
Original release
NetworkSyndication (The Marvel Action Hour/Marvel Action Universe)
ReleaseSeptember 24, 1994 (1994-09-24) –
February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)

Iron Man, also known as Iron Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series based on Marvel Comics' superhero, Iron Man. The series aired from 1994 to 1996 in syndication as part of The Marvel Action Hour, which packaged Iron Man with other animated series based on Marvel properties, the Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk, with one half-hour episode from each series airing back-to-back. The show was backed by a toy line that featured many armor variants.[1][2] Off the heels of the release of the live-action Iron Man film in 2008, reruns began airing on the Jetix block on Toon Disney.

Although only lasting two seasons, Iron Man was the subject of a major overhaul between seasons when its production studio was changed. The result was a massively changed premise, tone, and general approach, which left the disparate seasons scarcely recognizable as being two halves of the same series.[1]

First season

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The first season of Iron Man involves Iron Man battling the Mandarin and his minions, who seek to steal his technology. The Mandarin's army consists of Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash, Grey Gargoyle, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom, Justin Hammer, and series-original character Hypnotia. Iron Man has a group of allies who are based on Force Works and include Century, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Spider Woman.

The season consisted mostly of episodic, original stories, with the exception of "The Origin of Iron Man". This late-run recounting of the title character's origin is symptomatic of what is generally thought of as the season's greatest weakness – despite the series' large cast of characters, few of them are developed, leaving viewers unaware of their origins and powers.[3] The show is generally held to have been at its best when telling characters' backstories.[4][5][6]

Throughout the season, the Mandarin spies on Force Works and almost deduces Iron Man's secret identity before Iron Man tricks him with an android duplicate of himself.

In this first season, the theme song was composed by progressive rock artist Keith Emerson, known for his work on the supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer and for his soundtrack for Dario Argento's horror Inferno.

Second season

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The second season had a new animation studio, Koko Enterprises; a new head writer, Tom Tataranowicz; and a new electric guitar theme composed by William Kevin Anderson.[7][8] Additionally, Iron Man was redesigned to resemble artist Mark Bright's depiction of the character from the late 1980s.[9]

In the season premiere, "The Beast Within", Iron Man is struck by a missile, weakening his body and forcing him to wear cybernetic tech on his chest. Throughout the season, he utilizes various armors built for specific situations that he can change on the fly.

The Mandarin is given a significantly reduced role after losing his rings. His remaining appearances see him attempt to recover his rings and disable technology worldwide before being killed by bandits.[10][11]

Another change was that Force Works is mostly written out of the series, parting ways with Iron Man after works with the Mandarin to battle Fin Fang Foom. Julia Carpenter and War Machine are the only ones who continue to work with Stark, with the latter temporarily developing claustrophobia after almost drowning in his armor.

The Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series) and Spider-Man (1994 TV series) crossovers

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See also: The Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series), List of Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series) episodes, Spider-Man (1994 TV series), and List of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodes

Iron Man and War Machine appear in The Incredible Hulk episode "Helping Hand, Iron Fist", where they help the Hulk and Rick Jones battle a squad of Hulkbusters.

Iron Man and War Machine appear in Spider-Man. Throughout the series, they serve as allies to Spider-Man; at one point, they are transported to the Beyonder's Battleworld before being returned to Earth with no memory of the events.[12]

Cast

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Main

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Recurring

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Guests

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Episodes

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Series overview

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SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113September 24, 1994 (1994-09-24)December 17, 1994 (1994-12-17)
213September 23, 1995 (1995-09-23)February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)

Season 1 (1994)

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No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
1"And the Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead"Ron FriedmanSeptember 24, 1994 (1994-09-24)

The Mandarin uses a zombified submarine crew against Iron Man.

Introducing: Iron Man, Century, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, War Machine, Justin Hammer, Mandarin, MODOK, Blacklash, Blizzard, Dreadknight, Fin Fang Foom, Whirlwind, Grey Gargoyle, Hypnotia, Titanium Man.
2"Rejoice! I Am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer"Ted Pederson & Francis Moss
(story by: Ron Friedman)		October 1, 1994 (1994-10-01)

Mandarin accidentally releases a giant robot wishing to destroy all life.

Introducing: Ultimo
3"Data In, Chaos Out"Written by Doug Booth
(story by: Ron Friedman & Stan Lee)		October 8, 1994 (1994-10-08)
When Mandarin makes plans to crash the stock market, MODOK uses an invention to mind control War Machine.
4"Silence My Companion, Death My Destination"Written by Steve Hayes
(story by: Ron Friedman)		October 15, 1994 (1994-10-15)

Mandarin attaches a bomb to a new Stark Industries tank.

Introducing: Rachel Carpenter
5"The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat"Written by Doug Booth
(story by: Ron Friedman & Stan Lee)		October 22, 1994 (1994-10-22)
Mandarin steals an experimental military plane.
6"Enemy Without, Enemy Within"Ron FriedmanOctober 29, 1994 (1994-10-29)
Mandarin's forces ambush Force Works near a photography shoot on the beach. So why is MODOK going to Iron Man for help?
7"The Origin of the Mandarin"Ron FriedmanNovember 5, 1994 (1994-11-05)

Iron Man discovers a cube that reveals the Mandarin's mysterious origin.

Introducing: Wellington Yinsen
8"The Defection of Hawkeye"Ron FriedmanNovember 12, 1994 (1994-11-12)
The heroes of Force Works begin to suspect Hawkeye of being a traitor.
9"Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 1"Yale RudoffNovember 19, 1994 (1994-11-19)
MODOK creates an Iron Man duplicate.
10"Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 2"Ron Friedman & Yale RudoffNovember 26, 1994 (1994-11-26)

Force Works tries to locate the real Iron Man.

Introducing: Living Laser
11"The Origin of Iron Man, Part 1"Ron FriedmanDecember 3, 1994 (1994-12-03)

Iron Man's origin is presented as Tony Stark is captured and dons "Iron Man" suits.

Introducing: Howard Stark
12"The Origin of Iron Man, Part 2"Ron FriedmanDecember 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)
Tony Stark struggles to repair his armor while Mandarin's minions and Force Works fight to find him first.
13"The Wedding of Iron Man"Ron FriedmanDecember 17, 1994 (1994-12-17)
Tony and Julia get married.

Season 2 (1995–96)

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No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
141"The Beast Within"Richard TruebloodGreg JohnsonSeptember 23, 1995 (1995-09-23)

Fin Fang Foom betrays the Mandarin and he and his dragon brethren try to kill the human race. In the end the dragons are killed and the Mandarin is presumed dead. Iron Man's team leave except for War Machine and Spider-Woman. The Mandarin survives and begins to reclaim his rings.

Introducing: Nick Fury
152"Fire and Rain"Bob ArkwrightLen WeinSeptember 30, 1995 (1995-09-30)

Iron Man and War Machine fight Firebrand, forcing War Machine to confront his aquaphobia.

Introducing: Firebrand
163"Cell of Iron"Dan ThompsonJan StrnadOctober 7, 1995 (1995-10-07)

Iron Man battles A.I.M. when they attack the Star Well satellite.

Introducing: Sunturion, A.I.M.
174"Not Far From the Tree"Bob ArkwrightFrancis MossOctober 14, 1995 (1995-10-14)

Howard Stark suddenly reappears. But Tony's excitement is short lived, because A.I.M. and their chief enforcer Crimson Dynamo are determined to kill Howard.

Introducing: Crimson Dynamo
185"Beauty Knows No Pain"Dan ThompsonBrooks WachtelOctober 21, 1995 (1995-10-21)

Iron Man battles his old flame turned enemy Madame Masque, who is trying to unlock the power of Isis.

Introducing: Madame Masque
196"Iron Man, On the Inside"Dan ThompsonSteve CudenNovember 4, 1995 (1995-11-04)
When Ultimo severely injures Hawkeye, Iron Man must go inside Hawkeye to save him. But a miniature Ultimo is after Iron Man.
207"Distant Boundaries"Bob ArkwrightGreg JohnsonNovember 11, 1995 (1995-11-11)
Iron Man heads to the distant planet Elysian.
218"The Armor Wars, Part 1"Dan ThompsonLen UhleyNovember 18, 1995 (1995-11-18)

After a battle with Crimson Dynamo Iron Man realizes someone is selling his technology. Soon Iron Man goes after every armored superhero or super villain, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. hunting Tony down.

Introducing: Beetle, Controller, Stingray, Firepower, Stilt-Man, Ghost
229"The Armor Wars, Part 2"Bob ArkwrightLen UhleyNovember 25, 1995 (1995-11-25)
Iron Man continues his efforts to disable all other armored warriors.
2310"Empowered"Bob ArkwrightGreg JohnsonFebruary 3, 1996 (1996-02-03)
Modok locates one of the Mandarin's missing power rings.
2411"Hulk Buster"Bob Arkwright & Dan ThompsonFrancis Moss, Ted Pederson and Greg JohnsonFebruary 10, 1996 (1996-02-10)
Iron Man and Bruce Banner work together to recover one of the Mandarin's rings.
2512"Hands of the Mandarin, Part 1"Bob ArkwrightDouglas BoothFebruary 17, 1996 (1996-02-17)
The Mandarin announces his intentions to take over the world.
2613"Hands of the Mandarin, Part 2"Bob Arkwright & Dan ThompsonDouglas BoothFebruary 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)
The Mandarin captures Iron Man and the rest of Force Works.

Crossovers

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Incredible Hulk

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Iron Man and War Machine (background) confront General Thunderbolt Ross on The Incredible Hulk.
Main article: List of Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series) episodes
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
4"Helping Hand, Iron Fist"Stewart St. JohnSeptember 29, 1996 (1996-09-29)
Bruce Banner goes to Tony Stark for a cure. But a blow to the head leaves Bruce, and Hulk, amnesiac.

Spider-Man

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Iron Man joins forces with Spider-Man on Spidey's 1990s animated series.
Main article: List of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodes
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
First crossover
37"The Sins of the Fathers, Chapter X: "Venom Returns"John Semper (Teleplay by: Stan Berkowitz, Len Wein, & John Semper)November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
38"The Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XI: "Carnage""John Semper (Teleplay by: Stan Berkowitz, James Krieg, & John Semper)November 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Second crossover
61"Secret Wars, Chapter I: Arrival"John Semper and Karen MilovichNovember 7, 1997 (1997-11-07)
62"Secret Wars, Chapter II: The Gauntlet of the Red Skull"Virginia RothNovember 14, 1997 (1997-11-14)
63"Secret Wars, Chapter III: Doom"John Semper, Mark Hoffmeier, and Ernie AltbackerNovember 21, 1997 (1997-11-21)
  • Tony Stark also had a cameo in "The Spot" episode of Spider-Man.[14]
  • Although he never spoke, Iron Man had a few cameos in a few of the Fantastic Four episodes, including the Season 2 episodes "To Battle the Living Planet"[15] and "Doomsday".
    • He also cameos in "Tolerance is Extinction Part 3" of X-Men '97 where he is with Captain America at the White House and protects President Robert Kelly from the Prime Sentinels attacking.

Home media

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Europe

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On October 8, 2007, Maximum Entertainment released a three-disc DVD set that contained all twenty-six episodes of the series.[16] Maximum released all twenty-six episodes as separate three-disc sets in April 2008, with each disc also including two Iron Man segments from The Marvel Super Heroes. These discs also came bundled together as a boxset titled Iron Man: The Ultimate Super Hero. The third was also released separately as Iron Man: Special Edition.[17] In April 2008, Maximum released a 5-disc boxset containing both complete series sets for this show and the one for The Marvel Super Heroes segments.

Clear Vision later took over European rights and released a 4-disc complete series set exclusively to their website on April 19, 2010. A six-disc set that was released on the same day bundled both series together.[18]

Australia

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Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the entire series on Region 4 DVD – which spans three separate volumes – on March 30, 2010[19]

United States

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Buena Vista Home Entertainment later released the series on Region 1 DVD on May 4, 2010. This complete series release was made to cash-in and coincide with the release of Iron Man 2, which opened in theaters a few days later, on May 7.

Streaming

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The complete series is available to stream on Disney+ although all seasons are erroneously grouped under season 1, as of the service's launch on November 12, 2019.[20]

Comics

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An eight-issue comic-book series based on the show was published by Marvel:

  • Marvel Action Hour: Iron Man (November 1994 to June 1995).[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Goldman, Eric (May 7, 2010). "Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series DVD Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  2. ^ "The History of Iron Man on TV". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  3. ^ Marvel Animation Age
  4. ^ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man
  5. ^ "Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
  6. ^ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Iron Man
  7. ^ Tom Tataranowicz Talks Iron Man
  8. ^ Goldman, Eric. "The History of Iron Man on TV". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ Kendall, G. (8 December 2019). "That OTHER '90s Marvel Series on Disney+". CBR.com.
  10. ^ "The Hands Of The Mandarin, Part One". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
  11. ^ "The Hands of the Mandarin, Part Two". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
  12. ^ "Toonzone". Marvel.toonzone.net. Archived from the original on 2013-06-11. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  13. ^ imdb.com
  14. ^ Marvel Animation Age – The Spot
  15. ^ Marvel Animation Age – Fantastic Four: The Animated Series – Episode Review – To Battle The Living Planet
  16. ^ "Iron Man - the Complete Series". Amazon UK. 8 October 2007.
  17. ^ "Iron Man". Amazon UK. 28 April 2008.
  18. ^ "Iron Man the Ultimate Collection". Amazon UK. 19 April 2010.
  19. ^ "Iron Man (1994) Region 4 DVD Release Date". EzyDVD. March 30, 1010. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  20. ^ Iron Man on Disney+ Edit this at Wikidata
  21. ^ Marvel Action Hour: Iron Man – Comic Vine
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