it’s really bizarre how obviously forced the propaganda is, looking back:

• the cameo’s very short and not very flattering — Tony’s written as close to blowing Musk off as they could probably manage, and they definitely weren’t giving him more than the bare minimum screen time he paid for
• part of the deal was they got to film in the Tesla factory, so it’s the bad guy’s base and it looks (to my memory, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen Iron Man 2) boring as fuck, like nobody really wanted to film there

given how utterly, sickly-sweet positive his latter cameos are, Musk was probably pissed at his Iron Man 2 cameo and had a few new clauses written into his contract with the studios going forward. as for why the crew’s attitude toward Musk seemed to change between the first and second films, my theory is: according to reputation and second-hand experience, Musk has always been a fucking asshole in person. he probably burned out the crew’s good will quickly, and they just wanted to be rid of him.

No one wants to hang out with their dealer more than is absolutely necessary.