Just came across this insightful video by HiTop Films on Iron Man 2, and man, what a waste!
"I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to (Jon) Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy, and they allowed me to do that. Unfortunately, the (people) at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up on the floor. It is f-ing too bad, but it's their loss. At the end of the day, you've got some nerd with a pocketful of money calling the shots. You know, Favreau didn't call the shots. I wish he would have." - Mickey Rourke, Crave Online (2011)
Basically, Jon Favreau got screwed by Marvel when they decided to turn Iron Man 2 into an Avengers infomercial instead of the thought-provoking and compelling original cut about Tony's blood legacy.
This movie needs a director's cut for sure. Jon got f-ed the same way David Fincher got f-ed in the production of Alien 3. And if any of those rumors about the troubled productions of the other poorly received MCU films like Thor: The Dark World are true, then not only is it a freaking waste, but it makes so much sense when you see the little bits of profundity sprinkled on those supposedly shallow popcorn flicks.
I was honestly annoyed when I felt that the movie was a poor man's version of "Demon in a Bottle" the first time I watched it, and I was right. There was a "Demon in a Bottle" buried somewhere this muddled and meddled piece of work, and Jon could have gotten his big shot much like the way Nolan got his with The Dark Knight.