I haven't really been following the viral game that's been leading to the reveal of the new "Iron Man 2" trailer, but it seems that someone's finally solved the clues, cracked the code, and the trailer just went live a moment ago.

This is the same trailer we saw at Butt-Numb-a-Thon over the weekend, and it's one hell of an announcement for what Paramount and Marvel have in store for us in May.  In many ways, it plays like a condensed version of the Comic-Con reel that we talked about in July, but there are some sweet new shots (Whiplash cutting Tony Stark's race car in half, that last shot of War Machine and Iron Man back to back) and a charming reintroduction of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark together in the belly of a plane just before he dives into battle.  I'm still not sure what the main thrust of the storyline is, but it looks like there are a lot of forces in play, all of them intent on knocking Tony Stark and Iron Man down a peg or two.  We'll meet new characters like Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and of course, Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), who looks like a genuine threat.  We'll also see Pepper Potts again (Gwenyth Paltrow) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), as well as Col. James Rhodes, played this time by Don Cheadle, who is going to get his chance to suit up as War Machine.

The trailer made its exclusive debut at Apple.com.  I'm sure we'll be able to post our own version of it in a few days, but for now, go check it out in lovely HD Quicktime glory over there, and then let us know what you think!

Or, watch it embedded in this post here.

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