Is Iron Man Ripping Off the Prince of Persia?

[John Funk]

Is Iron Man Ripping Off the Prince of Persia?

The recently-revealed teaser image for the upcoming Iron Man 2 feature film looks more than a little familiar.

There are many things to be surprised about in the newly-unveiled movie poster [http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/] for next May's Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey, Jr.: Who is this scraggly, long-haired man, and what is his connection to businessman superhero Tony Stark? (Answer: It's Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, the film's antagonist, but pretend you don't know that - I certainly didn't).

But if you're a gamer, there's another question that comes to mind: Why the hell does this poster look virtually identical to the cover art for 2004's Prince of Persia: Warrior Within [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Prince_of_Persia_-_Warrior_Within_Coverart.png]? The pose is almost identical, and while Whiplash's energy whips are a bit more high-tech than the eponymous Prince's choice of weaponry, he's holding them in the exact same way. The two even have similar tattoos and long, scruffy hair that covers the right side of their face.

It's hard to imagine that this is coincidental, seeing how the two images look so very alike. Does this mean that Iron Man 2 will have improved combat, but a overall darker and grittier atmosphere and out-of-place heavy metal soundtrack featuring Godsmack that ultimately isn't very well-received by the fanbase resulting in a third installment that gets back to the more fantastic, lighthearted tone of the first game? Er, movie?

Going out on a conspiracy-theorist limb here: The release date on the poster is May 7th, just nineteen days before Paramount rival Walt Disney Pictures releases the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film adaptation of... wait for it, wait for it... Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, starring Jake Gyllenheimerschmidt. Iron Man was a huge hit in its own right, and so the sequel doesn't really need to piggyback on any other films, but it's hard to imagine Paramount executives not considering an Arabian-Nights Pirates of the Caribbean a threat in the least.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyway, if movies were going to start taking their cues from video games instead of the other way around, the fantastic Sands of Time trilogy is hardly a bad place to start.

What do you guys think: Intentional, or is this just a coincidence?

(Poster via IWatchStuff [http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/12/iron_man_2_poster_whiplash_has.php])

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[Ranooth]

Who cares?! It looks badass!

 

[Virgil]

Comic Book Fail. That's not Iron Man.

That's Mickey Rourke, playing Whiplash. And looking very awesome.

 

[DanielPowell33]

Comic Book Fail.

That's Mickey Rourke, playing Whiplash. And looking very awesome.

Thats what i was thanking. Still looks cool though.

 

[-Drifter-]

Is this a hoax? I just can't imagine anyone would think changing Iron Man like that could be a good idea.

Comic Book Fail. That's not Iron Man.

That's Mickey Rourke, playing Whiplash. And looking very awesome.

Ah, that explains it.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Who cares?! It looks badass!

I second this. AWESOMENESS MUST NOT BE QUESTIONED!

 

[BenFace]

I was going to pose the even bigger question of why we put up with such shoddy journalism on what is usually a very impressive site, with their blatant ineptitude towards IM2

 

[Amnestic]

Spoiler: Star Wars did it!

First thing I thought of.

Does this mean that Iron Man 2 will have improved combat, but a overall darker and grittier atmosphere and out-of-place heavy metal soundtrack featuring Godsmack that ultimately isn't very well-received by the fanbase resulting in a third installment that gets back to the more fantastic, lighthearted tone of the first game? Er, movie?

Sounds like a compelling game/film to me.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

This is definitely ripping off Prince of Persia.

 

[Cgull]

Comic Book Fail. That's not Iron Man.

That's Mickey Rourke, playing Whiplash. And looking very awesome.

Winner! Either way, it still looks the nuts.

 

[Green Ninja]

@ CantFaketheFunk:
Fail. Just fail. That is Whiplash and not Iron Man.

But don't worry. It happens to the best of us.

 

[AquaAscension]

Perhaps they're capitalizing on some already recognized image. Or, as others have suggested, that probably isn't Iron Man (though it does look Stark-ish (hah)) and is in fact this character named Whiplash attempting to look like an icon.

 

[John Funk]

Iron Man or Whiplash, doesn't change the image itself being a pretty clear copy

 

[bmart008]

yeah even I could tell that wasn't Iron Man, and I have no idea who whiplash is. That's just bad journalism.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Comic Book Fail. That's not Iron Man.

That's Mickey Rourke, playing Whiplash. And looking very awesome.

This - the friendly neighborhood IT Director has beaten me to it. The energy whips really should have been a dead giveaway that we are not looking at Iron Man, as even non-fans generally have some idea of what the character should look like (not that). Given the success of the first film, I really couldn't see them deciding what Iron Man needs is a complete redesign that renders him unrecognizable, as that way lies madness.

Of course, the observations about how the poster is totally ripping off the Prince of Persia design are still valid.

 

[hazabaza1]

Hooray for lack of creativity!

 

[magnuslion]

because there are only so many poses with which to highlight a characters weaponry and badass-ness? I mean the pose on the warrior within poster has been done approximately a bajillion times already. maybe the designer is the same person/persons?

 

[BenFace]

Also, it would be more of a rip-off if it were Stark, as it would also indicate a very similar plot twist in the film to the plot of the game, i.e. the main character turning down a darker path, and possibley having to deal with this new side to his personality

 

[Liberuno]

Iron Man or Whiplash, doesn't change the image itself being a pretty clear copy

Agreed, the point isn't whether or not it's Stark. It's that this is clearly trying to piggy back on Prince of Persia.