Seven Things You Should Know About IRON MAN 3

Iron Man 3 opens today in Philippine theaters. And aside from it being one of the most anticipated movies of the year, it will also be the start of Marvel's new chapter in its series of movies. There are also other things that you should know about the new Iron Man movie. Bits of information that will surely magnify your Iron Man experience. [CLICK THE LINK TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE]


7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IRON MAN 3
by R. Salao

1. JON FAVREAU who directed Iron Man 1 & 2 will not be directing this third movie, but we will still get to see him as Tony Stark's trusted bodyguard and chauffeur Happy Hogan. Speaking of which, one of the reasons behind this is that Favreau was not happy at how Marvel meddled with how he directed Iron Man 2, as it kept on shoehorning "Avengers set-up" aspects into the movie. Favreau wanted Iron Man 2 to stand alone as its own movie and not appear as just some set-up for another film. Another issue us the financial aspect, which sadly Marvel is known for. Marvel's knack for being cheap was the reason why Terence Howard left his role as Rhodey, which was replaced by Don Cheadle; and also why Edward Norton did not continue to be Bruce Banner (The Hulk), and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo. All's well that ends well anyway, Favreau is not really that 'up in arms' and hateful about it.

2. SHANE BLACK is the new director for IRON MAN 3, and one that is an awesome choice to take on the Iron Man series. Black's career is one of the most impressive track records in Hollywood. The majority of Black's earlier career is in screenwriting - he has written 10 produced scripts; among them are Lethal Weapon, he Last Boyscout, The Long Kiss Goodnight. He wrote his first screenplay Lethal Weapon when he was only 23. He directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005; although it was a small movie, it was incredibly successful and it was the movie that revived the then dying career of Robert Downey Jr.

3. EXTREMIS will be the basis for the storyline of Iron Man 3. "Extremis" is a six-issue story arc written by Warren Ellis. It is considered one of THE BEST Iron Man stories ever written. "Extremis" redefines the status quo for Iron Man, increasing the power of his armor significantly. Its storyline also re-tells and updates the Iron Man origin. The first Iron Man movie is partially based on the Extremis storyline as it tells the exact similar origin story for Iron Man. In Iron Man 3, the EXTREMIS main story in which we see Tony's power over his armor grow immensely stronger at a more personal, bio-identity sort of way.

Each of the three respective Iron Man films (and the cross-over film The Avengers) have taken cues from the Extremis story arc:

The origin and armor of Iron Man used in the 2008 film Iron Man closely resemble those introduced in "Extremis". Based on his work on "Extremis", artist Adi Granov was brought on as a producer for the film, and he created the final designs for Iron Man's armor. On the DVD of Iron Man, "Extremis and Beyond" is included as a special feature. In other featurettes, Adi Granov and Warren Ellis were interviewed on the origin, the suits, John Pillinger (the interviewer), and the suit being on a crate, not a briefcase.

In Iron Man 2, a small plot arc of the story involves Tony trying to find a solution to the palladium poisoning from his Iron Man arc reactor, eventually coming to create a new element for a pacemaker resembling Extremis armor.

In The Avengers, in order to escape from Loki, Tony Stark uses bracelets as a precursor to the Extremis summoning technology to guide the Mark VII suit to him as he is in freefall.

The upcoming Iron Man 3 appears to be an adaptation of the Extremis storyline due to the inclusion of Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen, who will be played by Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall respectively. Trailers have also shown Tony summoning his armor to him in a manner similar to how the armor was assembled via Extremis remote control.

4. THE MANDARIN, who is a villain in this new movie, is Iron Man's most prominent, long-time arch-villains in its comicbook history. In the comics (and in the underrated animated straight-to-video movie), he is a power-mad Chinese who has desires of conquering the world with the use of his unbelievable powers which he derives from his ten power rings (in other sources, it is described as mystic, but in comics canon, they are alien rings). The Mandarin is supposed to be a villain that will contrast Iron Man's tech science against mysticism and magic, but of course that would not easily work onscreen. In the movies, Mandarin is referenced on the first Iron Man movie when there is a mention of the "Ten Rings" which is the name of a terrorist organization. The terrorist group angle may most likely be focused on this new Iron Man movie, and with the Mandarin himself (played by Ben Kingsley) as the villain. Set photos show him to have rings, but it remains to be seen in the movie, if they will indeed have the same powers in the comics.

5. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. will be having his last appearance in an Iron Man movie. In Iron Man 4, we may see a new actor taking on Tony Stark/Iron Man. Downey has, time and again, expressed his intentions to retire from the role and focus on smaller movies. He acknowledges that he is indeed getting old for the job, and it would be a good time to move on. But before you get completely depressed, we will yet to see him as Iron Man on ANOTHER movie. Downey is still, by contract, attached to do AVENGERS 2. After Avengers 2, that would be it for Downey.

6. PHASE 2 is the start of the new chapter in the series of inter-connected Marvel movies. And this movie, IRON MAN 3 is the first part, and the beginning part of Phase 2, which will be followed by Thor: The Dark world, Captain America; Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and this will all lead up to Avengers 2.

7. POST-CREDITS SCENES has become a staple of the Marvel movies. Dont forget to wait up after the credits to see what Marvel has in store for us...!