The Avengers marked the end of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and come next year a new story line will unravel with the character that started it all. Iron Man 3 is still 6 months away and we have already seen one massive trailer that just wowed audiences everywhere. Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) takes over as director and is setting a new tone for the film and will attempt to recapture the “lighting in a bottle” that we saw in the first Iron Man.
This new tone in Iron Man 3 will most likely be a result of the events that occurred in The Avengers. After all it was Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who made the “sacrifice play.” But despite what you may have seen in the first trailer, Iron Man 3 may not be as dark as you might think. According to Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige, the film will be “fresh” and “seriously dig into exploring more of Tony.”
Here’s the full quote from Empire:
It’s not a serious movie, but we seriously dig into exploring more of Tony. The trick is just trying to make great movies. We try to make them all great, all different and all fresh. What you’ll see in Iron Man 3 is some very unique directions that were taken.
While each installment is different, in terms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they are just a piece of a very bigger picture. The events of The Avengers have changed Tony, but he is about to go up against The Mandarin, a villain so powerful that he will strike him where it hurts. So will any of them help him during his time of need? Feige has an answer to that as well.
Iron Man 3 doesn’t feature any of the other Avengers, or Nick Fury showing up, or any of those world-blending conceits that the Phase One films had. You have to keep in mind that Iron Man 3 had been in the works for almost a year, year and a half before The Avengers was released. We’re sticking to the vision for these films, and showing once again that these characters are just as interesting alone as they are together.
Well I’m sure that during the developing stage of Iron Man 3, Feige had the events that occurred in The Avengers some where in the back of his mind and that it would be impossible for them not to acknowledge it in the film. So if Phase One was the set up, what does Marvel have in store for us in Phase Two? We may have to wait a while on that. But in the mean time, not having any of the Avengers in Iron Man 3 is not a bad thing, because it would be in bad taste if Stark needed help from one of the members of The Avengers to defeat The Mandarin. Here’s what Feige had to say about the villain:
Early – and very late – drafts of Iron Man 1 featured The Mandarin as a villain. The Mandarin is his most famous foe in the comics mainly because he’s been around the longest. If you look, there’s not necessarily a definitive Mandarin storyline in the comics. So it was really about having an idea. In terms of the Fu Manchu stereotyping that was involved, we never had any interest in that. He’s relentless. Assuming that he’s the one responsible for what happens to Tony’s house, no other villain has been able to strike that fast and that hard at one of our heroes. He’s very much about believing that the world needs to learn, and he wants to bend the world to his vision.
I just love how Feige is playing coy about what happens to Tony’s House. It leaves the door open for other villains to appear in the film. I am also glad that they are straying away from the “Fu Manchu stereotyping” and making him a villain who should be known for his “relentless” personality and not his looks.
[Source: Empire]
