Iron Man 3

[mr sabu]

watching ironman 3 on Wednesday massive spoiler ahead

apprently the mandarin isn't the main bad guy

[mr sabu]

so i just got home from watching iron man 3... now i dunno anything about the extremis arc but... WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH

[VanillaJello]

so i just got home from watching iron man 3... now i dunno anything about the extremis arc but... WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH

Was it good or bad?

[Dream-Evil]

I liked it. A definite improvement on 2. Saw a 2D screening this afternoon. As is the norm for these Marvel flicks, stick around after the credits.

[Chris]

In the spirit of making threads for new films, here's one for discussion about the first post-Avengers Marvel flick. It's out in the UK tomorrow.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1Y3P9D0Bc

Early reviews have been positive - it sounds like it balances the action, drama and humour well, and I'm hearing good things about Kingsley;. Hopefully this is accurate, as the Iron Man franchise is in need of an effective villain. Iron Man 2 was quite disappointing, but I'm looking forward to seeing Shane Black's take on Tony Stark. The plane sequence looks great.

[Mik]

Excellent reviews so far. I'm off to see it at the weekend.

[mr sabu]

Was it good or bad?

it was good, and better then number 2.. but as i said i know nothing about that arc so i had no idea what was going on

[Alf]

Just got back...

Erm...

Erm...

Didn't really like it that much. It was pretty funny in a lot of places and the action was ok. I got a bit bored of seeing bits of Iron Man just falling off left right and centre.

And...
I did like the big switcheroo, that was clever, very funny, and I'm glad I avoided spoilers. The film just kind of washed over me though. Meh.

[VHS]

I'm hearing something happens that will have comic fanboys grinding their axes. Sounds good. :)

[Beer-Belly]

Fanboys are generally petulant crybabies, so that excites me.

[Mik]

I thought that it was alright. Some decent lines, some decent performances. The action was a bit repetitive though.

[mr sabu]

i enjoyed it

the whole being able to melt shit and spit fire i was a bit over the top........ was disappointed with the Mandarin not being the Mandarin but loved kingslys performance

[Beer-Belly]

That seems pretty pointless.

I'm all for artistic license with comic book characters in films, but that seems... unnecessary. Why include the Mandarin character at all if he's just a red herring? I'll have to see how it plays.

[Mik]

...because it's a red herring...its a plot twist to surprise people.

[virms]

Tickets purchased for showing tomorrow night. Haven't been to the theater since the hobbit ffs.

[virms]

:hyper: This better be good.

[virms]

Was ok. I was definitely expecting a lot more and Marvel should really think about giving Joss free reign over all Marvel movies. I didn't really even care too much for the Thor preview before Iron Man.

The ending....

Granted Pepper wasn't going to die and I figured she would survive due to the injections but the whole bit with her being more badass than everyone else was a bit much.

The end credit with Stark and Banner was funny but really wasn't really worth the wait. Nice tie in from beginning to end standpoint but I guess I was hoping for something forwarding Thanos.

[Atty]

Yeah, "was ok" would be about as high as I'd go. I loved Kingsley in this and Downey is always great, but it felt like they weren't given a lot to play with. Also felt like they were looking for a way to have him not in the suit as much as possible like how Superman would get sent to another planet or lose his powers for the sake of not solving a Justice League episode right away. This type of thing worked last summer, for me, in TDKR, where he was only Batman at certain points much better than it did here. Besides, I kept waiting for...


The big payoff where he gets back in the suit and the audience can cheer. He'd just jump in and out of suits, but it felt like a missed opportunity to give a crowd pleasing moment. In TDKR there was that great moment where it stopped long enough with him on the bike and back in the suit that the crowd could react and soak it in. Nothing like that in Iron Man 3.


Also, not crazy about the ending. It will help Downey's salary negotiations, though, as he could easily position it as "well, my story's over, I don't NEED to come back..."


Like Virm, I was expecting something to set up Avengers 2 after the credits.

I guess I would go: Iron Man > Avengers > Iron Man 2 > Iron Man 3 for the Stark movies. The way Marvel has built their series up, I feel like they can't really match the first film with Stark on his own. Love Iron Man and all, but it's very strange going back to a solo movie, especially when it feels so much smaller than the others. This is something for DC to take note of with their desire for Justice League: it's hard to go back. This could be a reason to just do Superman and Bale in the first team up, adding the rest in the movie after. Maybe set up a few (John Jones, John Stewart with a ring, but not use them) in Superman & Batman and then do Justice League as the sequel.

[StoneColdWWE316]

I liked Iron Man 3. I guess the reason they didn't have him in the Suit as much as 1 & 2 along with Avengers is they wanted him doing most of the work this time.

I was glad Pepper didn't die either. I do hope they do another one maybe after Avengers 2 if he's in that one.

[kangus]

Well fuck it, if StoneColdWWE316 liked it then I'm on board and i'll watch it this weekend.

[virms]

Quit trying to be black.

[Atty]

Shane could have used that advise before filming...

[StoneColdWWE316]

Well fuck it, if StoneColdWWE316 liked it then I'm on board and i'll watch it this weekend.

Well golly don't take my word for it. Smart ass.

[virms]

Don't let him bother you. The first iron man hasn't even came out in Canada yet. Kelly told me Die Hard 2 is topping the charts where he lives.

[Atty]

I wonder if Blood will pop in to remind us that he doesn't post here and rant about comic book purity or if he won't even notice because it's Marvel?

[Beer-Belly]

I was thinking the same thing.

Mandarin in the comics is a pretty racist stereotype, so obviously they weren't going to do a direct adaptation.

[Vice]

Saw it tonight. Was not that impressed. I think my biggest gripe was how often they'd go for jokes. It was reaching Michael Bay levels of comedy during scenes that probably shouldn't have comedy, but at least the jokes were somewhat decent/good.

[virms]

The big payoff where he gets back in the suit and the audience can cheer. He'd just jump in and out of suits, but it felt like a missed opportunity to give a crowd pleasing moment. In TDKR there was that great moment where it stopped long enough with him on the bike and back in the suit that the crowd could react and soak it in. Nothing like that in Iron Man 3.


I didn't like the jumping in and out that much either. I get what there were going for but it would have been much better if there was reasons for jumping suit from suit. For example, each suit had its own special ability or gimmick weapon and the jump from each suit was done to defeat a certain enemy strength, weapon, etc. However, just getting back in the suit for that last battle would have been a tremendous pay off. Would have even been great if he only got small pieces of the suit back until the final fight the main guy. Still, they seemed to want to save the last battle for Pepper :wtf:

[VHS]

Aside from the final action scene, I wasn't that impressed by this. This was leaning more towards "funny" than serious and I guess I'm more a fan of these movies being serious-toned. The movie as a whole isn't bad, I was just let down by it. Don't think I'll watch this one again in the future.

Too much Tony not being Iron Man.

[Rip]

Taking the eldest lad to see it tomorrow, not sure I'd have bothered if it wasn't for him really wanting to see it.

[Atty]

Saw it tonight. Was not that impressed. I think my biggest gripe was how often they'd go for jokes. It was reaching Michael Bay levels of comedy during scenes that probably shouldn't have comedy, but at least the jokes were somewhat decent/good.

And the only reason they were decent/good is because Downey and Kingsley are marvelous. Anyone else playing Kingsley's role could have been the worst thing ever.


I didn't like the jumping in and out that much either. I get what there were going for but it would have been much better if there was reasons for jumping suit from suit. For example, each suit had its own special ability or gimmick weapon and the jump from each suit was done to defeat a certain enemy strength, weapon, etc. However, just getting back in the suit for that last battle would have been a tremendous pay off. Would have even been great if he only got small pieces of the suit back until the final fight the main guy. Still, they seemed to want to save the last battle for Pepper :wtf:

Well, going back to the first movie, the final fight in that worked so well because you knew his power level was dropping with each blast. Made it more personal and easy to follow. It's like the attack on the Death Star trench in the first Star Wars vs. the opening space battle in Episode III. Sure, the effects are better in III, but the original did it in a way that the audience could actually follow.

I figured they would go the power level route again rather than the movie going... "lol just joking! I had all these extra suits that I could have summoned at anytime rather than try to charge my broken suit. lolololollol"

[The Rick]

I saw it today, and I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was great, but I took it for the Super Hero action movie that it was. In my opinion it was better than the second film, not as good as the first. Yea there was a lot of humor, and one liners. I think it might have hampered the film, but didn't ruin it for me. I didn't like destroying all of the suits at the end. That they all seemed to have various purposes, and great way to sell toy mercy. each seemed to have a cool augmentation, and could have been used against different villains down the road.

[lotjx]

I thought it was just ok. There were too many plot holes and not enough to fill them in. There are good character moments and I like Tony's arc and even the interactions with the kid. Still, The Mandarin thing was shit. Yes, big swerve, but its like finding out Dr. Doom is a robot controlled by Mole Man who is also Doom in a bizarre way. It was a Russo swerve and it didn't work. I still like Iron Man 2.

[VHS]

There more than several points where I forgot I was watching an Iron Man movie.

[Atty]

I thought it was just ok. There were too many plot holes and not enough to fill them in. There are good character moments and I like Tony's arc and even the interactions with the kid. Still, The Mandarin thing was shit. Yes, big swerve, but its like finding out Dr. Doom is a robot controlled by Mole Man who is also Doom in a bizarre way. It was a Russo swerve and it didn't work. I still like Iron Man 2.

I watched 2 after seeing 3 and my opinion of it (2) went up a lot. It is a better and much more coherent movie than the third.

[Mr_Nobody]

I enjoyed it. Like someone said, it was better than the second one, not as good as the first.


They went the Batman Begins route. Ben Kingsley was never the Mandarin, just like Ken Watanbe wasn't Ra's Al Ghul. Guy Pearce was the Mandarin all along. He had the dragons, and they even brought in the firebreathing to work into the story.

I think it would have told a better story had they brought in Stark's drinking into the PTSD. There were hints, but they could have dried him out when he was with the boy, which could have shown the same type of snarkiness toward the kid, but it could have been him going through withdrawals, not him just acting like an asshole.

I like the reason they explained the rest of the Avengers weren't getting involved with this, because it wasn't big enough, although I would have loved to see Captain America looking at the paper about Stark's death.

I didn't mind the fact that he wasn't in the suit too much, but I did like how they had Rhodes be the bad ass soldier, even without the suit.

[lotjx]

I enjoyed it. Like someone said, it was better than the second one, not as good as the first.


They went the Batman Begins route. Ben Kingsley was never the Mandarin, just like Ken Watanbe wasn't Ra's Al Ghul. Guy Pearce was the Mandarin all along. He had the dragons, and they even brought in the firebreathing to work into the story.

I think it would have told a better story had they brought in Stark's drinking into the PTSD. There were hints, but they could have dried him out when he was with the boy, which could have shown the same type of snarkiness toward the kid, but it could have been him going through withdrawals, not him just acting like an asshole.

I like the reason they explained the rest of the Avengers weren't getting involved with this, because it wasn't big enough, although I would have loved to see Captain America looking at the paper about Stark's death.

I didn't mind the fact that he wasn't in the suit too much, but I did like how they had Rhodes be the bad ass soldier, even without the suit.


Yeah, there was something else I didn't get. The plot is about America being attacked, where is Captain America?

[Kdestiny]

Yeah, there was something else I didn't get. The plot is about America being attacked, where is Captain America?

To be honest, I did think that at one point

[Mr_Nobody]

Yeah, there was something else I didn't get. The plot is about America being attacked, where is Captain America?

The only thing I can think of is it will be explained in Winter's Soldier, afterall, Captain America does seem to be a defacto member of Shield, so maybe he was on a mission from them.

[lotjx]

The only thing I can think of is it will be explained in Winter's Soldier, afterall, Captain America does seem to be a defacto member of Shield, so maybe he was on a mission from them.

If that is the explanation for that sorta like Iron Man 2 is happening during Incredible Hulk, I am cool with it. If its not, Its a giant omission. I think my problem with no SHIELD or Cap is that they have spent so much time hooking all of these films together that it seems dumped to do this film. I do like Tony having the PTSD, but the wife pointed out he may have had it since Iron Man 1 and the near death triggered to go to 11.

[Mr_Nobody]

I actually think they did kind of hint at the PTSD since the first film. He said he tinkers when he can't sleep and he feels out of it. What did he do in the first film? He spent days and nights working on the different suits and modifications and stuff. Fast forward that to this movie, and, after yet another near death experience, he gets even worse with it, where tinkering with his suits doesn't help relieve it.

[Atty]

Yeah let's make a movie where Tony Stark is having PTSD from an alien attack and change his top villain so he doesn't use alien technology. That's a good idea!


They could have very easily done a proper Mandarin film where the fact that he's rocking alien tech messing with Stark even more and where Tony actually has to come to some closure and move on from/accept what caused his PTSD in a way that makes sense to the story.

The more I think about this movie, the less I like it. I honestly think it's a lot like Spider-Man 3 where a lot of people came out liking it at the time because they had some laugh, without realizing the laughs were at the expense of the characters and where they just throw the top villain away at the very end of the movie. To be honest, for how much I hate it, Spider-Man 3 was probably a better made movie.

[VanillaJello]

Yeah let's make a movie where Tony Stark is having PTSD from an alien attack and change his top villain so he doesn't use alien technology. That's a good idea!


They could have very easily done a proper Mandarin film where the fact that he's rocking alien tech messing with Stark even more and where Tony actually has to come to some closure and move on from/accept what caused his PTSD in a way that makes sense to the story.

The more I think about this movie, the less I like it. I honestly think it's a lot like Spider-Man 3 where a lot of people came out liking it at the time because they had some laugh, without realizing the laughs were at the expense of the characters and where they just throw the top villain away at the very end of the movie. To be honest, for how much I hate it, Spider-Man 3 was probably a better made movie.

Really?

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2369214/spider-man-3-dance-o.gif

[lotjx]

Spiderman 3 suffered from the fans yelling to have Venom in it. Even with the Parker disco, if you give me a good editing machine to get rid of Venom, I could make that film into a classic. I am sure that was Raimi was thinking too. Iron Man 3 suffers from trying to be too smart for its own good in the same way Spiderman 3 was trying to be too emotional for its own good.

[Atty]

Really?

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2369214/spider-man-3-dance-o.gif

Yes. Even with that.

[takerson]

Can I get a non-spoiler PM on whether this is worth seeing this week? For reference, I enjoyed the first 2 movies and Avengers. For some reason I feel iffy about going to this though...

[Kev]

You're clearly taking the piss Atty...

Iron Man 3 was fun. Probably wasn't too keen on the main character's solo storyline development but the silver lining in that is there was enough other moving parts for me to look over it.

[Atty]

I'm very honestly not.

[Chris]

I saw this today. I thought it was good - certainly a step-up from the second film, in terms of characters, plot, action, etc. Kevin Feige at Marvel recently said that he envisions Iron Man as a Jame Bond franchise, where multiple actors could play the role of Tony Stark (though he wouldn't want RDJ to go any time soon). There was certainly a Bond vibe in the film during the parts where Tony was out of the suit and it was both refreshing and a little odd. I'm struggling to think of who could fill the shoes of Stark better than RDJ, once he departs. I hope he sticks around for Avengers 2, at the very least, and I'm pretty sure he will once the new contract has been settled.

The film was fun, but lacked weight. I'll buy it when it comes out, but I don't see myself revisiting it as often as the other Marvel films. That may be simply because it went out of its way to distance itself from the Avengers, and unfortunately I don't see Tony Stark ever being as interesting as he was in the original Iron Man film (save for occasions where he's cracking wise with Gods and monsters). So while I appreciated seeing how the events of Avengers had taken their toll on Tony, and I'll never tire of seeing Tony work a problem in his lab, I still think we haven't seen the most significant or definitive follow-up to the original film. And I think that's been made even more difficult by some of the more excessive aspects of Iron Man 3.

For a start, all of the mishaps with the suits throughout the film have made them seem very fragile. It'll be hard to believe that Iron Man can withstand a blow from the Hulk, let alone Thanos, when a collision with a fast-moving truck can shred one of the suits to pieces. I actually liked all of the suit-jumping in the finale, but it got a bit repetitive when he would lose bits of the suits or they would get damaged. There were just a few too many occasions where it seemed too easy to deal serious damage to one of the suits, despite the fact that they're obviously more technologically advanced than the early suits.

I also wasn't a big fan of the ending, as it's simply something they have to un-do for the Avengers 2. Tony's mansion being destroyed was portrayed as a huge blow to him, yet he had an army of suits underground ready and waiting. Now he's destroyed all of those suits on a whim....and will either build a new one or dust off an old one which didn't join the final battle for the events of Avengers 2. Even after the post-credits scene, the screen says "Tony Stark will return". Overall, I felt it was a big gesture which was ultimately a little hollow, and hurt by the fact that they can't pay it off in a solo Iron Man film where he has to get back in the game for something other than a galactic threat.

[Atty]

For a start, all of the mishaps with the suits throughout the film have made them seem very fragile. It'll be hard to believe that Iron Man can withstand a blow from the Hulk, let alone Thanos, when a collision with a fast-moving truck can shred one of the suits to pieces. I actually liked all of the suit-jumping in the finale, but it got a bit repetitive when he would lose bits of the suits or they would get damaged. There were just a few too many occasions where it seemed too easy to deal serious damage to one of the suits, despite the fact that they're obviously more technologically advanced than the early suits.

I also wasn't a big fan of the ending, as it's simply something they have to un-do for the Avengers 2. Tony's mansion being destroyed was portrayed as a huge blow to him, yet he had an army of suits underground ready and waiting. Now he's destroyed all of those suits on a whim....and will either build a new one or dust off an old one which didn't join the final battle for the events of Avengers 2. Even after the post-credits scene, the screen says "Tony Stark will return". Overall, I felt it was a big gesture which was ultimately a little hollow, and hurt by the fact that they can't pay it off in a solo Iron Man film where he has to get back in the game for something other than a galactic threat.


Very much agree. And...

...when he summoned all the suits, it felt really cheap to me. He had all those suits ready to fly out the entire movie, but was charging his beaten up one with a battery charger and fighting T-1000 ripoffs without calling them. Really felt like a cop out and him just abandoning suits at the least damage was annoying. I loved his charge level in Iron Man 1 and Avengers and having to survive in the suit he's in is much more interesting than jumping from one to the next.


The Mandarin twist was annoying, but more annoying was that they had made a very believable and grounded version of the character with Kingsley. He was a great counter to the aliens and men in giant robot suits that Tony has fought before. Simply undoing that and making Kingsley a joke and the "real" Mandarin just an extremis guy with no connection to the actual character was a spit in the face of fans. They almost had a really great revisioning of a classic character, but instead went with the least grounded and silly option they could.

The house destruction was beautiful. Him sending the suit to save Pepper was my favorite moment of the film as, like with the end of Iron Man 2, it shows what/who he really cares about.


On Mandarin again, they went about building him up as a more realistic character with Kingsley in promotion, not having him use adapted alien technology (as in the comics) to keep it grounded—THERE IS ALIEN CRAP EVERYWHERE AFTER AVENGERS! They could have easily kept his character as was, the Osama-like version, and then had him bust out grovy alien powers when Tony finds him. That would have played so well into his PTSD over the alien attack, that I'm surprised they didn't.

[Beer-Belly]

Spiderman 3 suffered from the fans yelling to have Venom in it. Even with the Parker disco, if you give me a good editing machine to get rid of Venom, I could make that film into a classic. I am sure that was Raimi was thinking too. Iron Man 3 suffers from trying to be too smart for its own good in the same way Spiderman 3 was trying to be too emotional for its own good.
You realize that Sandman is one of the most boring villains around, right? The movie was fucked from the get go.

[lotjx]

You realize that Sandman is one of the most boring villains around, right? The movie was fucked from the get go.

His transformation scene was awesome and the fights were good. Harry would be the main bad guy.

[Atty]

Spider-Man 3 should have ended with Peter realizing he could just go to a doctor and be un-Spider-Man-ed. Because it makes sense that he would have never thought of that in all the years after he was biten by the spider and even more sense that it would be a quick and easy fix. It's not like they spent the second film having Peter create some new element to avoid dying.

[The_Mike]

Finally saw it today. I really enjoyed it, yet I can see precisely why a lot of people may not have liked it.

As a casual fan, the portrayal of Mandarin doesn't bother me, but I knew the second that twist came up that it would cause a serious outcry. And it kinda should. They know comic book fans by now, and what they were expecting. They simply didn't care because they knew these people would pay to see the film anyway. There are a million ways to have yet-another-terrorist-threat without completely destroying a character that is central to the mythos you are making hundreds of millions of dollars from. It's not even lazy writing, it's making an effort to be kinda a dick. That said, the story works pretty well, and RDJ carried the film immensely. PTSD from almost dying and being briefly inside an alien dimension was a good touch, and the anxiety issues were scripted and acted with skill that suggests they came from people who actually know what these issues are like. It's a fun film, lots of jokes, but I never felt it got too far from serious. Stark's arc is wrapped up nicely for the character, but in practice it seems just strange. He had his heart fixed because reasons. If it was so easy, why did he never do it before now? Ditto for Pepper, how the hell do they have surgery to fix whatever she was turned into?

So it's a good film on its own, but plugging it into the mythos makes it sort of fall apart. The Avengers are all missing because blatantly the actors were busy/the budget wouldn't stretch. Tony becomes a normal man despite the situation established in the two previous movies. And we all know this won't last because Avengers 2 is on the horizon. It's a strange film that seems to forget where it comes from despite being a competent and enjoyable diversion in its own right.

[Atty]

I actually agree with most every word there, Mike. There is one thing that really bugs me more and more as I think about it that I haven't seen people pointing out:

So, Stark has his legion of suits on auto-pilot ready to attack on his command under his house. Why didn't he order them to attack when his house was being destroyed? Why was he shuffling with Pepper for the one suit when he had many, many more right there? Why didn't he call them at any point from there until the end of the movie?

Also, where were The Avengers when the news was reporting him dead? I know they wanted the movie separate from that, but a shot of Cap reading the paper would have sold it a bit. Or Banner reading the paper and a shot of his eye turning green before cutting away. After Avengers, having them totally solo doesn't feel right.

[Alf]

Because if you show them you expect them to turn up and fight. What would be the point of seeing banner's eye turn green and not have him show up?

You'd then get someone on a forums complaining about it.

[Atty]

Marvel's been having their heros show up, if only briefly, in the backgrounds of all their movies since Iron Man 1. Hawkeye was in Thor, for example, and I wasn't expecting him to factor into the rest of the movie. Besides... Banner IS in the movie and it would have connected to that better.

[Mik]

I actually agree with most every word there, Mike. There is one thing that really bugs me more and more as I think about it that I haven't seen people pointing out:

So, Stark has his legion of suits on auto-pilot ready to attack on his command under his house. Why didn't he order them to attack when his house was being destroyed? Why was he shuffling with Pepper for the one suit when he had many, many more right there? Why didn't he call them at any point from there until the end of the movie?

Also, where were The Avengers when the news was reporting him dead? I know they wanted the movie separate from that, but a shot of Cap reading the paper would have sold it a bit. Or Banner reading the paper and a shot of his eye turning green before cutting away. After Avengers, having them totally solo doesn't feel right.


Im sure that Jarvis mentions that they are working on some kind of update to allow all the suits to be able to do that, with the main suit stark uses being the prototype. I seem to recall him telling stark that they were ready, before stark brings them in. Admittedly that might just be my internal logic filling in potholes as I was watching the film.




Marvel's been having their heros show up, if only briefly, in the backgrounds of all their movies since Iron Man 1. Hawkeye was in Thor, for example, and I wasn't expecting him to factor into the rest of the movie. Besides... Banner IS in the movie and it would have connected to that better.


Yeah, but that's pre-avengers. Post avengers if you see one of the avengers in the film you're going to be expecting them to get involved. Ultimately if they are accepting that you're going to have avengers assembled films and avengers individual members films...they aren't going to just be able to continually cross over and save the day within the films. Besides...at what point did stark seem like he wasn't going to be able to save the day without the rest of them?

[virms]

Marvel's been having their heros show up, if only briefly, in the backgrounds of all their movies since Iron Man 1. Hawkeye was in Thor, for example, and I wasn't expecting him to factor into the rest of the movie. Besides... Banner IS in the movie and it would have connected to that better.

Not only that, but Marvel has a ton of characters that have been an Avenger over the years. They could easily include a minor one to test the waters on the fan's reaction. I know it was reported that Ms. Marvel has a script in the works.

In all honesty A good detective character would have been good (thinking along the lines of Rorschach or Question from DC universe - I'm sure Marvel has their own) in investigating Tony's "death," finds him alive and possibly helps get him to where he needed to go. Could have been a brief cameo and the build to a possible arc down the road where Tony recruits him again in the future. This would at least give a somewhat feel of the Avengers taking care of each other.

[The_Mike]

Im sure that Jarvis mentions that they are working on some kind of update to allow all the suits to be able to do that, with the main suit stark uses being the prototype. I seem to recall him telling stark that they were ready, before stark brings them in. Admittedly that might just be my internal logic filling in potholes as I was watching the film.

Isn't Iron Man's house completely obliterated for the rest of the film, though? There's no way I can think of Jarvis could have finished upgrading them in the midst of all that mess, especially with our favourite robot arm at the bottom of the Pacific. The suits had to be ready before that point, so why weren't they used? Closest thing I can come to patching that plot hole is that the update was purely in software and just required a serious amount of time to load, but that assumes some rather elastic technological limitations and a blown up house to still have electricity.


Yeah, but that's pre-avengers. Post avengers if you see one of the avengers in the film you're going to be expecting them to get involved. Ultimately if they are accepting that you're going to have avengers assembled films and avengers individual members films...they aren't going to just be able to continually cross over and save the day within the films. Besides...at what point did stark seem like he wasn't going to be able to save the day without the rest of them?

When he was dead?

[Atty]

Everything The_Mike just said is what I would have replied with. His logic on the first point is what I have been thinking since film ended and it has been irking me.

[Mik]

At no point in the film did I think that the underground bunker containing his suits was destroyed, just the overground mansion itself.

[Rip]

In all honesty A good detective character would have been good (thinking along the lines of Rorschach or Question from DC universe - I'm sure Marvel has their own) in investigating Tony's "death," finds him alive and possibly helps get him to where he needed to go. Could have been a brief cameo and the build to a possible arc down the road where Tony recruits him again in the future. This would at least give a somewhat feel of the Avengers taking care of each other.

Daredevil or Punisher would probably be closest and I think they're probably both still tied into contracts elsewhere, I do agree though it would have been nice.

[Rip]

At no point in the film did I think that the underground bunker containing his suits was destroyed, just the overground mansion itself.

I think they made it pretty clear it wasn't, but that the lab/vault was simply buried under the rubble, as for the upgrade I'm pretty sure Tony asks Jarvis if it's ready before we get the cavalry charge.

[Chris]

Also, where were The Avengers when the news was reporting him dead? I know they wanted the movie separate from that, but a shot of Cap reading the paper would have sold it a bit. Or Banner reading the paper and a shot of his eye turning green before cutting away. After Avengers, having them totally solo doesn't feel right.


I didn't expect to see any of the other Avengers in the film, save for a post-credits scene (which wasn't worth waiting for, I have to say). It would be nice in an ideal world, but I don't expect the same kind of crossover in the movies as I do in the comics. One thing which might have been good is a news report saying that Captain America was leading the search for the Mandarin, following Stark's death. I don't necessarily need to see the other heroes on screen - just acknowledgement that they're reacting to the same events. Kinda like the quick mention of Gotham in Superman Returns.

I expect Thor to have room for some crossover, though - planting the seeds for either Thanos or Guardians of the Galaxy. But overall, I was satisfied that Iron Man 3 was a stand-alone movie that dealt with the personal consequences of the Avengers. I'm sure Thor and Cap will follow suit.

[Mik]

I think they made it pretty clear it wasn't, but that the lab/vault was simply buried under the rubble, as for the upgrade I'm pretty sure Tony asks Jarvis if it's ready before we get the cavalry charge.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that this stuff was pretty obviously noted in the movie. I was starting to think that I'd just imagined it.



I didn't expect to see any of the other Avengers in the film, save for a post-credits scene (which wasn't worth waiting for, I have to say). It would be nice in an ideal world, but I don't expect the same kind of crossover in the movies as I do in the comics. One thing which might have been good is a news report saying that Captain America was leading the search for the Mandarin, following Stark's death. I don't necessarily need to see the other heroes on screen - just acknowledgement that they're reacting to the same events. Kinda like the quick mention of Gotham in Superman Returns.

I expect Thor to have room for some crossover, though - planting the seeds for either Thanos or Guardians of the Galaxy. But overall, I was satisfied that Iron Man 3 was a stand-alone movie that dealt with the personal consequences of the Avengers. I'm sure Thor and Cap will follow suit.



Aye, that would've been a good way of doing it I think,

[The_Mike]

At no point in the film did I think that the underground bunker containing his suits was destroyed, just the overground mansion itself.

That's my point, though, the bunker was fine, so presumably the suits were inside it and ready when they could have been flying around the house. His house was wrecked, his workshop destroyed and Tony Stark himself was a couple of thousand miles away, so he couldn't be upgrading these things at any point after the destruction of his house. If they weren't ready at the point the house was attacked, how did they get upgraded later? If they were ready, why weren't they used when they would have actually been useful?


Glad I'm not the only one who thought that this stuff was pretty obviously noted in the movie. I was starting to think that I'd just imagined it.

We know it was noted, but noting "we need to upgrade" doesn't actually explain how that upgrade is accomplished. Nobody ever said they didn't mention it, the point is they didn't explain it and that as far as we can tell the only way for the upgrade to happen is if Tony did it before his house was attacked and didn't bother launching his suits or if Jarvis does it all on his own with magic later because Tony is not there and the workshop is wrecked.

[Mik]

Yeah...surely Jarvis was working on it wasnt he? Thats what I figured at the time.

[Rip]

Tony does the work and gets everything prepared, but Jarvis is more than capable of running upgrades and installing programs though.

The prototype suit was clearly having issues which explains why the rest hadn't been upgraded, however as soon as the attack on the mansion happened then the process would be speeded up to get them all field ready.

Obvious, yes?

[VHS]

Plus Tony created Jarvis, I think that garners him enough liberty to allow the AI to continue the techno heavy lifting.

[The_Mike]

Again, my issue (and Attys) is the question of how Jarvis managed to do this on his own with no workshop, no Tony, and possibly no power. Is Jarvis not just an AI program, or am I mistaken and he's also embedded in a robot somewhere (other than the one that was clearly destroyed in the attack)? Jarvis couldn't actually physically do anything to the suits as far as I could tell. If Tony did the work beforehand, why didn't he finish the job before getting himself into that situation? If he couldn't, how could Jarvis? It's stupidity for the sake of plot convenience, at very best, and probably a plot hole. It's not a huge deal, but I can see why it's a niggle for some people, and this wouldn't have really gone anywhere if it hadn't been for people somehow not understanding what Atty and I are saying.

[Mik]

No, I get where you're coming from. I just dont think that its a mistake as such.

From my understanding Jarvis doesnt need a workshop. He's a computer programme who is capable of running software updates and I assumed that he is IN the suits making this update that allows them to be 'called' to Tony. Thats why Tony was desperately trying to charge up his current suit and get him back online...ie so that he can finish running the update.

[Rip]

No, I get where you're coming from. I just dont think that its a mistake as such.

From my understanding Jarvis doesnt need a workshop. He's a computer programme who is capable of running software updates and I assumed that he is IN the suits making this update that allows them to be 'called' to Tony. Thats why Tony was desperately trying to charge up his current suit and get him back online...ie so that he can finish running the update.

Remember Jarvis went off-line when they crashed, that explains the delay as well, first Tony had to re-start the suit to 'patch it into the network' and Jarvis needs to sort himself out before he can finish running the update, nothing physical needed done since it was pretty much just a 'software patch' in a sense, the suits already have the inter-linking wifi type communication and are capable of basic auto-motion and tracking, it's just a case of Jarvis running the program and waiting for someone to clear the doors so they can get out.

I asked my lad about it yesterday to see if I was over thinking the problem, he pretty much relayed the argument back as Mik and I have (he's 8 but a total comic geek) so I'm happy with that as a solution.

[Chris]

Robert Downey Jnr has signed on Avengers 2 and 3:


“I am Iron Man.”

Tony Stark’s famous closing line to the very first Iron Man film takes on new life today as Marvel is pleased to announce the signing of Robert Downey, Jr. to reprise the role of the “billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist.”

Under the two-picture agreement, Downey will star as Tony Stark/Iron Man in “Marvel’s The Avengers 2” and “Marvel’s The Avengers 3.” Downey is represented at CAA by Bryan Lourd, Jim Toth and Matt Leaf and by his attorneys Tom Hansen and Stewart Brookman of the firm Hansen Jacobson.

Downey, Jr.’s last two Marvel films, 2012’s “Marvel’s The Avengers” and this year’s “Iron Man 3,” rank as two of the top five grossing films of all time, collectively earning over $2.7 billion worldwide to date.

“Marvel’s The Avengers 2” is being written and directed by Joss Whedon. Featuring favorites from the first Avengers film and new Marvel characters never before seen on the big screen, “Marvel’s The Avengers 2” is slated to begin production in March 2014 and open in theaters May 1, 2015.

They haven't announced his involvement in an Iron Man 4. Perhaps that's it for him in terms of solo films, and it'll make his return for Avengers 3 more interesting since he'll have been out of the loop for Phase 3. Though Kevin Feige was very keen on the idea of Iron Man as the superhero equivalent of the Bond franchise - maybe that was just floated around when RDJ was unsure about coming back.