Whiplash and His Redundancy in Iron Man 2
First things first, if a villain is absolutely required, maybe we can really work on his background and significance in the story.
Iron Man’s character has been a significant contribution in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. In Iron Man 2, where we see the inception of Tony Stark and Pepper’s romance along with many other exciting plot twists, the presence of a villain like Whiplash was redundant.
Whiplash in Iron Man 2, or “Ivan Vanko” certainly demonstrates a feral characteristic, owing to his past as an inmate when he was convicted of selling Soviet-era weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan and served 15 years in Kopeisk prison. He is portrayed in the movie as a Russian scientist, who works with limited screen time to synonymise Tony Stark’s suits and defeat him, to ultimately find justice for his father, Anton Vanko.
According to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Ivan Vanko was born on February 15, 1968. He was the son of Anton Vanko, a Russian physicist who helped Howard Stark design the Arc Reactor, but was deported from the United States when Howard accused him of espionage. Anton fell into poverty and alcoholism, and also abused his son for many years due to the personal humiliation caused to him by Stark. Growing up, Ivan became knowledgeable in the fields of physics and mechanical sciences, and adopted his father’s hatred for the Stark family.”
There are multiple reasons why the character played by Mickey Rourke was not needed in Iron Man 2. First things first, the entire movie was as if about Tony Stark’s fight with palladium — or to be precise, his fight with his own death. His maze-like symptoms showing on some parts of his body owing to the excessive use of the only metal he was experimenting with, was a great plot in this movie and seemed to be at the centre of discussion.
Iron Man 2 could have survived with this plot alone and didn’t quite need a villain to star in it. As The Healthy Journal smartly points out, “Tony Stark’s failing health was a major plot point in Iron Man 2, but the film subtly reveals that the titular hero was making preparations for his demise before it began.”
Secondly, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a Russian villain who plays as an opposition to a superhero is rarely seen and enjoyed. We can make this out by the character of Ivan Vanko. Although this could have been a great attempt, Whiplash’s character personification wasn’t portrayed to the best of its abilities.
Thirdly, a villain is supposed to have a certain irrational charisma about his personality, which Ivan Vanko severely lacked. His repetition of the words “you lose”, while all the time losing himself, was an indication of how rapidly the audience could lose interest in him and his behaviour. Whiplash in Iron Man 2 certainly did not catch the viewer’s eye, owing to his overconfidence and supreme self-humiliation.
Another point to note is that Whiplash had extremely limited on-screen time in the said movie, which almost made his appearance seem unimportant and unnecessary. Even during the minutes of his screen time, he was shown working on softwares and acting like a nerd behind the digital screen and not manning up to actually face Iron Man to fight him, if well, that was what he really wanted to do.
Especially during the last few minutes of the climax where Whiplash and Tony Stark had a face-off, sadly, Ivan’s face was nowhere in the picture. This led him to suddenly and immediately appear as if his retirement was in the offing. No doubt, Vanko’s appearance during the car race in the first few minutes of the movie was heroic and somewhat dangerous, his failed attempts at defeating Stark and still never giving up made him seem more vexatious than bewitching.
All in all, if Iron Man 2 absolutely needed a villain like Whiplash in it, his origin story, thinking, emotions — and everything else that could add value — could have been elaborated with better accentuation.
