Ashen Pathfinder

Like I said, I wouldn't have minded the humor if it weren't for its marketing campaign. I mean, you remember some of those trailers, right? They hyped it like it was going to be Tony Stark's darkest hour, but that whole "panic attack" subplot went nowhere, and like I said, it was so silly instead.

I agree that the "panic attack" subplot fizzled out, only to be resolved toward the end with a very questionable narrative decision that AoU flatly ignored.

As far as I'm concerned, Iron Man 2 should've been Stark's darkest hour -- his Wrath of Khan, if you will. But I won't risk spoiling things for Pathfinder! ^^;

Indeed, and I agree, without spoiling anything, that Iron Man 2, with better direction, could've been A LOT better. And the fact that AoU so obviously ignored everything that happened in Iron Man 3 just made the latter film even more inconsequential to me in the larger Marvel universe than it was already (something I appreciate AoU for very much XD).