10 Years Later: Why Iron Man 3 Is Still Top-Tier MCU
20 thousand movies later and it's still the one to beat.
(SPOT.ph) With James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arriving in cinemas, the Marvel Cinematic Universe now has six fully formed standalone film trilogies in its gauntlet, all of which show Marvel’s different approaches to the threequel formula.
The Captain America trilogy tested Steve Rogers unwavering morals by breaking apart the new “home” he had found at the end of the previous film. The Spider-Man: Home trilogy served as an extended origin story for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker growing out of the shadow of his mentors in each of the films. The Thor trilogy showcased how the constant change of directors’ visions could be both detrimental and beneficial for a long-term, serial character. (We’re electing to table the discussion of Quantumania upending the Ant-Man trilogy for another time.)
However, the trilogy that stands out the most in the interconnected universe’s over 30-film library is undoubtedly their first trilogy, Iron Man. The trilogy brought to life by Robert Downey, Jr., Jon Favreau, and company came at a different time within the MCU—to say the least. No mega-star crossovers were happening and two-thirds of the trilogy came out before even the first Avengers film. This has made it the most uniquely standalone trilogy within the franchise and, arguably, the most complete story the comic universe has produced to date.
With it being the 10th anniversary of the trilogy capper Iron Man 3’s release, we thought we’d take a look back on what makes the film so special and why it’s still one to beat for the title of “best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.”
Also read: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four Movies, Ranked by the Truthers at SPOT.ph
Why Iron Man 3 Is One of the Best MCU Movies:
It’s 2013 and you’re in the cinema to check out the follow-up to one of the biggest franchise films of all-time, starring the face of said franchise, in what is possibly his last outing as the blockbuster superhero (spoiler alert: it wasn’t, but we didn’t know that back in 2013). There's excitement in the air, as rows upon rows of families and fan groups can’t wait to be entertained by another fun popcorn flick. Then the movie starts and audiences are treated to a couple hours of Tony Stark suffering from anxiety attacks, wrestling himself away from his Iron Man armor, and not fighting his most-recognized adversary from the comics.
While all that sounds interesting from a dramatic perspective, you could see how it may have been tough to swallow for general audiences who went into Iron Man 3 expecting more Downey-Stark shenanigans, AC|DC needle drops, and metal destructive action sequences. This, however, for all intents and purposes, is what makes Iron Man 3 and its larger trilogy the most fulfilling and satisfying endeavor of the MCU, making a full character journey out of the phrase that effectively launched the franchise, “I am Iron Man.”
The Shane Black-written and directed film deconstructs the character of Tony Stark separate from the superhero alter-ego of Iron Man, in order to establish which identity is deserving of being labeled the hero; the flawed and humanly fragile mind of Tony Stark or the indefatigable shell that is the Iron Man suit. Aside from the broad strokes of the narrative revolving around Tony having to save the world without his Iron Man suits, you also see this dichotomy and inner battle reveal itself in the film’s action set pieces.
The opening of the film literally has an anxious and overworked Tony trying to reassemble himself piece by piece with the Iron Man suit, only for it to malfunction when he gets overly cocky. The plane rescue sequence has Tony remote piloting his suit in order to separate his actions as the superhero Iron Man from the physical burden it takes on the man inside the suit. And, of course, the climax featuring Tony frantically and anxiously jumping from suit to suit after seemingly failing to save Pepper materializes the film’s themes almost perfectly.
Plain and simple, it’s the best action the Marvel Cinematic Universe has offered yet, because you can see the internal conflicts of the character emerging and motivating these beats. No action sequence in the film forgets that the central drama of the story is Tony’s relationship with his suit. You get to witness the character’s own struggles unfold in heightened action sequences, which makes its resolution, Tony saying, “You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys, but one thing you can’t take away? I am Iron Man,” all that much more satisfying.
Also read: We Finally Have Our First Glimpse of Park Seo Joon in the MCU
More than just a great Tony Stark story, though, Iron Man 3 rounds out the rest of its story with wise-cracking supporting characters and a clever spin on the Iron Man villain formula with its adaptation of the Mandarin, Iron Man’s “arch-nemesis” from the comics.
The film doesn’t hold back on its audience, as it gets to reveal some latent xenophobia and American exceptionalism when it pulls the rug out from under the audience with the twist that the Mandarin was actually just a Middle Eastern caricature created by an American business mogul wanting to shell out propaganda to control the war on terror. It’s a twist that fits right at home in the Iron Man trilogy—whose first two films featured a genuine foreign terrorist partnering up with a greedy industrialist—but still baffling with how blatant its commentary is being directed at the general public.
However, the film’s frankness is part of its charm. With its political commentary, it seems to lean heavily on the attitude of “How do you not get this? It’s literally being spelled out for you.” Case in point: the funniest reveal in the film’s first act: when Rhodey reveals his official designation has been rebranded from “War Machine” to “Iron Patriot” and slapped on with a red-white-and-blue paint job, due to the original “not testing well with focus groups.”
From political commentary to the re-establishing of Tony Stark post-The Avengers, it’s all pretty layered stuff! And we haven’t even gotten started on how the film being a Christmas movie elevates the material even more. However, these are the cornerstones of why Iron Man 3 is the most complete MCU offering and why it’s still one to beat 10 years later.
It’s hard to imagine how the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole would’ve turned out had they chosen not to go in this direction with Iron Man’s only standalone adventure after The Avengers. His arc throughout Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame is clearly traced back to this film, so when looking back at Robert Downey Jr’s legacy as Iron Man, one should not count out Iron Man 3 as the key to that conversation.
Also read: What Is the Right Order to Watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe?