MovieChat Forums > Iron Man 2 (2010) Discussion > what does the chest piece exactly do

what does the chest piece exactly do

posted 12 years ago by keith1290
8 replies | jump to latest

the title. in iron man 1, at the beginning of the film, it is clear that the chest piece was to replace the car battery to supply energy to "trap" the shrapnel from getting to the heart, then later on in the film and in the 2, in seems more a heart replacement, these are several quotes that support that; "this can power the heart many many times" ; "pepper: this prove that Tony has a heart" ; the swapping chest plate scene made Tony went to a cardio thing; when Tony chest piece got robbed, he crawled like he had no heart; in The Avenger; Tony mentioned about the relationship between his plate and the shrapnel; Loki failed to touch his "heart" to affect him.

so whats does the plate really do, and beside, with all the super fictional technology and Tony's command, why couldn't he just take it out??

[–] Neoblackdragon 12 years ago

The chest piece primary function is the prevent the shrapnel from digging deeper into his heart. It keeps it in place if not pulls it further away.

Powers the heart- Simply referring to it's function of keeping the heart safe from shrapnel. It's just easier to refer to the heart.

Proves Tony has a heart, that's just a metaphor. You heart has nothing to do with you emotions(which Pepper was getting at Tony's new found pacifism).

The consequence of the set up is that it could act as a defibrillator. It's still electricity and all that.

Okay when Tony is crawling on the ground, I think people are actually confusing the cause. Tony is currently paralyzed due to the sound device Stane had. So he is using all of his strength to get to his arc reactor. He probably would have been fine if he waited for the paralysis to wear off. In iron Man 2, Tony can clearly replace units without ill effect. The shrapnel will take a week to travel into his heart. But again this crawling had nothing to to do with the arc reactor.

Loki- The arc reactor technology is based off the cube's energy signature. The reactor acted as a buffer between his body and the staff.

Now the arc reactor does more. It's actually providing a ton of power and I think that power safely runs through Tony's body. His suit doesn't seem to directly interface with the reactor so it's probably pulling power from all over his body(I mean his body is a great conductor).

Now until he fixes his heart he needs the reactor. I take it Doctors have told Tony that he would need a new heart do to the damage caused. Being rich doesn't change the fact that he would be on a waiting list(and he knows there are people more deserving).

[–] Phil_Coulson 12 years ago

It's not his heart that's damaged. It's that the procedure to remove the shrapnel is just not possible in a cave, and perhaps for modern technology. Though I'd add that in the comics he does eventually have it removed.

I think the arc reactor DOES interface directly with the suit in some manner unseen. Suggesting that Tony is some kind of conduit is, for an electrical engineering student, way too far fetched.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS
In some sneak peaks tonight for Iron Man 3, Tony's suits were being remotely operated. Iron Man 2 made it obvious that Tony keeps arc reactors in all his suits, so I think it's safe to say that the reactors are interfacing with the suits directly.

[–] keith1290 12 years ago

see!! tony removed the shrapnel!!!

[–] Gustav_Fiers 12 years ago

Did you just give away an Iron Man 3 spoiler?!?

[–] captkirk_459 12 years ago

In the comics he removes it but not in the movie universe.

[–] wiiztec 11 years ago

The part about keeping shrapnel out of his heart doesn'r make any sense to me

[–] mzadnane 11 years ago

It acts as an electromagnet to keep the shrapnel in place and away from his heart.

[–] virgiltx 10 years ago

In real life, I think a powerful electromagnet would pull the shrapnel toward itself, which would cause the shrapnel to cut through tissue and stick to the electromagnet, as those fragments looked like little metal flakes, pointy and sharp.

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