Hi, this is Steve. In 1991, a couple of buddies and I drove down to San Diego to attend our very first Comic-Con.

I was a struggling writer trying to break in, and they were both comic-cardis.

It was the middle of a comics boom and attendance that year was the biggest in history with over 15,000 people crowding the show floor.

Back then, we dreamt of a day that the rest of the world would appreciate the art

forum and characters we love so much. This week over 160,000 fans will descend

on San Diego and in many ways our dream from all those years ago has come true.

Although sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.

Comic books now dominate mainstream entertainment in ways we couldn't possibly have imagined,

and characters which were once relegated to the dusty back rooms of comic shops are now pop culture icons

worth billions of dollars. And if you were to look for one moment, the one

event that fundamentally changed the way Hollywood saw superheroes, you couldn't do much better

than the film that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2008's Iron Man.

Starring the great Robert Downey Jr. directed by John Favreau and produced by Kevin Fyghi, who would go on to become one of the most powerful men in the entertainment

industry, Iron Man is more than just a good film.

It's a game changer.

So that's 2008's Iron Man this Friday on the Cinephiles.

Oh, and one more thing.

We know we're breaking our 10-year rule for this one.

Want to know why we did it?

Well, you'll have to download the episode to find out. The truth is, I am Iron Man. Hello and welcome once again to the cinnophiles where each week we enter the world of a great film.

We explore its themes, its history, the filmmaking, and the influence it has on us today.

And this one, it's got a lot of influence.

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