The Superhero Movie On Streaming That Divided An Entire Fandom
Iron Man will forever be a beloved entry to the MCU. It’s just a good movie, even outside of the MCU context, and it helped kick off one of the biggest franchises in movie history while also revitalizing the career of the always-fantastic Robert Downey Jr. The later Iron Man films would be a bit more contentious amongst MCU fans and Iron Man 3, which is streaming on Disney+, was the film that divided fans the most.
Iron Man 3 sees Robert Downey Jr. s Tony Stark dealing with his own PTSD from the events of 2012’s The Avengers while also facing a new threat in the form of the terrorist organization led by the mysterious Mandarin.
While fans may have had some problems with Iron Man 3, it was definitely important to Tony Stark’s arc in the MCU as he dealt with his trauma of almost dying in The Avengers.
Along with Robert Downey Jr., the film starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Jon Favreau, Ty Simpkins, and Ben Kingsley. Interestingly, Emilia Clarke was actually cast for an unknown role before the script changed, though she would make her MCU debut much later as a different character in this year’s Secret Invasion.
Iron Man 3 saw frequent Robert Downey Jr. collaborator Shane Black returning to fully take on directing and writing duties after co-directing the first film with Jon Favreau. While the MCU can sometimes mute the usual creative quirks of its directors, Black’s unique style still shines through in this film. It’s even set during Christmas, which Black frequently utilizes in his films.
The twist in Iron Man 3 is divisive, to say the least.
However, Shane Black’s unique directing style is hardly to blame for the divisiveness of the film; rather, the Iron Man 3 screenplay that he co-wrote with Drew Pearce is what people took umbrage with. Specifically, many people didn’t care for the way that the villain was handled and the twist in the film. On the other hand, some people absolutely loved the twist and thought it was a fresh way to take the plot.
Without spoiling things, the twist in Iron Man 3 is divisive, to say the least. With hindsight and the MCU addressing certain things in the movie that people didn’t like since then, the twist might go down easier for some people now.
Also, it’s a big-budget Marvel film with an endlessly charming cast, so it’s safe to say that you’ll have a pretty good time watching it regardless of your problems with the plot. Even with mixed reviews, it, unsurprisingly, was a massive success for Marvel.
Emilia Clarke was actually cast for an unknown role in Iron Man 3 before the script changed, though she would make her MCU debut much later as a different character in this year’s Secret Invasion.
Iron Man 3 raked in over $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office, which made it the second-highest-grossing film of 2013 and the sixteenth film ever to gross over $1 billion. It also finished its theatrical run as the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time and nabbed the record for the sixth-highest opening weekend of all time. It even got nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.
Iron Man 3 did end up being the final Iron Man film in the MCU, but it was far from the last time that we saw Robert Downey Jr. in the role. Tony Stark would return numerous times for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Robert Downey Jr. finally closed the book on his MCU career with Avengers: Endgame (of course, you never know with the multiverse) and most recently starred in the Christopher Nolan epic Oppenheimer.
While fans may have had some problems with Iron Man 3, it was definitely important to Tony Stark’s arc in the MCU as he dealt with his trauma of almost dying in The Avengers. Now that everyone knows that Tony’s story ends in an immensely satisfying way in Avengers: Endgame, people may look more fondly at Iron Man 3 now. If you’re one of the fans who didn’t like the film when it first came out, it’s worth giving it another chance.
Of course, the MCU is still steadily chugging along, and the latest project, Loki Season 2, will be premiering on Disney+ next Friday, October 6. In the meantime, you can head over to Disney+ now to stream Iron Man 3. Make sure to stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on all of the upcoming MCU projects and news.
