Not simply concerned with billionaire arms dealer - turned - metallic hero Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Justin Theroux's story features a bevy of
superheroic figures outfitted with deadly artillery, from Stark pal Lt. Colonel Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle, taking over for Terrence Howard) decked out in his own silvery weaponized War Machine suit, to a straggly haired, heavily tattooed Russian
genius named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) who mimics Stark's tech to create an outfit equipped with energy - beam whips, to a horde of gigantic drones programmed to kill.