Besides the film’s two sequels, plus the two Avengers movies dominated by Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, plus the Captain America movie that was essentially an Iron Man movie, Marvel has used the formula established here (self-centered jerk learns that great power comes with great responsibility) in movies like Thor, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange.
The sequences where Tony Stark builds and then tests the Iron Man armor remain thrilling and fun.
The picture above was chosen very deliberately; Iron Man became the blueprint for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Unlike most Marvel heroes, whose powers are usually either a scientific experiment gone wrong or a fluke of timing and circumstances, Tony actively turns himself into Iron Man.