I'm not sure where this is headed, but Paramount is in the early stages of a viral campaign for Iron Man 2 that right now looks reminiscent of some of what was done (quite successfully) for The Dark Knight. Last week they released a newspaper clipping which (if real) would have been written right at the end of the first Iron Man movie. It looked like the edges were burnt and torn and it was an article about the revelation that Tony Stark revealed to the world that he is Iron Man.

Today we bring you the second newspaper clip released, which you can see right here (click on image for larger version):

iron man 2 viral newspaper clip

I've typed up the text of the article, but it's nothing ground breaking, it just basically talks about the news conference that Tony Stark held when he returned from his captivity in Afghanistan:

In a move which caused shockwaves in markets around the world, Tony Stark declared that Stark Industries will be getting out of the weapons business. The announcement came hours after the CEO was rescued from terrorists who had been holding him hostage in an undisclosed location in the Middle East.

Sources within Stark Industries have said that the proposed changes in the company's business structure would likely devastate the weapons giant. Stark is the country's largest defense contractor and supplies materials, services and technology to some 30 other nations.

Markets from Tokyo to London reeled from the news on Tuesday, with investors stampeding to dump Stark shares. Indexes fell 4% on average.

Stark Industries was founded during World War II by industrialist Howard Stark. When President Roosevelet declared that the United States would build fifty thousand planes to fight the armies of Hirohito and Hitler, Stark rose to the challenge and set about building an astounding one hundred ---

I've gone over the entire thing and can't find anything resembling a hidden clue. Like the first one it has torn/burnt edges and looks to be against a rough stone background. These look like the clippings collected by Whiplash in his poster. I know that at some point there will be some website associated with this which will be discovered or revealed in the coming weeks.

What do you think? Any ideas?

Iron Man 2 opens on May 7, 2010.