Call me a "Thor - The Dark World" apologist if you like, but for me, the worst film in the MCU is probably this slightly ill-fitting sequel to the one that started it all. I should say, that even though I do still think it's the worst film in the series, it's not actually all that bad, but it feels a long way away from where we'd be just a few years later.

Having declared himself Iron Man to the world, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) faces criticism from his government that his suit is a weapon he wealds without oversight and should be handed over to the army. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has a vendetta against the Stark's since his father helped develop the initial arc reactor but was then disavowed and exiled. Creating his own arc reactor and powerful whip weapons, Vanko is narrowly defeated by Iron Man, but Stark's professional rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) sees an opportunity to one up his bitter competitor, he breaks him out of prison.

Again, there is much setup in this film, Scarlett Johansson debuts as "Natalie Rushman" in a role that owes slightly more to "the male gaze" than I really remembered. Eventually though she suits up and we see something of what Black Widow would become. James Rhodes gets his suit. John Slattery takes over the role of Howard Stark, Garry Shandling makes the first of a couple of key appearances as Senator Stern. Kate Mara has a tiny role as a US Marshal which feels like it really ought to pay back into the MCU again somehow.

The problem with the film is that it sags massively in the middle. Once the Monaco scene is over, it's almost entirely talking until the final fight, which is somehow both long and underwhelming, given how easily Ironman and War Machine despatch the drone army. I do like a lot of that talking, some of it, like the sitting in the doughnut bit has become iconic, but it's noticeable that my son (whose 10) struggled a lot more with this film than he did with the first one.

Marvel's worst film is better than a lot of people could manage at their best, but it does feel like this was just a bit before Feige really nailed down the formula.