Iron Man Music

As a character who is all about power and strength, Iron Man needs an anthem to match. Whether it’s punctuating profound moments of character development or simply amplifying the exhilaration of an action sequence, music has played an important role in the MCU and the Iron Man trilogy. This is especially true of the iconic beats and riffs that have become synonymous with the character.

Fortunately for the fans of Marvel’s first superhero, Black Sabbath was more than happy to let their riffy, bombastic rocker be used as the character’s theme song. Originally released in October of 1971 (although it was first recorded all the way back in September of that year), this legendary track is one of the most famous songs in rock history and is largely responsible for inspiring a generation of superheroes.

Geezer Butler titled the song “Iron Man” because the guitar riff sounds like an iron bloke walking around, but he was careful not to make it about the comic book character. He was worried about a copyright infringement lawsuit, so he wrote lyrics that told the story of a man who traveled into the future and saw the apocalypse, but when he returned to the present he had been turned into steel by a magnetic field and rendered mute.

This epic story of vengeance and destruction was perfect for the power metal tune. The pounding riffs of guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward were matched by the evocative vocals of frontman Ozzy Osbourne, and the result was an anthem that is both heavy and heroic.

The usage of the tune in both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 cemented its status as an iconic superhero theme. However, using a popular band’s music in a movie is expensive and Favreau had to weigh the pros and cons of this cost against how much it would cost to shoot the action scenes that he needed to use the song for.

Luckily for him, the band agreed to let the film use their song as long as they were paid. Iron Man’s success ensured that Black Sabbath received the compensation they deserved and helped introduce them to a younger audience. As a result, this classic rock band’s legacy has only grown since 2008.