To be honest, I’m not a huge War Machine fan either (and in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never read any War Machine comics either), but it is awfully nice to see the character’s inclusion in the sequel.

(I’ve always thought the War Machine armor looked really cool.)

Iron Man was a lot of fun, and I’m cautiously optimistic about the sequel. I’m concerned that the decision to rush the sequel into production a year ahead of schedule will have a noticeable impact on the quality of Iron Man 2. Director Jon Favreau was hesitant to begin production on the followup so soon after wrapping the first, but Marvel Studios made the decision to go ahead with the sequel anyway after the writers’ strike left a major gap in their production schedule.

My prediction: Favreau and co. will pull off a decent sequel (critically speaking; commercially, the money’s in the bank, so to speak – it’s pretty much a sure thing that opening weekend’s going to be huge), but I don’t think it’ll be nearly as enjoyable as the first.

My hope is that Favreau, RDJ, and the rest knock it out of the park, but only time will tell…