Iron Man 3 (2013) Film Review

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

IRON MAN 3

Starring Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark / Iron Man), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes / War Machine / Iron Patriot), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian), Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen), Ben Kingsley (Trevor Slattery), and Paul Bettany (as the voice of JARVIS) with a special appearance by Stan Lee and a post-credits appearance by Mark Ruffalo as Doctor Bruce Banner

Directed by Shane Black

Produced by Kevin Feige

Written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black

Music By Brian Tyler

Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures

Run Time: 2 hours and 11 minutes

World Premier: April 14, 2013, in Paris, France

Opening Weekend Box Office: $174 million (North America)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.2 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Memorable Iron Man 3 Quotes

“We made the decision that, post-Avengers, wherever possible, these movies were going to go back into their own worlds. Tony is interesting on his own. We haven’t seen Rhodey lately. We haven’t seen that much of Pepper Potts, or Stark Industries – these things that are central to Tony’s world. Let’s have fun exploring those, because they’re so rich, and there’s so much there in the comics. Once we made that decision, to just go back and focus on Tony’s world, it freed us up in a way that was exciting. It allowed us to not be beholden to a lot of the other, larger, Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity. – Stephen Broussard

“The new thing about the suit is that it’s able to fly on, to attach to the body in multiple pieces, rather than the whole suit flying as a single piece. Tony has developed this tech. He’s able to call the suit to him as an individual arm or leg, or even part of an arm or leg, the front part of his chest or the back.” – Chris Townsend describing how the Iron Man armor has changed from The Avengers in Iron Man 3.

“We are bored by the Damsel in Distress. But sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something, other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with ‘Is Pepper in danger or is she the savior?’ over the course of this movie. – Kevin Feige discussing Pepper Potts’ role in Iron Man 3.

“The Mandarin is one of the most iconic villains in the Marvel Universe. And when you have the opportunity to hire Sir Ben Kingsley to play that role, it’s an opportunity you cannot pass up. He is a brilliant actor. You believe he is the baddest terrorist alive. He’s infiltrated our airwaves. He can contact the President, but through it all, you realize he’s not who he says he is.” – Louis D’Esposito describing The Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

“There’s a bit of a contingent out there which has totally misread that [Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King] was somehow an apology for making The Mandarin what we did in Iron Man 3, which I am here to say is 100-percent not true. If we thought Trevor was something to be apologized for, then would the solution be fifteen more minutes of Trevor? It just doesn’t make sense. And I’m honestly very proud of Iron Man 3. Some people were upset that we treated The Mandarin as a punchline, but you’ve got to switch it up, I liked it a lot.” – Stephen Broussard

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Fun Iron Man 3 Facts

A third Iron Man film was announced on October 18, 2010, by The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures, and Marvel Studios, upon the public announcement that Disney had acquired the distribution rights to the film from Paramount, making Walt Disney Pictures the film’s exclusive distributor and emphatically ending the Paramount era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At the end of 2010, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 Director Jon Favreau announced that he would not be returning to direct the third Iron Man film, wishing to instead pursue other opportunities after the previous four years-plus had been consumed with Iron Man production and promotion. Favreau did however vow to reprise his role as Happy Hogan whenever Marvel Studios wished for him to do so moving forward, hence is appearance as Hogan in Iron Man 3.

In early-2011, Shane Black agreed to come to work for Marvel Studios to direct Iron Man 3. Drew Pearce then took-up writing duties, working closely with Black on the Iron Man 3 script.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe evolved over the years, debates over when various events actually occurred began to plague the fandom. Originally, most everyone viewed the MCU Timeline as existing concurrently with our real-life timeline, i.e., Iron Man 3 was released in 2013, therefore, the events of Iron Man 3 primarily take place in 2013. Debates such as these provoked Marvel Studios to, in 2023, endorse the release of a book titled Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline and this book confirmed that the events seen Iron Man 3 occur around Christmastime in 2013, which put the film somewhere around 18-months after The Avengers. This means that the events seen in Marvel Studios’ Thor: The Dark World, which was released after Iron Man 3 in the Fall of 2013, actually occur BEFORE Iron Man 3 on the Timeline, despite being released after it.

As Iron Man 3 catches up with Tony Stark, viewers learn that since saving New York and doing his part to fend off an invading extraterrestrial army, Tony is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as he finds himself unable to cope with the things he witnessed, experienced, and learned in that film. To cope, Stark has buried himself in his work while allowing his girlfriend Pepper Potts to once again run his company (which she previously did in Iron Man 2). The Mark XLII is named such because it is literally Tony Stark’s 42^nd suit of Iron Man armor, meaning he has created 35 new suits during the 18-months since the Battle of New York. His latest suit boasts the ability to remotely assemble itself piece-by-piece. Stark is furthermore able to control the suit with sensory implants that he has endowed himself with. Tony’s trauma and his inability to deal with it would fuel the plot of Iron Man 3 while his fear of impending doom and his need to protect the people he loves from it would define the Iron Man character for years to come. 

The plot of Iron Man 3 was influenced by the 2004-2006 Extremis comic book storyline by writer Warren Ellis and artist Adi Granov. This story introduced the Extremis virus and was also the debut of the Maya Hansen character.

Initially, the primary antagonist of Iron Man 3 was written to be Rebecca Hall’s Maya Hansen, which would have made her the inaugural lead MCU villain to be portrayed by a female. Ike Perlmutter and his Marvel Creative Committee ultimately vetoed this idea however, insisting that the lead villain should not be female because toys based on female characters didn’t traditionally sell well. Actress Jessica Chastain was originally approached to portray Hansen but had to refuse the part due to a scheduling conflict.

In Iron Man 3, Don Cheadle’s War Machine armor receives a patriotic makeover courtesy of A.I.M. that sees him re-branded as the “Iron Patriot.” In the Marvel comics, the original Iron Patriot armor was worn by Norman Osborn following his appointment as Director of H.A.M.M.E.R. (which replaced S.H.I.E.L.D.) and subsequent founding of The Dark Avengers, serving as a sort of unification of the mantles of Iron Man and Captain America.

In Iron Man 3, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts briefly donned the Mark XLII Iron Man armor during the attack on Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion, and even helped rescue Rebecca Hall’s Maya Hansen during that scene. In the Marvel comics, during Matt Fraction’s excellent Invincible Iron Man run, Pepper Potts takes on the mantle of an armored hero and becomes known as RESCUE. Six years after the release of Iron Man 3, Gwyneth Paltrow would officially suit-up as RESCUE for the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame.

Filming on Iron Man 3 began on May 23, 2012, in Wilmington, North Carolina right in the middle of the incredible box office success of Marvel Studios’ The Avengers. Filming also took place in Oak Island, North Carolina and Rose Hill, North Carolina then moved to Florida before returning to Wilmington, where filming wrapped on November 7, 2012.

Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee appears in Iron Man 3 as a judge in the Rose Hill, Tennessee beauty pageant. This marked Stan’s seventh overall MCU appearance for Marvel Studios upon the Sacred Timeline, which included an appearance in each of the three Iron Man films.

On May 31, 2012, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger announced Alan Horn as the new Chairman of Walt Disney Pictures. Iron Man 3 would be the first Marvel Studios production produced under the Alan Horn regime.

On July 14, 2012, Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic Con and Hall H for what was their fifth independent SDCC presentation. Robert Downey Jr excited the crowd with a festive appearance en route to joining Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Shane Black, and Don Cheadle on-stage where Marvel Studios shared the first public footage from Iron Man 3. The SDCC floor also boasted several Iron Man suits, including the brand-new Mark XLII, which would be a prominent part of Iron Man 3.

Shortly after returning to the set of Iron Man 3 from San Diego Comic Con, Robert Downey Jr broke his ankle while performing a stunt, resulting in the actor being sidelined for six-weeks. During the downtime, Marvel Studios switched to Weta Digital from the bankrupt Digital Domain to lead the way in VFX development for Iron Man 3 and also hired Brian Tyler to compose the music for the film.

Iron Man 3 was the first Marvel Studios production to feature a Christmastime setting. Future productions that would have a Christmastime backdrop include the Hawkeye series on Disney+ and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

On February 3, 2013, a trailer for Iron Man 3 aired during the NFL’s Super Bowl XLVII.

Promotional partners for Marvel Studios on Iron Man 3 included Audi, Oracle, Verizon, TCL, and Subway. The Walt Disney Company also promoted the film in their domestic theme parks.

Iron Man 3 concluded Robert Downey Jr’s Marvel Studios contract and the film was made and released without any further commitment from Downey to reprise his role as Tony Stark in the future. On June 20, 2013, however, Marvel Entertainment announced that RDJ had reached a deal with Marvel Studios to return as Tony Stark in two future Avengers films.

On July 2, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced that a deal had been reached with Paramount Pictures that landed the home video rights to both 2008’s Iron Man and 2010’s Iron Man 2 at Disney. This would end up being a very significant deal years later with the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.

On July 20, 2013, Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic Con for its sixth presentation there. In Hall H, Kevin Feige introduced Joss Whedon, who announced that the name of Marvel Studios’ Avengers sequel would be Age of Ultron in which Robert Downey Jr would reprise his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man.

On August 11, 2013, at the Teen Choice Awards, Iron Man 3 won the Award for Choice Movie: Action and Robert Downey Jr won the Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action for his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man in Iron Man 3. At the People’s Choice Awards on January 8, 2014, Iron Man 3 won the Awards for Favorite Movie and Favorite Action Movie, while Robert Downey Jr won the Award for Favorite Action Movie Star. On June 26, 2014, at the Saturn Awards, Iron Man 3 won the Award for Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture, Robert Downey Jr won the Award for Best Actor for his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man in Iron Man 3, and Ben Kingsley won the Award for Best Supporting actor for his role as Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3.

In September-2013, Marvel Studios filmed the Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King short which starred Ben Kingsley’ reprising his role as Trevor Slattery as fans were able to catch-up with Slattery in prison. The short saw an Agent of The (actual) Mandarin confront Slattery in jail, posing as a documentary filmmaker. Slattery was taken from the prison and presumably to The Mandarin, leaving his fate uncertain. This One-Shot was followed up on in Marvel Studios’ 2021 motion picture Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which introduced The Real Mandarin (portrayed by Tony Leung) and saw Ben Kingsley reprise his role as Trevor Slattery, serviing as a prisoner of The Mandarin.

Iron Man 3 was the second highest-grossing film of 2013, and the second highest-grossing Marvel Studios film of all-time, behind only The Avengers.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

My Iron Man 3 Review

Iron Man 3 had a tough sell to make as the kickoff to Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the first film after 2012’s The Avengers. There had never been anything quite like The Avengers before and audiences were anxious to see where the MCU went next as an ongoing story, having waited for a full year by the time Iron Man 3 was released.

I enjoyed Iron Man 3 for what it was, and what it was, was a Tony Stark story. Iron Man 3 was about taking Tony out of the suit and exploring who he was underneath the armor and delving into the things that make Tony Stark a hero. Make no mistake about it, Tony Stark came out of The Avengers as the hero. After being told earlier in the film by Captain America that he wasn’t the type of guy to make the sacrifice play, Stark did just exactly that, commandeering a nuclear missile and flying it into a wormhole against all logical odds of returning. When Stark released the missile and closed his eyes, he was at peace with what he’d done. His friend Ho Yinsen had made Tony vow to not waste the second chance at life he’d been granted in Afghanistan, and Tony believes in that moment, that he has fulfilled that promise. He no longer has anything to prove to the memory of Yinsen, to his teammates, nor to anyone else. This was the end, and Tony Stark was fine with that.

Except it wasn’t. Tony ended up falling back through the portal and free-falling to Earth where he was rescued from certain doom by his new friend The Hulk. Stark was then resuscitated by the primal roar of The Hulk, and he now had to live in a post-Avengers world; something he simply was not ready for.

Of all the things that defined Tony Stark as a human being, fear was rarely one of them. That changed during the Battle of New York however. Tony’s worldview was forced to expand, and he was forced to accept that he had been wrong about many, many things that he’d casually accepted as truth. It was a symbolic reflection of Nick Fury’s words to him during the post-credits scene of Iron Man: “You’ve just become part of a bigger Universe.” In The Avengers, Tony really did become part of a bigger Universe, and with that bigger Universe came bigger threats, and those threats inspired concern that grew into quiet fear, which manifested itself physically, affecting Tony’s health.

This fundamentally changed Tony Stark. Just as he came out of that Afghani cave different from the man that went in, he came out of the Battle of New York different from the man that came out of that Afghani cave. To drive this home, the film opened with a flashback to New Year’s Eve 1999 to remind us of who Tony used to be: the brash, carefree, nonchalant, short-sighted, and unnecessarily cruel playboy. It was through pain, trauma, and despair that Tony found the inner hero within himself that became Iron Man, and Tony had grown since then, as a hero and as a person, and though he was far from flawed, he had risen to a place of looking beyond himself now, and it is that new outlook in which the roots of fear planted themselves within Tony Stark. He had Pepper and he had The Avengers, yes, but in having Pepper specifically, Tony Stark now had something to lose, and it was the thought of something bad happening to her that was truly keeping Tony Stark up at night.

I had a lot of fun with the New Year’s flashback, and I had a lot of fun with Tony testing his new Mark XLII armor. I enjoyed him ragging on Happy Hogan and bickering with Pepper. Robert Downey Jr was his usual amazing self during these scenes, and the chemistry that he had with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, and Don Cheadle just flowed naturally throughout this film. It didn’t matter to me that Tony spent so much time out of the armor. As long as Robert Downey Jr was on the screen doing his thing, I was entertained and engrossed. I found Iron Man 3 to be the funniest of the three Iron Man films with dozens of memorable quips, quotes, and insults. Though this film revolved around some very crucial things pertaining to Iron Man as a character, you could just tell as a viewer that RDJ was having a good time with everything that he was given to chew on. I would put his televised challenge to The Mandarin up there with Downey’s best scenes in the MCU, and both the Air Force One rescue and the House Party Protocol were incredible action sequences.

I have to throw Gwyneth Paltrow into the mix here while I’m praising Iron Man 3. Kudos to Marvel Studios for giving Pepper a badass moment in having her breakout of the Damsel in Distress mode and actually save Tony this time around and be the one to kill-off Killian. I know that a case can (and maybe should) be made that Pepper had been the one who saved Tony all along, but Extremis Pepper was great, and I enjoyed most of what was done with her character in Iron Man 3.

Other things I liked: the Iron Patriot armor looked great in live action, the Extremis Soldiers looked pretty cool, and I thought Rebecca Hall did good with what she had to work with as Maya Hansen.

That brings me to the other side of the coin. I’ll start with the bigger deal of the two: Trevor Slattery. When I first saw Iron Man 3, I hated the swerve of The Mandarin that we’d seen in the trailers and on the posters and in all of the promotional material was actually not The Mandarin, but instead a drunken actor. Unlike a lot of others that I saw and heard, my hatred for the swerve was not based on the adaptation of The Mandarin as a comic book character. I personally can’t stand The Mandarin in the comics, so it was no sort of betrayal of mythology that got to me. No, the reason I hated the swerve at the time was because The Mandarin was built-up in a post-9/11 world to be a truly terrifying villain. Ben Kingsley was really captivating and convincing with his slow and meticulous way of talking and backed by all of the politically provocative imagery that was used. Over the course of the first hour of the film, I remember leaning over to my wife in the theater and whispering that this Mandarin may end up being one of the best comic book movie villains of all-time. I mean, that scene with Mandarin calling President Ellis was horrifying! I could not wait to see Iron Man get his hands on this guy and then … it was all a joke! There was no Mandarin (not as we thought he existed anyway). There was just Trevor Slattery; a bumbling, drunken, drug-addicted slob of a British actor that longed for notoriety. This just felt like a monumental letdown at the time.

In the years since however, I’ve come to appreciate the Trevor Slattery swerve as well as Trevor Slattery as a character! Ben Kingsley was admittedly hilarious as Trevor! The way he nodded off while being interrogated and Tony and Rhodey’s utter repulsion of the notion that anyone at all ever considered this guy a threat? Pretty Awesome. Trevor’s sudden vocal break-out into a soccer chant? Pretty Amazing! Kingsley was wildly entertaining and his scenes standout today as a comedic highlight for me in Iron Man 3. And yes, I did enjoy the All Hail the King Marvel One-Shot and Ben Kingsley’s part in it as well.

Now, let’s discuss Harley Keener for a bit. I didn’t mind it. No, Tony’s relationship with the child was not my favorite part of Iron Man 3 at the time, but again, years later, these scenes have aged pretty well. Looking back, this was a precursor to the relationship Tony would have with young Peter Parker in the MCU, and a precursor to Tony becoming a parent. Harley was a little boy that had been abandoned by his father, and we know all about Tony’s daddy issues in the MCU, so Harley was at least an interesting character choice even if he wasn’t necessarily an interesting character, and I think the kid ended up having a profound impact on Tony Stark, just as Tony had on him, as evident by his appearance at Tony’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame.

Iron Man 3 is a tough film for me to rank. It came out after The Avengers, which was for me – and a lot of people – the best comic book movie ever at the time. Iron Man 3 was not at that level, and it drew kind of a bad hand in that respect, as any film based on any single Marvel Hero would’ve had a difficult time following The Avengers. At the time, it was a mixed bag of a movie with some questionable creative choices, but today, I find it to be quite re-watchable and I appreciate its genius now much more than I did all those years ago.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Highlights of Iron Man 3:

Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark

Extremis Pepper!

Chemistry between Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow

Iron Patriot Armor

Hilarious Trevor

New Year’s ’99 Scenes

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:

Extremis. Aldrich Killian. Maya Hansen. Harley Keener. Trevor Slattery. Iron Patriot armor. Iron Man armors Mark VIII-XLII.