Iron Man 3 is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), and the seventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Shane Black from a screenplay he co-wrote with Drew Pearce, and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stéphanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley. In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark wrestles with the ramifications of the events of The Avengers during a national terrorism campaign on the United States led by the mysterious Mandarin.
Plot[]
At a New Year's Eve party in 1999, Tony Stark meets scientist Maya Hansen, the inventor of experimental regenerative treatment Extremis that allows recovery from crippling injuries. Disabled scientist Aldrich Killian offers them a place in his company Advanced Idea Mechanics, but Stark rejects him. In 2013, Stark is having panic attacks due to his experiences during the alien invasion and subsequent Battle of New York.[N 1] Restless, he has built dozens of Iron Man suits, creating friction with his girlfriend Pepper Potts.
A string of bombings by a terrorist known as the Mandarin has left intelligence agencies bewildered by a lack of forensic evidence. Stark's security chief Happy Hogan is badly injured in a Mandarin attack, causing Stark to issue a televised threat to the Mandarin, who responds by destroying Stark's home with gunship helicopters. Hansen, who came to warn Stark, survives the attack with Potts. Stark escapes in an Iron Man suit, which his artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. pilots to rural Tennessee, following a flight plan from Stark's investigation into the Mandarin. Stark's experimental armor lacks sufficient power to return to California, and the world believes him dead.
Teaming with Harley, a precocious 10-year-old boy, Stark investigates the remains of a local explosion bearing the hallmarks of a Mandarin attack. He discovers the "bombings" were triggered by soldiers subjected to Extremis whose bodies explosively rejected the treatment. These explosions were falsely attributed to a terrorist plot in order to cover up Extremis's flaws. Stark witnesses Extremis firsthand when Mandarin agents Brandt and Savin attack him. Meanwhile, Killian resurfaces and kidnaps Potts and Hansen. American intelligence agencies continue to search for the Mandarin's location, with James Rhodes—the former War Machine, now re-branded as the Iron Patriot—lured into a trap to steal his Iron Man-like armor.
With Harley's help, Stark traces the Mandarin to Miami and infiltrates his headquarters using improvised weapons. Inside he discovers the Mandarin is actually an English actor named Trevor Slattery, who is oblivious to the actions carried out in his image. Killian, who appropriated Hansen's Extremis research as a cure for his own disability and expanded the program to include injured war veterans, reveals he is the real Mandarin behind Slattery's cover. After capturing Stark, Killian reveals that he has subjected Potts to Extremis in the hope that Stark will help fix Extremis's flaws while trying to save her. Killian kills Hansen when she tries to stop him.
Stark escapes and reunites with Rhodes, discovering that Killian intends to attack President Ellis aboard Air Force One, using Rhodes armor. Stark saves some surviving passengers and crew but cannot stop Killian from abducting Ellis and destroying Air Force One. They trace Killian to an impounded damaged oil tanker where Killian intends to kill Ellis on live television. The Vice President will become a puppet leader, following Killian's orders in exchange for Extremis to cure his young daughter's disability. On the platform, Stark goes to save Potts, as Rhodes saves the president. Stark summons his Iron Man suits, controlled remotely by J.A.R.V.I.S., to provide air support. Rhodes secures the president and takes him to safety, while Stark discovers Potts has survived the Extremis procedure. However, before he can save her, a rig collapses around them and she falls to her apparent death. Stark confronts Killian and traps him in an Iron Man suit that self-destructs, but fails to kill him. Potts, whose Extremis powers allowed her to survive her fall, intervenes and kills Killian.
Stark orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to remotely destroy each Iron Man suit as a sign of his devotion to Potts, while the Vice President and Slattery are arrested. With Stark's help, Potts' Extremis effects are stabilized, and Stark promises to leave his life as Iron Man behind, undergoing surgery to remove the shrapnel embedded near his heart and throwing his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea. He muses that, even without the technology, he will always be Iron Man.
Cast[]
- Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
- Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/Iron Patriot
- Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian
- Rebecca Hall as Doctor Maya Hansen
- Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan
- Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
- James Badge Dale as Eric Savin
- Stephanie Szostak as Ellen Brandt
- Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
- William Sadler as President Matthew Ellis
- Dale Dickey as Mrs. Davis
- Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener
- Miguel Ferrer as Vice President Rodriguez
- Wang Xueqi as Doctor Wu
- Shaun Toub as Doctor Ho Yinsen
- Ashley Hamilton as Jack Taggart
- Spencer Garrett as Rose Hill Sheriff
- Tom Virtue as Thomas Richards
- Adam Pally as Gary
- James Rackley as Sergeant Chad Davis
- Rebecca Mader as Sweat Shop Agent
- Mark Kubr as Ponytail Express
- Sarah Farooqui as Heather
- Stan Lee as Pageant Judge
- Pat Kiernan as Himself
- Josh Elliott as Himself
- Megan Henderson as Herself
- Thomas Roberts as Himself
- Bill Maher as Himself
- Joan Rivers as Herself
- George Kotsiopoulos as Himself
- Mark Ruffalo as Doctor Bruce Banner (uncredited)
- Fan Bingbing as Wu Jiaqi (uncredited)
- Bridger Zadina as E.J. (uncredited; deleted sccene)
- Susie Pratt as Bambi Arbogast (voice, uncredited)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the seventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film of Phase Two.
- This is the highest grossing Iron Man film in the trilogy
- This the third and final film in the Iron Man trilogy.
- This was the second MCU film to reach 1 Billion at the worldwide box office.
- This is the first Iron Man film not to be directed by Jon Favreau.
- This is the first Iron Man film to reach 1 Billion at the worldwide box office.
- This is one of the few MCU films to reach 1 Billion worldwide the others were The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- This is the first Iron Man movie, and the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that doesn't hint at the events of a future movie in a mid-credits and/or post-credits scene.
- The first cut was three hours and fifteen minutes long. The final cut was two hours and ten minutes long.
- This movie was originally budgeted at $140 million, but after Avengers Assemble (2012) became a huge hit, Marvel Studios and Disney upped it to $200 million, in order to allow Shane Black to make the best movie he could.
- The only Iron Man movie not to feature any songs by AC/DC.
- Including the bonus post-credits scene in The Incredible Hulk (2008), this is Robert Downey Jr.'s fifth portrayal of Tony Stark. This briefly tied him with Hugh Jackman's and Samuel L. Jackson's record of theatrical appearances as a comic character. However, Jackman re-took the record after this movie's release, with his role in The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and Logan (2017).
- Disney bought the distribution rights from Paramount Pictures for $115 million. This deal also included Avengers Assemble (2012). However, as with The Avengers (2012), under the conditions of the deal, Paramount Pictures will be the studio logo to appear, and not Disney's. No reference to Disney was made until the end of the closing credits, "Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures".
- Anthony Mackie read for a part, but did not get the role. He later played Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Released in 2013, this movie marked the 50th anniversary of Iron Man.
- Jude Law (Robert Downey Jr.'s co-star in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), and Gwyneth Paltrow's co-star in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)) was considered for the role of Aldrich Killian.
- The first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to be shot entirely digital.
- Production was delayed on August 15, 2012, when Robert Downey Jr.'s ankle was injured in a stunt.
- Unlike Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), Industrial Light & Magic was not involved with the film's visual effects. Instead, Digital Domain and Weta Digital took over.
- This marked the first time Samuel L. Jackson did not appear in an "Iron Man" related movie as Nick Fury.
- Gemma Arterton, Diane Kruger, and Isla Fisher were considered for the role of Maya Hansen. Jessica Chastain was cast, but she dropped out, due to scheduling conflicts. Rebecca Hall was cast in her place.
- At two hours and ten minutes, this is the longest Iron Man (without the other superheroes) movie.
- Sir Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin) and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) played the title character in biopics directed by Sir Richard Attenborough: Kingsley played Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in Gandhi (1982), while Downey played Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992).
- Tom Hooper was considered to direct.
- Composer Brian Tyler is the third composer to score an Iron Man movie, following Ramin Djawadi for Iron Man (2008), and John Debney for Iron Man 2 (2010).
- This is the final MCU movie to be produced by Paramount Pictures.
- Rebecca Hall and Guy Pearce have worked with Christopher Nolan. Pearce on Memento (2000) and Hall on The Prestige (2006)
- Andy Lau was in talks to play the role of Chen Lu (Radioactive Man), but dropped out upon the birth of his first child. Daoming Chen and Wu Xiubowere considered for the role, before finally Xueqi Wang was cast.
- Drew Pearce revealed that Emilia Clarke was cast but changes to the script led to her character being removed.
- Shane Black initally said he had no intention of doing the Mandarin at all, citing the character's reputation as a racial stereotype as the reason.
- Shane Black admitted that Jon Favreau gave him tips and advice during filming (for which he was very grateful and thankful) though noted that this movie would have a "different feel" from the other two.
| Iron Man |
|---|
| Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013) |
| Phase Two |
|---|
| Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015) |