Robert Downey, Jr. as Ironman, Paramount Pictures

Stan Lee, who created the modern superhero along with his co-creator Jack Kirby, once said about Superman, whom he didn’t create:

“He[SuperMan] was never very interesting to me, because I was never worried about him. And if you’re not worried about the jam your hero is in, there’s no excitement.”  Brilliant Careers, Stan Lee, Salon.com

Having figured out the first rule of drama — make the audience care about your protagonist — Stan Lee went on to save Marvel Comics, and the comics business, from death. (TV was about to murder them.) The characters that Stan Lee created were never perfect. In fact, it was their flaws that made Marvel’s heroes so interesting. That, and another essential quality: their irony.

Debuting in 1961, Fantastic Four– The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch, and Invisible Girl — each had a secret sorrow or weakness.  Their ironic verbal balloons and captions contrasted perfectly with Jack Kirby’s heroic drawings. And Hollywood took notice, as you can see on Box Office Mojo’s list of Superhero Movies and their box office grosses.

Today’s digital effects wizards have made the superhero movie ever more realistic, earning them not only Oscars but the Academy Awards committee’s respect. With the special effects well in hand, scripts can concentrate on that special ironic tone that makes a really great superhero movie.  What would Iron Man be, for example, without the great verbal intercourse, er, interplay, between Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow? Just another pile of iron.