Many were surprised to see that the Iron Patriot would be making an appearance in Iron Man 3. With so many villains in the film, Iron Man 3 was in danger of being a convoluted film. Based on the leaked set photos alone, it would be easy to point the finger at James Badge Dale as the person who is wearing the Iron Patriot armor.

But now comes word from Latino Review that it isn’t Dale who is wearing the armor, but somebody else entirely. This report contains spoilers, so please turn back now if you don’t want to know anything about Iron Man 3.

Spoilers begin now…

While the armor is sporting an American spirit, it is actually the War Machine armor with a new colors. So while the name may be the Iron Patriot in the film, it will still be recognized as the War Machine. Just think of it as how none of the heroes address the villains by their moniker. Yes, it’s very strange, but there is a reason why the armor will make an appearance in the film, aside from the fact that Don Cheadle is reprising his character.

Well as it turns out that the armor will be used as a symbol for the Americans in the film. Apparently the new armor will be used to protect the Vice President when he makes a trip to China. The armor will also be used to make the Americans look good because it will be used to compete against China’s nano-based technology.

In addition, it appears that the person wearing the armor isn’t Dale, but rather a stunt double for Cheadle. LR reports that the Gatling gun on the back of the armor is a dead giveaway.

It’s hard to verify any of the information without Marvel making any confirmations, but LR has a good track record with this kind of information. We still don’t know if Ben Kingsley will play as the Mandarin. What we do know is that Guy Pearce will play as Aldrich Killian, the scientist who develops the nano-technology and is in cahoots with another villain who plans to use it for nefarious purposes. We also know that Dale will play Coldblood and Ashley Hamilton will play Firepower.

We will continue to follow the story as it progresses.

Iron Man 3 will open in theaters on May 3, 2013.

[Source: Latino Review]