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Official Movie Site

Release date: May 3, 2013

Director: Shane Black

Screenplay: Shane Black & Drew Pearce

Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark
Gwyneth Paltrow - Pepper Potts
Don Cheadle - Lt. Col. James Rhodes
Ben Kingsley - The Mandarin
Guy Pearce - Aldrich Killian
Rebecca Hall - Dr. Maya Hansen
James Badge Dale - Eric Savin
Jon Favreau - Happy Hogan
William Sadler - U.S. President
Ashley Hamilton - Jack Taggert

Official Synopsis
Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?


Latino-Review - Iron Man III Villain Details

First set photos surface of the Iron Patriot armor:
source: superficial.com

First piece of concept art by Ryan Meinerding:

Color me effing paranoid.

Post-Avengers, this whole Marvel-U, multi-tiered franchise thing has the frightening prospect of keeping up with it's biggest hit. And while he is that house-of-cards' most solid seller, Iron Man, as a stand-alone franchise is making me worry.

For starters, people clammoring for the Mandarin. Go watch that full-length animated Iron Man flick from like 6 or 7 years ago. It was awesome, at the time, and will Mandarin you the fuck out. I, as a fan, don't need to see the Mandarin on-screen again. Especially if he's just going to get shoe-horned in as the dark-hand behind the "10 Rings" from the first IM movie. It was nice to make that connection in the first one, but bringing it back to that just seems so predictable. I hope it goes a different direction, I guess.

Iron Patriot. Wtf is that all about? While I thought it was a bitchin' image as soon as it appeared in comics, I don't really get why they chose to add such a massive turn in recent comics-continuity into what sounds like an already 'busy' plot, and do it as such a departure from the original story. Does this mean (obviously) that we are not to expect a 'Civil War'? Or hell, a Norman Osborne (ever?)?? Why pre-empt the ability to ever use that material properly in the future just to sell a few action-figures now?

And that all gets me to my biggest complaint thus-far. Extremis.

While I don't fault film-makers from using/hacking/borrowing from already known plots and using what they want from them, when done properly, and changing it to fit their vision, this is an example of one of those times when maybe they shouldn't. The whole 'Extremis' series, to me, was one of the greatest Iron Man, hell with that, greatest Marvel comics put out in years. They would have done better to just film that, panel by panel, than to stick it into a whole range of stuff they appear to be mixing up here.

But, this is me not really knowing wtf they plan on putting on-screen. I think Tony Stark got a massive bump in popularity from the Avengers, and that makes me think this movie will be handled better than the mash-up, a'la Spiderman 3, that this is looking like. Its so early, hopefully when things start to really leak it wont appear to be the scary mess it does now.

Thanks for posting, Thundercracker!

from what i've read that's not Iron Patriot but a re-colored Warmachine. time will tell.

I read that too, and the article reaked of "Holy crap, they figured it out already...quick cover up!"

Iron Patriot was Norman Osborn yeah ??

Iron Man 3 - Mark VIII armor revealed at SDCC:

Cool, I guess.

I don't really see the need to continually change the colour scheme for the sake of it. Unless this is just a specialized suit like the suitcase armour, I think it's starting to get silly.

GOLD MAN !!

Couple tidbits which we pretty much already knew but were confirmed from the SDCC IM3 panel:
Ben Kingsley is The Mandarin and the Patriot armor is the new War Machine armor.

some news about the next Marvel films was released too. I'll put it here until new threads are made.

from AICN

IRON MAN 3, which is coming on May 3, 2013, complete with the Mandarian, as played by Ben Kingsley, which was confirmed by the early footage from the film shown during the presentation.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD arrives on November 8, 2013, with the entire cast returning under the direction of Alan Taylor. No such reveals on the other villains that may accompany Loki this time out.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER hits on April 4, 2014.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is set for August 1, 2014, with Groot, Frax, Rocket Racoon, Gamorra and Star Lord as part of the team.

SDCC Iron Man 3 footage description:
source: comingsoon.net

[spoil]We begin in Stark's lab. He's talking to "dummy" and his suits of armor, telling them he's about to introduce them to their badass baby brother. He asks Dummy to play some seasonal music and he turns on a techno version of Jingle Bells. Stark stands, posing and flexing. Suddenly a piece of armor shoots across the room. One by one, his armor form, flying at him as he wills it to. One hits his crotch, through, and he doubles over. Another slams into his back and he falls, but jet-propels himself back up.

The last piece is the faceplate and, as it comes at him, he flips, propeling himself off the crowd with one hand upside down while the mask comes on. We see another scene with Favreau as Happy talking to Stark through a video chat. "You can't talk to me like that," he tells Stark good humoredly, "I don't work for you anymore.""That's because you quit!" says Stark. He says he can't deal with Stark being off with the Superfriends these days. We see a bunch of footage -- Guy Pearce's character -- The Iron Patriot armor.

"Some people call me a terrorist," says a voice (I don't think it's Kingsley) "I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: There is no such thing as heroes." We see a bunch of helicopters firing on Stark's house, blowing it off the edge of the cliff. Inside, every suit of armor is destroyed. Iron Man falls into the ocean as wreckage comes down on top of him. Cut to Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. It's the costume from the comic almost exactly. The footage ends and they're even calling him the Mandarin now. Mandarin is wearing at least four rings.[/spoil]


Official Iron Man 3 site launched


Edgar Wright's test footage for Ant Man was also shown (complete with official logo). No release date as I don't think it has been greenlit yet.

There was no doubt the Winter Soldier story was going to be adapted for the big screen but I really thought they'd hold off until Cap 3. I wonder what villain(s) will be involved considering Red Skull was pulling the strings in the comic story and in the MCU he's currently somewhere in the Nine Realms.

Guardians is definitely going to be Marvel's biggest gamble so far considering its predominately cosmic settings and bizarre characters. Marvel appears set to take some bigger risks with MCU Phase 2. More power to em, I really hope they can pull it off.

Alleged trailer review from AICN.

[spoil]
[/spoil]

Sounds more interesting than I had been giving them credit for up until now.

Yay and shit!

kinda major spoiler concerning the final battle.

From slashfilm.

[spoil]The suit we've seen at Comic Con is not the Mark 8, it's actually the Mark 47. He builds 40 other suits and pilots them remotely from within his own suit, to distract his "extremis-enhanced" enemies from finding him. They all look the same, so he hides among the masses and group attacks the Mandarin. [/spoil]

A few new on set photos of the Mark XLVII and Iron Patriot armors:

Some promo art:




The first trailer is scheduled to hit 12:01am, Oct 23rd.

Shit, the floodgates have opened! (Posting everything to avoid another piggyback post.)

Teaser Poster (4050x6000):



Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin revealed:



More stills:







[align=center]:siren:Teasers + Full Trailer::siren:[/align]

[spoil]
[flash width=640 height=360]http://www.youtube.com/v/5EjG-1U3wqA?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]

[flash width=640 height=360]http://www.youtube.com/v/1Cn8KB9VKQo?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]

[flash width=640 height=360]http://www.youtube.com/v/2LKxUpTussg?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]
[/spoil]

Finally got around to checking out the trailer. Looks pretty good. I hope the Iron Man franchise bucks the trend of underwhelming third films in superhero franchises (X-Men, Spider-man, Batman). If Marvel and Disney play their cards right this series could run forever a la Bond.

ILM isn't doing the SFX work on this one. they were underbid

but the idea of a mental-controlled suit going crazy sounds fantastic!

Kind of relevant too, considering the drone-takeover thing from a few months back that no one in DC wants to talk about.

ILM getting underbid makes me wonder what effect that would have on Lucas' seemingly amicable relationship with Disney. They tout the SW films with attractions and kitchy product tie-ins, not to mention the Pixar 'thing'. Does a decision like that make any waves, or is it 'just one of those things' that happens? Curious.

I don't care, honestly, who does the FX as long as they work. If they appear all 'Wolverines Claws' from X-Men: Origins, I will take that back and blame it all on the capitalists.

Thanks for posting all the above material! From what little they let us see here, it looks better than the 2nd one. I liked Iron Man 2, but it was lacking something. I just didn't give a shit, ultimately. I think I've watched the DVD about six times, which for me is kind of 'not much'.

New posters:





Empire Magazine article (various plot & footage details):





Leaked concept art (Deep Space, Hulkbuster & Heartbreaker armors):





Various spoilers via 4chan from somebody who claims to have seen a test screening:

[spoil]
[align=left]-Coldblood is pretty much a goon who ****s **** up for the Mandarin and is infused with the Extremis virus
-Jack Taggert doesn't turn into Firepower but infiltrates the USAF and steals Rhodes' Iron Patriot armor as part of The Mandarin's plan to start war by framing Rhodes with a terrorist attack on China
-Radioactive Man is not in the film
-Pepper technically doesn't don the Rescue armor but she does briefly wear an armor that Tony assimilates onto her using the Extremis with various old pieces of armor lying around to help her escape captivity
-Most of the new 40 armors are drones with the same color scheme as the Mark XLVII, but the deep space armor gets some attention and there appears to be a prototype Hulkbuster in Tony's work shop.
-Tony wears the Mark XLVII throughout the entire film except for the final battle wear he does something unique with different parts of armor from other suits
-Extremis works pretty much like in the comics
-Tony seeks out Extremis because of his emotional scars from the Avengers
-The Avengers are mentioned and we hear their voices in a dream sequence but we don't see them
-Stephanie Szostak is Bethany Cabe
-SHIELD has a minimal presence in the film
-The Mandarin is pretty humorous and his rings really do cool things, not magic like in the comics though
-The movie is funnier than the trailers let on. About 70% serious 30% funny
-Most of the major plot points have been revealed by Marvel already, we just didn't realize it

He also says that the film has more of a sense of urgency than Iron Man 2. [/align][/spoil]

Trailer #2

[flash width=640 height=360]http://www.youtube.com/v/Ke1Y3P9D0Bc?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]


Download links:

480p
720p
1080p

You're all going to have to excuse me a minute

Wow, sorry I'm late to thank you, but thanks for posting all this Iron Man 3 goodness

This movie looks better and better the more I see of it, and all the armored eye candy was a nice touch. Hope that isn't the extent of the Iron-Army that made it to the final cut, because that last 15 seconds was nerd porn. Figuratively speaking.

Great look at the Iron Army suits from an ultra-super-high-res version of the poster (14145 x 7360 - 162 MB):

Don't know if anyone else saw this...



[flash width=640 height=360]http://www.youtube.com/v/0gwtOxvFyFI?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]

More Iron Army Armor goodness:

The heavy lifting suit, "Igor," is very cool. Saw a glimpse of it in one of the trailers.

well saw a bootleg of this already. get ready to be mad if you wanted to see a proper Mandarin. It's the big twist of the movie and entirely NOT what we've been made to believe. The effects are top notch though. Oh, and the main villain literally breathes fire. Shoots it from his mouth. Fire. And he's human, not a robot.

major ending spoiler
[spoil][align=left]The Mandarin is a fraud. Basically an internet hacker type with "Mandarin" as his handle. Imagine Osama Bin Laden sending his videos and being all scary and having a cult following believing in the video persona but in real life he's just some dude with good camera equipment in a lush hotel while he bangs two chicks at a time and gets room service. There are no magical "rings". Tony breaks into his hotel without his armor and holds him at gunpoint. The "Mandarin" literally crawls on his hands and knees and begs like a dog. Even offers Tony a Pepsi as Tony realizes he's a scam. His bodyguard then knocks Tony out.

Pepper gets injected with Extremis and turns into a Jean Grey Phoenix mega-bitch at the end and saves Tony from the fire breathing Guy Pearce. Tony has all the armors self-destruct. Pepper then has Extremis removed and Tony has surgery to remove the shrapnel from his heart. No more Iron Man.[/align][/spoil]

Well he wasn't exactly a proper Mandarin to begin with if you're comparing him to his comicbook counterpart. Not of Asian descent, rings not magic, ect. I don't want to know what the twist is but I have a good idea of what it might be. Hopefully it's not something that will put a damper on the film. As far as the fire breathing villain, that's a direct call back to the comic Extremis story. Mallen was able to breath fire as one of the abilities he gained from the Extremis drug. Seeing scenes right of the comicbooks come to life in the films is always cool with me.

How would you rate the film compared to the other two, bear?

probably the best one yet. the action is amazing. the attack on Tony's mansion is some really fantastic work. sights to behold. Tony is working on remote controlled armor and is able to control it with hand gestures and voice commands now. Kind of a mix of virtual reality and AI. There's some good play on if he's actually in the suit at the time which works out nicely in another action piece later on in the movie. One scene Pepper is talking to the armor as it walks around the room, thinking that Tony is inside. She has a full conversation as it leads her downstairs to the workshop where we see Tony with a HUD display on his head sitting at the table while he controls the armor. Little fun touches like that throughout.

the fire breathing thing and the enemies abilities just seemed out of place. they glow red from the inside from Extremis as they literally are on fire with power. It enhances their abilities but it just seems really comic-bookey in this universe.

Later when Tony in suit plus Iron Patriot return to capture the Mandarin, they find him watching soccer on tv. He literally interrupts them to yell "Ole, ole ole ole" as someone makes a goal. lol

the plot points you posted earlier are crap by the way. whoever posted that never saw the movie

stay for the end credits for a funny little scene with:
[spoil]Tony and Bruce Banner [/spoil]

Yesssss, i agree with Bear ... i saw it on Friday in 3D and it's entertaining, funny as hell, uplifting and leaves you with a nice aftertaste.

And yes, i also found the fire-breathing, orange-glowing theme a little too comic-bookey for the series, felt like i was seeing an episode of Smallville ...

I took the Mandarin twist positively, as i didn't see it coming and it was a good funny moment ...

The best in the IM series so far, in my opinion ...


Charlie out

Burp!

I was disappointed. It's better than the second but outside of some good laughs throughout, I was kind of bored. I didn't feel a sense of adventure or have a ton of fun watching it.

There's basically 3 major set pieces - the destruction of Tony's place, the Air Force One rescue, and the finale - only the Air Force One scene really wowed me. The other two were not very clever.

I'm not an Iron Man comic zealot so making Mandarin a terrorist didn't bother me. I was actually quite looking forward to seeing Ben Kingsley in the role. Except of course he's hardly in the movie and the big reveal was extremely disappointing. Epic fail levels of silly. It basically undid all of the build up Jon Favreau did in the first two. For Iron Man fans, I could imagine this being like Batman unmasking the Joker and finding out it's a robot controlled by Commissioner Gordon, who's using this fake Joker in a plot to become mayor. Personally, I feel deceived by the movie marketing and build up (from critics, interviews, etc) because of how much Ben Kingsley's performance has been praised as the next great villain. It's all complete horseshit. A flat out lie.

I also didn't connect with the Extremis stuff at all. It all came off very hokey - it sucked all of the down-to-earthness about this series of films.

The more I think about the movie, the less happy I am with it.

Here's my thing with superhero movies: you don't need to translate the comic verbatum, but assuming the character / narrative / relationships are successful and beloved aspects of the comic, the film should try and adapt them as respectfully as possible to maintain the essence of what made those pieces so successful. Tony being captured by Afghan terrorists and not Vietnamese is a simple example of modernizing Iron Man's origins. It follows logic then that the movie Mardarin wouldn't need to be Asian to be a compelling representation of what the comic Mardarin was. Except Shane Black decided that it would be too easy to make a powerful scheming Osama-like Mardarin and opted for Guy Pierce and lava people. It's just not what I would call a good turn for the series.

Nailed it. The Pepper Potts stuff at the end really drove me up the wall. I'm all for having more female hero characters in these (and all, really) movies but her turn as superhero just felt silly. I really don't see how this film in particular sets in motion any of the stuff that's been talked about/rumored for Marvel's "Phase 2" initiative.

If this is supposed to set the tone for Phase 2, I am very worried for the future of Marvel movies. Oddly enough, it's following the same path of what happened to Marvel comics: start with compelling characters in a believable reality, then start taking things in an extremely silly and unbelievable direction.

Avengers barely straddled the line but came out OK because the characters and story were fun. This movie wasn't entertaining or fast-paced enough to make up for it's wacky ideas.

To say this movie holds a candle to the first Iron Man would be an insult to wax.

I'm sad to to say I came away feeling disappointed as well. The biggest reason being of course the ridiculous Mandarin twist. It was not necessary at all imo. I really loved Ben Kinglsey's portrayal of the terrorist incarnation and to then have it be revealed as a facade feels like a complete waste of the performance and of a promising villain. The Mandarin has always been Iron Man's #1 villain/arch-nemesis and they pretty much discarded him in favor of a generic villain with a random name taken from the comics. I knew it wasn't happening but I was still holding out hope that the post credits scene would have revealed that Kingsley's Mandarin was really the real deal and had been manipulating Killian to get a hold of the Extremis program.

I keep reading in various interviews from Shane Black that fans were only upset because Mandarin didn't have magic rings, etc. That's bullshit. Fans are upset because you basically took the villain that most have been wanting to see since the first film and tossed him aside to make some sort of social commentary on America's perception of terrorism/terrorists. Like CoGro mentioned the marketing of the film to make Mandarin appear as the main villain ticked me off as well. It's not the first film to do such things but it's still false advertising when you bottom line it. In retrospect I guess I should have known something was up when Drew Peace got his own character poster.

Twist aside, there was plenty of other little things that added up as well. I didn't think the Extremis stuff was handled well. Granted the villain in the comic breathed fire and blasted electricity from his fingers but why exactly did it turn the people into lava monsters in the film? Plus I'm not too clear on what Killian's motivations overall were either. I thought there was a bit too much humor and used during inappropriate times. I didn't think the action was anything spectacular either. The multiple suits concept at the end seemed lpretty cool on paper but I didn't find it all that interesting in action. Maya Hansen was a complete waste of a character and I thought Rhodey came off as rather incompetent.

I can't go so far as to say I hate it, I didn't hate IM2 totally either. My biggest complaint with IM2 was the shitty villains (and bloated plot) and that is pretty much my problem with IM3 too.

I sincerely hope Thor 2 and Cap 2 are better.

It seems to me that Extremis is the kind of thing that is better left to comics than adapted to film. Sort of like Maximum Clonage for Spider-man or Man-Bat for Batman. Chris Nolan had the right idea for how he chose his villains / stories for the universe he created.

My friends and I had a running joke going after the movie about what exactly Killian's motivation was. So he got stood up by a drunk Tony Stark and decided to become an insane terrorist? Is that really the trigger? We were going back and forth about all of the shit that must have happened to Killian that day to build up to that last straw...he reaches for the last frank in a blanket on an appetizer tray before it's quickly snatched by another patron...he gets water splashed on him from car driving through a puddle...he gets a parking ticket...he tries to order an egg mcmuffin from mcdonalds but narrowly misses the breakfast / lunch cutoff. The point is that I didn't buy his motivation and it's the same bullshit villain I'm starting to see from all of these politically charged directors: they can't accept a good v. evil story because somehow, some way it's all gotta be America's fault - either via its corrupt political leaders or the evil corporations. I'm not even an American and I'm finding this message to be extremely tired and obnoxious.

Rhodes was completely shoehorned into this movie. I don't know how he could have been made more important, but he seemed to be used almost exclusively as a plot device.

Iron Man 2 has some good moments. Iron Man 3 is overall probably a "better" movie, but I also found it more offensive as a ticket buyer. My suggestion to Marvel is to pay RDJ whatever he asks because without him this franchise will go up in flames. He was literally the only thing keeping IM2 and IM3 afloat.

Too many jokes, no explanation for the sudden "trauma of NY", mediocre villain (and plot), anti-climatic ending, and since they are including the events of the Avengers, why didn't they call Banner (for example)?

Well, I will defend Tony's post traumatic stress situation because it was one of the aspects I liked from the film. I don't feel any in depth explanation was needed as it was a pretty natural direction to take the character based off the events of the Avengers. With the exception of Thor and maybe Banner given his condition, they probably should all be suffering from PTSD considering the fact they were dealing with Gods, aliens, other realms and space serpents. That's some heavy shit to cope with.

They (and the whole world) seem to behave pretty carelessly with the events seen in Thor and the Avengers. Why only Stark is affected by this (when he didn't gave any signs of trauma in past movies) only makes it more unexplainable.

As a person who has a member of his family diagnosed with PTSD, let me assure you, there is no time limit on when the affects can surface. You can be 20 years removed from the situation, and it will start showing its head.

I liked the film. The jokes were perfect in fitting with PTSD, as humor and "casualness" is one of the classic symptoms for dealing with the Anxiety of the disorder. Especially with someone the ego of Stark.

The Villian did suck. I liked that they've introduced AIM, though. This means that we can have Armor Wars in the future (with any luck).

Does the film completely remove the possibility that there is an actual real-life Mandarin in the Iron Man world?



You're not rooting for "The Wolverine" as well?

I wouldn't think so. They can always come back and say that this character is based on rumors of a shadowy figure from the chinese underworld. The best lies are those based in truth, and all that.

Choice passages from a few AICN reviews.





Sums up my feelings.

Speaking of potential trouble ahead for Marvel's Phase 2:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/05/08/c ... ers-2-cast

There's a claim here that some of the cast walked away with just $200K? I'd like to know how accurate that is.

My instinct tells me that this dispute will work itself out, but if any of the main cast had to be recast it would mark the end of a good run for Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

I have not seen this movie yet. Yes, I have been THAT busy. I am about to be not that busy anymore though, so my complete review will show up in nauseating length someday next week. But I think I'd like to review the reviews I've read so far. Or more precisely, I'd like to point out a problem I have with everyone's big complaint.

As a longtime Iron Man fan, I don't fucking care about the fucking Mandarin. As a villain, he is so disinteresting to me I was worried about his inclusion in this film from the first mention of him. Knowing that he is basically non-existent does not bother me, as a fan, going into this movie. I will get back to you on whether or not that opinion still holds after I see it, but it isn't the sacrilege people are making it out to be. Also, in the Extremis story arc in the comics, the effects of Extremis I saw were basically identical to what this reviewer is complaining about. So there too, not scaring me away.

I'm just guessing here, as I said I haven't seen Iron Man 3 yet (although I've become completely spoiled on it), but it seems like the complaints I've read so far have been about things I doubt I'll be bothered by. But wtf do I know.

Thanks for the insight, MF!

The Mandarin isn't the Mandarin... yet. All he needs is to find the rings and then, presto, instant Mandarin. If anything, doesn't this kind of set up the Mandarin to be a real villain in a future sequel?

Besides, people all seemed to love Batman Begins, which did basically the same thing with Ra's al-Ghul.

First, Batman Begins replaced the fantasy element of Ra's' literal immortality with the notion that Ra's could exist generation to generation. Iron Man exists in a world where aliens have invaded Earth and lava people are genetically created. The point here is that Nolan's universe required a twist and a change to the character's "powers" to fit the film universe. Iron Man's twist didn't.

Second, the concept that Ken Watanabe was a double for Ra's makes sense considering the real Ra's would use theatricality and deception to stay alive and rule the League. If you can't be literally immortal, it makes sense to protect yourself from a group of psychopathic ninjas.

Third, for fans of Batman the twist that Ducard was Ra's was about as predictable as Miranda Tate being revealed as Talia since Liam Neeson actually resembled the villain we knew from the comics.

Fourth, Ben Kingsley's character was more interesting and visually arresting than Guy Pierce looking like a corporate suit. The focus should have been put on the more impressive actor. Same goes for Neeson who is a far more charismatic lead. In this sense, I believe Shane Black made a poor artistic and practical decision.

Fifth, Iron Man 3 wasn't good enough to make that ballsy choice pay off. If the movie would have been more fast paced and not laced with silly story decisions the Mandarin twist might have been more forgivable.

Eloquently said, Cogro. Admittedly I've only read a couple Mandarin stories so I never had any stront attatchment to the character one way or the other. I just really loved Ben Kingsley's menacing and machiavellian portrayal of the character. The design was also a great example of tweaking and modernizing something for film while still being respectful to the original. The robes, the hair and beard and of course the rings (magic or not) looked fantastic on Kingsley. Alas we didn't get to see all that come to a more satisfying conclusion. Killian didn't have enough appeal to be anything other than a lackey in my eyes not a main villain. His oh, by the way I was the true Mandarin all along quote at the end seemed shoehorned in as well.

They could probably still reveal Kingsley's Manadarin was pulling the strings all along. However with an RDJ IM4 unlikely there's really no other appropriate spots to follow through on such an idea. So I wonder does the Ten Rings organization in the films have a true leader? Or was Killian just using their banners, imagery and propaganda for his whole subterfuge?

That's the thing: I have zero attachment to any of Iron Man's characters - I was never a frequent reader of IM comics either - I just want to see a good movie with solid story structure and good pacing.

It just doesn't make sense that AIM or Killian would have any interest in doing the kinds of things Ten Rings did in IM1 and IM2. IM3 just abandoned the path Favs was on and took it in a completely new direction and that's what bugs me. There was no reference to the possible significance of the Ten Rings in the first two movies and that makes this depiction of the Mandarin (plot twist or no plot twist) even less satisfying for me.

Let's say they do an IM4 and include Kingsley as Mandarin (this feels like a huge long shot for me), are they going to explain that Killian was the pawn all along thereby undoing the significance of all of IM3? It just doesn't seem likely.