I have returned from Dragon*Con, followed by a week-long infectious diseases board review course, and the first week back getting “plugged-in” at work again. There is much to tell. That said, I am compelled to comment on the recently released trailer for the upcoming movie Iron Man.

HAWESOME~!

Iron Man is, hands down, my favorite “superhero” character. This is due, I think, to several things: a combination of Tony Stark having to overcome his personal demons (alcoholism, among others) to both redeem himself and accomplish great things; the idea that his “powers” (armor) are self-made with great effort and constantly improved, as opposed to accidentally acquired or gained through a one-time event; and one of the most diverse menageries of villains of any comic book hero, ranging from the usual Marvel rogues gallery, to other armored villains (such as Iron Monger), to entities steeped in magic and mythology, most notably the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom.

The ultimate truism of modern moviemaking is that one cannot judge anything about the final movie from it’s trailer. That said, I have been given hope that this adaptation may just fulfill the precedent set by the comics. Robert Downey Jr. plays Stark as an alcoholic prick. His “origin story” is updated to present-day Afghanistan from the original Vietnam, but appears to otherwise be intact. There are two iterations of his armor shown (the original low-tech clunky version and the “classic” streamlined version), with a third “weaponized” version rumored to make an appearance. For enemies, the main antagonist looks to be Obadiah Stane, the original Iron Monger, portrayed by Jeff Bridges. The effects, especially Iron Man in flight, appear to be stunning. And finally, at least for the trailer, someone had enough obvious brains to license the Sabbath song.

Ex-cellent. I am stoked, and hopeful. 5/2/08, indeed.