Project Titanium is Unveiled

by Christopher Scott

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Titanium Vs Iron” (S02E07)

The episode begins with Justin Hammer in the middle of a weapons presentation for several world leaders, including Nick Fury. After making a mockery of Iron Man, he is about to show off the prototype for Project Titanium when the entire building loses power. Hammer instinctively knows what the problem is; Iron Man has infiltrated the building.

Hammer’s paranoia seems to be correct as we see Iron Man hacking into Hammer’s computer systems on-site. He is using his stealth armor, which has a cloaking ability to hide him from cameras and such. After shutting down the power he brings the systems back online and begins to bypass security measures in the hopes to find his Iron Man specs and delete them permanently. He only makes it halfway though before being found by the guards and chased from the building. Just before disconnecting he also finds out some intelligence on Project Titanium. He races back to the armory just in time to avoid much of a confrontation.

The next day Tony is having a break between classes on the school’s rooftop with Pepper and Rhodey. The same general themes pop up from this season - about how Tony never owned the armor specs because they weren’t patented, so Hammer never actually “stole” them and whatnot. The argument is broken up by an invitation via text from Hammer to Tony for dinner to discuss Tony’s secret. The trio jump to the conclusion that Hammer must know Tony is Iron Man because Ghost sold him out from a previous episode. Tony decides to face Hammer personally.

When Tony arrives at Hammer’s penthouse the two have some small talk which leads them to Hammer’s suspicions about Tony. He believes that Tony is working for Stark International and is giving them weapons designs in an effort to strengthen the company before he takes it over at 18. Tony is angered by the allegations, says some rude remarks, and storms out. On the plus side, Iron Man’s identity is safe for another day.

Photo: Marvel

Later that evening Iron Man brings War Machine for backup while he tries to once again reclaim his armor specs and find out more about Project Titanium. Only one of these goals proves successful however, as Titanium Man (…really) is keeping watch over the computer terminal. Titanium Man is another suit of armor being piloted by Justin Hammer. It is significantly larger than Iron Man and much more powerful than Iron Man’s stealth armor can handle. In mere moments Titanium Man has Iron Man on the ground and down for the count. War Machine interrupts the killing blow only to bear witness to the ultimate weapon Titanium Man seems to possess: a beam used to leech power from its opponents. It drains War Machine completely and Rhodey passes out inside the armor. Iron Man produces a last-ditch Repulsor blast that blows back this menace and escapes the building with War Machine in tow.

Tony calls Pepper from inside the armor as he flees the scene. He is low on power from the battle and from carrying War Machine, and with Rhodey out of commission he needs the Mark II armor sent to him via remote that only Pepper can fly to him. She leaves her date with Happy (again) and rushes to aid her friends.

Meanwhile, Titanium Man is catching up to our heroes quickly. He manages to keep Iron Man constantly on the defensive until Iron Man is forced to use the last bit of energy from his armor to revive Rhodey. After this, Tony sheds the armor and hides from Titanium Man. Hammer is delighted over how well his armor is faring against the duo as he crushes the stealth armor beneath his massive feet. He continues to chase its pilot (whom he is not yet aware, is Tony) until War Machine again stops him short of his goal. As he fends off the behemoth, the Mark II armor is delivered to Tony, thanks to Pepper. Iron Man rejoins the fight and the two manage a victory by heating up Titanium Man until he bursts into flame. Apparently once titanium reaches a certain temperature it burns up with no hope of being put out. Titanium Man retreats, as do Iron Man and War Machine. I call it a draw at best.

Hammer returns back to his corporate offices at Hammer Multinational and blames his failure on Mr. Fix. Surprisingly, for his blundering, he kills Fix using the nano virus he planted in him at the beginning of the season! Hammer picks up a computer chip from the back of Fix’s now-limp body and places into his computer. Fix’s face is displayed via hologram as Hammer explains that Fix’s body is gone but his mind is now trapped inside the computer, continuing work on new technological advances for Hammer. Fade to black.

Overall it was a pretty predictable episode, but how about that ending!? What did you think? Sound off below!

The Black Panther Returns

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Line of Fire” (S02E06)

by Christopher Scott

The episode begins with the return of the Black Panther. He has returned to the United States from his home country of Wakanda to track down lost Vibranium. For those of you who don’t know, the Black Panther is the King of Wakanda, which is a country in Africa that is technologically superior to the rest of the world. It also has the world’s only supply of Vibranium, a metal that absorbs vibration and is very useful for military applications. Anyway, the Black Panther is tracking down shipments housed by Hammer Multinational and returning it to his country. He faces opposition at each site, but repeatedly succeeds.

The scene changes to a quick glimpse of Gene Kahn and Howard Stark in a private jet, tracking the seventh Makluan ring. Gene is impatient in his quest, but Howard is just along for the ride. He tries to convince Gene to turn himself in, but he refuses as you would expect. The part I don’t understand is why Howard doesn’t just beat up this kid? I mean he’s only 17 years old and he weighs like 100 pounds soaking wet. Sure he can become the Madarin, but you’d have to try and escape, right? Oh well.

Another storyline in this episode is the continuing tension between Tony and Pepper. Apparently Tony has a date with Whitney to see a band called Dazzler. Pepper finds out and becomes extremely jealous. In an effort to get back at Tony, she gets a date with Happy Hogan. They both end up pretty jealous of each other and it’s pretty obvious.

Tony finds out via news report that the Black Panther is back, so he goes on patrol to find him as Iron Man. It seems the Black Panther is still hunting down the Vibranium from his country. Iron Man aids him for a short time as they take apart Hammer’s guards, but afterwards, Black Panther is not pleased. He threatens Iron Man to stay out of Wakandan matters, and then disappears. When word travels back to Hammer that more Vibranium has been seized, he is enraged. The Vibranium has been collected to be used in Project Titanium. In an effort to keep more Vibranium from being stolen back, Hammer has brought back the Black Knight (another B-rated villain from season 1).

The following day Iron Man heads to the Wakandan embassy where King T’challa, aka the Black Panther, is giving a speech about the state of his country. One thing I though was interesting was that he is giving the speech in his Black Panther armor. Apparently he has no secret identity and because of diplomatic immunity he can get away with being a vigilante. He credits the quest for peace in his country to its ambassador, a woman standing beside him. The Black Knight interrupts this speech though, and Iron Man is quick to intercept. With the Black Panther’s help, the two heroes dominate their foe and he retreats to fight again. While this battle is going on, Whitney is being stood up by Tony for their date.

The next scene takes place that evening during Pepper’s date with Happy. They seem to get along very well until Pepper sees the Black Panther tailing an employee of Stark International. She makes a quick call to Rhodey (who is incapacitated this episode while entertaining his grandmother) and he relays it to Tony. Meanwhile, Pepper begins to track the Black Panther as he stalks his prey. She follows them into a warehouse and trips an alarm, causing the Panther to save her from harm. Iron Man arrives and begins to question his former ally about why he would be stalking a Stark International employee and how it is connected to Hammer’s freight. The Black Panther explains that Vibranium had been leaked from his home country by a rival faction called the Nagandans. This has sparked a civil war that is being supplied funding from sales of Vibranium to both Hammer Multinational and Stark International. The two form an allegiance to tackle this problem and return the Vibranium to Wakanda and end the erupting war.

They track the GPS of the Stark Int’l vehicle to where a sale of Vibranium is taking place. After taking down a few guards and the Black Knight (who is a pushover for a villain on this show) they find out that the ambassador who had been honored earlier at the embassy is actually the one who has been selling out their country and causing this civil unrest. 

Tony and T’Challa say their goodbyes as partners fighting for the greater good and Tony returns to school. He apologizes to Whitney and scores a lunch date, which causes Pepper to set a second date with Happy which closes out the episode.

Not the best episode, but not too bad. What did you think? Leave your comments below!

Christopher Scott is a contributor for TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8-year-olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.

The Knockoff Suits Begin to Appear

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Armor Wars” (S02E05)
by Christopher Scott

The episode begins with Iron Man giving the Statue of Liberty a flyby. It seems like this was supposed to be symbolic of something, but after having watched the episode I guess it was just a cool-looking shot. Tony has been becoming more introverted since his run-in with Ghost. He blames himself for losing the armor specs and his secret identity and is just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

On his way to do his regular spying on Hammer and Stane (to find out what they are going to create with his ideas), he is stopped by a construction accident. A crane high above the city has just lost control and dropped its payload of steel beams that are now rushing to the citizens below. Iron Man takes off at a rapid pace, but even at this speed he knows there is no chance he will make it in time.

Just before impact with a bus full of children, two of the beams vanish. Then, a giant, golden hand that looks as if it is made from pure energy pushes the remaining vehicles out of harm’s way. Two heroes, in armored suits similar to Iron Man’s style, introduce themselves as the city’s saviors. One calls himself Force (the golden hand guy), the other Shockwave (who creates energy pulses that can disintegrate objects). The duo make up the Guardsmen, a team of superheroes who work for Stark International. Iron Man enters the scene as the crowd gawks to call them out for stealing his armor. Neither the Guardsmen nor the crowd want to hear anything about it, forcing Iron Man to leave in a huff.

Tony returns to the armory and begins work on his answer to the new team stealing his thunder. Called Negator Packs, they will render the suits useless when he applies them directly to their suits. Rhodey and Pepper argue that the Guardsmen are fighting for the greater good and that Tony may be taking this too personally. Savings lives should be the focus, but Tony ignores them and retreats back to his work.

A report airs on the news, showing the Magia robbing a local bank. Iron Man is quick to mobilize, but by the time he arrives the Guardsmen have already disposed of the thugs. Just as Iron Man is about to question them about how they arrived so fast, Count Nefaria, leader of the Magia, emerges from the back. Using a burst of electricity from his fingertips, he knocks out both Guardsmen while Iron Man is able to block the onslaught. Nefaria is grabbed by Iron Man and thrown into a police car as he falls unconscious. The battle turns now from the Magia to the Guardsmen. Iron Man fends off attacks from both Force and Shockwave, managings to place Negator Packs on them during the scuffle. Just as he is going to unmask the two wannabe heroes the crowd starts to become an angry mob, threatening to riot against Iron Man for defeating heroes of the city. Iron Man flees the scene yet again.

Tony returns once again to the Armory, in worse shape than before. A TV ad plays for the Guardsmen Expo, where Stark International plans to celebrate the deeds of its team and unveil a new member to the public. Tony and Rhodey continue their argument over whether or not the Guardsmen should be allowed to save the city using Tony’s technology. Meanwhile, Pepper is doing research. As you may remember, Pepper’s father works for the FBI so she often uses her father’s resources for her personal gain. In this case she has used voice recognition technology to match up Shockwave’s voice with that of a recently released ex-convict and Magia member. By connecting the dots she also finds his partner (with a similar rap sheet), who is most likely to pilot the Force suit. After revealing her findings to Tony some tension reveals itself when he responds, “Pepper Potts I could kiss you!” She catches herself in the middle of asking what’s stopping him and Tony is quick to change the subject. He decides to reveal his secret identity to force them to do the same and regain the city’s trust.

The next scene begins at the Guardsmen Expo where Stane unveils the newest member of the crime fighting team: Firepower (a super-powered version of War Machine). Iron Man takes center stage and offers his identity to the world in exchange for theirs. When they refuse to play by his rules Pepper hacks their screens, displaying the mug shots of their so-called heroes. This does not go over very well and a fight ensues. Iron Man holds his own in this three-on-one fight, hoping to use his Negator Packs once again. As usual, once technology is used once in this show it takes everyone about five minutes to come up with an immunity, and so the packs do nothing to stop the Guardsmen. War Machine finally joins the fight, causing Shockwave and Force to retreat. Firepower launches a rocket at Stark Tower, so Iron Man leaves the arena to stop it before it causes damage and casualties. Iron Man redirects the rocket and returns to help War Machine take down the remaining Guardsman and end their charade.

Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper head home to revel in their victory as we return to Stark International to find Stane working on another project. From what I gathered in this brief glimpse, the Guardsmen were merely test subjects for new technology being used on a new weapon called Monger. It is a large robotic-looking machine shrouded in darkness, but I am sure it will be revealed in a short time.


Christopher Scott is a contributor for the television blog TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8 year olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.

Welcome TheTalkingBox's Newest Contributor!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

TheTalkingBox is happy to announce that we have a new contributor to the site! Christopher Scott has joined the writing team and will be focusing primarily on animated television shows. I have known him for over a decade, and we've shared many conversations and trivia bits about television shows (especially 80s and 90s cartoons!) with one another throughout the years. You may have seen his recent recaps and thoughts on Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and he will be catching us up on ThunderCats beginning tomorrow. Stay tuned to see what else he has in store!

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Ghosts in the Machine”

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Ghosts in the Machine” (S02E04) 

by Christopher Scott

Stane is in a Board of Directors meeting for Stark Int’l. He unveils a new, very destructive, weapon to limited fanfare. The Board makes it clear that Stane is on his way out of the company and that without suits similar to Iron Man, he might as well just quit. As the Board meeting ends, Ghost appears in Stane’s office. Apparently he has been hired to obtain those very specs.

After a short scene in the school, Tony is seen out testing the limits of his new armor.  He is interrupted by an EMP bomb that was placed on a police chopper that he saves from crashing. Ghost had placed the charge to lure Iron Man into revealing the location of the Armory when he returns there to analyze the bomb. Ghost follows him through all of the security measures into the base. There he finds out the secret identity of Iron Man, Tony’s greatest asset. Tony tries to lock up his armors, but Ghost steals the specs right from Tony’s computer systems. Taking his helmet to keep the armor from being complete, Ghost bids him farewell.

Photo: Marvel

Tony quickly suits up in spare armor specialized for covert ops. He calls Rhodey frantically to get his help in retrieving the specs and in taking down Ghost. There are some great chase scenes, ending up in Ghost fighting both Iron Man and War Machine in the center of downtown. Using a trick where he creates hard light copies of himself, Ghost has multiple copies of himself fight the two armored heroes while he escapes completely. After admitting defeat, Tony reveals to Rhodey that his identity has been compromised. The two decide to return to school and come up with a plan.

At school, Tony is racking his brain as to where Ghost might go with information that he gathered. (There is also a nice Captain America nod during Tony’s history test. Very cool.) He has an epiphany and realizes it would have to be Hammer or Stane that would have wanted the information and have the pocketbook to make it worthwhile. He takes off to suit up and head to Stark Int’l before Ghost gets there.

He arrives to find Stane giving an update to the Board of Directors, showcasing his armor specs. After freaking out, Iron Man jets to Hammer Industries to find he was too late again and that Ghost is double dealing. Ghost tries his hard light trick again to confuse Iron Man and make another getaway, but Tony has already reconfigured his system to identify the fakes and disable them. In seconds he has Ghost down. Ghost explains that he did not sell out his identity, but that it is a fail-safe. If Ghost dies, it will be uploaded to both Hammer and Stane. And when Tony turns 18 his plan is to blackmail him, so that he will have access to the Stark Int’l fortune. Ghost fades away leaving Tony to contemplate his next move.


Christopher Scott is a contributor for the television blog TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8 year olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Into the Light”

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “Into the Light” (S02E03)   
by Christopher Scott

Mr. Fix begins the episode working on something for Hammer. There is a mirrored pyramid that he energizes to show the return of the Living Laser, Arthur Parks. In an accident trying to erase his memories, Fix separates the Laser into two. One seems to be the original; the other is an evil version. Both of them escape from the lab into the city.

Tony is heading to school discussing his heart with his friends. Apparently it is still a big concern. On a side story at school, Happy Hogan starts a prank war with Tony. It is amusing if nothing else.

There is a quick recap of the Living Laser encounter from Season 1 as Parks struggles to decide what to do. He remembers Tony helping him defeat AIM, so he decides to seek him out hoping to get help again. Meanwhile, Tony is soaring over the city and runs into the evil Laser. He barely makes it away alive because of his heart and heads back to the armory.

Photo: Marvel

Tony makes his state of mind known to his friends upon returning. He feels alone in fighting his enemies. His judgment is in question because Gene Kahn and Parks were both friends of his who seem to have turned on him. He is interrupted by the real Laser who comes asking for help. Tony is quick to turn his back on him because he does not believe the story that there might be two Lasers. Parks leaves, followed by Rhodey as War Machine. Pepper has a conversation with Tony that changes his perspective on helping Parks after they leave. He starts to work on solving the problem of the two Lasers.

War Machine and Parks are interrupted by the evil Laser who goads the original into fighting. With flashes of light and explosions, the two begin to destroy parts of the city as they clash. Mr. Fix is tracking both Laser energy signatures through the city. He has a conversation with Hammer, who is impatiently waiting to add the powers of the Living Laser to “Project Titanium” (though they don’t elaborate at any point as to what that is). He has outfitted the machine from the beginning to steal their power and when it is activated it traps both of them in orbs hovering above.

Iron Man appears at this point to interrupt the process. Using a modified form of the same harness that created the Living Laser originally, he combines both of the Lasers into one. Parks thanks Tony for his help and disappears. According to Rhodey, his is still alive, but is away embracing his new life.

Christopher Scott is a contributor for the television blog TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8 year olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.

“The Invincible Iron Man Part II: Reborn”

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “The Invincible Iron Man Part II: Reborn” (S02E02)
by Christopher Scott

This episode picks up right from the hospital where we left Tony after his beating from Whiplash. He has a very dramatic heart attack there and just before the doctors are going to apply a defibrillator to him, Dr. Yinsen shows up to stop them from causing more damage. He takes over Tony’s care, and the scene changes.

Photo: Marvel

Mr. Fix has Stane in bondage as he listens to Whiplash recount the tale of Iron Man’s demise. The mysterious figure is looming on the screen again, upset that the armor could not be spared during the battle. Also, Mr. Fix has a new weapon for War Machine to kill the pilot of a suit of armor, but spare the suit itself so that they can get its specs. As Stane tries to escape on his own, Blizzard returns to lock him back up.

The Mandarin is showcased for a few moments again here. He and Howard Stark have made their way into the temple of the sixth Makluan Ring. It is being guarded by “The Melter,” which is some creepy-looking creature statue. Just as he goes to bring it to life to conquer it and gain the ring, we leave them again. (I’m not sure why they bothered to mention the creature’s name if they were going to ignore it completely.)

Back at the hospital, Tony is recovering when Hammer shows up. Again he mentions trying to buy Stark International. Tony fends off the sale, but realizes that with Stane gone, his company could be up for grabs to the highest bidder. In order to prevent that from happening, Tony breaks out of the hospital to save him.

It seems that Tony has new armor now too, which looks almost identical to the previous model (I guess I like the shoulder pads). He and Rhodey suit up to find Stane. They track the systems Mr. Fix uses to find his hideout. Upon arriving they take out some thugs quickly, and get to the real battle versus Whiplash, Mr. Fix, and Blizzard.

Another great fight scene begins where the animators show how much better they have gotten in the year and a half hiatus they had. Mr. Fix gets a shot off of his new weapon on Iron Man … which happens to be immune to it (figures). War Machine is not so lucky though. Pepper has to take remote control of the armor to save Rhodey from getting cooked alive. After some more explosions, Iron Man and War Machine emerge victorious and save Stane.

Loose ends are tied up here at the end. Mr. Fix flees from his hideout to find that the mysterious figure was Hammer all along. He injects Fix with a nanovirus, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t produce results in capturing the Iron Man specs. Also, the Mandarin has finished “The Melter” in what was a very uneventful battle I guess, seeing as how they left it out completely. So now he has 6 rings. (I hope they don’t do that for the next 4 rings too).

Christopher Scott is a contributor for the television blog TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8 year olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.

“The Invincible Iron Man Part I: Disassembled”

Iron Man: Armored Adventures “The Invincible Iron Man Part I: Disassembled” (S02E01)     
by Christopher Scott

We welcome the second season premiere of the show with a two-part episode. Part One begins with viewers witnessing a heist by some old enemies of Iron Man: Unicorn and Shriek. As they load a van with some thugs, they comment that Iron Man has not been seen in the city for some time. Upon completing their haul, we are greeted by War Machine piloted by Rhodey. He makes short work of them both, however he makes it clear he is still new to piloting the armor. 

Tony steps off of a private jet where Pepper is there to meet him.

Photo: Marvel

He says that he has been in China for the past few months looking for the Mandarin, the Makluan Rings, and his father. If you recall in the last episode of Season 1, the Mandarin (who is Gene Kahn) said that Tony’s father, Howard, is alive and is being held captive to aid him in finding the rings needed for powering his suit. After searching for so long, Tony is no closer to finding any of them. He is starting to believe that the Mandarin may have been tricking him into believing his father is alive in order to force his cooperation.

Just then, the scene changes once again (which seems to be a theme for this episode, so bear with me). The Mandarin’s search for the remaining 5 Makluan Rings is very much in full swing. And, sure enough, Howard Stark is alive and aiding him in his quest. They seem to be on a mountain somewhere, though it is never said where. Howard is also helping him in return for the safety of his son.

We finally get to the crux of the story for this episode when Mr. Fix is seen talking to a mysterious figure. He has repaired Whiplash’s armor and added several enhancements. The figure on the screen says he wants to have the Iron Man armor and Justin Hammer brought to him. Whiplash heads to Stark International where Hammer will be. Iron Man is also present at the meeting, spying to find out that Hammer is trying to buy out the company. A battle ensues as Whiplash abducts Hammer, and Iron Man is the victor.

Whiplash return to Mr. Fix to be chastised for losing his target. The mysterious figure reappears and interrupts the conversation to add Obidiah Stane to his hit list. Whiplash wastes no time and heads immediately for Stane. Iron Man and War Machine (in typical cartoon fashion) happen to be flying around the city on patrol when they see Whiplash. There is an elaborate chase scene ending in an excellent rooftop battle. This sprawls into the city streets where War Machine has been knocked out of the fray, leaving Iron Man and War Machine to duel. Whiplash gains the upper hand quickly and wraps his whips around the armor and begins to increase its power exponentially. Tony tries to eject from the suit before it cooks him alive, but because the whips are wrapped around his body completely, the eject sequence fails. There is an immense explosion and Whiplash takes off, Stane in his arm.

Tony manages to survive the blast, but his heart is failing. War Machine flies him to the hospital, where they await Dr. Yinsen, the cardiologist who invented Tony’s pacemaker. Without his help, Tony will surely die.


Christopher Scott is a contributor for the television blog TheTalkingBox. He spends much of his time watching TV intended for 8 year olds when not spending it with his family in Huntsville, AL.