First trailer for 'Iron Man 3' knocks Tony Stark down and introduces the Mandarin
Marvel promises to make Stark work for it in the latest sequel in the series
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"Heroes… there is no such thing."
Grammatically, that's a bit of a nightmare, but the sentiment seems clear. Ben Kingsley's Mandarin makes his debut for the non-Comic Con crowd in the first trailer for "Iron Man 3," and as much as it looks like an Iron Man movie and a Marvel movie, it also truly looks like a Shane Black movie.
And that is a very good thing, indeed.
One of the things you have to do in an ongoing series about a superhero, especially one who positively lives and breathes ego the way Tony Stark does, is find new and organic ways to knock him down and take away that confidence. Watching my wife's face tonight when I showed her the trailer, it's obvious that her investment in Pepper Potts and Tony as a couple is so strong that seeing the two of them thrown when his house explodes had her automatically upset and involved.
I think it's great that they have built a relationship between the two of them that is central to the movies, and that Stark is not a womanizer in the films. He is allowed to be as big a personality as he is because he has Pepper in his life to ground him. Having seen Robert Downey Jr. together with his wife and having interviewed them together, I think there's a little bit of autobiography in the way the Pepper/Tony relationship works, and I think it's a lovely fit for Downey at this point in his life and career. This character couldn't possibly fit him any better than it does, and I can't picture anyone else giving Tony Stark the same sort of charming eccentricity and making it actually appealing.
I like that the events of "The Avengers" weren't just something that Tony shrugged off, and I'm curious to see what other ripples we'll see from that film in "Thor: The Dark World" or "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." This is the first step in Marvel's Phase Two, and it looks like they're off to a strong start.
"Iron Man 3" arrives in theaters May 3, 2013.
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October 23, 2012 at 3:31AM EST Reply to CommentWow... Definitely has me excited. The combination of Marvel, Shane Black and Downey has my ass in the seat already!
cultstatus
October 23, 2012 at 4:16AM EST Reply to CommentSo...any speculation on why Mandarin has a Captain America shield tattoo on his neck?
October 23, 2012 at 4:28AM ESTcultstatus Maybe whoever is impersonating Iron Man is also impersonating Mandarin? In the screen cap, Mandarin isn't wearing any rings and has a weird shiny thing above his ear that wasn't in the pic released earlier.
October 23, 2012 at 4:36AM ESTMs_Vane I suspect Agent Coulson has come back à la Voldemort in the Philosopher's Stone; imprinting himself on the back of the Mandarin's neck.
October 23, 2012 at 6:53AM ESTLatauro
October 23, 2012 at 4:35AM EST Reply to CommentI probably would have been excited by "Hey, you know those films you love? Here's another one", but there are some real dramatic turns in this thing. I'm now excited for it on its own merits. And I was not anticipating that.
And it comes out on my birthday, so that's another bonus.
jweezy
October 23, 2012 at 4:47AM EST Reply to CommentThank you Shane Black. I hope this opens up some doors for him. It's been way too long since Kiss Kiss. I know there will be another trailer before May, but there doesn't need to be. That's one of the better teasers I've ever seen. I'm sold.
Chesterfield
October 23, 2012 at 6:13AM EST Reply to CommentLooks positively epic. Dark and epic. I have such high hopes for this, it's probably not healthy, but I've been a Shane Black fan for almost 25 years, and I've been hoping for a big second breakthrough. Could this be it? -Fingers crossed. We need more from Black, we did not need him to make a comeback after an 8-year absence only to disappear for another 6 to 7 years.
Also, I think his sensibilities and those of Joss Whedon are a pretty good match, they seem to be working with genre conventions, characters and dialogue in much the same way. Maybe. I don't really know, I'm just speculating.
Paul S It definitely looks like its going into dark territory - maybe even Dark Knightish. Perhaps it's the use of cellos in trailers these days that makes me think of the similarities.
October 23, 2012 at 11:28AM ESTBig fan of Shane Black too & I hope this one is better than Iron Man 2.
Monty Jack
October 23, 2012 at 11:18AM EST Reply to Comment"Stark is not a womanizer in the films"
Teh fuk? He was shagging ass left and right in the first one.
drew But he stopped. Once Pepper gave him the go-ahead, that was it. He's a one-woman man in a big way, and there's a lovely sense that he knows how much he needs her to keep him focused.
October 23, 2012 at 5:07PM ESTBigAl6ft6
October 23, 2012 at 4:55PM EST Reply to CommentI love so very very much of many things in this trailer, but to ballpark it, Ben Kingsley's voice-over is freakin' mindbending. I just think the "Lesson One: Heroes… there is no such thing." bit is fan-freakin-tastic.
BOB
October 23, 2012 at 5:24PM EST Reply to CommentI LIKE BEN KINGSLEY BUT YOU COULDNT FIND ONE CHINESE ACTOR LET ALONE AN ASIAN TO PLAY THAT PART? DISNEY IS REALLY SCREWING UP MARVEL. THE SATURDAY ANIMATION SUCKS AND HAS SUCKED. GROWING UP IN THE 70'S AND 80'S I ALWAYS PREFERRED THE ART IN MARVEL TO D.C. AND THE HELD UP THEIR END OF THE BARGIN. ITS OBVIOUSLY JUST A COMMODITY TO USE AND THROW AWAY NOW. THE MOVIES HAVE BEEN GOOD BUT HOW LONG BEFORE THEY BEGIN TO SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS MARVEL ANIMATION?
Hatfield Easy there, pardner
October 24, 2012 at 3:28PM ESTMax
October 23, 2012 at 7:48PM EST Reply to CommentHere's my problem with this: "The Avengers".
It makes no sense in this rather close knit universe Marvel has created that one or more of the other heroes don't show up to help Tony in his time of need. He's unofficially a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. now. Where are they? Why would he ever have to face these challenges alone ever again?
I can buy it in the comics, but in the world that Marvel has created on film, it doesn't make sense and I hope they address that instead of pretending this is a one-off comic story.
I've never understood this in the comics either. Spidey is fighting a guy who is tearing up Wall Street and I guess someone at FF Plaza or the Avengers mansion is all "Spidey's on it, stand down." I don't buy that. These movies have for the most part tried to stay grounded in the reality we live in and in the reality we live in there's no such thing as a 'single responder'.
There better be at least one Avenger (aside from Iron Man) in this flick or it just won't work. That's the corner Marvel has painted themselves into with these films. They tried to base them in our reality and unfortunately we live in a world where there's nowhere you can't be constantly connected. There better be an excuse (a fucking good one) why no one shows up to help Tony when people start chucking missiles at his home.
KlarkKent They did take off in seperate directions at the end of the film. I could see Hulk having a cameo, but he was doing the Bixby thing in the first one and will likely be back at it. Cap was going off on his own, finding his place in the world and we'll see his adventure in Winter Soldier. Thor is back in Asgard. And Black Widow is confirmed for the film, if I remember right. Given Rhodey is a big part of the Iron Man franchise, I think it makes total sense that only he and SHIELD would be involved while the rest are incommunicado. Fury said in the end that they were not monitoring them, meaning they're on their own until they come back willingly.
October 23, 2012 at 8:58PM ESTPersonally, I think the movie looks like it could be great, though I think it could easily go too dark and I'm a little wary of it. The last thing we need is "Dark Iron Rises." Fingers crossed.
Megalodon
October 24, 2012 at 1:22PM EST Reply to CommentWhat I don't understand is the sudden PTSD in Tony's character. He never seemed terribly affected in Avengers. I know he's great at masking his deeper feelings and laughing things off, but he seemed totally cool at the end of the film. He didn't even go through anything THAT traumatic, in superhero terms. Hell, he didn't have PTSD from being a captive in the first movie, not even a second of it. He simply switched his game plan. What's all this "I can't sleep" nonsense?
Also, is the Mandarin supposed to look like Lord of the Rings character?
Danny Rath Seems like they are playing on his near death experience detonating a hydrogen bomb in the vortex and free-falling to earth. That was a big deal for him, so maybe it slowly comes back in dreams, etc?
October 27, 2012 at 10:23PM EST