Rob Kubasko

Rhodey watches Tony and Pepper like a creeper. Regardless, they make up and seem good again. Rhodey shows his wit again and it’s the same Rhodey we’ll see through the rest of the films.

Pepper can’t stop staring at the flashing lights and needs to be saved. The drones all explode. How weird is it that Favreau’s childhood home is across the street from the filming location and became a location itself? Is this Pepper’s first flight? And Tony and Pepper are Tony and Pepper.

It’s the end of Whiplash in a big crossing-the-repulsor-streams moment. We have an answer as to why Ivan took his mask off. There’s a Predator homage and the coconut effect. There’s an attempt to tie this to WandaVision. And it’s a picture wrap on Mickey Rourke!

All about whips here in this minute because, you know… Whiplash. But again, he’s never officially named that in the film. Why is that? We talk about Ivan’s cool moves and question Ivan opening his mask. And how cool is it that the HUDs have personalities in how they’re designed?

Ivan finally joins us again. Rhodey’s not thrilled, especially when Whiplash reveals the whips and his Whiplash v.2 outfit. But it kinda looks like Iron Monger? Rhodey reveals the Ex-Wife. And it does, in fact, make a fart noise. But the war does in fact begin. And it’s a picture wrap on ScarJo!

A One-Off leads to the end of the drone fight. Pepper has the cops arrest Hammer. But is this from a different movie? It’s a struggle now to figure out who the real Justin Hammer is. Pepper’s confused. But that’s okay, because it’s picture wrap on Sam Rockwell. Meanwhile, Pepper’s on some stairs that figure prominently in a deleted scene that features a much worse end of the movie.

There’s conversation about a different Jarvis. This one connects to Smash TV. There’s also talk of Ghosts of Tsushima. That’s because we have two warriors back to back preparing to fight the hordes. Classic MCU moment as Iron Man and War Machine lower their helmets. Bad ass. And the Marine drone raises its own face shield. Fighting styles are compared. Rhodey kicks like a biker. Oil spatters War Machine’s face. New technology shows up mysteriously: Advanced Micro-Munition Launchers. But seriously… War Machine. So great in this minute.

Rhodey and Tony have a bit of a heart to heart then argue about whose gun is bigger. Or is it who’s the bigger gun? Regardless, this is where we finally see THE WAR MACHINE that we’ve all come to know and love in the rest of the MCU. There’s some chat about kill boxes, then the Navy shows up. As do the Army and Marines. But the Air Force? They’re all washed up.

Natasha reboots War Machine. These suits seem to have way too much information about the other. Phantom technology. Pepper, Natasha, and Tony are all somehow all involved in the same conversation through Tony’s suit. And Tony and Pepper still are so cute when they fight. All the while Favreau is slipping you the broccoli. Did you even notice? Meanwhile, War Machine reboots one eyelid at a time.

The drones smack the back of Asia. It makes sense when you see it. Natasha finds Ivan’s room… but no Ivan. The Oracle garden turns out to be a big in-joke. And is that Elsa’s castle? What’s it doing here? We have RoboCop nods, and Don Cheadle proves he’s a real actor.