Iron Man 2 opens this Friday with sneak previews tomorrow night and you’ve got no idea what to expect. Well, for starters – Iron Man’s in it. The title may have given it away, but you’ll be happy to know he’s back with “the man” (aka Robert Downey Jr.) in fighting form as the Tony Stark/Iron Man alter-ego tag team. Now there have been one or two casting changes… but nothing as ludicrous as Katie Holmes tapping Maggie “The Weakest Link” Gyllenhaal in for The Dark Knight.

Emily Blunt’s scheduling conflicts allowed second choice, Scarlett Johansson to be recast as Natasha Romanoff and they made another sideways transfer as Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle as James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes due to a fall out between Howard and Marvel Studios. The movie reviews are slowly rolling in… and so far the consensus is that this sequel boasts the same strengths that made the first Iron Man so entertaining with Robert Downey Jr. stealing the show… yet again!

Catch the rest of the preview and the trailer after the jump…

Iron Man 2 has been inundated with new characters in a similar move to Spider-Man 3 with Mickey Rourke slotting in as Ivan Vanko, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Other returning characters besides Tony Stark include: Pepper Potts (Paltrow), Christine Everhart (Bibb), Agent Coulson (Gregg), Hogan (Favreau) and Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany).

As they say, blockbuster sequels are generally based on the original with more characters, bigger special effects and more threatening plots involving world and sometimes universal domination. Iron Man 2 “fattens” up the cash cow for the slaughter (‘scuse the cynicism, see Food, Inc.) with a first-rate cast, a bold AC/DC soundtrack (AC/DC: Iron Man 2 ‘Shoot to Thrill’ Video) and a leaner, meaner Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow’s skintight catsuit. She may have been in training for six weeks before and during the shoot, but I’ve got a feeling it’s all been worth it!

“Hey, a superhero’s gotta eat!?”

The plot is a continuation of Iron Man as the superhero’s true identity has been publicised and the military exerts its influence. Now with Iron Man’s new-found celebrity and already massive ego bursting at the seams, it seems the media are never going to let up. He’s hot property and it’ll come as no surprise that the  government want his secret weapons technology for their own hellbent exercises in world domination (even post-Bush). As if the U.S. government weren’t enough of an obstacle, Iron Man’s also got a bunch of  new villains to contend with… it’s going to be a long day at the office, think Spider-Man 2.

NEW IRON MAN 2 CHARACTERS

Sneaks previews: 29 April, 8pm
Release Date: 30 April, 2010

Watch the Iron Man 2 Trailer
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Images courtesy of Marvel/UIP.
Trivia sourced from IMDB.com.