Does anyone else think a War Machine and Falcon movie set right after Endgame would have been awesome. Both heroes have a legacy question they'd have to deal with (Sam with the shield and Rhodey with Stark Industries) and Black Panther proved that black led superhero movies could break the bank, so I don't see why this couldn't have been a slam-dunk.
hey guys, it's me again with another Iron Man hot take. The Mandarin twist while clever, could have easily been Mallen and made just as much sense story wise. Introducing AIM so early and not having it connected to MODOK or HYDRA did a real disservice to the organization and could have also just have been Pharmatech. Plus, the pickle the MCU found itself in trying to undo the backlash of the Mandarin twist could have been used just to have Iron Man actually face his rival later on instead of Shang Chi and Wonder Man no disrespect to those movies.
One of the biggest problems with Iron Man 2 was how it was doing too much in terms of story. Suppose Zeke Stane took Whiplash's place, learning of his father's death over the course of the film and developing his powers to end Stark. You could then tie Stark's depression with him feeling bad over Obadiah's death and Zeke's return, making him think of his own relationship with his father instead of the Palladium poisoning. Funny enough, I think Alden Ehrenreich could have still played Zeke back then as he would have been in his early twenties which would have made him the right age range for the character. In fact, he could have the Palladium poisoning due to his implants and Tony has the moral dilemma of trying to save him (his lust for revenge can literally kill him in the end).
I would also trim down Black Widow and SHIELD's role. Coulson, Rhodey, and Pepper do more than enough to watch Tony. If ScarJo really has to be there, why not just make her Mockingbird since her and Hawkeye's relationship matters so much later in the MCU, and their skillset is basically the same. It would awkwardly skipping Black Widow's villain arc only to never really fully delve into it later on.
Practically everything about Justin Hammer can stay the same as I think he was great. Zeke can manipulate him in the exact same way, just without having a big bad Iron Monger suit that retreads the first movie's ending. A full-on Iron Man vs Iron Man beatdown.
These changes I feel would tie the sequel into a more cohesive and emotionally resonant follow-up that can still lay the groundwork for MCU's future.