Like most sequels Iron Man 2 fails to live up to the lofty high standards set by Iron Man (2008). That being said Iron Man two does some nice world building for future MCU films introducing War Machine and Black Widow and also getting a better look at Shield and Nick Fury. This sequel often gets hated on and there is a reason for that with the plot genuinely being decent the execution of this does not pay off. The stakes do not seem as high as they were in the original and what seems like a big enough story is actually quite small scale.