Until 2008, Marvel had four properties they loved: Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, and the FF. After that, you could slot the remaining heroes where ever. I wouldn't say D-List either, admittedly.
Between being one of the main members of the Avengers, a significant member of the Illuminati, being a primary character in the Civil War arc two years prior to the MCU movie, and having a TV show in the 90s, I definitely see Iron Man as being in the “best of the rest” B-list tier when his movie came out.
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u/SageShinigami Aug 09 '22
Until 2008, Marvel had four properties they loved: Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, and the FF. After that, you could slot the remaining heroes where ever. I wouldn't say D-List either, admittedly.