Reactor Technology: A Vital Part in Iron Man

Mankind is always advancing its’ technology. The arc reactor technology is a vital part of the Iron Man story because it not only keeps Tony Stark alive but also provides power to his suit. “The most similar device that has been made is the ITER fusion reactor which mashes isotopes together to make atoms which then can be used to create energy” (Quora). The energy the reactor makes is then used to power Mr. Stark’s greatest weapon, the iron man suit. The iron man suit is the tool that Tony Stark uses to vanquish his enemies throughout the series. In Tony’s journey there are various stages which he must endure which include the call, answer, guide, threshold, trials, brother battle, rescue, and finally master of two worlds.

Tony’s call to adventure is when he is in a military convoy that is ambushed by mercenaries using his own weapons. He leaves the Hum V or what he calls the “fun V” even when he is told to stay by his military guard (Iron Man Script). When he gets away from the convoy a missile from his own company lands and explodes near him. The explosion causes metal shards to get stuck in his body and get close to his heart. Tony passes out due to shock and loss of blood. Tony is then saved by a prisoner of the mercenaries named Yinsen, who put an electro magnet in Tony’s chest to keep the shrapnel out of his heart. Yinsen removed as much of the shrapnel from Tony’s wounds as he could but there was still small fragments that were very close to his heart and needed to be contained so that they would not reach it. Yinsen told Tony “we call them the walking dead I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs” (Iron Man Script)....

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...). Once the first movie gets close to the end Tony Stark admits to being iron man versus telling the public that the explosion was a result of some freak accident like the S.H.E.I.L.D. agency told him to. The last seen of the movie is when the director of S.H.E.I.L.D. goes to Tony and tells him that Nick would like to have him on the Avenger program, which is a later movie.

The main focal point throughout the story is the advancing technology and how it is used. Tony went from rich and powerful, to prisoner with nothing but knowledge, to super hero, and then master of both worlds. Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey format fits well with the Iron Man story because it has the some of the major points. The Iron Man movie has the key points to fit the hero’s journey format including the call, the answer, guide, threshold, trials, brother battle, rescue, and master.