It's no secret that DC has somewhat lagged behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe and 20th Century Fox's X-Men _universe _with regards to developing a cohesive franchise of comic book movies. However, this delay means that Warner Bros. has a model for success to emulate in setting up the Justice League universe. DC has clearly taken some subtle cues from Marvel over the course of its last three films, but a new video points out that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice _and _Iron Man 2 share far more similarities than you ever realized. Check it out below to see for yourself.
It's hard to deny that the above video makes a fair amount of cogent points. Although we didn't really notice this the first time around, both Iron Man 2 and Batman v Superman seemingly revolve around a combination of corporate drama and the United States' government's distrust of the films' titular heroes. Beyond that, both films make ample use of similar storytelling tropes, such as the villain's attempt to make people no longer believe in a "false god" and red-headed love interests who have trouble coping with their lovers' alter egos.
Perhaps the most telling example presented in this video comes when it's pointed out that the climaxes of both films occur in almost identical fashion. Both revolve around a pair of heroes driving the rogue bad guy away from populated areas and towards an iconic statue in order to reduce collateral damage. The ways these films present such scenes are notably different, as Iron Man 2 sells its action with a much lighter tone than Dawn of Justice, but there's similar DNA in these sequences.
However, it's worth noting that some of these points don't necessarily hold up under intense scrutiny. While it's an accurate assessment to point out that both Iron Man 2 and Dawn of Justice center upon billionaire vigilantes who have secret hideouts under their expensive glass houses, that's nothing new for either of these comic book characters. Batman, his modus operandi, and his hideout in the Batcave all predate Iron Man by decades in the source material, and as such one could easily argue that it was Iron Man who copied the Caped Crusader in the first place. This doesn't make the video's points any less valid, but it's still something worth considering before jumping to strong conclusions.
Ultimately, whether intentional or not, it's hard to deny that Batman v Superman takes ample inspiration from Iron Man 2. That's not necessarily a bad thing; Marvel presents a fairly solid model for box office gold. As these cinematic superhero universes continue to expand, we have a distinct feeling that we will see more and more similarities like this in the very near future.
