Finally a Reason to Get Excited About Iron Man 3

Let’s face it: Marvel doesn’t need Iron Man 3 the way they needed Iron Man Mach 1. Good thing that no longer appears to be getting in the way of an exciting conclusion to the Iron Man trilogy.

It’s easy to forget, but when the trailers for Iron Man hit in 2007, it looked like just another cheesy cash crab from the House that Jack Built. I’ve covered this before, but Marvel was coming off an atrocious streak of failures.

This included wild reaches into lesser known characters that bombed (Elektra, Ghost Rider, Daredevil), and uncharacteristically abysmal conclusions to their powerhouse franchises (Spider-Man 3, X-Men 3).

To the untrained eye, there was nothing to indicate Iron Man (trailer complete with a Black Sabbath ‘Iron Man’ soundtrack!) would lead to anything more than background FX noise on a lazy Sunday.

But then, of course, Iron Man saved the day. Tony Stark (aka Robert Downey Jr aka is there even a difference at this point?) carried Marvel Studios and the entire Marvel cinematic universe to the holy grail: an unqualified success of an Avengers movie. There’s never been anything quite like it in movie history and it worked.

So May 3, 2013 will bring a surprisingly historic saga to a close. From the trailers it appears that this third installment will truly test the mettle of Tony Stark. Again, this is a victory lap for Marvel, so I’m keeping my expectations in check. Regardless, here are some reasons to think Iron Man 3 will hold its own among the Marvel cinematic U.

• Reason 1: Stark Disassembled
  

Matt Fraction’s relatively recent run on Iron Man sought to completely dismantle Stark following the events of Dark Reign. The end result was a thrilling race against the clock that reminded everyone why Tony Stark is the hero here; not just the metal suit.

Iron Man 3 looks to be playing with familiar themes, as Stark is pushed further out of his comfort zone than in any of the previous movies. Iron Man 2 was pretty lax on Tony (was there every any doubt he would prevail?). Look for Iron Man 3 to challenge the assumption that the good guy always wins.

• Reason 2: Ben Kingsly as the Mandarin
  

To be clear: I am FAR from sold on this iteration of the Mandarin. But here’s what we know about the Mandarin in this film:

1) Ben Kingsly is like a knight of something.

2) The Mandarin is threatening the entire world and blows up Tony’s house.

3) Kingsly is doing a weird villain accent which means at worst we’ll get a humorous soundboard out of the deal.

• Reason 3: Iron Man Easter Eggs

Even if Iron Man 3 stinks, we’re guaranteed to get some fun comic book tie-ins out of the deal. Already in the trailers we’ve seen Rhodey wearing the Iron Patriot armor and possibly Hulkbuster Iron Man coming storming out of the gates (in the most recent trailer). With all the talk of a Planet Hulk movie lately, it’ll be interesting to see how Iron Man 3 sets up future installation of other Marvel Studios properties. If nothing else.

You can watch the Superhero spot for Iron Man 3 below, or click through to view the newest trailer on Yahoo.

Either way, let’s hear what you think about Iron Man 3 in the comments! Excited? Think it’ll be lame? Can’t believe Ben Kingsly choose that accent for the Mandarin? Shout it out.

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