| Trivia
| - * Among the items in Howard Stark's trunk are two Captain America comic books.
* Captain America's shield makes a cameo appearance in one scene, and Tony uses it to prop up an energy beam generator. Although the shield should have still been frozen with Captain America .
* During the scene where Nick Fury and Tony Stark discuss the Avenger Initiative, news footage appears on a screen. This footage first appears in The Incredible Hulk, covering the incident at Culver University.
* Iron Man 2 is the first sequel for Jon Favreau as a director and as an actor.
* Samuel L. Jackson was promised that Nick Fury would be given more screen time by director Jon Favreau. Jackson almost did not return to play Fury, due to problems with contract negotiations, but secured a landmark nine-picture deal to play Nick Fury not only in this film but in many other Marvel Studios productions.
* The character of Whiplash is a combination of Whiplash and incorporates elements from the Crimson Dynamo .
* Mickey Rourke paid a visit to Butyrka Prison, Moscow to prepare for his role as Whiplash.
* Emily Blunt was set to star as Black Widow but had to pull out due scheduling conflicts with her movie Gulliver's Travels.
* Robert Downey Jr. recommended that an Iron Man suit be designed that would fit into a suitcase, like in the comics and Iron Man: The Animated Series.
* Al Pacino was considered for the role of Justin Hammer.
* The film was under the working title, Rasputin.
* Early storyboards of the film showed that it was planned for War Machine to kill Justin Hammer when his suit was in control of Ivan Vanko
* An alternative ending showed Vanko attacking Pepper Potts at the Stark Expo, but being killed by War Machine.
* The scene featuring Iron Man and War Machine fighting side by side the Hammer Drones was an idea conceived by concept artist of the movie Adi Granov
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| Plot
| - Six months after the end of Iron Man, Tony Stark has used his Iron Man armor to bring about a negotiated peace treaty between the major superpowers of the world, and his immense popularity with the general public is only furthered when he fulfills his father's dream by opening the "Stark Expo", to showcase all the latest inventions that will benefit the world. Stark is, however, still vilified by the United States government, and Senator Stern in particular, who demands that he hand his armor technology over for military application. Stark refuses, publicly shaming rival Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries in the process by highlighting his own failed attempts at recreating the technology. All is not well in Stark's life, however: he has discovered that the palladium in the arc reactor keeping his heart beating has begun to poison his body, slowly killing him, and all attempts to find a substitute element have failed. Slowly going off the rails as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, he appoints his former personal assistant Pepper Potts CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman .
left|thumb|250px|Vanko at the Moncao Grand Prix
While racing in Monaco, Stark is attacked by Ivan Vanko , who has constructed a miniaturized arc reactor of his own, including whip-like attachments harnessing the electrical energy. Defeating Vanko with the aid of his Mark V armor , Stark discovers that Vanko is the son of disgraced Russian physicist Anton Vanko, who collaborated on the first arc reactor with Stark's father Howard . When Stark visits Vanko in prison to tell him how inefficient his tech was, Vanko reveals her knows about his palladium poisoning. Later, a bomb hidden in a potato and a prisoner with the same number as him are placed in his cell, Vanko escapes, using the bomb to fake his own death, before possibly bribed guards bring him to a revenge-seeking Justin Hammer. Hammer asks that he help fashion a line of "Iron Drones" that he will use to upstage Stark at his own Expo. Vanko agrees to, on the condition that Hammer bring him his parrot he left back in Russia; Hammer brings the parrot but Vanko claims that it's not his pet. However, Vanko modifies the suits to be more than just manned armor, but automated drones. Hammer gets very angry that Vanko went behind his back and had him under house arrest.
Meanwhile, Tony throws what he believes will be his last birthday party and promptly proceeds to get drunk whilst wearing the Iron Man armor, forcing his friend Lt. Colonel James Rhodes to don the Mark II armor and subdue him. Disgraced, Stark is approached by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. , who provides him with a chest of his father's old artifacts that can hopefully be used to find a cure for his palladium poisoning. Reviewing the film reels in the chest, Stark discovers a message from his father that leads him to the original 1974 diorama of the Stark Expo: in reality, a disguised diagram for the atomic structure of a new element, something his father couldn't create with the technology of his day; Howard realized that his son would be able to do so in the future. Stark hand-builds a particle accelerator with the aid of his computer J.A.R.V.I.S. and synthesizes this new element, creating a new triangular chest arc that cures his poisoning.
right|thumb|300px|The Hammer Drones
Simultaneously, at Stark Expo, Hammer unveils his new military drones, captained by Rhodes in a heavily-weaponized version of the confiscated Mark II armor. Stark arrives at the expo, and unfortunately, it is soon discovered that Vanko, who had his guards hung by the neck, has complete control of both the drones and Rhodes's new armor, taking control and going on the attack moments after Stark arrives. As Stark battles against these remote-controlled enemies, Happy Hogan and Natalie race to Hammer's Queens facility to stop Vanko; en route, Natalie gets changed into a catsuit while telling Happy to keep his eyes on the road. When they arrive, Natalie tells Happy to stay in the car but he insists on helping. However, the latter was busy with one security guard while Natalie took out all the rest. Unfortunately, Vanko has already departed for the Expo in a new, more powerful suit of armor, but Natalie is able to give Rhodes control of his armor again so that he and Stark can fight Vanko together.
left|thumb|250px|Whiplash Mark II
The two armored allies combine their powers and successfully take Vanko down, but his armor and drones are revealed to have been equipped with self-destruct charges. As they begin to go off, Stark races to save Pepper, who was standing close to one of the drones, rescuing her at the last minute. After landing on a roof she quits her CEO position, and she finally gives Tony a kiss, to which they both find Rhodes sitting a few meters away. He then claims he was there first so they should get their own roof after Stark tries to defend himself. He decides to keep his current suit before flying off.
At a debriefing, Fury informs Stark that while they want Iron Man in the "Avengers Initiative", Stark himself is considered unsuitable for the program. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to hire Stark as a consultant. Stark agrees on the condition that Senator Stern present him and Col. Rhodes with their medals for bravery. But when Stern was attaching the medal to the former, he gives a slight poke at Stark for calling him a prick, before they all smile for the cameras.
In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson is seen driving to a remote impact crater in the New Mexico desert. As he informs Fury over the phone that they have "found it", the crater is shown to contain Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor.
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