Iron Man is a film based on the Marvel comics superhero with the same name and the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist who is captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. Ordered to build a missile, Stark uses his resources instead to build a suit of power armor and make his escape. Returning to America, Stark improves his armor and becomes the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his personal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard plays military liaison James Rhodes and Jeff Bridges plays the villainous Obadiah Stane.