Trailer
Plot summary
The story looks back to 1999, when Tony Stark met Maya Hansen, inventor of Extremis, a regenerative treatment for crippling injuries. Aldrich Killian, a disabled scientist, asks Stark to back his research firm, Advanced Idea Mechanics, and Stark refuses. Years later Stark has panic attacks over what happened in New York and fills his home with new Iron Man suits, straining his relationship with Pepper Potts. A terrorist called the Mandarin claims a string of bombings. Happy Hogan, who runs security for Stark, is badly hurt in one bombing and falls into a coma, so Stark goes on television, threatens the Mandarin and gives out his home address. The Mandarin answers with gunship helicopters that destroy the house. Hansen, who had come to warn him, and Potts survive, and Stark escapes in an unfinished suit.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Iron Man 3 (2013)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The villain was originally to be revealed as Hansen, which Black compared to Remington Steele, "you think it's the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show", but Marvel Entertainment executives objected over merchandising losses from a female villain, so the role shifted to Killian.SPOILER
Trevor Slattery was originally meant to die, turning up at the climactic oil rig battle with an Extremis injector and blowing up, which Pearce called "the most Monty Python of all of the beats"; during editing he was kept alive, with new material shot during reshoots.- The scene in which Iron Man rescues people falling from Air Force One over Miami was first planned as a green screen effect, but was changed to use actual skydivers because second unit director Brian Smrz knew the Red Bull skydiving team.
- Visual effects supervisor Chris Townsend, whose film had over 2,000 visual effects shots spread across 17 studios, said that from January 2013 to the end of filming in April the crew had one day of downtime, otherwise working seven days a week, 14 to 18 hours a day.
SPOILER
Kevin Feige suggested a character called Doctor Wu, named after the Steely Dan song, who could remove the shrapnel from Stark's chest; Hong Kong star Andy Lau negotiated to play him, turned the role down, and Wang Xueqi was cast instead.- Regal Cinemas, AMC Theatres and Carmike Cinemas put presale tickets on hold two weeks before the US premiere, during a contract dispute with Disney over the studio's share of ticket profits, driven by the premiere-weekend takings the film was expected to have.
- Production was delayed after Downey's leg injury, and the crew had to create a double for him: certain shots were filmed with a body double on set, and Weta Digital created a digital body double for others.
