By Adam Frazier
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Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 has already grossed over $700 million worldwide, and while a box office success, it isn’t unanimously beloved by critics or audiences like Marvel’s last homerun, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the popular aggregate movie review website, Iron man 3 currently sits at 78% (67% among top critics). On Metacritic, a more analytical aggregate site, Black’s film currently scores 62 out of 100. To put things in perspective, two of 2012’s most divisive blockbuster films amongst fanboys, The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus, are locked in at 84% and 74% respectively. Iron Man 2, the black sheep of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is at 73%.
In my review, I took issue with misplaced character motivations and the way co-writers Shane Black and Drew Pearce approached Iron Man’s greatest foe, the Mandarin. Well, even after a 1,300-word review, I’m still not finished talking about Iron Man 3. The only way to get over my disappointment with the third (and hopefully final) Iron Man film was to write about how great it could have been if it wasn’t, well, the movie it turned out to be.
So, in an effort to channel the passion and insanity of Patton Oswalt’s epic Star Wars/Avengers rant on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, here are some thoughts on what should have happened in Iron Man 3.
Quick, what were your two favorite things about Joss Whedon’s The Avengers? Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner (the Hulk) and the subsequent banter between Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark, right? For me, watching Banner and Stark use their brilliant intellects to brainstorm and work out Loki’s insidious plot was a highlight of the film and something I wanted to see more of in subsequent Marvel films.
Instead of Malibu, Iron Man 3 should have picked up in Manhattan at Stark Tower, referred to as Avengers Tower now thanks to the single A on the side of the building. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are at work on unlocking the secrets of inter-dimensional travel, wormholes, space aliens – you know, genius stuff.
Meanwhile, overseas, Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle) is fighting a one-man war against The Ten Rings, a terrorist organization using a stockpile of Stark Industries weapons to kill innocents and spread fear. The Ten Rings are lead by a mysterious warlord known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) – a master of deception who sits in the shadows and threatens the American people with Al-Qaeda-like taped messages.
Sounds pretty good so far, right? Iron Patriot busts up a terrorist cell and destroys a stockpile of Stark weapons only to get captured by the Mandarin, whose special powers are glimpsed briefly. The Mandarin releases a video showing James Rhodes held hostage, the Iron Patriot suit dismantled like a cheap plastic plaything. The Mandarin reveals himself, stepping out of the shadows, with a gun pointed to Rhodey’s head. This catches Tony’s attention, who has been consumed with his work at Avengers Tower.
As for Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), they’re still around – but they’re not a huge part of this story. They’re back in Malibu, where Pepper is running Stark Industries. Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and the Extremis storyline could still work here but, in all honesty, I just don’t care about yet another industrialist with a grudge against Tony. Let’s get back to the cool stuff, already.
The Mandarin waxes poetic on the American military-industrial complex and the Iron Patriot, who he compares to Captain America – pure propaganda. The Mandarin considers Patriot a cheap knockoff; he wants the real thing: the Avenger. He challenges Iron Man to reclaim his patriotic puppet. If Stark doesn’t show up in 24 hours, the Mandarin is going to execute Iron Patriot on national television.
To put things in perspective, the events of Iron Man 3 are happening parallel to Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, explaining why the Avengers don’t show up. Banner stays behind at Avengers Tower to continue his research – he offers to help but Tony admits that this is his fight and he’s responsible for The Ten Rings’ rise to power and Rhodey being captured.
Tony suits up in his new Mark 42 armor. There’s a quick glimpse of his vault filled with suits and it’s hinted at that Banner may have helped him create a few for… special circumstances. Tony flies across the world using Jarvis’ navigational abilities and immediately engages the Ten Rings. If you want, throw a few Extremis super soldiers in there – or not – who cares, I’m falling asleep even thinking about plot points from Shane Black’s Iron Man 3.
Anyway, Iron Man is doing sweet-ass Iron Man things like blowing up tanks, destroying weapons stockpiles, using a lot of crazy new gadgets to take out terrorists. Jarvis alerts Tony to a beacon coming from the Iron Patriot suit that leads Iron Man to a compound – a royal palace – where the Mandarin awaits.
Long story short, Tony’s first fight with the Mandarin doesn’t go as planned. This is the first time we really get to see the extent of the Mandarin’s mystical powers, derived from the ten magic rings he wears on his fingers. In the battle, Tony fails to save Rhodey, who is murdered at the hands of the Mandarin. Tony’s suit is blasted beyond repair and Iron Man barely makes it out of there alive.
Let’s be honest, Don Cheadle isn’t a great War Machine/Iron Patriot. Marvel isn’t going to move forward with an Iron Patriot standalone film, and I can’t really see Cheadle suiting up with the Avengers, so why not kill him and have his death actually mean something to Tony’s progression as a character. Killing Rhodes also avoids that lame third act ‘surprise’ where Tony fails to save Pepper Potts, who then reappears as Liquid Magma Super Girl and saves Tony.
Tony Stark makes it to Malibu where he’s nursed back to health by Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan. The Mandarin continues releasing tapes, touting his victory over the Iron Patriot and Tony Stark, the poster boy for capitalism. He promises one more salvo before his ‘teachings’ are complete; he’s going to finish what the Chitauri started by leveling New York City to the ground.
A determined, revenge-obsessed Tony recovers and heads to New York. He shows Banner playback from his helmet of the battle with the Mandarin and the two theorize what sort of energy source is fueling Mandarin’s awesome powers. They determine that it isn’t an arc reactor – that it doesn’t appear to be alien technology – it’s something they’ve never seen before.
Like Marvel slowly folded the cosmic realm into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor, the Mandarin would herald magic and mysticism to an ever-expanding world of unique heroes and villains. By introducing Mandarin and his ten magic rings, Marvel could lay the ground work for a Dr. Strange standalone film and Thanos’ eventual quest for the Infinity Gauntlet.
Look, I don’t have everything worked out, but I know how this theoretical movie ends. There’s a final showdown between Iron Man and the Mandarin in New York City.
Iron Man’s suit is supercharged thanks to some upgrades, but Mandarin’s mystical powers are too much for him. In crowd-pleasing fashion, Bruce Banner “suits up” as THE HULK and they tag-team the Mandarin. Instead of wasting Ruffalo screen time on a throwaway after-credits sequence, give the fans what they want and have Hulk SMASH once more!
When it looks like Mandarin is defeated, he casts a mystical spell on Hulk and takes control of the beast, aiming him like a weapon toward Iron Man.
Hulk comes after Iron Man, who takes off toward Avengers Tower. Hulk jumps and leaps through the city after him and eventually snatches him out of the air. Tony uses every gadget, but none of them can stop the big guy. Hulk throws Tony like a fastball, sending him crashing into Avengers Tower. The Mandarin continues to puppeteer the Hulk, who scales the building (bonus points for a King Kong allusion!) to smash ol’ shell-head to bits.
Here’s the big reveal: Tony emerges from the vault in HULKBUSTER ARMOR! We got a brief glimpse at the heavy-duty suit in Shane Black’s film, but it was a complete waste of pixels after Tony arbitrarily decided to self-destruct all of his suits. In my Iron Man 3, Tony goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk and it’s a knock-down, drag-out brawl.
The fight goes through Avengers Tower, onto rooftops, and eventually back down to street level. Jarvis gives Tony an update on the Mandarin’s location and Tony attempts to push forward towards his arch-nemesis while fighting off the big green rage monster.
Hulk tries to squeeze the life out of Tony and crush the suit, but Tony delivers a crushing blow to the Hulk’s head and gets free, just long enough to get his hands on the Mandarin. In the Hulkbuster armor, Tony grabs Mandarin and crushes his hands, preventing him from using the magic rings. Hulk shakes off the spell and slowly regains self-control, transforming back into Banner.
Mandarin and his magic rings are taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony and Bruce exchange playful banter about the epic brawl they just had. Banner is relieved by how well the Hulkbuster suit worked, while Tony takes the opportunity to ask Banner about his wormhole, inter-dimensional research. Banner says, “Oh yeah, about that…”
After-Credits Scene: Pepper Potts is on the phone with Tony Stark, who’s flying around in the Iron Man suit. They’re making dinner plans and Tony tells Pepper to book the reservation for 7. “On second thought, better make that 7:30.” At this point, we’ve only see Tony’s face, inside the suit, talking to Pepper via the heads-up display in his helmet. The camera cuts to an exhilarating reveal of Tony in all-white DEEP SPACE ARMOR, flying through the cosmos!
Cut. Print. That’s the Iron Man 3 I wanted to see, anyway. Maybe it’s the insane ramblings of a geek, or just glorified fanboy fiction, but I feel better for getting it out of head. Now I can move on and see the rest of this summer’s cinematic offerings which, hopefully, aren’t as disappointing as Shane Black’s ‘splosion-filled spectacle.
Don’t like the idea of killing Rhodey either but I think Marvel created a dead end with his character by skewing away from “War Machine”. Regarding the Iron Man fight with Hulk, I’d *love* to have seen a real interpretation of Hulkbuster but the fight itself sounds reminiscent of Hulk’s bout with Abomination in Harlem. Aldirch Killian and the Extremis soliders? Not familiar with the original story as I never read the comics but for the movie, I appreciated the threat they posed to Iron Man even if they were a little bit too “Terminator-ish”. I saw the movie last night and overall, not completely thrilled with Iron Man 3 but do feel like the story had merit by balancing Tony’s use of brains and brawn. It was also nice to see Tony deal with anxiety attacks after the Avengers, kinda knocked him down a few notches and brought some humanity to an otherwise cartoon-ish character. And his relationship with the kid? That was the silver lining for me. It seemed like such an organic relationship and it spoke volumes that Tony could form such a valuable bond with someone so young. To me, this only demonstrates how immature Tony really is despite being an adult. In my opinion, Iron Man 3 fell somewhere between the second and first in terms of entertainment value but wasn’t at all a bad follow up.
Why oh why didn’t they consult you before putting out this last dissapointment of a film? Please send this to Disney/Marvel and get them to reboot this properly. Awesome. Just Awesome. If you can get this put into a comic, I would love to see it. Especially if the artwork were similar to the Shell-Head/Hulk artwork at the head of your post. In fact, I’d re-spend the fifteen I wasted on the real movie to see an action figure stop motion of this story.
Only about 10x better than what I saw. Pepper should have been killed off in #2, now we have “Mega Pepper” and her just-from-the-salon-even-though-I-fell-100′-through-fire good looks. I was wondering when Riggs and Murtaugh were going to show up in the shipyard. Oh, they did! Also, that build up to all those suits just to have a fireworks show with them was a complete waste. I was about to walk out when dude puked fire. Then there’s the point that the Iron Man suit was supposed to be somewhat strong but those “soldiers” had no problem ripping them apart. Oh yeah, and anyone can jump into a suit and instantly fly it. Tony Stark didn’t even install a Cliffalarm with LowJack? My Camaro had that! The “after credits” would have made about 100x more sense if it was Widow instead of Banner. She’s the mind-manipulator of the bunch and worked for Stark once. They even had Banner admit he wasn’t a shrink. Ugh. A horrible script. In there with Dark Knight Rises, Indy 4 & Caddyshack 2. Can’t wait to forget about it.
There’s a reason this film is making a billion dollars and you’re on the internet writing a blog…I’m glad you enjoy doing this, but don’t quit your day job.
I loved Rhodey “no-scoping” the steel cable, I am sure a single bullet can’t fire through a steel sling with barely any weight (armor+president) on it.
I loved the movie, I seriously do not get where people are coming from. Great story, was deep for a superhero movie, great writing. The Mandarin was done appropriately for this movie verse, and it was relevant to today’s events. I hope they make more.
YES. I’m actually okay with Rhodey dying. I mean “Bucky” died, but we know how that really turned out. Doesn’t mean the same can’t be done for Rhodey somewhere down the line. I would’ve loved this movie so much more than the current debacle.
Comment by Christine Dunbar — May 16, 2013 @ 9:37 am
Honestly, I like it, except that you seem to have garnered a hard-on for the Hulk that is just a little to big. Which is okay, cause after The Avengers, it seems to be going around. I like him being involved throughout the movie up until the point where the Mandarin starts using him against Tony. That’s just excessive to me.
That much Hulk in an Iron Man movie practically makes it “Iron Man vs. Hulk” instead of “Iron Man 3”. So, all in all – love your movie, definitely would have enjoyed it more than what we got, but too much Hulk.
Absolutely love the post-credits scene though. That was exactly what I’ve wanted since The Avengers and the announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy. Well done.
I like your film “pitch,” but the Mandarin’s rings are not magical. They are the products of alien technology. The Mandarin found the rings on a crashed space ship.
This is what iron man 3 should have been. Just maybe not another battle in New York, because then it just becomes too much like a cartoon, where New York is getting levelled every other week.
I liked Iron Man 3, but this version would have been 1000x bette!!! It was exciting just reading it. Also, I love Don Cheadle, just not as War Machine.
You basically just described every plot detail from the Avengers. A fight in New York City, involving the Stark tower and mind control. Why would you want to see an exact repeat of The Avengers? Plus, it’s not an Iron Man film if Hulk steals the spotlight in every climatic scene.
But I agree with you about the Mandarin part, I wish they did more with him. I was thinking that he retrieved the magical rings from inside one of the destroyed Chitauri Serpents. Like that was what powered them or something.
Everything that happened in Iron Man 3 happened for a reason. What should have happened HAPPENED. Don’t spoil it with fanboy wish fulfilment. The movie kicked ass creatively, narratively, comedically and action-wise and is kicking ass at the box office because people love it. End of story.
No. The movie is called “Iron Man 3” not “Iron Man and the Hulk”. What you are suggesting isn’t a third Iron Man movie, it’s a second Avengers one.
Iron Man 3 wasn’t perfect, but it at least logically followed on from the first two Iron Man films. It was something an Iron Man fan could watch and enjoy without having seen The Avengers, and it wrapped up a trilogy that predated The Avengers.
The Iron Man series has also been a series based on plausible(ish) near future technology. Extremis pushes the boundaries of technological plausibility – magic (or even alien) super-powered rings would completely destroy them. It just doesn’t fit the mood and setting established by the preceding movies. Appropriate villain for the comic, notsomuch the movie series. IMO, the way they used the Mandarin avoided that issue while providing a nice twist on the cliched ‘evil terrorist’ bit.
Your after-credits scene is great, but ultimately the plot you’ve proposed doesn’t fit well into the established Iron Man movie canon. Sorry.
P.S. Just because Iron Patriot is unlikely to star in his own movie is a poor reason to kill him off for shock value. He’s a good member of the supporting cast and he offers a lot of plot hooks being Tony’s connection to the US military.
I don’t care for this. The movie I enjoyed had a great deal of work put into it by writers, actors, cinematic and artistic directors, and special effects artists. To complain that the movie wasn’t what you envisioned is pretentious. The movie isn’t what I imagined it would be but I’m not going on about how Shane Black f’d up MY vision of Iron Man.
I’m plenty critical of movies I don’t like, but I don’t offer up short articles describing MY perfect version of the film as though it is an accomplishment to somehow rival a finished product. Why don’t you make your version of Iron Man 3 into a comic book for us to enjoy before telling us why its better than what we actually saw.
Iron Man 3 is a mess. The writers clearly wrote themselves into a corner and had no idea how to get themselves out, so they resorted to 40+ armor suits on AI pilot, ludicrously over the top nearly invincible foes which defied even comic book laws of physics, a Mandarin who really wasn’t THE Mandarin after all, pointlessly removing the fragment from Tony’s chest, pointlessly blowing up all the suits (what the frak?!?), pointlessly throwing away his arc reactor (what the hell?!?), and on and on… And I’m sorry, folks. Iron Patriot did nothing to add to this film. He was another pointless addition.
There sure is. Most of the people seeing this film aren’t Iron Man fans. They are action adventure fans, and don’t give a rat’s ass about plot or continuity or anything else except seeing stuff blowing up, and he’s on the Internet writing a blog because that’s what he enjoys doing. Instead of sniping blinding with non-sequiturs, why not instead entertain us with your counterpoints.
I love the idea for this movie. I’d have much preferred it. But as a 27 year old Male I don’t think I was the core target demographic here. What’s bugging you is the influence of the preteen market which has been clearly sought after in this film.
Can’t help but notice that you missed the title of the movie: ‘Iron Man 3’, not ‘Marvel Team-Up: Iron Man & The Hulk’, the Bruce Banner cameo was perfect, there was no reason to have the Hulk come in, it would’ve been too jarring, like Nick Fury’s appearances in IM2.
For an even better ending, have Tony meet the Guardians of the Galaxy in deep space. There rumors of an ending like that in the film, but it’s now an apparent lie. At least this way the Guardians get a nice first connection to the franchise before their own film.
Yeah, the people whining about the Mandarin Twist (which sounds like a delicious flavor of Sprite now that I think about it) are just knee jerk fanboys who can’t handle any kind of change even if it improves the source material.
It’s the same thing with the ending to Watchmen being changed. DIfferent medium, different techniques work better.
THAT IS BRILLIANT. It’s so much of a relief to find just one other person in a world filled with “Iron Man 3 was awesome!” and I have to agree on every point – THIS is the movie I wanted to see too!
Also, the idea that Rhodey should be killed off because he’ll always be a supporting character is stupid. He’s a great supporting character and killing off the buddy so that the hero can have a “feces just got non-make believe” moment is a tired ass cliche.
THIS…WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT–wouldn’t change a thing. Im just going to accept that this was the actual IM3 script ( I could actually “see” it as I read it through) …I really hope that somebody reads this and gets you to be a consultant on future Marvel films.
IM 3 sucked. Marvel dropped the ball to start with a BANG in their phase 2. I could’ve expected this from a Thor movie, but not Iron Man. Although it has made more than a billion dollars, mixed reviews could back fire in their upcoming movies.
I’m pretty sure DC/WB will take advantage of this mistake.
Just because it does not follow the script of a comic does not make it a bad movie. Although comic book characters are “in” right now does not mean comic book enthusiasts are.
Now THIS is the movie I hoped seeing! Amazing, but like it does to many other readers it also makes me sad … The real Iron Man 3 sucked donkey balls. I still can’t uderstand how the people at Marvel Studios let Shane and Pearce make the horrible story descissions they’ve made. Fiege should’ve fired Shane and Pearce the moment he read the first draft.
The change in the watchmen ending made sense. Why introduce a completely unrelated 3rd party when the obvious choice is right there? Iron man went the other way. Why use the obvious ending when you can do something unrelated to anything?
could it be that the “Mandarin” was lying? He isn’t an idiot, and he is still alive. I don’t think Marvel would have really ruined one of their greatest villains. I’m calling it and saying that the Mandarin will be back, and will be an actual threat to Tony and / or the Avengers…
Comment by Jonathonwarren — May 18, 2013 @ 1:09 pm
Yo I feel your disappointment when it comes to the Mandarin, but you’ve allowed that simple rewritten fact blind you to how decent of a movie it really was. It was never gonna be better than IM1, but by the sounds of your ‘hypothetical movie’, you would have left it spiraling harder than IM2 or any other MCU film. Like, what you have above this post right here, good sir, is literally parallel to the Green Lantern movie. rifled with shit and more shit of epic proportions. You realize this was Tony’s movie. Not Mandarin’s. And yeah the sensless plot holes are present, but shit, you’re so damn butthurt you don’t even consider the countless more you’d be adding to what would be a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. That’s the movie you say you wanna see. And its sad because there is not a single arc of story present, just what would be endless overly OP action sequences with no point whatsoever. Shows what kind of brawns over brains attitude, attention span and interests you have. Killing Rhodey was the first red flag, writing about Mandarin more prominently than Tony was the second. And after that, you just lost it. However, in all seriousness a separate Avenger appearing in a MCU film not of their own would eventually raise questions as to why every MCU film isn’t scattered with scenes featuring other members of earth mightiest heroes (and the budgets would never allow it, but if they hypothetically did, then whats the point of an Avengers movie at all) Unless a small cameo such as Tony in INCREDIBLE HULK (08) Hawkeye in THOR (11) or Banner most recently in IM3 appears, don’t expect to see any of the big hitters cross paths again in full until 2015. Black Widow is a malleable, relatively smaller character, she’ll fit in with CA:TWS, plus S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being tossed back and forth in the cinematic Univ. But seriously, Banner vs. Tony is the second half of your grande finale?…after its obvious that Mandarin is your main character. The only elements that retain any purpose or meaning concerning anything that’s actually appealing is the source material itself, which you had no regard for either. Extremis? such a good book and a very nice live screen adaption. but that can go to hell because the Mandarin did too, right? dude read a book, and make it this one. And maybe a book on how to pen a synopsis and draft a script. You have an ambiotious Comic Book mind but you’re not scaled to fit the incredibly demanding cinematic approach. you seem too centered around RFR (ridiculous fanboy’s requests). and you gotta get over them cause its not your movie, and not every demand or desire will be fulfilled to your liking. But when it comes to your over placed theatricality, you’re whole movie sounds like a fat fucking flop of a hard fail that is fashioned too symmetrically with an overstocked sense of misplaced grandeur that hopefully leads to a finale. Honesty as its finest. Its Iron Man, man! not The Lord Of The Rings. so trust me, we’d all be waiting for any kind of a finale to this film, as long as it was the actual one. you probably would be too, unless you’re like 13, which based upon how you wright, i dont think is true, but your RFR sure as hell point to a yes. Either way im truly sorry you cannot appreciate the aspects of what was an actual decent movie and overlook some minor flaws so as to not drag yourself into this state of embarrassment because you literally have defined ‘butthurt’ for the world you.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:02 pm
FF is not owned by Marvel Studios and at the time neither was Galactus. Go figure Fox would fuck up Big G as well as so many other watered down passerby portrayals. Marvel Studios is HOME for a motherfucking reason and that’s because they take care of their characters. Lets hear three loud cheers for Marvel Studios in their triumphant victory in reclaiming Blade, Ghost Rider, Daredevil and. . . .the Punisher!!!! HIP HIP fuck yeah! Here’s to hoping that Spidey may soon finally call MSCU his own
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:08 pm
BUCKY IS THE WINTER SOLIDER, its direct source material and that’s all I will say on this subject because on a website like this, you should already know. Its not like they scripted a new arc to Bucky’s charcter in TFA, it is directly based upon The Winter Solider run.
Rhodey has no such source material involving a means of death or change in his character in any way, so there’s no point in writing off Tony’s best and closest friend, who, in these movies, is Tony’s only constant reliable and honest pal next to J.A.R.V.I.S.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
…And then realized how much more of the same garbled shit followed. This movie would be worse than the impossibly bad and unrealistic shit stains smeared across the cockgobblin fest known as Batman & Robin.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:29 pm
Or a methamphetamine geek out freak out ramble. That made no real sense whatsoever by the end of it but dudebuddy sure was on one hell of a roll.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:33 pm
You think you would enjoy anything with material this half-witted? He sounds like one of the fucking writers for the goddamn disastrous Ultimate Spider-Man, like its that laughable. he must regurgitate his own vomit for breakfast, if this shitfest he came up with doesn’t leave a bad taste in his mouth.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:43 pm
You must regurgitate your own vomit for breakfast too. tell me, is it an acquired taste or have you always gobbled pigshit like it was your dick?
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:47 pm
No. what you saw was ten times the worth of what you just read. and im keeping your fucking money
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:52 pm
Yo I feel your disappointment when it comes to the Mandarin, but you’ve allowed that simple rewritten fact blind you to how decent of a movie it really was. It was never gonna be better than IM1, but by the sounds of your ‘hypothetical movie’, you would have left it spiraling harder than IM2 or any other MCU film. Like, what you have above this post right here, good sir, is literally parallel to the Green Lantern movie. rifled with shit and more shit of epic proportions.You realize this was Tony’s movie. Not Mandarin’s. And yeah the sensless plot holes are present, but shit, you’re so damn butthurt you don’t even consider the countless more you’d be adding to what would be a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. That’s the movie you say you wanna see. And its sad because there is not a single arc of story present, just what would be endless overly OP action sequences with no point whatsoever. Shows what kind of brawns over brains attitude, attention span and interests you have. Killing Rhodey was the first red flag, writing about Mandarin more prominently than Tony was the second. And after that, you just lost it. However, in all seriousness a separate Avenger appearing in a MCU film not of their own would eventually raise questions as to why every MCU film isn’t scattered with scenes featuring other members of earth mightiest heroes (and the budgets would never allow it, but if they hypothetically did, then whats the point of an Avengers movie at all) Unless a small cameo such as Tony in INCREDIBLE HULK (08) Hawkeye in THOR (11) or Banner most recently in IM3 appears, don’t expect to see any of the big hitters cross paths again in full until 2015. Black Widow is a malleable, relatively smaller character, she’ll fit in with CA:TWS, plus S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being tossed back and forth in the cinematic Univ. But seriously, Banner vs. Tony is the second half of your grande finale?…after its obvious that Mandarin is your main character. The only elements that retain any purpose or meaning concerning anything that’s actually appealing is the source material itself, which you had no regard for either. Extremis? such a good book and a very nice live screen adaption. but that can go to hell because the Mandarin did too, right? dude read a book, and make it this one. And maybe a book on how to pen a synopsis and draft a script. You have an ambiotious Comic Book mind but you’re not scaled to fit the incredibly demanding cinematic approach. you seem too centered around RFR (ridiculous fanboy’s requests). and you gotta get over them cause its not your movie, and not every demand or desire will be fulfilled to your liking. But when it comes to your over placed theatricality, you’re whole movie sounds like a fat fucking flop of a hard fail that is fashioned too symmetrically with an overstocked sense of misplaced grandeur that hopefully leads to a finale. Honesty as its finest. Its Iron Man, man! not The Lord Of The Rings. so trust me, we’d all be waiting for any kind of a finale to this film, as long as it was the actual one. you probably would be too, unless you’re like 13, which based upon how you wright, i dont think is true, but your RFR sure as hell point to a yes. Either way im truly sorry you cannot appreciate the aspects of what was an actual decent movie and overlook some minor flaws so as to not drag yourself into this state of embarrassment because you literally have defined ‘butthurt’ for the world you.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Thor was the third best MCU Phase 1 Movie, slightly a par behind Iron Man and The Avengers. Personally, it was my second fav, followed by the Avengers, but fuck you man Thor was given his respected due. and btw, don’t expect Thor: The Dark World to suck unless you do. shit’s gonna be booming crazy
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:08 am
Wow, you must be contemplating suicide real soon. Sounds like you got nothing else holding you back. if you’re that desperate to see this waste brought to any kind of reality, you need to leave this reality. NOW
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:10 am
You sound like a daft dude wtf are you talking about haha The Dark Knight Rises’ script was the most solid of all summer blockbusters last year shitforbrains. I bet you gave up on it just because you don’t have the mental capacity to understand what hell was going on. that or you RFR
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:19 am
i think you nailed it better than black did,i mean the movie was good and all but i was pissed about the false mandarin crap,only to find out that guy pierce is the real mandarin,yet has no rings and isnt magical(except for a few things like the heat etc)and iron man doesnt even beat him pepper does,that also annoyed me.i wanted to see the mandarin depicted in the comics,one of a few movies i liked but went out feeling annoyed
I went with “marvel-related” since both movies are based on the marvel universe despite being owned by competing studios. I am disappointed that Disney could not work out a deal to let Fox keep the red-hooded step child in exchange for Galactus rights, or the License for the entire Fantastic Four movie rights. Ghost Rider got done too hard and a reboot needs to be far off so we can forget about the last few movies. Blade, I love, and I’ll be curious to see any developments with that franchise. The Punisher, Sign me up!
I am worried about Spidey coming to Disney, Sony has those rights locked up tighter than a nun and Disney will NEVER do a proper Spiderman/Venom/Carnage story line due to the serial killer origin story. I mean, they canned Downey’s drinking problem in Iron Man 3 so I’d have to think Carnage is out.
Yes, I was one of the many who was SO DAMN DISAPPOINTED in what they did to the Mandarin. At that point, I didnt even want to watch the rest of the film. Why the would bite off of Batman, (which batman did better) I have no Idea. This was a great opportunity to have some great scene with Tony and the Mandarin, that was horribly missed. Yet alone, get a great Chinese actor, who could have owned the role! They kept talking about Ben K’s voice as if it was good. I was expecting something great and left disappointed and mainly because of the Mandarin.
But in this case it didnt work out well. The real villain behind the curtain has been done many times and this was a bad attempt. Especially with a character who had the potential to own the film as Ledger as the Joker.
While your concept is great, someone I’m sure would find something unsatisfying about the outcome. Point being, when it comes to live-action super-hero films, either a great story line or action sequence is going to falter for the sake of the other. I have yet to see a superhero film effectively execute both (no, Avengers did not do that as you see even an article on this site exclaimed flaws in the movie).
“ramblings of a geek” is a good way to put it. Your idea of the movie is boring, predictable, and would be very similar to iron man 2 where we all felt like watching someone else play a computer game. I understand that people are pissed about Mandarin, I think I would be if I was a hardcore fan, but as a generic fan I really enjoyed what they did with him. Smarts is the way Marvel seems to be going, instead of “more hulk more smash more gadgets more explosions” which is what you just described.
HA “there’s a reason this film is making a billion dollars…” Yea, there’s a reason the Twilight movies made millions of dollars too…IDIOTS like you go to see them regardless of plot holes and poor story. The only thing you IDIOTS care about are explosions and CGI. I’d tell you “don’t quit your day job”, but I doubt you have one
Comment by Jules Michael — May 19, 2013 @ 11:35 am
Don’t take this too personally, but that was a terrible read. There is no depth or subtext to your story. It’s just a vehicle to watch Hulk fight Iron Man. Your character motivations are cloudy at best. I mean you have Mandarin, “the master of deception” as you put it, just be a cackling, evil, cartoon Osama bin Laden whose only motivation seems to be “I do bad things cause I’m bad,” and doesn’t actually seem to deceive anyone. What is deceitful about blatantly going on TV and telling Iron Man to come to his house and then just fighting him?
The events of Avengers impacted Tony in no visibly meaningful way in your treatment, and I severely dislike the way you make the female protagonist irrelevant and actually kill what is pretty much the only black character in the Marvel movie universe because you just want to watch your favorite character woosh around more. This whole things seriously read like a 10 year old kid playing with action figures.
You’re enthusiastic, which is great, and you obviously care and think about what you’d like to see in a movie, but you need to broaden your perspective a bit if you can’t see why the events you describe are completely flat and boring.
The explained movie above would crush the existing IM3. It was good but a major wasted chance of transcending the Marvel Universe and movies in general. Way to bomb Shane, Kevin and Josh!
THIS IS GREAT!!! I have not seen iron man 3 yet but this sounds way better. For real, you should pitch this idea to someone. I DONT CARE WHAT YOU DO GET THIS MOVIE MADE. maybe, The Incredible Hulk 2 or Iron Man 4 or maybe a totally different movie!!!
The character actually does spit fire in the Extremis comic, but w/e. You’re such a comic purist.
Comment by RealWorldProgressive — May 19, 2013 @ 1:58 pm
You mean like the guys who think people on Extremis breathing fire is just made up for the movie? lol
Comment by RealWorldProgressive — May 19, 2013 @ 1:59 pm
I think it could still work, if the next movie retcons and reveals that Ben Kingsley really was the Mandarin and pulling the strings, and the whole hired actor thing was a con all along. Did the oil exec really get shot, and who shot him?
I like it! It seemed like that would’ve been the true Iron Man 3. IM3 as it is was ok, but I think your version would’ve been much more satisfying and more in the spirit of what an Iron Man movie should be. Nice work.
Well, either you saw it so you’re an Idiot too(and using caps to accent your “insult” makes you look like a 6 year old. But hey, whatever) or you didn’t see it and you’re an idiot for commenting on the plot holes and poor story of a movie you didn’t see. So which is it? Are you an idiot or an idiot?
These are great ideas. EVERYONE wants to see Hulkbuster Iron Man fight Hulk, and EVERYONE wanted to see Mandarin’s rings deal out some awesomeness. And you’re right, it would have been a smooth transition to introducing any kind of paranormal or extradimensional reality to make way for Dr. Strange. Extremis was a waste, as was Mandarin. What a missed opportunity.
Wow. To suggest someone should kill themselves just because you’re
butt hurt that this movie wasn’t worth a crap? Are you the mistress or
do you get paid to lay on your back with the writers and directors of
this horrible movie?
And, I saw your response about Dark Knight
Rises being the “most solid script” of last summer…Let’s pick that
asinine statement apart (In the order they come to mind because I can’t
stand the thought of wasting another moment of my life to watch it again
to be more specific):
1: Bruce “works out” to get rid of his near paraplegia. He gets some fancy braces for his legs, but you never see them.
2:
Bruce has a broken back which is fixed by…..A PUNCH TO THE BACK?!?
WTF? Then, he’s able to work out enough in a couple of minutes to get
himself out of the prison that only one other person apparently has ever
made it out of, then…
3: Bruce has no money, no access to
corporate accounts, no idea where he is, and is able to make it across
the globe back to Gotham….and his travel to the prison, recovery, and travel back to Gotham occur fast
enough for him to get back to before the bomb goes off….
4:
There is a commando force holding the city in a surveilled hostage
police state and Bruce left his Bat-Plane on the top of a building under
a f***ing camouflaged tarp and it was never found?!?! Come on!
5: But that’s not the
worst part. Before He’s able to get to his Bat-Plane, again with no
resources, he’s able to sneak back into Gotham across lines being held
by both the terrorists and the power of the American Military,
apparently with no help.
Forgive me if your assessment of this
script makes every other assessment of any other entertainment piece
completely irrelevant, no matter how knowledgeable you obviously are
about who owns what and whatever. In fact, for a grown person to know
that much, you must spend way to much time in your mom’s basement. I
don’t care how much of a “geek” you think someone should be to
participate in the discussions on this site, so f-off.
Oh dear, Am I the only one who thinks The Avengers is silly? The whole outer space threat feels out of place in these superhero movies (aside from Superman of course). I don’t read the Iron Man comics and I thought Iron Man 3 was great fun. Better than IR 2 – which seems to have a shitload of fans for some reason.
I saw Iron Man 3 with my children yesterday and we were all disappointed. So far, I love your take on it and it does sound like a better movie.
Just like you, I’m tired of the evil CEOs (three times isn’t a charm), the second movie in a row that Tony Stark has some type of personal demon and personal problem he has to deal with. This became frustrating to watch over during the third movie and I hope they drop this come the fourth. Believe it or not Hollywood, not all superhero movies need to have dark, personal issues.
And the Mandarin? The biggest disappointment in the whole film, especially after I explained to my children what the villain is like in the comics and then seeing what they did to him on the big screen.
So as far as I’m concern, your movie is something that I would have rather have seen and would probably would have made more money while staying true to the source material.
Thanks for your comments. You have to understand Devan, I wrote this as a feature for a geek blog – I didn’t write an outline or a 120-page script – obviously there isn’t much depth or subtext… then again, there wasn’t much depth or subtext to Shane Black’s finished film, either.
it’s kicking ass at the box office b/c it’s the follow-up to the third-highest grossing film of all time and it was going to be a box office success regardless of quality – you pay before you watch it – it isn’t a measurement of quality.
Yep – like the Infinity Gems – magic to us, technology to others (the themes of Thor repeated) – and another opportunity to further connect the Guardians of the Galaxy
The reason why this movie is making so much money is because people will pay to see any piece of crap with pretty colors and explosions. Just because it makes money doesn’t mean it’s good.
I thought Iron Man 3 was ok, but I completely agree with you that this is how the film should have gone. I don’t agree with killing Rhodes though but I was really hoping for the Hulk to somewhat appear in the movie to help Iron Man since Banner works with Stark now, and since the Avengers have finally been formed, it would make sense for at least one of them to appear in each others movies. I was really expecting the Hulk to fight Iron Man in the Hulk Buster too… I was sadly disappointed…
How bout aldrich killian being there at all. he commited suicide at the beginning of the extremis story. He was a scientist not a rich business man or the mandarin.
Everything that happened in IM 3 happened because shane black doesnt know anything about the character. Even Joss Wheedon said WTF to the crap that happened in this flic. And the twilight movies kicked ass at the box office too. Do you think those movies are good ?
Rhody should be killed. He’s a needless character. He didnt help the story along at all. he was just there. Im sorry but when i get my iron man comics from the shop im not reading it thinking “i hope war machine shows up”. I dont read iron man to see war machine just like i dont watch iron man to see war machine.
IM3 was a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. It was nothing but a time killer. there was nothing in that movie that helped to push the story of iron man forward. it was all filler no killer.
He blew up all his suits and threw away his arc and shit because he’s quitting the Iron Man life. But the events of Avengers 2 will call for him to return and he will. Then he will die a beautiful, glorious, sacrificial death. Seems like that’s what they’re setting up to me (or maybe that’s just the Avengers 2 I’d like to see.)
this would be a terrible film. just terrible. it might be an ok/c grade superhero movie. It wouldn’t translate well, you have highlighted mainly action scenes no “meaty” stuff, you have outlined only maybe a half hour of material. Also the idea of the team up, and such dependant team up is wrong. it would only make the film seem like a filler, or just essentially a little tie in to further solidify the MCU, not a full film. I dont disagree with the idea of the bruce banner playing a role, but i wouldnt have the hulk in this, its a solo feature. However i dont think killing rhodey is a bad idea, it would add weight both for tony stark, but also for the film in terms of the MCU, and a potential storyline for later films. i.e. the death of a known hero
really cool man. i liked your take on it. I would feel more on the rings not being magical, but more symbolic. here is an idea i thought of aswell.
The Mandarin should have taunted everyone with the viral videos. those videos really made the villain seem powerful and scary in the movie
the Mandarin should of had his 10 rings on display ”these are symbols of my power and control.”. and made a statement put one ring on and carry out a terrible terrorist deed to the world. The audience could have watched him carry out all 10 different terrorist attacks. destroy tonys house, trying to hurt people close to him etc.
I think the idea of buying the extremis soilders from killian would have been good. rather than killian be the villain. it would have been cool at the end for iron man to confront the Mandarin, and the Mandarin to put on the last ring. ”heroes, there is no such thing.” and 10 extremis soilders battle with tony, each one modified to represent the powers of the Mandarin’s ‘magic rings.’ tony could battle until his suit is nearly destroyed and have a confrontation with the Mandarin then. could have been just verbal, or the Mandarin could bring back horrors of new york, causing tony to panic.
I feel this would have been a stronger villain than the trick that was played. the ten rings organisation was always hinted at in iron man 1. just wish it had a better pay off.
AWESOME!AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME How i wish we could see this on the big screen. This is such an awesome story. Great! i hated the movie, this would have been AWESOME. again, AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
Sir i think you just earned my $11 from that movie i sure enjoyed that much more than that crap they had on the screen.
I couldn’t get over the plot holes like the bad guy used the iron patriot armor and reprogrammed it to send the president back to NY…. the outer thing was Yes the armors were just pathetic just falling apart one after another when they were designed to take on the HULK!!!! ect WTF is with that, and on that note when all the suites blow up pepper pots is wearing a arm piece that didn’t blow up? Whats with them all blowing up looking like a gay $20 firework with no color all the bombs and different metals would have made amazing explosions nothing sucks more than ending a action movie with fake lame ass explosions that are nothing more than fireworks….
Great story! I loved Iron man 3 and maybe they could make a 4th you can use your story without the extremis because what can happen is that its revealed that aldrich killian had created the mandarin based upon an actual terrorist who changes his name to the mandarin becuase of killian. then just do this story but dont have to much banner/hulk. I reckon that would be awesome!
p.s. loved the way you said “it’s hinted at that Banner may have helped him create a few for… special circumstances” that hints that he will face of with the hulk
Comment by Anthony The Fanboy — May 21, 2013 @ 3:19 am
The twist was bad because it crippled the film. We had this large build up to the Mandarian….then went off in a different direction. So much time was wasted setting him up that the resulting movie felt very “crammed” but yet at the same time nothing really happened. IM3 was better than 2 in this regard, but not by much.
You toss around terms like “butthurt” and “fanboy” simply because his opinion is different than yours, but all I can see is just how “butthurt” you are because he didn’t like Iron Man 3.
Honestly though, I can tell by how you “wright” that you’re an intelligent guy, but learning some humility would go a long way in facilitating some actual dialouge with other humans in a forum atmosphere. I think that I can speak for most people on this site when I say that your misanthropic diatribe is unwanted and only serves to place you in the ranks of the tired, annoying troll army of the Internet which comes with its own stock reaction from level-headed, non vein-popping people such as myself: GTFO.
Bravo sir Bravo!!! After reading this exciting script I just want you to know that you have a fan in me…….Marvel take note THIS is how phase 2 should have begun
Not bad at all, and a hell of a lot better than ‘Tony Stark, SUPER SPY!’ (aka Iron Man 3). I love the team up aspect with the Hulk and that you actually made the other armors USEFUL as opposed to being toys that fell apart in a soft breeze! Plus I think your concept of using the Mandarin’s rings as a gateway to the introduction of magic into the MCU is fantastic. Frankly, I say scrap extremis all together. It was poorly used and a failed attempt at bringing a great comic book story line to the screen. Although I would say keep Rhodey alive, just make him War Machine again.
Nothing irritated me more than the having the armors fall apart with a slight breeze. They must have used that gag a dozen times in the movie and it was just BAD.
He developed an overall plot. A good writer could fill in those holes easily and with more clarity than the actual Iron Man 3. Maybe change some of the details of the fight like have Hulk break the Mandarins hands ala World War Hulk when he broke Dr Strange’s hands but the overall plot is great.
That’s a really silly comment — there are a bunch of objectively bad movies and television shows that make it to the screen because of things that have nothing to do with talent. I mean, according to your logic, Justin Bieber must possess one of the world’s greatest voices given the amount of money he’s made.
Hollywood is nowhere near a meritocracy, and studios sign off on bad scripts all the time. Your conclusion requires one to accept the proposition that the amount of money realized by a movie is proportional to how good the movie is, which we know isn’t even remotely true.
Comment by Dean Calloway — May 21, 2013 @ 10:24 am
Iron Man 3 was bad. But your solution is worse. You kill off the only current (until The Falcon next April) minority super hero in film for no real purpose (his death really means nothing), you reduce the screen time of the only woman in the film (since you mostly, if not entirely, cut the EXTREMIS storyline (which was horrible), so Maya is gone – and really, she served little purpose in the first film except to: 1. Show Tony being a playboy. 2. Get Pepper captured. 3. Die a pointless death after a random change of heart), return the Mandarin to a racist caricature, and essentially replay part of The Avengers movie by having them romp around and destroy parts of New York.
Equally awful as Iron Man 3.
Comment by PainfullyUnaware — May 21, 2013 @ 10:59 am
Yeah that reason is the avengers. You’re fooling yourself if you think this movie has done a billion on its own merit. The movie was good to me but there was sooooo much wasted potential. And if you’re gonna have an all out armour brawl why not showcase 2 of tonys most famous armors; The deepspace armor and the Legendary hulk buster Armor. What a waste. The original avengers script had the hulk buster armor. I liked the twist somewhat but I felt that they could have done it the other way around and had the mandarin pulling Killian’s strings the original im2 script had a dying alcoholic tony with mandarin pulling hammers strings.
During Dark Reign, Rhodey Was turned into a cyborg following a battle with some rebels. Afterwards, his consciousness was “uploaded” to a clone body that was a replica of his human body. What’s to say that the same thing couldn’t be done here?
I didn’t say anything about making Mandarin a racist caricature – I like the ambiguous nature of his character – I just wanted him to actually be a real, mystical villain – I still cast Kinglsey as him, so obviously I wasn’t going for caricature. As for minority superheroes, there’s Nick Fury – but you can’t blame ME for killing off Rhodes when Marvel could have just as easily introduced Luke Cage or any number of minority characters… and it’s not like Pepper had a ton of screen time, she could easily have the same amount of screen time, I just don’t think she should be used as bait and miraculously cured of her life-threatening condition in a matter of seconds.
it’s hard to flip-flop back and forth – I agree War Machine would be preferable but, I think the character has moved too far in the other direction to save anything – looking back on it, what did that character really do for the series? Nothing really… sure they teamed up in 2 but that could have just have easily went in another direction…
That’s the thing, IM2 kicked off with Iron Man as the national hero protector and it stayed that way until at least the scene in the Avengers where Coulson gives him his “homework”. Now, Iron Man is a full time Avenger/ humanitarian and responsible for a whole new series of problems; so who fills the void when Tony focuses on being an Avenger, War Machine. The beginning of the movie would be 2 separate stories (IM and the Avengers and Rhodey attempting to keep global stability). Rhodey and Tony are BFF’s so when the Mandarin takes Rhodey then Tony’s focus shifts and he realizes he can’t just delegate etc etc plot plot plot and then faces off with the Mandarin. Iron Man and Hulk face off with the Mandarins magic rings in Paris (someone else brought up the point, and I agree, that New York is too close to the Avengers storyline and I think a good globally recognized city would be Paris) they realize it takes both of them to stop magic, include Nick Fury scene talking about magical countermeasures (AKA Dr Strange) and continue with the follow up, Bob’s your uncle and roll credits.
If you’re not going to give Hulk his own standalone film than why not include him in Iron Man 3? The Mandarin was just wasted and given way to Guy Pierce breathing fire, awful.
Comment by Moriah Geer-Hardwick — May 22, 2013 @ 10:55 am
I think you nailed it here. It seems that when Hollywood becomes this invested in a franchise, they tend to follow their formula and not the fan’s. You’ve written what I as a fan wanted to see. Hollywood made a movie that was perfectly formulated to squeeze as many ticket dollars out of the widest demographic of moviegoers possible. Disappoint.
Comment by Moriah Geer-Hardwick — May 22, 2013 @ 10:58 am
Paris would be great, I agree – I chose New York b/c of Avengers tower and its proximity to the armor vault, etc – but an exotic locale would be cool. Hulk climbing the Eiffel Tower!
THAT’S A FUCKING AMAZING MOVIE!!!!!! I would have loved to see that Iron Man 3 than the one we got! Jesus christ! that was just the summary and it had me on the edge of my seat. What a fucking fully realized plot, with character development and real lasting consequences and great setup for further adventures within the MCU.
GOD-DAMMIT!!!!!!
True, but Stark industries is global and maybe Paris is the home of the second giant Arc reactor. Paris also brings a lot of extremely recognizable landmarks that can be damaged or destroyed in the battle. Maybe a scene where Mandarin knocks down the Arc De’Triumph and Hulk has to stop it from crushing a group of tourists. Iron Man getting knocked into the Louvre next to the Mona Lisa and quipping, “Sorry, I’ve got a girlfriend.” before flying back out to fight.
Iron Man 3 was average at best. Hardly any ‘man’ in the ‘iron’ suit and Tony Stark whimpering and quivering. Everyone else getting into the suit which basically makes Stark redundant.
Comment by Sailesh Ghelani — May 22, 2013 @ 3:10 pm
Of course the fantasy versions in out heads are always better. But once your idea was put in to script for m then rewritten and rewritten with producers adding in all their stuff, there’s no way your idea would look the same actualized as a movie.
I admire the imagination, I really do, but I also thought Iron Man 3 was a good time.
(Also, people gave Iron Man 2 hell over having 10 minutes of Avengers/SHIELD set up, so its understandable that there would be no other heroes in this movie, save for maybe a small cameo,…)
i’d only change a few things in this whole plot but it would still be way better than shane blacks version… i like the idea of a terrorist mandarin though i like the way you wanted to introduce the magical side of marvel through mandarin… now i don’t think you could mix both of them just my opinion so i say you make it either one or the other. in my opinion you could “mix” both using the alien tecnology plot, making him capable of controling the hulk, and obtaining rare alien tecnology from the battle of new york but still being an extreme terrorist…
iron patriot needs more love. i say introduce him from both sides right at the beginning of the movie: the governmental propaganda “america is a hero” side (this being introduced by the president talking and saying that this is the hero that makes americans feel safe at home and confident of tomorrow blah blah blah), and the actual heroic side of war machine where he really does something heroic… with this tony stark could have a field day making fun of rhoady selling out right at the start of the movie…
i agree with the hulk introduced into the storyline but here is the twist i thought of right when i was reading this… while all the suits are being “easter egged” there is one that’s under sheets and it would have engraved on the pedestal “igor” or “buster” to make things more faithful. stark asks bruce whats up with “buster” and he answers “it’s something i developed for me in case all else fails” ;) so everything fails and he remembers the project buster and asks jarvis to iniciate it while he’s fighting the hulk…
this to me should have been an iron man 4 considering how eager shane black was to explore the extremis storyline for iron man 3… he should have kept things simpler for iron man 3… most he could do is have him buy stuff from the ten rings to develop extremis… but no mandarin
I have to say as a comic/gaming nerd growing up and into today I like
this story better then the I3 movie was. I hate it when characters for
our beloved comic books of past are thrown to the wind and producers
take liberties into there own hands like with “The Mandarin”. Anyway I
do feel that this is the story we should have seen and would have really
enjoyed.
You hope this is the last one? See, real fans, just want more content, want to see their favorite super heros on the silver screen. By hoping they don’t make more, you’re showing your just a glary eye’d action film watcher.
Lol it’s irrelevant what I think about Twilight because I’m not the target audience. And Shane Black is a huge Iron Man fan who read the comics as a kid. And Joss Wheadon loved the film actually, in fact he was quoted as saying ‘wtf am I supposed to do with the end of Avengers 2 now?’ After being blown away by the film’s final action sequence. Haters gonna hate, by I personally loved the film and found Black’s take on the character refreshing.
i’d only change a few things in this whole plot but it would still be way better than shane blacks version… i like the idea of a terrorist mandarin though i like the way you wanted to introduce the magical side of marvel through mandarin… now i don’t think you could mix both of them just my opinion so i say you make it either one or the other. in my opinion you could “mix” both using the alien tecnology plot, making him capable of controling the hulk, and obtaining rare alien tecnology from the battle of new york but still being an extreme terrorist…
iron patriot needs more love. i say introduce him from both sides right at the beginning of the movie: the governmental propaganda “america is a hero” side (this being introduced by the president talking and saying that this is the hero that makes americans feel safe at home and confident of tomorrow blah blah blah), and the actual heroic side of war machine where he really does something heroic… with this tony stark could have a field day making fun of rhoady selling out right at the start of the movie…
i agree with the hulk introduced into the storyline but here is the twist i thought of right when i was reading this… while all the suits are being “easter egged” there is one that’s under sheets and it would have engraved on the pedestal “igor” or “buster” to make things more faithful. stark asks bruce whats up with “buster” and he answers “it’s something i developed for me in case all else fails” ;) so everything fails and he remembers the project buster and asks jarvis to iniciate it while he’s fighting the hulk…
this to me should have been an iron man 4 considering how eager shane black was to explore the extremis storyline for this movie… he should have just ignored the mandarin
This, my friends, is the way it should have gone down. Marvel want to add space exploration into the MCU and the logical thing would have been to hint at it in Iron Man 3. Instead, we got a turd.
Comment by reach me that milk — May 22, 2013 @ 5:13 pm
I like the idea. If anything it gives us a good strength measure for the eventual World War Hulk. By having Hulk and Hulkbuster Iron Man be on more or less equal footing, you could have an epic moment in WWH where Hulk destroyes the same armor in seconds, instantly hammering the point across that the shit is indeed deep.
Also props on killing Rhodes. It’s clear the character isn’t going to throw down with the Avengers, this scenario opens the armor up for Norman Osborne (hopefully). You could use the angle to work in some altered Demon in a Bottle plot somewhere down the line.
This would be WAY BETTER than what was actually produced. Sadly, you seem to be missing a critical perception of what can and can’t happen in Hollywood, which currently is: the Girlfriends must be involved. So this script could never, ever make it to print in today’s political/commercial climate, since:
“Killing Rhodes also avoids that lame third act ‘surprise’ where Tony
fails to save Pepper Potts, who then reappears as Liquid Magma Super
Girl and saves Tony.”
This is exactly what can not happen, in any modern version of any story telling. At some point, the guy has GOT TO have his ass pulled from the fire by his female significant other, to prove that he is really nothing without her, so you just skipped your first obligatory point.
Again with the conclusion this is pure gold, what you wrote was fun and interesting. Unfortunately, it does not refer at any point to the hero sacrificing a major portion of his lifestyle for the satisfaction of his girl by blowing up all his favorite shit to prove she’s more fucking important.
So, not gonna sell, even though it’s better. Too bad, that was a mighty fine re-write you got there, and It’s goodness was not anything to do with it’s address of gender issues. The badness of the actual film was pretty much dictated by this, though.
Seriously I don’t care that much about gender marketing, I just notice that it’s shitting on my movie and TV enjoyment for the last five or ten years by making every fucking thing about that, rather than the storytelling.
Comment by Tungsten_Spork — May 23, 2013 @ 11:03 am
Not bad, my only issues would be that similar scenarios have been played out multiple times in the Ironman cartoons, it’s not new. Secondly, the movies have to reach for the mainstream as well as pander to us longterm fans – prior to Civil War Ironman was no longer one of Marvels A-list.. things like the Hulk Buster armour & the Mandarin’s power would stretch the credulity to thin with none fans. Saw IM3 with my brother & had to point out the Silver Sentiinal & the Hulkbuster, they meant nothing to him. Finally, the long drawn out bust-up type of battle is SO overdone nowadays, remember feeling sick watching Mission Impossible 2, IM3 did a good job of keeping things snappy and original, turning it all back into a conventional action move + Ironman would be a disservice.
Personally for me, the story and twists of Ironman 3 were fine, it was the directing that needed intensive care… there was a lot of flab and plot holes that needed filling in which could have turned a good movie into something exceptional.
Comment by Dante Solablood — May 23, 2013 @ 12:55 pm
Don’t know if this would have been a better movie, but it certainly wouldn’t have felt so out of place next to the other films. I too was completely disappointed with the Mandarin twist, another jealous corporate guy as villain, the disposable suits,etc., but I really don’t consider myself a fanboy. If you’d have asked me who Mandarin was when they revealed him as the villain of the next Iron Man movie, I would have said, “some Chinese dude with magic powers or something.”
That was as good an idea for Iron Man 3 as my idea for Hangover 3: have it be about Chow renewing his vows to his wife, but have him get kidnapped during the bachelor party. Let’s see Chow’s world from the inside as the wolf-pack tries to save him!
If you think this fanfiction nonsense would make for a better film, you’re in absolutely no position to start barking at anyone else about “poor story.”
Well considering it was the first time his house had been attacked, I imagine his future homes will. I guess when he challenged the Mandarin to a face to face he never actually thought he’d follow through on it.
Iron Man 3 was easily the best of the Marvel Studios movies, a much better film than The Avengers. All these complaints are from bitter nerds who’ve actually convinced themselves they could come up with a better story when most of them couldn’t compose a coherent sentence if their lives depended on it.
Yeah the movie sucked but yours isn’t really any better IMO. Remember, this is an Iron Man movie, not an Avengers movie or an Iron Man vs Hulk special edition. It’s kind of counter productive to throw in Avengers characters then make them battle it out near the end of the flick when there’s already a bad guy. Hulk had his own movies and we don’t need to see him battle Iron Man. It’s cool in the comics but on screen it’s just a waste of special effects money that could better be spent on making a better movie. Sorry man, I think your movie sucks worse than the real Iron Man 3. No offense, but stick to reviews. You’re much better at that. Hollywood has a hard enough time falling back on special effects over story and the result is movies like Hulk and Green Lantern. (I know, right!?!) I’m sure you put a lot of time into your fanboy script, but that’s all it really is… Just fanboy stuff. it would never hold up on screen.
I didn’t like it because basically of all the stupid humor. The pieces flying and hitting him in the head and crotch. The suit breaking at the end when its flying in. Knowing Pepper was going to have some powers to keep her alive and so on. It just didn’t feel like an IM movie and the Mandarian was a complete after thought…then all the various suits, etc…just a CG spectacle.
I liked most of what you wrote except that I honestly feel that cheadle has been doing a fine job as rhodes given his limited time to actually be useful. besides lets not kill like the only black superhero currently on the marvel movie roster
This is a great pitch but there are a few serious problems:
1) This isn’t an Iron Man movie. It’s kind of a mini-Avengers sequel.
2) The mind control thing. It wasn’t a very good plot point for the Avengers and it isn’t a good one here.
3) Great concepts and story ideas but not a lot of deep characterization here (which I presume is why you ditch Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan pretty fast).
Ohh ! Petulant and continuity . Those are pretty big words for a child. I assume you are a child since you went straight to name calling as soon as someone said something you didn’t like.
He said that because black screwed the character up. Not because he was blown away. But you do have a point about the target audience thing though. The movie was geared toward little kids and people that only know about the characters from the movies
At that point was RDJ signed on for more films after Avengers 2 or no? This is key to how to movie played out. They may have taken a safe route with ending it as a trilogy just in case he would not be back. I mean recasting Iron Man in the middle of a plotline is an issue, as everyone would know, and wrapping up Iron Man in Avengers 2 would be problematic to the length of the movie.
Comment by Christopher Mahone — May 23, 2013 @ 10:25 pm
You know Tony had that surgery in the comics decades ago, right?
So you don’t want anything to happen in these movies that hasn’t happened in the comics? Why would any genuinely creative writers or directors ever want to be involved in something like that?
That’s the thing. It didn’t improve anything. It just made it yet another business man who had a grudge with Stark, the only difference is that it wasn’t done as well.
Iron Man 3 was a huge disappointment. Super soldiers who blow up spontaneously? Awful. I also felt as if a “bait and switch” had been done – I was expecting, based on the trailers, an entirely different movie, a movie that had the potential (as demonstrated here) to be a much better movie. I would have much preferred Famout Monster’s screenplay.
And the fact that you actually liked this movie more than avengers just goes to show what horrible fuckin taste in movies you have. Then again I’m a rope sucker like you probably thinks the twilight movies are amazing too
I hate you. I hate the movie and was pissed off already but now I’m just sad. I knew it could have been more but… holy freakin’ crap. This would have been amazing.
THAT would have blown the crap-fest that was (and still is!) Iron Man III. Personally, I seriously enjoyed Iron Man 2. Iron Man 3 ia no more than a buddy-cop flick with a few flying suits thrown in.
For Shane Black to take Mandarin, Tony Stark’s perennial unbeatable arch-nemesis, and give us the absolutely ridiculous treatment he did should spell Blacks’ pink slip from Marvel studios. Sure, it made over a billion dollars. But it did absolutely ZERO to advance the Avengers Film Story Arc. ZERO.
You can simply go directly from Avengers to Thor: The Dark World without even watching Iron Man III and not miss a beat. It is a pathetic derailment of the momentum coming out of Avengers. Each film of the Avengers Phases SHOULD be advancing the story line to the inevitable climax of Avengers 3: the final defeat of Thanos by the (larger and improved) Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Inhumans. And all we got was a travesty of what SHOULD have been.
I actually really liked the movie. I thought it was clever, different, and really the film Iron Man 2 should have been. While I was a little disappointed that the Mandarin was changed, I think the way the movie did it not only worked, but it was clever, and I didn’t see it coming. I knew that Killian was a bigger part of the operation than he appeared to everyone else, but I had no idea he was that heavily involved. I will say, however, that your idea is very interesting, and I think it shows promise. However, the movie gives a perfectly good reason why the other Avengers weren’t called in: Tony didn’t have the time or resources. Everytime he had the resources, he was too busy, and every time he had time, he didn’t have the resources. Also, it feels like this movie was the final step in Tony’s evolution as a character, and it fits really well. Your idea was great, and would’ve been really interesting, but I think the film works fine on its own.
Sounds like you have AMSR Edney, Goosebumps… Haha. No I liked it too. I’m going to see Iron Man 3 on Tuesday yet I Know what happens in it and I’m expecting to hate it yet I’m a critical movie goer. I’ll be reviewing it on Facebook and showing the disgust at Shane Black within.
This is a great read. That isn’t to say I didn’t like Iron Man 3, just that this would have been better. My only worry would be how easily magic would be accepted in Iron Man’s movie-verse by those who don’t read the comics.
Eh these fanboy flamewars are so exhausting to read. Have fun kids. The movie is what it is and is now the 5th highest grossing film of all time. Congrats to Marvel, Black and RDJ on the film’s immense success and I hope each subsequent Marvel film in this movie-verse dare to be as bold and as fun as IM3. Out.
Yep, this would have been a MUCH better movie – but it wasn’t that the scenario in IM3 was bad, it is just that the casting and execution of it left a lot to be desired. And getting Shane Black to do it instead of Jon Favreau (who was doing what instead?) was perhaps as big a mistake as getting Brett Rattner to sub for Bryan Singer.
What happened to slightly likeable villains? It’s a lot easier to feel emotionally involved in a storyline when it seems like the characters are. I love Guy, but Christ he had a boring role.
This is by far a better story than what I saw obviously…however after the events of the previous films it was needed to see Tony and not the armor in action as well as other plot points from the comic…
I agree with the fact that not having Banner in the film in some capacity was not good especially if this film was to be a connector to the marvel films..
Yes I agree that the Mandarin should’ve been better represented, I mean Guy should’ve at least put on the rings and the robe but all we got were some dragon tats ala Iron Fist…If anything..if ever they bring him back hopefully they will fix this issue and the Mandarin will have more motivation….
But the lengthy fight scene you just described with the Hulk does border on FF film quality so it would obviously need to be shortened and its the hulk by the way…… iron man can’t handle him by himself…
Also it was necessary for Tony to have faked his death because of the Mandarin
It’s interesting how a bunch of dimwit fanboys got their panties in a bunch over Iron Man 3. Yeah, sure, you were okay with Batman recovering from a broken back and crippling joint injuries by doing a few sit-ups in prison, but OMG, Iron Man avoided using the stupidest “villain” outside of Fin Fang Foom, and listen to you morons whine.
I’ve been an Iron Man fan my entire life. My first Iron Man comic was Tales of Suspense. When they announced that the Mandarin was going to be the villain for Iron Man 3, I just groaned. The Mandarin is impossible to film. He’s a old-school Big-Talk cornball villain with magic rings that he stole from the spaceship of interstellar talking dragons. THAT’S who you dumbasses are “sad” that the movie “disrespected”? That’s like complaining that Heath Ledger didn’t engage Batman in a “boner” competition, the way he did int he comics.
I didn’t get why Tony Stark was so traumatized in Iron Man 3 by the events in New York of The Avengers. That made no sense to me considering that he had already had 2 previous movies with near-death experiences that didn’t seem to affect him as much. Also, I didn’t get why Pepper Potts wanted him to stop being Iron Man when clearly he now has the back-up of the Avengers in case things get really bad. Those are the two points that troubled me. Other than that I liked Iron Man 3 better than 1 and 2. But, I haven’t read the comics.
Yes, people who enjoy character development and story have shitty taste while brain-dead, functionally illterate morons who prefer weak dialogue, empty characterizations, and two-hour action sequences with nothing of substance are obviously of far more refined taste.
Comment by dubliousMaximus — May 28, 2013 @ 6:25 pm
Hahah worst troll online, the funny thing is that if you look at his other posts, he’s obviously just a little kid, poor guy.
Comment by dubliousMaximus — May 28, 2013 @ 6:26 pm
you are a geek! a brilliant geek! reading that movie was 1000xs better than the movie. Can’t kill Rhodey though, he’s too pivitol to the marvel universe, west coast avengers his ass and put him on hold or something, killing no. Kill happy hogan, if he doesn’t wanna direct kill em! much less lost overall! I like what you did with the iron patriot story though! atleast he wasn’t there as a bs tactic. I would’ve changed one thing…have them do the extrims aldrich line, but after the first mandarin fight, have tony’s ass whooped, beaten bloody, if not for Jarvis doing an evac protocol, Tony would’ve died. Enter the ACTUAL extremis, nanites in his blood, healing tony, making him stronger, tapped in to JARVIS suit more responsive, he goes back and deals with a ivon venco but controling the crimson suit. Tony and War machine or the Hulk, battle it out with the mandarins flunkies, crimson dynamo/venco, maybe some cheap super soldiers but not extremis powered and BAM mandarin escapes, OR your ending he is caught and given to shield. either way we just wrote a better movie!
Really enjoyed reading this. One of my biggest complaints was a continuing theme between the Avengers and Ironman 3 about Tony just being a man in a suit. Then they introduce Extremis…keep making that same comment only to end the movie with Tony just being a man…no more suit…I mean wtf. No extremis upgrade? I felt like they kept hinting towards it and just dropped the ball. The way the Mandarin was handled sucked as well. I ended up expecting it, but then kept waiting for the second reveal of the real mandarin in the background directing Pearce and Kingsley.
Good point! I think there is something about a “superhero” with a substance abuse problem that hits a negative chord more than a rum-riddled pirate pseudo-protagonist. I hope these family-oriented decisions don’t affect the next star wars movies….I need Corillian smugglers to shoot first!
At the very least, Whedon should hire you and make this Iron Man 4. Would just have to explain how very torked the REAL Mandarin was at the fake that was using his name — that could even be what impelled him to take center stage in this movie.
Just read this terrific treatment to my 10-year old son, who was only a little less disappointed than I with IM3…
We are big fans of the Marvel Studios movies and have been very impressed by their excellent adaptations of their properties up to this point. However, now that Marvel seems no longer trustworthy to give us the stories the properties deserve, I think a new position needs to be created at Marvel — the Fan Quality Control Editor, and we hereby nominate you!
my son adds:
Keep Shane Black away from Marvel. He can do an action movie all right but for comic book movies he has no idea what he is talking about. You should have been the director of Iron Man 3. I was most upset when I realized there was no AC/DC song. If your movie was made it would have made more money then Avatar. You really know what you’re talking about. :) :) :)
Comment by Steven SAVITSKY — May 29, 2013 @ 7:11 pm
Much better than the actual movie!
Comment by Kevin Thompson — May 29, 2013 @ 9:39 pm
I enjoyed the movie, but did feel like it was a wasted opportunity to really set up the whole magical aspect of the Marvel universe.
As it’s own standalone film… Iron Man 3 was pretty ok, but I didn’t feel like it did a very good job at introducing “Phase 2” which is that whole idea of “You’re part of a much bigger universe, you just don’t understand it yet.” idea.
New York was one thing, and now that Tony’s seen Aliens and Wormholes and that kind of thing, it seems a little beneath him to even want to get involved with a terrorist.
I would have liked to see your Iron Man 3 the more I think about it.
Great actualization and story line. One detail I might add though would be that we would get to see Tony use more of his remote control Iron suits throughout the film, and even using one suit (or all the suits) against Hulk and the Mandarin to confuse them, making the Mandarin think that he knows which one Stark is in only to be surprised from behind and have his hands crushed. :-)
Agreed. And this also actually fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think Feige just gave up and fell asleep during Iron Man 3. Nothing memorable or unique about the plot. Nothing but cheap jokes and Tony being a d*ck for seemingly no purpose.
I despised the after credits scene. Gimmicky, lazy, forced, irrelevant and completely unbelievable, an exact representation of the whole movie. Shawarma which was genius. Joss Whedon should be the only one allowed the write these comedic scenes. Shane Black was just utter fail.
You know what really grinds my gears the blowing up of all of the suits. What happens if some of the soldiers survived he just gets rid of the suits. So for avengers 2 he has to rebuild all if not most of the suits or he’s utterly useless.
I’m referring to the author’s post-credits scene above. Not the disappointing mess of a scene we actually waited for and groaned after in cinemas. You are aware of this, yes?
If you are, and still mean that, then yes, I suppose I understand gimmicky. Slightly. Though my opinion stands. I wanted to see, if not Iron Man actually IN space, then at least the development of a space-flight-capable suit. The above would have been an ideal post-credits scene for me.
On another note: I entirely agree. Shawarma was, without question, pure genius.
Haha definitely didn’t get that you meant the above one. I’m glad we can all agree. I would have honestly taken anything instead of the Marvel movie parody we got.
1. Well, you never see him wearing shorts other than in that one scene either so there you go. And no, Bane wouldn’t have removed them, he WANTED Bruce to try to get out of the prison, he just never thought he would.
2. Agree with you, that was a pretty big eye-roller. But forgivable in a genre where a guy can have an arc reactor implanted in his chest to keep shrapnel from going further into his heart.
3. He did it in Batman Begins and nobody had a problem with it then.
4. Wow, knit-pick much?
5. If two Special Forces guys can do it, Bruce Wayne can do it. Would showing how REALLY have made the movie better?
Look, I’m not defending this 1Hate2To3Whatever567, he’s clearly an infant. And I’m not saying Rises is without its flaws, but I always gotta jump in when I see people giving simplistic under-developed criticisms of that film. I often feel like people who do that only watched it once, weren’t paying much attention to begin with and then formed opinions based on misunderstood plotpoints and knit-picks that they normally would forgive in films that they liked, without ever going back to figure out why they actually didn’t like it to begin with. It’s fine if you don’t like it, but so many of the complaints I see are about things that aren’t even true half the time, or are a matter or personal taste, or aren’t that big a deal if you are engaged in the story. Maybe a good question is why weren’t you engaged by the story?
Comment by Daniel Van Cortlandt — May 31, 2013 @ 6:21 pm
I watched the movie and knew of the twist ahead of time. The twist wasn’t great, but he movie was not good besides that. In fact, IM2 was better.
Why?In IM2, they took a lame character like whiplash and made him interesting. IM3, the villains remained lame.
I also didn’t like how cheap the suit became in this movie. It no longer seemed special. Has the only upgrade really been how the suit gets on Tony?
Plus, I didn’t like Tony Stark sneaking into the Mandarin’s base being suddenly able to take out body guards without his armor. Yes he used gadgets, but suddenly the guy can take on highly trained guards and soldiers in hand to hand? Plus some of the things he did without the armor were on a superhero level. The movie was weak.
1) that was an excellent take on how IM3 could have and should have played out. That said..
2) The whole bit with Mandarin and Guy Perse switching rolws with Mandarin being a fake front man is brilliant in that it most accutaely reflects the fake BS we get from our government about terrorism. We know its all false flag BS that the feds let happen so that their buddies in the Military Industrial Complex can ‘keep selling us stuff we don.t need. We get more then enough films that follow the fake “The terorists bogeyman is here to get me so send in the super troops”. Blacks alterantive take was refeshing if less entertaining then what you put forth as a better IM3.
Comment by BlueCollarCritic — May 31, 2013 @ 8:19 pm
You’ve got your Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes ratings wrong. IM3 is rated higher than IM2 on both.
FWIW, I thought IM3 was probably the best of the three, and better than Avengers.
great job! i had a better time reading this then i did watching the movie. honestly, i had a few of the same ideas but you topped it off way better then Mr. Black…. To me he killed the Iron Man….
Comment by Tyler Scott Powell — May 31, 2013 @ 8:45 pm
its ok but kill war machine…..?…..kill the black guy are you serious?
Comment by Jason Barkley — May 31, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Loved the movie, and am a Marvel fan. Can’t always go the route of the book. I liked the Mandarin switch. This movie was hilarious and focused on turning Tony into more than just a tough dude in a metal suit. His interaction with the kid and war machine were great. Fake mandarin was Hilarious too. Fixing his heart IS comic related, and just made SENSE for any genious. He’ll OBVIOUSLY come back even stronger in Avengers 2 and have to have a REASON to come back other than just because he feels he has too.
Comment by Jason Cunningham — May 31, 2013 @ 11:07 pm
kego, The movie itself showed Tony that developed fighting skills when he was showing off some hand to hand moves on a practice dummy. And the only upgrade was not just how the suit gets to Tony. Don’t forget that the newer suits were practically autonomous and the Mark 42 can be controlled remotely by Tony.
As far as not improving anything, that is your take. I would have to disagree with your assertion though. I see Killian’s moviations as more ambitious than just settling a score with Tony. Whether you accept the motivations behind creating a terrorist like the Mandarin is up to you.
Nice treatment but Fing Fang Foom in place of Hulk would’ve been the only thing that would have worked better. Fing Fang Foom under Mandarin’s control from the rings. But “FFF” finds a way to betray Mandarin, tries to destroy Mandarin and Iron Man at the same time. A three way fight goes on where Mandarin and Iron Man have to fight together until they defeat FFF. The fight goes Iron Man and Mandarin mano a mano, Iron defeats Mandarin but almost dies, right before Mandarin ppretends to be dead, he attempts to shoot Iron Man in the back when all of a sudden, FFF uses his last bit of life to grab Mandarin by the leg and drag him down into the volcano he fell into.
elaborate? have you read the iron man comics? imagine if venom or joker or even lex luther was an actor. you can’t do that to an arch nemesis. or have you not read those other comics either?
Define pointless. I mean, was The Dark Knight Rises pointless because Batman decided to quit? I mean, the whole idea of a hero coming to the end of his journey and realizing he doesn’t need to do it forever, to me, is a beautiful thing. Maybe Iron Man 3 wasn’t the best movie to reflect this moment, but that’s what I think the storytellers were going for.
Right, I get what they were going for but they didn’t earn it. It was more so just tacked on at the end to make it somehow more meaningful. And then he will ultimately go back to the suits in Avengers 2, contradicting the whole premise. So really what’s the point?
I think in Avengers 2 they’ll spend a lot of time trying to recruit Tony because at the beginning of the movie he’s going to be all like “Guys…, I don’t do that hero stuff anymore” and then Thanos comes in and is like “The fuck you don’t! DESTROY EARTH!” or whatever and shit gets real and Tony’s like “Oh, alright, guys. One more round.” And then he goes out like Boromir in a blaze of sacrificial glory. That’s the way it should go and if Marvel and Disney got any balls at all, that’s how they’ll do it. (And if they wanted to bring him back, just give him a new series where he’s still alive in an alternate universe or something. I mean, why not. Comics do that kind of shit all the time.)
While I agree that all of your suggestions would have made a way better film than IM3, I must also add one more thing. You really just shouldn’t have The Mandarin at all. The Cold War is over, and China is the new epicenter for our global economy (well if it isn’t now, it will be in another 15 minutes). The whole concept of The Mandarin is just racist. You wouldn’t have an arch villain named The Korean, would you? Come on…
yes, except dark knight rises was worse than pointless. so far spider-man 3 x-men3 dark knight3 and iron man3. all so devoid of the magic, you’d think 1 and 2 were a dream if we hadn’t made copies. hmm. and superman3 and batman3. The third installments don’t run out of steam so much as they’re run into brick walls. Why is this? Maybe there’s still something in Hollywood that doesn’t want to produce movies as endless serials anymore, and it’s baked into the dna. They try to turn a (for them horrifying prospect?) future of infinite sequels/episodes into some bow-tied trilogy format and deliberately confuse a bunch of story-lines into some forced kind of more mature, less action bulging-at-the-seams-showing “meaning” by which to bind this triumvariate, and its blown up in their faces. Superhero movies weren’t able to work until the men making the movies started with respect for the format. The third intallments all seem to lose it. They try for “something else” and lose what they had in the first place.
Premium tv shows are discovering the novel power of paring down to 10 and even 6 episodes per season (thanks BBC). The movies are ultimately failing to meet premium tv halfway (unless you count all 6 movies leading up to avengers as one awesome show, and count iron man 3 as a disappointing/slow start to the second season of the Avengers franchise; as opposed to the falter of the iron man franchise). So– will the new show, SHIELD, help bridge the two media with the new premium aesthetic? Very curious about it. For more than one reason.
If you’re going to take Iron Man out of his suit and give him a shield, this is not an improvement. If your story idea is good enough, try it on Captain America, but don’t waste Iron Man on it. What’s so cool about the Mandarin as a super-villain is not armor or shield– he has these incredible rings. The Mandarin was ill used in Iron Man 3. Both in substance and tone,
you’re right, i guess iron man being drunk would be different, though him fighting the abuse would’ve made the movie that much better from a role model perspective, not just eliminating it. but yeah dude, disney needs to branch off and be ballsyier,
if Walt can be antiSemitic, and all our kids movies and those perverted undertones, our comix and sci fi should be able to open all doors! IDK about Star Wars, i’ll cross my fingers with you though!
remember when they showed a very very VERY small part where he’s hits his little training post? I think that was a subtle hint to let us know he’s been h2h training. very sublte. :/ in the comics he trained with Cap, who i still am not sure how he got so good at h2h either, but yeah they NEVER introduced that at all!
Yeah, I just think that’s lame. We already had to go through all that in Avengers. No one wants to see a ball-less Tony and waste a bunch of time convincing him. It contradicts everything his arcs have been in previous movies and the team coming together in Avengers. They should have pushed him the other way. Whedon will fix it I’m sure, but I’m just dumbfounded Feige let Shane Black do this with little to no consideration for future movies.
Cool plot, but the whole point of seperate superhero movies is to focas just on one hero and his/her life. This could make a pretty good avengers movie though, not like it focases any more attention on ironman than the first one. Realy like the hulk v. hulkbuster part though
Comment by Andy Oilenroc — June 4, 2013 @ 10:30 pm
Having Mandarin take control of Hulk is just a rehash of the Avengers comicbook origin story, substituting Mandarin for Loki. And the Hulkbuster reveal sounds like Ripley in the power loader in Aliens. Does he call Hulk a bitch? Honestly, Hulk an Iron Man shouldn’t fight. They’re buddies now! Comrades in arms! And it’s yet another rehash of Thor fighting Hulk, or Thor fighting Iron Man, or Thor fighting Captain America! Can’t we all just get along? Especially you, Thor?
Completely agree. I’m a huge Marvel & Iron Man fan, and I was permanently annoyed by Shane Black’s Lethal Weapon-y take on Iron Man & Iron Patriot. TONY STARK DOESN’T GO TO TGIFRIDAY’S TO HAVE WINGS & A MARGERITA WITH RHODEY, AND HE DOESN’T PARK HIS ARMOR OUT FRONT!!!!
I was thinking the EXACT same thing. I literally have just forced myself to forget the real movie and pretend that what you have just described is what we actually got. I will go on forever perpetrating this illusion not only to myself, but to each and every soul I ever meet….ever.
I agree, the story here is better. I hope the director and other people involved in making iron man 1 and 2 returned for the third installment, and maybe we saw a better iron man 3. I like the story you posted better than the film. Nice, and thanks for sharing.
You’d think with almost 30 movies under their belt, Marvel would have learned boy now to go to comic book fans over bad action movie directors when making these
This movie you describe sounds like one big boring sfx-filed slug fest without a point. Only thing I like was killing off War Machine. He is a bit of a nothing character in the movies and could have served as an interesting motivation for Ironman.
I liked that they went smaller for the movie, focusing on the aftermath of the Avengers movie, having Tony question things and being unsure of being ironman. The Mandarin twist was actually well done, delivering an interesting take on what we perceive to be true, media manipulation; something that most people seem to miss.
While Ironman 3 was not perfect, it is a good story – something that is very lacking in the movie described here
The entire movie I kept saying, “WHY don’t the Avengers come help him??” (of course I said this in the comfort of my own home, not a movie theater- I wouldn’t pay to see this crap movie) You explanation makes perfect sense why none of them could help except Hulk. I WISH they would just make Iron Man 3 never happen, and remake it this EXACT way instead. The Mandarin was such a disappointing villan, Killan was such a disappointing villan, Pepper was such a disappointing Magma woman.. they definitely should have just dropped that entire plot line. And self destructing all his suits? What was the point of that, exactly? To prove some stupid shit to Pepper? After the suits all came to save her and the president? What if not everyone was dead- and you just destroyed all your damn suits, Tony? You gonna rely on your lava woman to help you again? Made him look like such a pussy.
Comment by Andrea Wright — June 6, 2013 @ 11:38 am
Yes reading this was better than watching the movie. When i found out they switched directors though i knew it was going to blow my mind or make me regret spending money on a ticket when i could have went to something else that day lol.
This was 500,000,000 times (yes five hundred million timess!!!) better than the actual movie. I’ve been an avid Marvel Geek since i was 4. I don’t like what they’ve done in this one. I still want to wait and see how they tie in all the story arcs together, i super agree with you that Hulk should appear in this, him and tony need to be mashing their brains together..and now with Mandarin not being a mystical entity they basically just wrote off any mystical story arcs, so no doctor strange, no power rings, does that possibly mean no scarlet witch? Anyway back to Mandarin, he is Tony’s Arch-Nemesis, and we kind of have to appreciate the modern spin that they’ve given the Mandarin, even though it makes it seem like they’re completely writing of Magic from the storyline…we’ll just have to wait and see. I’d Love to see your writing put into a movie even if an animation, sounds frigging EPIC!,
Maybe I didn’t give a shit since I didn’t read the comics, but I actually really like the movie. And Iron Man 2. I guess that’s weird, or something? The story you wrote out above sounds like an awful, Shyamalan-grade mess. Explosions and a focus on action does not instantly make a good movie. Sorry kid.
Holy cow I got goosebumps after reading the movie you wanted to see. I would have seen Iron Man 3 at least 5 times opening week if it had been like you wanted. My god man, you needed to be the writer of IM3. Now we’re stuck with Extremis Pepper and Trevor… :( Great post!
Ya’ know, not bad at all. This story would’ve connected Iron Man 3 with Guardians of the Galaxy
Comment by Jaimme Riaño — June 8, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
My opinion is that the Marvel universe is trying to explain everything with science. They even say in Thor that magic is just science nobody understands. Unless they were going to spend the bulk of the movie figuring out that the Ten Rings were powered by an arc reactor clone, there was no point in bringing it up. I agree that earthly magic would be the way to start the next phase of Marvel stories, then Thanos going for the Infinity Gauntlets would be the logical move. But we don’t know what they are planning for A2. Thanos might just be a good idea to play the role of the talking evil guy with a powerful army. It all depends on whether they want to keep throwing Science into every explanation and ignore the stories about real magic.
MASSIVE let down after the build up they spouted in the first film. We introduced the 10 rings, but couldn’t bring in the Mandarin yet. He’s one of Iron Man’s greatest foes so we went with Stane and the Ironmonger instead (even though they should’ve happened later). It’s like having Luke fighting Palpatine in a New Hope…it wouldn’t make any damn sense.
How far they’ve fallen….They merged the Mandarin with a character in the Extremis comic line who, no kidding, dies 3 pages in….and 80% of the characterization is from the dead guy.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:10 pm
The IM2 Whiplash was 80% Crimson Dynamo, 20% Whiplash….so..yeah..IM2 had nothing to do with making Whiplash not suck….Crimson Dynamo is just better.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:12 pm
In truth…No…actually…..I’d much rather see the character I came to see, then some POS original character borrowing their name.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:15 pm
Killian dies 3 pages after the Extremis storyline starts…now you know. He has almost no input at all…and yes…the IM3 uses HIS characterization primarily….instead of a MUCH better and much more wanted character.
My Mom (HUGE comic nerd (though mostly a DC (big Wonder Woman fan)). went and saw the movie and liked it, and said she couldn’t understand why I hated it so much….so I lent her the Extremis comics and several of the Manderin’s comics…..yeah…she changed her mind pretty damn quick.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:20 pm
This proposed movie-plot sounds 10,000 times better than that abomination we had in theaters. Marvel — hire this man immediately to develop your films. As a long-time Iron Man fan, to have The Mandarin reduced to comedic foil was terrible. Marvel failed to stick with the formula that made them successful before IM3 — make movies that appeal to comic book fans first, then the masses will come. The Avengers proved this.
Sounds like Fanboy BS that would have tanked. I thought Ironman 3 was really enjoyable – Much better than number 2 which was approaching turkey status.
Comment by fourthletter — June 11, 2013 @ 10:06 am
I loved your version of Iron Man 3, it carries the touch lit by the Avengers movie, while providing explanations for major plot points. I personally enjoy of Hulk’s appearance because it helps fan to get at least to get their favorite brute in some action-packed scenes, because a second Incredible Hulk movie is only scheduled until after the Avengers 2.
We (fans) don’t need to see yet another Obadiah Stane or Justin Hammer, there is more to Iron Man’s story than that.
Comment by Claudio Petherson Santos — June 11, 2013 @ 10:13 am
Meh. 1 billion worldwide means it doesn’t really matter what you think,
Comment by Jackie Jormpjomp — June 11, 2013 @ 12:06 pm
Well go do something about it and pitch it to Marvel so we don’t have to sit through any more awful iron man movies please!
Nick Fury. The Falcon – Cheadle isn’t the only black actor in the Marvel Universe. I’m not killing off Rhodey b/c he’s black – I’m killing him off because Marvel completely WASTED the War Machine character. I would love to see them introduce Luke Cage into the mix though – and Black Panther is rumored for Avengers 2.
I would love to see West Coast Avengers but Cheadle just isn’t a very good War Machine to me… if it were still Terrence Howard, I’d be way more interesting in seeing more of the character.
I didn’t want Mandarin to be a carbon-copy of his comic book counterpart, all I ask is that the the writers would aspire to make a villain greater than a cheap gimmick.
Agree x100. The actual movie was one of the biggest letdowns I’ve had at the movies in a long time. There is no excuse for the lazy writing and crappy plot they threw together.
If only people who actually cared about continuity were given some input into these types of projects….
The point of the film was Tony’s emotional journey and that the
awesomeness was in the man, not the suit. The whole film dealt with him
adapting to a lack of resources and kicking arse regardless, fighting
with weapons cobbled together from hardware store supplies or just a
boot and glove from a malfunctioning prototype suit. This was the evolution of the hero.
Granted blowing up the suits and ditching his at-hand resources was stupidly short sighted but his character is prone to grandiose displays that aren’t always forward thinking just because he wants to make a statement, e.g antagonising a terrorist publicly when hunting him down quietly would be
the way to go. He destroyed the suits to make the obvious gesture for
Pepper, but remember the last line in the film “One thing you can’t take
away, I am Iron Man” and the reference to his suits being a cocoon; he
has no intention of quitting the hero business but he’s changing how he
does it, which seems obvious to me as meaning that he’s gearing up for
the Extremis armor (wiki Extremis if you have no idea)
What they did with the Mandarin wasn’t bad, it was a much better way to go than if they had tried to make the character genuine and flubbed it like Christopher Nolan did to the Joker and Bane (not a reflection on the actors themselves, they were just handed portrayals that were badly written, much like the entirety of TDKR). I mean hell, they’ve essentially even left it open for a genuine Mandarin to come out of the shadows with ten rings of power made from alien tech if they want to (they weren’t actually magic), one of the rings was for psionic powers, he could have put the idea in Killian’s head. But regardless “there is no spoon” is preferable to them playing knifey-spoony with us.
My only real problem with Iron Man 3 is that Tony kept fighting Killian hand to hand even when he had access to suits that could take him at range.
Your suggestions for how the movie should have played out: this was an Iron Man movie not a Hulk movie and also movie-Tony has faith in Bruce, more than anybody else as we saw in the Avengers, he wouldn’t make Hulkbuster armor, he’s not Batman. Also, no New York, pick a different city in a different country, New York was literally the most recent thing they did. And crushing the Mandarin’s hands does nothing, he’s not the Green Lantern, he can use them even when not in physical contact.
I could go on but that’ll do.
Comment by Matthew Timms — June 12, 2013 @ 1:31 am
That gave me MY laugh for the day. Heheheheh eh eh eh eh! “gobbled pigshit like it was your dick!” hee hee hee heh heh eh heh heh!
love ur “alternate marvel timeline” of IRON MAN 3. I really do. but let’s just put Rhodey in a coma that wakes up at the end rather than killing him. :)
Comment by Jasper Franelan Sumagpao — June 12, 2013 @ 9:41 am
That would be ‘Oh brother’. Unless your deliberately being derogative and trying to make fun of some ethnic group. You aren’t trying to do that are you?
Comment by BlueCollarCritic — June 12, 2013 @ 11:22 am
I was content with what I saw on screen… bu now I would have liked to see your version. Kudos.
Comment by Miguel Valdez Lopez — June 12, 2013 @ 12:25 pm
the avengers hulk was nerfed as hell, hated it.
Comment by Paul Johnson — June 13, 2013 @ 11:02 am
They should do a Iron Man 3 remake using this concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, _Ali_ wants to kill _America_? Did I read this right? Don’t you follow the news man? Obama is reading this (I’m with you btw, Cap is lame)! Also Josh Wheadon is overrated. He puts the “corny” into anything he touches from my perspective.
I’m a girl. Ali is short for Alisha. Goodness I love America. I’ve been in enough other countries to appreciate it. I just don’t care for Captain America (although part of that maybe because I still see the Human Torch when I look at that actor).
Comment by Ali Mitchell — June 13, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
Just pulling your leg anyway, uhm, miss! We’re good, right stranger?
Comment by Ali Mitchell — June 13, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
it was definitely geared towards little kids, to sell merchandise. you saw that random ass kid in the movie right? you saw how they never touched the previous drinking problem, replaced by what, panic attacks?
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:05 pm
I didn’t care for either one actually. BUT there’s no way they can change Rhodey again so bleh, stuck with it i suppose. I mean, too much shit keeps happening on the east (as it is with marvel) when aaaalll of california is there. only thing that happens is thor lands in NM and hulk jumped from state to state. We need to see that whole Vegas fiasco in the next Hulk, but before then fox and disney need to work it out, so they can create the illumanti of marvel Doc strange black panther professor x tony stark…
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
it would’ve made more sense if they added it to his drinking problem then his anxiety attacks, he’s flown a prototype suit at mach speeds, now he has anxiety? yeah, but think about this, if you almost get in a car accident, near death experience, if you choke on an ice cube etc. if you see a whole in space open up, and an alien race trying to kill your planet, well that’s cause for a mental break down, however it should be affecting everyone, cept maybe hulk.
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
agreed with everything, well except i’m 28.
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
it wsnt suposed to be power rings mandarin. in the ultimates univers it is just an orginisation and a nmae. the fact people expected rings megee from the main marvel verse was there own missguided expectations. there was never gonna be any rings becasue this is all still set in ulitmate universe.
Comment by Jonathan Tansley — June 14, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
but in the ultimate universe where this is set the mandrin is just an organisation and an idia not a load of magic rings. I understand people where hoping for classic marvel mandarin and where disapointed. but if you go into the film expecting mystical power rings and dont get them that will happen. The manderin of the ulitmate universe was fine and portraide acuratly. I had bigger problems with iron man 3 that did not come from misconseptions. My problems are the little boy , just the whole small town bit blergh. and the fact the new suits are stupidly easy to break it seems. killing iron patriot could have worked well instead of the whole small boy bit but please will people stop complaining about the rings they where never gonna be in it.
Comment by Jonathan Tansley — June 14, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
That would have made for a MUCH better Iron Man 3.
Not bad at all. 100x better than the actual film, which was a sad joke.
I’d have worked in parts of the real Extremis storyline though. Supercharge Tony’s heart/arc reactor and have the Hulkbuster Armor be a giant Extremis type suit that grows out of nanos in his body like the way ‘Extremis’ was actually written. Call it ‘Extremis Hulkbuster Armor’.
Adding Ruffalo is a nice touch as well, because (sadly) he’ll never get his own stand alone film before Avengers 3. Probably not even then.
It would have been an epic movie, that’s for sure. I would have loved to see Bruce Banner and Tony Stark working together. However, that would mean Bruce Banner either had a small role or someone else needs to be scapped from the movie (thinks of the whole Extremis storyline).
For this story to be good, the whole Extremis plot needs to be removed anyway. Otherwise it’s too much new stuff. The fact that Aldrich Killian is behind the Mandarin is brilliant. The audience is completely caught offguard. I didn’t have any expectations, so I thought the twist was awesome and I was laughing hard.
In this version, Aldrich Killian wouldn’t have a part. He would just come off as another rich guy with a grudge. In Iron Man 3 he actually fools the entire world. Without that twist, he shouldn’t be in the movie.
This version also makes it more than just Iron Man. The Hulk is a pretty great character in his own right, so a movie with both Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Tony Stark should get a name of its own.
In all honesty, a Hulk and Iron Man team-up should be done in Iron Man 4 or instead of Iron Man 4. Mark Ruffalo is great as Bruce Banner, but the Hulk is just not that interesting on his own. “The world is filling up with people that can’t be matched”, quote from Fury in The Avengers. Banner and Stark need to start working together, not just to create an armor to fight The Hulk, but also to think of ways to counter alien invasions.
This sounds like a way better version! the only thing i disagree with would be killing off Rhodes, i’d love to see the hulkbuster suit and the hulk go toe to toe on screen :D
nice, i actually enjoy this more than the movie, but it would be ice to introduce fin fang foom instead of the hulk…it’s an ironman movie afterall…no need for other heroes…the suit themselves are the star…
Comment by disqus_K0cd4Tfbd4 — June 15, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
DAMN!!! I’D LOVE TO WATCH THE MOVIE YOU’RE DESCRIBING MY FRIEND!!!
It is sad when you just delivered a better script that Iron Man 3. One that would of pleased fans like me who have read Marvel Comics as a child, and others who are just jumping in from the movies. You need to head to Hollywood, and show them how its done! I would back you up all the way!
I think Iron Man 3 could of worked if Guy Pearce character was the Mandarin that you describe in your story. Have the twist on the Mandarian still in there with Ben Kingsley, but make Guy Pearce character much stronger by incorporating what you wrote. Make him a terrorist in a business suit, and have the reveal of his power be the rings, not fire (so stupid). So combining both elements would of been really interesting and a great social commentary on how people perceive terrorists.
Personally I liked Iron Man 3 although there were some issues I had with it. Surprisingly, not the Mandarin. The Marvel CU has always blazed its own trail, they showed that in the first movie by having him reveal his identity. Which, yes, has happened in the comics, although not quite in this way.
My issues were a) Tony destroying his armors. Which, yes, I know why they had to do it but the reasoning was lame. Having Jarvis get infected with some kind of virus would have provided far better rationale. b) Iron Patriot was a chump, practically useless.
All that said, I pretty much like everything you put here and wouldn’t have minded if they’d made a movie like this. My issues would be a) having Hulk star so prominently in what is supposed to be an Iron Man film seems problematic. b) Having Tony win by crushing Mandarin’s hands? That’s it? How anti-climatic. Having him discover something about the rings and find some sort of weakness or something would be a lot better, IMO.
Still, IM3 was a fun movie, I enjoyed it and that final fight scene was cool. Although, call me whatever names you want, I too wasn’t overly jazzed by having Pepper save the day. It just made Tony feel like a bit actor in what is supposed to be his show.
I also despised IM3 and what they did with the Mandarin and I think your idea is definitely better, tho maybe better for IM4. I’d rather see the Hulk in a solo film before helping Stark again. Rhodey dead, yes, Cheadle is not Rhodey, and that is way better angst than panic attacks from “meeting Thor”. Not sure if this has been mentioned already in the 300 other comments but the Mandarin’s powers should come from alien tech, not Dr. Strange related eldritch energies. Stark has fought against Stark-tech and Vanko-tech, so alien Fin Fang Foom tech would seem appropriate. Chitauri tech doesn’t count since he didn’t really do anything science-related there. Anyways – fine effort.
I cannot think of a better IM3 to be honest. I was so disappointed with the movie, but this plot outline makes up for it. A LOT! Had a much better time reading this (and picturing the scenes in my head) than watching the actual movie. So many things wrong with Shane Black’s movie, but you single-handedly managed to come up with a well thought out, logical, action packed movie that continues the story from the previous films and fits in nicely with the larger cinematic universe. If only Marvel had done something like this.
Comment by Kevin Tiberius Rockhead — June 19, 2013 @ 10:25 am
i haven’t seen Iron Man 3 yet and probably never will, i’ve heard nothing but bad reviews from my friends. i would have loved to see this though. it makes so much more sense, especially having Bruce around since the Hulk Buster armor’s there.
Better than any of that crap that was thrown up on the screen and called Iron Man 3. Favreau must be kicking himself over this. The only reason the damn thing made cash was because of Avengers.
HowItShouldHaveEnded on YouTube did a great take on this. Jarvis asks Stark if he should activate Garden Party since he gave his address out on TV to the Mandarin. When the helicopters show up, there are 50 suits waiting that blow them out of the sky. Comedy gold!
Actually it’s not set in the Ultimate Universe it’s loosely inspired by it AND the 616. If it were the Ultimate, Banner would have expelled the formula which caused his transformation, after being stopped on his rampage by Spider-Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony Stark’s body isn’t one giant brain. Thor wasn’t a nurse. See where I’m going with this? Basically what I’m doing is taking a long time to tell you that you’re stupid.
Comment by Red VonMunster — June 20, 2013 @ 10:55 pm
WOW that was epic man…
Comment by Jordan Casedy — June 26, 2013 @ 3:36 am
I agree with a lot of what you have proposed but instead of random upgrades and a hulk team up he should come back with the Comic version of the extremis upgrade (not the fucking retard fire breathing version of extremis) to return for the rematch and now extremis upgraded star wipes the floor with mandarin and tony is also super powered so he can get rid of the shrapnel (assuming that if they did that for reasons we don’t know of yet and it had to be done its a better way to get rid of it and we still feel like tony has a driving factor afterwords, because the way they did it is like the equivalent of having batman’s parents stuck in a lazarus pit and revived, IE BAD IDEA) that’s been plaguing him because hes enhanced by extremis like in the comics it makes him super human by smarts not by strength and this also replaces the shrapnel chest piece super power with another new super power that is wayyyyyyy better this isn’t an opinion thing its just good writing and im not talking myself up its what happens in the comics to some extent and is considered a classic iron man story line
Comment by Stuart Wetovich — June 27, 2013 @ 2:20 pm
I liked the movie, but I absolutely loved yours. For starters, you’re write. Mark Ruffalo was my favorite of the Avengers, and after watching Iron Man 3, I was disappointed that he wasn’t in it.
do you mind if i post a link to this page on a site full of iron man fans? i will give you full credit.
Comment by Skywarp12321 — June 29, 2013 @ 12:42 am
That is fricking awesome! I definitely preferred reading this to watching the movie! Something that actually pays attention to the comics! Iron Man 3 was such a let down for me – especially the ending. Whereas this plot actually works! <3
As awesome as this plot is compared to the actual movie, they never could have made it. Because it would have been amazing and likely better than the Avengers. Now who would really want to continue to improve the story arc.
I feel like I should’ve paid you for reading that wonderful piece of art. Hopefully iron man 3 isn’t a precursor of things to come, because in my mind I don’t feel like phase two has started yet, it seemed like it was more of an epilogue
Comment by yZach Yeti Leamon — July 10, 2013 @ 11:41 pm
With all due respect, I have to totally disagree with you on most of your summary and some of your points.
I was an avid fan of both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. I think they were both fantastic movies. This is the main reason I was so pumped to see Rises. Now, having said that, yes, there is obviously a suspension of disbelief that has to happen in order to get immersed in the world of a superhero movie, but the days of Jim Carey’s Riddler and Arnold’s IceMan are thankfully long forgotten. A new era of hyper-realistic (well, as hyper-realistic as it can be) super hero movies that at least attempt to base their fantastical powers and devices on science and their characters and their emotions in the real world has been ushered in, largely by Batman Begins!
Now, To tie this discussion back to the current thread and to smartly thrash your second argument…I was wholeheartedly disappointed at the end of IronMan 3 when Stark got the shrapnel taken out of his chest effectively making his need for the arc reactor over time, and therefore most of the story arcs of the entire franchise, completely superfluous. You mean to tell me a multibillionaire weapons genius who was able to create the arc reactor MacGuyver style in a hole in the remote desert and do surgery on himself, of type medical (to keep the shrapnel out of his heart) structural (seemingly removing his sternum and replacing it with a metal hole to keep his chest from breaking open Alien style) and cosmetic (not much damage apparent to his chest after all that), couldn’t just get the damn shrapnel removed while in said hole and install the arc reactor in the awesome first generation suit he made? Then, instead of having it removed when he gets home, he suffers through being vulnerable to Obadiah Stane’s attack of removing the arc reactor (which, by the way, almost killed him so how is he having it removed again?) and blood poisoning from the arc reactor? Crap. Pure crap. Yet another instance of the vale of reality being shattered to allow you to see the absurdity of the genre. I don’t want to feel absurd while watching these movies. I want to be entertained to the level that they pulled me in with Begins, IronMan1, and the Avengers.
Now, back to the topic at hand. Bruce’s self imposed banishment and subsequent phoenix-like reimagination of himself as crime fighter in Begins could only have occurred through the kinds of self revelation brought about by the types of travels he chose to undertake for the amount of time he chose to take them. Now, you “could” argue that this is why he is able to so quickly rehabilitate himself and return to Gotham in Rises, but the unfortunate nagging issues that pop up ALL over the rest of the movie just make this that much more difficult to believe. If he is thoughtless or ill-prepared enough to leave his Bat-Wing under a tarp used for desert camouflage on top of a building in the city instead of in some bunker somewhere, how can he pull off this amazing recovery and journey in no-time flat? And, I’m sorry, but that’s only nit-picky if that was the only issue with the movie. Just like the idea in Superman3 that you can amass a fortune by stealing portions of a cent at a time, the creators of this movie slowly killed the ambiance of reality, little annoyance by little annoyance at a time.
WOW!!! Why couldn’t Marvel/Kevin Feige/Shane Black have filmed this story? I was SO let down by IM3, and this is a miles, miles better story. Why are they so afraid of mystical, magical elements? We’re supposed to believe Thor/Loki etc. but magic’s too much? This would’ve been a sweet story, with Iron Man emerging the true hero. I’m sure Downey would like this treatment of his character. Oh well….
I enjoyed the movie, but would have either loved to see this version or an actual attempt at Warren Ellis’s Extremis. Extremis is one of my favorite Iron Man stories and to see a watered down, PG13 version where Maya gets off as a repentant tragic empathy character instead of representing tainted idealism and the path Stark could have taken. Man, did I want to see her led away in chains with the plot coming full circle and the point properly made. Nope
The plot sounds great and is fanboy awesome, but getting it produced this way after director and co. get ahold of it. Well, good luck. In real life, attempt fan boy awesome and end up with Kevin Smith. You either derail yourself or let others do it for you.
I’m not all impressed with this IM3 as it seems like it was produced by Hasbro not a movie studio, but the bottom line is IM3 was disappointing. Seems Marvel us unable to create 3 consecutive strong movies. X-Men 2 was better than 1, and 3 was the worst. Spiderman 2 was better than 1, and 3 was awful. And now as great as Iron Man 1 and 2 were, 3 just fell flat. That’s one major edge DC has on Marvel so far (Batman)
But he’s BATMAN. Dammit!!! That IMMEDIATELY negates any shitty (or stupid) writing.
How DID he do all those things? Because….Batman!
and you forgot my favorite: he stops to make a bat signal on the bridge with some flammable substance and naturally no one saw him and he knew EXACTLY where to stage it for the most cinematic impact.
Because….BATMAN! dammit
(i’mbatmandammit)
Comment by Nathan McMahan — July 24, 2013 @ 11:50 pm
In comparison to X3 and Spider-man 3, Iron Man 3 was AMAZING… And this was even better. Someone give this man a contract writing films for Marvel!
Comment by yourdailymarvel_onfacebook — July 25, 2013 @ 12:42 am
Freakin’ awesome!!! Yeah, that’s the movie it should have been.
Such an enormous improvement, no time wasting bull-shit. I still cant believe it. The screenwriters decided to ignore the Mandarin and opted instead for “fire-people.”
Comment by Randal Thomas Richardson — July 27, 2013 @ 6:56 pm
Yup, and it would have been loved by a couple thousand teen (at least mentally) geeks while the overwhelming majority of the audience would have wondered why they wasted money on a teen boys comic wet-dream.
When are the geeks going to get it? I count myself as a comic geek too (and at 48 one of the older ones) but am able to step back and see that comics do not translate directly to the screen. You also have to open up the world to those who don’t care about the minutia from decades of comics nor do they want to “catch up” with the entire history of each character just to watch a 2 hour flick.
We have our own problems with story and character that for some reason we find acceptable. “Retconning” is nothing more than a massive cheat used to regain the ability to tell a story without breaking the rules. Have any of you really tried to step back and look at origin stories? Most of them are horrible and many are structured like a dartboard was set up with verbs and nouns just to create some BS intro and reasons for powers real quick to get to the main story. I’ve always loved the way characters just happen to have names that line up with their superpowers.
There is a large amount of silliness to many comics, face it.
I still love comics. The pro’s generally outweigh the cons but I’ve always known they would never make it as mainstream works by a large part of the population.
The best movies of the past decade have done a pretty good job of opening up to a larger audience while maintaining many of the comic themes.
The idea that a bad movie “ruins” a property somehow is also stupid.
Comment by Frank Mondana — August 2, 2013 @ 7:19 pm
Dude KUDOS i thoroughly enjoyed that. I did not like the movie I was one of the thousands of mandarin fans let down by the charade played out by black and marvel I was never a huge iron man 3 but all hell I love THE MANDARIN and ben kinsley was sit for an awesome performance than that thing marvel calls iron man 3 happen. I love how the internet is having an effect on the things we grew up loving in life allowing us to keep the legacy alive!
Comment by Stephen Palmer — August 3, 2013 @ 8:56 pm
I think this is an awesome plot, but I wouldn’t kill off Rhodey. I liked Cheadle as Rhodey at least in Iron Man 2. I didn’t like he was done in the 3rd, but the rest I would definitely love to see happen.
Comment by FallenMarvel — August 3, 2013 @ 11:55 pm
I would have paid just to read what I just read.
Comment by AfricanAtlantian — August 5, 2013 @ 5:00 pm
Yea i never thought of it but rhodes is totaly useless would help to let him go
Comment by JeagerPrime — August 10, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
But i think it would be cool to keep the twist of the mandarian on the tv set is not the mandrain but is being controlled b the real one instead of having the adrian dude have a actual middle eastern dude in control using magic
Comment by JeagerPrime — August 10, 2013 @ 11:49 pm
Why can’t people stop bitchin’ this I wouldn’t even call it a script wouldn’t have been better all you people praising this it should have been done my way dummy would have complained if this shit was produced. If your gonna bitch about don’t watch it or the sequel, movies and writers have limitations put on projects like these that might’ve passed by a studio in merry merry go fuck yourselve imagination land. “but it could’ve been better” yah it would’ve been better if I was getting blown in the theaters while watching it but I’ve learned to deal it disappointment suck it up princesses
Comment by Michael Nichol — August 11, 2013 @ 10:50 am
The Mandarin’s rings are alien tech, he has never been nor will he ever be a master of mystical arts (you’re thinking of Baron Mordo or possibly Victor von Doom)
I liked Iron Man 3. Yeah, the Pepper Saves the Day thing was corny, and I didn’t like the destroying suits thing (though I suspect he destroyed his suits intending to restart using the Extremis technology). That said, I like your idea a lot too, could have been awesome. If Mandarin is a master of deception though, he could still come back and be revealed to have been the mastermind after all. Hell, Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin might have been a puppet of the real Mandarin.
Comment by Liam Mortimer — August 16, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
If this was im3…. it would have been my favorite marvel movie, sans avengers
Comment by Darian Decker — August 16, 2013 @ 6:08 pm
I really liked the Mechanic-and-kid scenes, personally, and this alternative plot misses out on them. Otherwise, great ideas for how it could have gone down!
This is pretty generic and awesome for a storyline. With more time, fine details can be fine tuned… i guess it’s all about who you know in Hollywood. I wish a true enthusiast can take on these roles. Maybe with Joss Whedon in charge, it’ll change a bit.
I really don’t understand the grief Iron Man 3 gets. It was by far the strongest film in the trilogy. It had the perfect mix of humour, drama and action. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the overly CG multiple Extremis bad guys versus multiple Iron Man suits bust up at the end. It got a bit too busy and hard to follow like the battle at the end of Transformers 2. It just became so big that I didn’t really give a shit who won in the end.
The treatment of The Mandarin in the movie made sense to me and totally fits the tone of the film. Ben Kingsley was great. The Marvel films are set in the real world (Well! an imagined real world, but a world that is trying to be believable to a modern cinema audience.). The outcome of the Ten Rings and Mandarin arc make perfect sense for this movie trilogy. The Mandarin reveal is the only possible outcome for the character in this movie universe and it worked a charm. I think it was a daring choice that I greatly appreciated because it didn’t treat the audience like drooling morons. It forced you to compare the events in the story with the very real “War on Terror” that is currently being waged in our name and to call it out for what it really is, “bullshit”.
Stop whining because you didn’t get to see the Mandarin bust out his ten rings of power for an epic Iron Man/Mandarin showdown. Yawn!
Comment by Jerome Mazandarani — August 21, 2013 @ 5:44 am
i seriously enjoyed this article way more than the movie itself. you should submit this to marvel, the could aplogize to the fans and re-make IM3 like this…
“Ironman 3 ” wasn’t terrible,but the slap in the face of having a bogus Mandarin with no rings made it so disappointing.One of the reason “The Avengers” was so good was that it came close to the original spirit and identity of the characters we all came to know and love in the books.”IM3″ was a step backwards,much like the “FF” movies-too much deviation from the stories and plot lines that fans grew up with (Galactus as some space-orb instead of a giant purple guy? Who made the decision to go with that approach?).
Comment by Fraser Hughes — August 22, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
Not only should he have been in space. But staring into a portal of a mysterious spaceship where we get a glimpse of a talking Racoon looking back at Tony. Rocket exclaims, “What the…”, and the camera cuts black.
SO much this. I stumbled upon this 3 months later and really enjoyed. I wish to see more now. Maybe someone can even make a sweet HISHE-like short outta these things.
Comment by Yam Borodetsky — August 23, 2013 @ 9:44 am
Uhhh…the Mandarin’s powers are not MAGIC BASED!!!! He does not CAST SPELLS!!!! The source is alien technology. Your plot sounds much worse than what we actually saw.
I know I’m 3 months late to this party, but goddamn, this is EXACTLY the Manadrin movie we needed, but the studios for some reason felt we didn’t deserve… :(
How they handled the Mandarin was genius, and the fanboys are so upset that they didn’t get the comic book that they expected is preventing them from seeing that. Why was it genius? Because the movie did to the audience exactly what the characters in the movie did to the world: allowed everyone to believe that this guy was a huge criminal mastermind in order to cover up what was really going on. It played on the fact that The Mandarin is such a major bad guy. I’m sorry you didn’t get the character from the comic, but if you wanted the character from the comic, you should have read the comic. But y’know, there’s nothing saying that part of The Mandarin’s genius is that he convinced everyone that he was just some actor.
An entire film built on Hulk vs. Iron Man? Sorry, no. That would work great in the comics, or as a couple scenes in the next Avengers movie. But there’s not enough meat there for 90 minutes, just like there isn’t enough meat in Warren Ellis’s “Extremis” story line to carry a movie by itself.
Shane Black’s Iron Flop was just sloppy storytelling, pure and simple. Genius? Really? LOL. Amazing how people bought into a petty twist to cover up Black’s inability to create an epic film.
Wow that was spot on!!! damn. Someone hire this guy and fire Shane Black from ever touching a Marvel film ever again please. The only thing I would have like to see is better back story on who the Mandarin is/was.
Ah but you forget those films were not under the control of Marvel.. This was and should have been way more intentionally streamlined into the Marvel universe and authentic to the original source material.
I love this idea so much more than what we got. IM3 was a good movie but not Avengers good, I left feeling like I watched IM2 again only with more Pepper. IDK this was the disappointment of the summer for me. It was ok but not the follow up I was expecting. I still think they should have let one of the other movie heroes out first like Cap 2 then IM3 (especially since it took place at Christmas in the movie) and then Thor 2. I am just Iron manned out at this point and want some new blood.
The rings are alien, that’s true, but they cannot be explained by earth science. We use the word ‘Magic’ because magic is the explanation to the unexplainable…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — August 31, 2013 @ 4:47 am
This is exactly the movie I had in mind. Apart from Rhodey dying, I actually hadn’t that too much about his character. I mean, why would you hint in the Avengers that Bruce Banner is going to be working with Tony Stark if you weren’t going to use that arc. I thought for sure that giant Iron Man from the trailer was the Hulk Buster. And having Killian become the Mandarin as well as being a Human Light-saber? No thanks… But your vision, A+ Good Sir! Good Form…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — August 31, 2013 @ 4:52 am
Nearly have of that couldn’t happen in Iron man 3 makes sense in context, even if it isn’t the best, but at least iron man 3 makes sense what you said is sad. Hulk can’t get a crushing blow and why in the world will their be a iron patriot if he just died two minutes in the film. It is called iron man 3 not iron man and the hulk. The laugh off that the hulk could have just killed iron man. Also the mandarin just has magic powers that aren’t explained, if something isn’t explained don’t expanded it into something. Also i think if the mandarin mind controls someone why not iron man himself. Last, none of his weapons work, but you say he just has upgrades to beat him that’s sad.
Comment by Spencer Reece Giles — August 31, 2013 @ 7:24 pm
Also it’s already a movie there’s nothing you can do about it. The movie will still be there just say you don’t like it don’t make a whole new story line when that doesn’t matter.
Comment by Spencer Reece Giles — August 31, 2013 @ 7:35 pm
i really enjoyed the main points made in “your iron man 3”
especially the whole iron patriot being off and captured and the whole hulkbuster suit being made by bruce and tony incase hulk goes outta controll again and then using it at the end to fight hulk. awesome. i too agree iron man three ruined it .
and to those who are against the hulk fighting iron man, i get it. . . its not a hulk flick but wtf was the point of the avengers if tony were to get in over his head and didn’t get help from the team they created to stop such threats??? but then again it dosent need to be hulk who he gets to fight him but perhaps somebody else, idk iron patriot or say some other NON-avenger strong type? but like in IM3 showing us the hulk buster suit and then not seing it used on the hulk is a tease….. just sayin
Comment by ClaraTheGalvatron — September 1, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
That was beautiful!!! 8D
I liked it, and understood why you would kill off some people (Rhodey…), but i call it a slight bit extreme. It was still great! You gave the (real) mandarin a good spotlight, which is was the only thing missing from Iron Man 3.
In all honesty, i like what they did with Killian, but i HATED that they made him the Mandarin…
You made a lot more references in your version, which is what the movie needed. And everyone would have loved to see the Hulk again – considering he is not getting a standalone.
You have my admiration for expressing your opinion – and what an opinion it was. I hope my opinion somewhat contributes as feedback!
I was thinking the EXACT same thing. Iron Man 3 was a waste!!!
Comment by John William — September 3, 2013 @ 2:57 pm
Iron Man 3 sucked ass. I was such a big Iron Man fan based on the first 2 movies and The Avengers. The third movie was a great disappointment. I strongly believe that this movie was such a failure due to the fact that Jon Favreau (who plays Happy Hogan in the movies) did not direct it. Shane Black really sucks for messing this movie up. Jon Favreau directed the first 2 movies and they were really good in my opinion and then Josh Whedon did a great job with The Avengers and then came Shane Black (you know how that turned out.) This fan fiction kicks the third movie’s ass. I am greatly impressed and wish that your story was actually the movie.
Comment by Gareth Matthee — September 5, 2013 @ 9:48 am
Love it dude! this was great, I would go watch Iron man 3 and pay 3d if they re-did the movie in this fashion, despite it would be Iron man 3: revised.
(they would think of a better title to replace Iron man 3).
Though if the Mandarin were to attack with his heli’s I was surprised they weren’t picked up by radar or something ages before they got to malibu. I would have launched the other iron man suits on stand by to guard after challenging a tyrant dude like the mandarin. doesn’t take a billionaire genius to figure that out.
Hm… let’s see:
1) You’ve got the Mandarin as the racist caricature that Marvel brilliantly sidestepped by having Ben Kingsley be a red herring and Aldrich Killian being the real mastermind.
2) You kill off the only major person of color in the Marvel Cinematic universe so far.
3) You sideline one of the major female Marvel film characters so far, of which there are only a handful, compared to the guys.
4) You ignore the logical PTSD which was perfectly portrayed in the actual film.
Fuck that shit. It’s implicitly racist and sexist.
It’s also dark and dreary for no good reason.
Basically, your idea is shit. I’m glad Kevin Feige didn’t hire you.
Comment by totz the plaid — September 8, 2013 @ 12:09 am
the moment that really make me sorrow is when Tony decided to unplug the arc reactor on his chest. i mean, what is iron man without his chest- arc reactor?… and the mandarin?…. please!!!!!
Comment by Topsykreet — September 9, 2013 @ 7:14 am
Metacritic, rotten tomatoes, they’re all garbage man children with temper tantrums. Their reviews are embarrassing on most movies and games
1) actually, if you noticed – I left Mandarin as the same character, more or less, that Ben Kingsley portrayed him as – he isn’t a racist caricature – he’s the same character, with actual powers.
2) Nick Fury doesn’t count? Rhodes isn’t a compelling character, and Cheadle doesn’t make him worth keeping around – so get rid of him. Don’t blame me for Marvel’s ineptitude.
3) Sidelined would be more respectful to her character than turning her into a sports-bra wearing piece of bait. Let’s not call her a “major female character” when all she’s been used as so far is a possession for Tony and Guy Pearce to fight over…
4) Yeah, no one else seems to be suffering PTSD – not even Banner, who has a Monster inside him… I think a billionaire playboy should be OK with accepting the fact that he’s a hero.
Comment by thefraze — September 26, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Honestly, I thought Iron man 3 was great. It showed Tony in a way never seen before, he had to improvise because he was vulnerable. It was at the very least on par with the first, but much better than the second.
Comment by Eggimations — September 26, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
hey that story it doesn´t so bad it all man you have a great story telling you should do something about it it{s a great material that is should not be wasted you are great like kevin said I had a better time reading this than watching the actual movie this is amazing
Comment by Marlon Perez — September 26, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
totally agreed I{ll do the same thing
Comment by Marlon Perez — September 26, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
I certainly did not say he casts spells, and its been awhile since I read the article here, but I don’t think he said cast spells either. He said it would be like Thor, The Mandarin coule use Magic and mysticism. I think its just a word to him. Really, what other word could you use for Thor’s, or Mandarin’s “Power”
Comment by MitchAll2gether — September 27, 2013 @ 11:33 am
His is so much better than the film, I think even a plot to explore other dimension from going up into the worm hole would have a good twist where tony could have still been in a coma in this world……
I thought you were the author answering. Anyway TOP says “When it looks like Mandarin is defeated, he casts a mystical spell on Hulk and takes control of the beast, aiming him like a weapon toward Iron Man.”
I stand (I’m actually sitting) corrected, he did say that. But I believe he didn’t mean it as a literal casting of a spell. The word ‘Magic’ is used in this context just to describe a weapon that Humans don’t fully understand. It’s advanced alien technology that we dont understand how it works and how it has the powers that it does. As Thor said, Where he comes from Magic and Science are one in the same. And I remember that one of his Rings on his left hand has a Mind-manipulating ability. I’m Curious as to how you would phrase or describe why and how the rings have abilities? And I am not wanting to sound like a dick, I am truly curious…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — September 28, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
You are a genius sir! This would’ve been a way better plot.
Hate to tell ya but no. they already comfirmed that RdJ is on for 2 more films. think Avengers 2. and iron man 4. if not iron man 4 then he will probably die in Avengers 3. But it’s been hinted that Captain America dies. Sense Ultron does kill him in the comics.
I think, what it is is, this is the point when all of the actors have the most power they’re ever gonna have. They only really ever sign up for 3 movies. If the first was successful, they’re thankful for a 2nd. Once the 2nd one is successful, suddenly they all want the last one on their terms.
They want more lines, more screentime, a more vital, heroic role. Because by now they’ve been this character for almost a decade. Halle wanted Storm to be a bigger character, Gwyneth wanted Pepper to be a part of the fun stuff.
And the studio is scared, because they know renegotiating for more, contract-less films will be costly hell, so this last one has to be a huge splash. They need every gimmick. They need Venom. They need Phoenix AND the cure.
And then sometimes the reach far exceeds the grasp. The Dark Knight Rises was the most ambitious non-Inception blockbuster of the last decade imo. The problem is, the film needed to be about 40 minutes longer. It needed the Joker to transition where TDK ended to when Bane reaches town. And it needed to not feed into the worst characteristics of both Batman Begins and TDK. Because it really was the weakest instincts of BB and TDK writ large. And it also needed Bane to not sound like that, or to make such a joke out of the mechanics of the city and its police being taken hostage.
I think the best chance we have for a great 3rd film is probably Captain America.
Comment by MrONegative — January 6, 2014 @ 2:32 am
Nice original idea: let the final fight happen in New York because thar city has only been destroyed in Transformers Superman, Avengers, etc.
You just rehashed a bunch of plots and aspects already covers. Black did something original that’s why you have a blog and he has a movie.
Comment by mjgardnerfilms — January 9, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
I do think your story idea sounds cool. However, I think anyone in the art industry- specifically books, movies, plays, games and tv shows- anything with a story- will say that you can’t judge a story based on what you wanted it to be. What I mean is, it’s okay to want certain parts to be better, or changed slightly, but you can’t want the whole story to be different.
For example, take the Harry Potter series: it’s okay to want different romantic relationships, or even something as different as Harry dying. But it is wrong to judge the series if you wanted it to turn into a murder mystery or a comedy mid-series.
Going back to this, this is pretty much just fanfiction. You are judging this movie based on the fact that it was very different from the story you had in mind.
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The Avengers franchise just said ‘your wish is my command’, the Age of Ultron teaser gives a glimpse of the exact Iron Man vs. Hulk climax sequence from your Iron Man 3 plot ;) Kudos
Comment by Navaneeth Suresh — October 23, 2014 @ 9:41 am
I would go with this but instead of Rhody pepper dies, and tony loses that fight to save pepper by a possesed hulk from mandarin then at the end they team up to fight the mandarin at the end of the movie and Tony gives up his drinking addiction in peppers memory instead of the stupid panic attacks, and the extremis is the power tony uses throught the movie to heal the sharpnel, after credits scene all of the rings are fragments of a broken infinity stone
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Look, I don’t have everything worked out, but I know how this theoretical movie ends. There’s a final showdown between Iron Man and the Mandarin in New York City.
I would have loved to see that plot instead of the hole-filled plot we were given instead.
[Seriously, how does Tony’s house not have a defense system or missile alerts?]
Comment by Jonathan — May 15, 2013 @ 1:13 pm
I was with you right up until you went and killed Rhodey.
Comment by NOBODY — May 15, 2013 @ 1:15 pm
Don’t like the idea of killing Rhodey either but I think Marvel created a dead end with his character by skewing away from “War Machine”. Regarding the Iron Man fight with Hulk, I’d *love* to have seen a real interpretation of Hulkbuster but the fight itself sounds reminiscent of Hulk’s bout with Abomination in Harlem. Aldirch Killian and the Extremis soliders? Not familiar with the original story as I never read the comics but for the movie, I appreciated the threat they posed to Iron Man even if they were a little bit too “Terminator-ish”. I saw the movie last night and overall, not completely thrilled with Iron Man 3 but do feel like the story had merit by balancing Tony’s use of brains and brawn. It was also nice to see Tony deal with anxiety attacks after the Avengers, kinda knocked him down a few notches and brought some humanity to an otherwise cartoon-ish character. And his relationship with the kid? That was the silver lining for me. It seemed like such an organic relationship and it spoke volumes that Tony could form such a valuable bond with someone so young. To me, this only demonstrates how immature Tony really is despite being an adult. In my opinion, Iron Man 3 fell somewhere between the second and first in terms of entertainment value but wasn’t at all a bad follow up.
Comment by PAUL — May 15, 2013 @ 3:37 pm
Why oh why didn’t they consult you before putting out this last dissapointment of a film? Please send this to Disney/Marvel and get them to reboot this properly. Awesome. Just Awesome. If you can get this put into a comic, I would love to see it. Especially if the artwork were similar to the Shell-Head/Hulk artwork at the head of your post. In fact, I’d re-spend the fifteen I wasted on the real movie to see an action figure stop motion of this story.
Comment by BFromT — May 15, 2013 @ 8:27 pm
Only about 10x better than what I saw. Pepper should have been killed off in #2, now we have “Mega Pepper” and her just-from-the-salon-even-though-I-fell-100′-through-fire good looks. I was wondering when Riggs and Murtaugh were going to show up in the shipyard. Oh, they did! Also, that build up to all those suits just to have a fireworks show with them was a complete waste. I was about to walk out when dude puked fire. Then there’s the point that the Iron Man suit was supposed to be somewhat strong but those “soldiers” had no problem ripping them apart. Oh yeah, and anyone can jump into a suit and instantly fly it. Tony Stark didn’t even install a Cliffalarm with LowJack? My Camaro had that! The “after credits” would have made about 100x more sense if it was Widow instead of Banner. She’s the mind-manipulator of the bunch and worked for Stark once. They even had Banner admit he wasn’t a shrink. Ugh. A horrible script. In there with Dark Knight Rises, Indy 4 & Caddyshack 2. Can’t wait to forget about it.
Comment by trip breaker — May 15, 2013 @ 8:59 pm
This is so depressing to read, only because it’s a reminder of how awesome this movie could have been.
Comment by Anthony Massa — May 15, 2013 @ 9:43 pm
There’s a reason this film is making a billion dollars and you’re on the internet writing a blog…I’m glad you enjoy doing this, but don’t quit your day job.
Comment by dizel123 — May 15, 2013 @ 11:14 pm
We saw Manderin’s ring do absolutely NOTHING. This was the biggest marvel-related let down since the “purple cloud” that was Galactus in FF:ROTSS
Comment by bigshynepo — May 16, 2013 @ 1:14 am
I loved Rhodey “no-scoping” the steel cable, I am sure a single bullet can’t fire through a steel sling with barely any weight (armor+president) on it.
Comment by bigshynepo — May 16, 2013 @ 1:17 am
You should do more of these.
Comment by Hanif Lawson — May 16, 2013 @ 2:07 am
I loved the movie, I seriously do not get where people are coming from. Great story, was deep for a superhero movie, great writing. The Mandarin was done appropriately for this movie verse, and it was relevant to today’s events. I hope they make more.
Comment by DeathAxe — May 16, 2013 @ 6:54 am
Couldn’t agree more.
Comment by DeathAxe — May 16, 2013 @ 6:56 am
YES. I’m actually okay with Rhodey dying. I mean “Bucky” died, but we know how that really turned out. Doesn’t mean the same can’t be done for Rhodey somewhere down the line. I would’ve loved this movie so much more than the current debacle.
Comment by Christine Dunbar — May 16, 2013 @ 9:37 am
Honestly, I like it, except that you seem to have garnered a hard-on for the Hulk that is just a little to big. Which is okay, cause after The Avengers, it seems to be going around. I like him being involved throughout the movie up until the point where the Mandarin starts using him against Tony. That’s just excessive to me.
That much Hulk in an Iron Man movie practically makes it “Iron Man vs. Hulk” instead of “Iron Man 3”. So, all in all – love your movie, definitely would have enjoyed it more than what we got, but too much Hulk.
Absolutely love the post-credits scene though. That was exactly what I’ve wanted since The Avengers and the announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy. Well done.
Comment by hisrealface — May 16, 2013 @ 12:19 pm
I like your treatment much better than the film, which I thought was mediocre. Good work!
Comment by Hugomarink — May 16, 2013 @ 4:23 pm
Well said.
Comment by ProjectMelton — May 17, 2013 @ 6:55 pm
I couldn’t even finish reading it – came off way too much like saccharine fan fiction.
Comment by ProjectMelton — May 17, 2013 @ 6:58 pm
What if Iron Man and Hulk do a Apollo Creed vs Rocky at the end of Rocky 3 fight at the end? “You ready Hulk?” “Hulk ready Iron Man.” “Ok..Ding Ding”
Comment by Chelcie Rice — May 17, 2013 @ 7:02 pm
Um yeh Can I have my 10 bucks back from fail man 3 and go see your movie?
Comment by Brian Sleider — May 17, 2013 @ 7:14 pm
I like your film “pitch,” but the Mandarin’s rings are not magical. They are the products of alien technology. The Mandarin found the rings on a crashed space ship.
Comment by unpaidpundit — May 17, 2013 @ 7:17 pm
This is what iron man 3 should have been. Just maybe not another battle in New York, because then it just becomes too much like a cartoon, where New York is getting levelled every other week.
Comment by Ryan Cookson — May 17, 2013 @ 7:41 pm
i dindt hate iron man 3 but i have to admit that THIS iron man 3 is superior
Comment by Niels Michiels — May 17, 2013 @ 7:43 pm
I liked Iron Man 3, but this version would have been 1000x bette!!! It was exciting just reading it. Also, I love Don Cheadle, just not as War Machine.
Comment by Wesley DopeEra Roberson — May 17, 2013 @ 7:49 pm
You basically just described every plot detail from the Avengers. A fight in New York City, involving the Stark tower and mind control. Why would you want to see an exact repeat of The Avengers? Plus, it’s not an Iron Man film if Hulk steals the spotlight in every climatic scene.
But I agree with you about the Mandarin part, I wish they did more with him. I was thinking that he retrieved the magical rings from inside one of the destroyed Chitauri Serpents. Like that was what powered them or something.
Comment by M@rvel — May 17, 2013 @ 8:12 pm
Everything that happened in Iron Man 3 happened for a reason. What should have happened HAPPENED. Don’t spoil it with fanboy wish fulfilment. The movie kicked ass creatively, narratively, comedically and action-wise and is kicking ass at the box office because people love it. End of story.
Comment by Sasha Nixon — May 17, 2013 @ 8:31 pm
I had a better time reading this than watching the actuall movie. Props to this man.
Comment by Kevin Trevino — May 17, 2013 @ 9:15 pm
No. The movie is called “Iron Man 3” not “Iron Man and the Hulk”. What you are suggesting isn’t a third Iron Man movie, it’s a second Avengers one.
Iron Man 3 wasn’t perfect, but it at least logically followed on from the first two Iron Man films. It was something an Iron Man fan could watch and enjoy without having seen The Avengers, and it wrapped up a trilogy that predated The Avengers.
The Iron Man series has also been a series based on plausible(ish) near future technology. Extremis pushes the boundaries of technological plausibility – magic (or even alien) super-powered rings would completely destroy them. It just doesn’t fit the mood and setting established by the preceding movies. Appropriate villain for the comic, notsomuch the movie series. IMO, the way they used the Mandarin avoided that issue while providing a nice twist on the cliched ‘evil terrorist’ bit.
Your after-credits scene is great, but ultimately the plot you’ve proposed doesn’t fit well into the established Iron Man movie canon. Sorry.
P.S. Just because Iron Patriot is unlikely to star in his own movie is a poor reason to kill him off for shock value. He’s a good member of the supporting cast and he offers a lot of plot hooks being Tony’s connection to the US military.
Comment by Irrevenant — May 17, 2013 @ 9:19 pm
I don’t care for this. The movie I enjoyed had a great deal of work put into it by writers, actors, cinematic and artistic directors, and special effects artists. To complain that the movie wasn’t what you envisioned is pretentious. The movie isn’t what I imagined it would be but I’m not going on about how Shane Black f’d up MY vision of Iron Man.
I’m plenty critical of movies I don’t like, but I don’t offer up short articles describing MY perfect version of the film as though it is an accomplishment to somehow rival a finished product. Why don’t you make your version of Iron Man 3 into a comic book for us to enjoy before telling us why its better than what we actually saw.
Comment by Rob — May 17, 2013 @ 9:43 pm
Iron Man 3 is a mess. The writers clearly wrote themselves into a corner and had no idea how to get themselves out, so they resorted to 40+ armor suits on AI pilot, ludicrously over the top nearly invincible foes which defied even comic book laws of physics, a Mandarin who really wasn’t THE Mandarin after all, pointlessly removing the fragment from Tony’s chest, pointlessly blowing up all the suits (what the frak?!?), pointlessly throwing away his arc reactor (what the hell?!?), and on and on… And I’m sorry, folks. Iron Patriot did nothing to add to this film. He was another pointless addition.
Comment by Rolf Hawkins — May 17, 2013 @ 10:34 pm
There sure is. Most of the people seeing this film aren’t Iron Man fans. They are action adventure fans, and don’t give a rat’s ass about plot or continuity or anything else except seeing stuff blowing up, and he’s on the Internet writing a blog because that’s what he enjoys doing. Instead of sniping blinding with non-sequiturs, why not instead entertain us with your counterpoints.
Comment by Rolf Hawkins — May 17, 2013 @ 10:39 pm
i liked reading this better than watching iron man 3.haha with exception to the iron legion final battle sequence of course.haha
Comment by Guest — May 18, 2013 @ 12:02 am
i liked reading this better than watching iron man 3.haha with exception to the iron legion final battle sequence of course.haha
Comment by drew — May 18, 2013 @ 12:03 am
I love the idea for this movie. I’d have much preferred it. But as a 27 year old Male I don’t think I was the core target demographic here. What’s bugging you is the influence of the preteen market which has been clearly sought after in this film.
Comment by Lev186211 — May 18, 2013 @ 12:49 am
Can’t help but notice that you missed the title of the movie: ‘Iron Man 3’, not ‘Marvel Team-Up: Iron Man & The Hulk’, the Bruce Banner cameo was perfect, there was no reason to have the Hulk come in, it would’ve been too jarring, like Nick Fury’s appearances in IM2.
Comment by Daniel Camm — May 18, 2013 @ 12:51 am
For an even better ending, have Tony meet the Guardians of the Galaxy in deep space. There rumors of an ending like that in the film, but it’s now an apparent lie. At least this way the Guardians get a nice first connection to the franchise before their own film.
Comment by Haku — May 18, 2013 @ 1:01 am
Yeah, the people whining about the Mandarin Twist (which sounds like a delicious flavor of Sprite now that I think about it) are just knee jerk fanboys who can’t handle any kind of change even if it improves the source material.
It’s the same thing with the ending to Watchmen being changed. DIfferent medium, different techniques work better.
Comment by Greggory Basore — May 18, 2013 @ 1:17 am
To be fair, I’ve read fan fics that are better than this crap.
Comment by Greggory Basore — May 18, 2013 @ 1:18 am
THAT IS BRILLIANT. It’s so much of a relief to find just one other person in a world filled with “Iron Man 3 was awesome!” and I have to agree on every point – THIS is the movie I wanted to see too!
Comment by Chris Humphries — May 18, 2013 @ 1:18 am
Also, the idea that Rhodey should be killed off because he’ll always be a supporting character is stupid. He’s a great supporting character and killing off the buddy so that the hero can have a “feces just got non-make believe” moment is a tired ass cliche.
Comment by Greggory Basore — May 18, 2013 @ 1:22 am
The Avengers scored a 69 on Metacritic. I don’t know why everyone acts like it got these rave reviews. Much lower the TDKR, and only 6 above IM3
Comment by Weasel — May 18, 2013 @ 1:25 am
THIS…WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT–wouldn’t change a thing. Im just going to accept that this was the actual IM3 script ( I could actually “see” it as I read it through) …I really hope that somebody reads this and gets you to be a consultant on future Marvel films.
Comment by billmausart — May 18, 2013 @ 1:53 am
IM 3 sucked. Marvel dropped the ball to start with a BANG in their phase 2. I could’ve expected this from a Thor movie, but not Iron Man. Although it has made more than a billion dollars, mixed reviews could back fire in their upcoming movies.
I’m pretty sure DC/WB will take advantage of this mistake.
Comment by Gerardo Andres Coto Folgar — May 18, 2013 @ 2:42 am
Just because it does not follow the script of a comic does not make it a bad movie. Although comic book characters are “in” right now does not mean comic book enthusiasts are.
Comment by SecrtSqurl — May 18, 2013 @ 4:59 am
Now THIS is the movie I hoped seeing! Amazing, but like it does to many other readers it also makes me sad … The real Iron Man 3 sucked donkey balls. I still can’t uderstand how the people at Marvel Studios let Shane and Pearce make the horrible story descissions they’ve made. Fiege should’ve fired Shane and Pearce the moment he read the first draft.
Comment by Yonix (Remco) — May 18, 2013 @ 5:02 am
iron man 3 sucked.
Comment by 666 — May 18, 2013 @ 6:00 am
The change in the watchmen ending made sense. Why introduce a completely unrelated 3rd party when the obvious choice is right there? Iron man went the other way. Why use the obvious ending when you can do something unrelated to anything?
Comment by WoWed — May 18, 2013 @ 10:30 am
I agree with your comments about War Machine completely. They should’ve just waited until Norman Osbourn for the Iron Patriot suit.
Comment by timm_jett — May 18, 2013 @ 11:25 am
You shoulda wrote the movie! Jesus that woulda been better on so many levels. Agree with ant messa makes me depressed
Comment by Bob — May 18, 2013 @ 11:32 am
could it be that the “Mandarin” was lying? He isn’t an idiot, and he is still alive. I don’t think Marvel would have really ruined one of their greatest villains. I’m calling it and saying that the Mandarin will be back, and will be an actual threat to Tony and / or the Avengers…
Comment by Jonathonwarren — May 18, 2013 @ 1:09 pm
Your movie sounds WAY better than I.M.3
Comment by Zachary Clayton Harris — May 18, 2013 @ 1:39 pm
The Mandarin twisted sucked and was unneeded. Just putting it out there.
Comment by can'tdrive55 — May 18, 2013 @ 1:41 pm
Yo I feel your disappointment when it comes to the Mandarin, but you’ve allowed that simple rewritten fact blind you to how decent of a movie it really was. It was never gonna be better than IM1, but by the sounds of your ‘hypothetical movie’, you would have left it spiraling harder than IM2 or any other MCU film. Like, what you have above this post right here, good sir, is literally parallel to the Green Lantern movie. rifled with shit and more shit of epic proportions. You realize this was Tony’s movie. Not Mandarin’s. And yeah the sensless plot holes are present, but shit, you’re so damn butthurt you don’t even consider the countless more you’d be adding to what would be a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. That’s the movie you say you wanna see. And its sad because there is not a single arc of story present, just what would be endless overly OP action sequences with no point whatsoever. Shows what kind of brawns over brains attitude, attention span and interests you have. Killing Rhodey was the first red flag, writing about Mandarin more prominently than Tony was the second. And after that, you just lost it. However, in all seriousness a separate Avenger appearing in a MCU film not of their own would eventually raise questions as to why every MCU film isn’t scattered with scenes featuring other members of earth mightiest heroes (and the budgets would never allow it, but if they hypothetically did, then whats the point of an Avengers movie at all) Unless a small cameo such as Tony in INCREDIBLE HULK (08) Hawkeye in THOR (11) or Banner most recently in IM3 appears, don’t expect to see any of the big hitters cross paths again in full until 2015. Black Widow is a malleable, relatively smaller character, she’ll fit in with CA:TWS, plus S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being tossed back and forth in the cinematic Univ. But seriously, Banner vs. Tony is the second half of your grande finale?…after its obvious that Mandarin is your main character. The only elements that retain any purpose or meaning concerning anything that’s actually appealing is the source material itself, which you had no regard for either. Extremis? such a good book and a very nice live screen adaption. but that can go to hell because the Mandarin did too, right? dude read a book, and make it this one. And maybe a book on how to pen a synopsis and draft a script. You have an ambiotious Comic Book mind but you’re not scaled to fit the incredibly demanding cinematic approach. you seem too centered around RFR (ridiculous fanboy’s requests). and you gotta get over them cause its not your movie, and not every demand or desire will be fulfilled to your liking. But when it comes to your over placed theatricality, you’re whole movie sounds like a fat fucking flop of a hard fail that is fashioned too symmetrically with an overstocked sense of misplaced grandeur that hopefully leads to a finale. Honesty as its finest. Its Iron Man, man! not The Lord Of The Rings. so trust me, we’d all be waiting for any kind of a finale to this film, as long as it was the actual one. you probably would be too, unless you’re like 13, which based upon how you wright, i dont think is true, but your RFR sure as hell point to a yes. Either way im truly sorry you cannot appreciate the aspects of what was an actual decent movie and overlook some minor flaws so as to not drag yourself into this state of embarrassment because you literally have defined ‘butthurt’ for the world you.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:02 pm
FF is not owned by Marvel Studios and at the time neither was Galactus. Go figure Fox would fuck up Big G as well as so many other watered down passerby portrayals. Marvel Studios is HOME for a motherfucking reason and that’s because they take care of their characters. Lets hear three loud cheers for Marvel Studios in their triumphant victory in reclaiming Blade, Ghost Rider, Daredevil and. . . .the Punisher!!!! HIP HIP fuck yeah! Here’s to hoping that Spidey may soon finally call MSCU his own
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:08 pm
BUCKY IS THE WINTER SOLIDER, its direct source material and that’s all I will say on this subject because on a website like this, you should already know. Its not like they scripted a new arc to Bucky’s charcter in TFA, it is directly based upon The Winter Solider run.
Rhodey has no such source material involving a means of death or change in his character in any way, so there’s no point in writing off Tony’s best and closest friend, who, in these movies, is Tony’s only constant reliable and honest pal next to J.A.R.V.I.S.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
…And then realized how much more of the same garbled shit followed. This movie would be worse than the impossibly bad and unrealistic shit stains smeared across the cockgobblin fest known as Batman & Robin.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:29 pm
Or a methamphetamine geek out freak out ramble. That made no real sense whatsoever by the end of it but dudebuddy sure was on one hell of a roll.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:33 pm
You think you would enjoy anything with material this half-witted? He sounds like one of the fucking writers for the goddamn disastrous Ultimate Spider-Man, like its that laughable. he must regurgitate his own vomit for breakfast, if this shitfest he came up with doesn’t leave a bad taste in his mouth.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:43 pm
You must regurgitate your own vomit for breakfast too. tell me, is it an acquired taste or have you always gobbled pigshit like it was your dick?
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:47 pm
No. what you saw was ten times the worth of what you just read. and im keeping your fucking money
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:52 pm
Yo I feel your disappointment when it comes to the Mandarin, but you’ve allowed that simple rewritten fact blind you to how decent of a movie it really was. It was never gonna be better than IM1, but by the sounds of your ‘hypothetical movie’, you would have left it spiraling harder than IM2 or any other MCU film. Like, what you have above this post right here, good sir, is literally parallel to the Green Lantern movie. rifled with shit and more shit of epic proportions.You realize this was Tony’s movie. Not Mandarin’s. And yeah the sensless plot holes are present, but shit, you’re so damn butthurt you don’t even consider the countless more you’d be adding to what would be a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. That’s the movie you say you wanna see. And its sad because there is not a single arc of story present, just what would be endless overly OP action sequences with no point whatsoever. Shows what kind of brawns over brains attitude, attention span and interests you have. Killing Rhodey was the first red flag, writing about Mandarin more prominently than Tony was the second. And after that, you just lost it. However, in all seriousness a separate Avenger appearing in a MCU film not of their own would eventually raise questions as to why every MCU film isn’t scattered with scenes featuring other members of earth mightiest heroes (and the budgets would never allow it, but if they hypothetically did, then whats the point of an Avengers movie at all) Unless a small cameo such as Tony in INCREDIBLE HULK (08) Hawkeye in THOR (11) or Banner most recently in IM3 appears, don’t expect to see any of the big hitters cross paths again in full until 2015. Black Widow is a malleable, relatively smaller character, she’ll fit in with CA:TWS, plus S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being tossed back and forth in the cinematic Univ. But seriously, Banner vs. Tony is the second half of your grande finale?…after its obvious that Mandarin is your main character. The only elements that retain any purpose or meaning concerning anything that’s actually appealing is the source material itself, which you had no regard for either. Extremis? such a good book and a very nice live screen adaption. but that can go to hell because the Mandarin did too, right? dude read a book, and make it this one. And maybe a book on how to pen a synopsis and draft a script. You have an ambiotious Comic Book mind but you’re not scaled to fit the incredibly demanding cinematic approach. you seem too centered around RFR (ridiculous fanboy’s requests). and you gotta get over them cause its not your movie, and not every demand or desire will be fulfilled to your liking. But when it comes to your over placed theatricality, you’re whole movie sounds like a fat fucking flop of a hard fail that is fashioned too symmetrically with an overstocked sense of misplaced grandeur that hopefully leads to a finale. Honesty as its finest. Its Iron Man, man! not The Lord Of The Rings. so trust me, we’d all be waiting for any kind of a finale to this film, as long as it was the actual one. you probably would be too, unless you’re like 13, which based upon how you wright, i dont think is true, but your RFR sure as hell point to a yes. Either way im truly sorry you cannot appreciate the aspects of what was an actual decent movie and overlook some minor flaws so as to not drag yourself into this state of embarrassment because you literally have defined ‘butthurt’ for the world you.
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 18, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Thor was the third best MCU Phase 1 Movie, slightly a par behind Iron Man and The Avengers. Personally, it was my second fav, followed by the Avengers, but fuck you man Thor was given his respected due. and btw, don’t expect Thor: The Dark World to suck unless you do. shit’s gonna be booming crazy
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:08 am
Wow, you must be contemplating suicide real soon. Sounds like you got nothing else holding you back. if you’re that desperate to see this waste brought to any kind of reality, you need to leave this reality. NOW
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:10 am
You sound like a daft dude wtf are you talking about haha The Dark Knight Rises’ script was the most solid of all summer blockbusters last year shitforbrains. I bet you gave up on it just because you don’t have the mental capacity to understand what hell was going on. that or you RFR
Comment by 1Hate2To3Hear4The5Truth6?7 — May 19, 2013 @ 12:19 am
i think you nailed it better than black did,i mean the movie was good and all but i was pissed about the false mandarin crap,only to find out that guy pierce is the real mandarin,yet has no rings and isnt magical(except for a few things like the heat etc)and iron man doesnt even beat him pepper does,that also annoyed me.i wanted to see the mandarin depicted in the comics,one of a few movies i liked but went out feeling annoyed
Comment by Benjamin Carroll — May 19, 2013 @ 1:29 am
I went with “marvel-related” since both movies are based on the marvel universe despite being owned by competing studios. I am disappointed that Disney could not work out a deal to let Fox keep the red-hooded step child in exchange for Galactus rights, or the License for the entire Fantastic Four movie rights. Ghost Rider got done too hard and a reboot needs to be far off so we can forget about the last few movies. Blade, I love, and I’ll be curious to see any developments with that franchise. The Punisher, Sign me up!
I am worried about Spidey coming to Disney, Sony has those rights locked up tighter than a nun and Disney will NEVER do a proper Spiderman/Venom/Carnage story line due to the serial killer origin story. I mean, they canned Downey’s drinking problem in Iron Man 3 so I’d have to think Carnage is out.
Comment by bigshynepo — May 19, 2013 @ 2:11 am
Somebody get this man $200 mil to make this movie, ASAP.
Comment by SuperGreg#1 — May 19, 2013 @ 2:45 am
Yes, I was one of the many who was SO DAMN DISAPPOINTED in what they did to the Mandarin. At that point, I didnt even want to watch the rest of the film. Why the would bite off of Batman, (which batman did better) I have no Idea. This was a great opportunity to have some great scene with Tony and the Mandarin, that was horribly missed. Yet alone, get a great Chinese actor, who could have owned the role! They kept talking about Ben K’s voice as if it was good. I was expecting something great and left disappointed and mainly because of the Mandarin.
Comment by Antione Jackson — May 19, 2013 @ 9:56 am
But in this case it didnt work out well. The real villain behind the curtain has been done many times and this was a bad attempt. Especially with a character who had the potential to own the film as Ledger as the Joker.
Comment by Antione Jackson — May 19, 2013 @ 9:59 am
iron man 3 was the avengers this was just avengers .2
Comment by Chris D Collard — May 19, 2013 @ 10:26 am
While your concept is great, someone I’m sure would find something unsatisfying about the outcome. Point being, when it comes to live-action super-hero films, either a great story line or action sequence is going to falter for the sake of the other. I have yet to see a superhero film effectively execute both (no, Avengers did not do that as you see even an article on this site exclaimed flaws in the movie).
Comment by Kevin Hall — May 19, 2013 @ 10:37 am
“ramblings of a geek” is a good way to put it. Your idea of the movie is boring, predictable, and would be very similar to iron man 2 where we all felt like watching someone else play a computer game. I understand that people are pissed about Mandarin, I think I would be if I was a hardcore fan, but as a generic fan I really enjoyed what they did with him. Smarts is the way Marvel seems to be going, instead of “more hulk more smash more gadgets more explosions” which is what you just described.
Comment by Orhan Sümen — May 19, 2013 @ 11:10 am
HA “there’s a reason this film is making a billion dollars…” Yea, there’s a reason the Twilight movies made millions of dollars too…IDIOTS like you go to see them regardless of plot holes and poor story. The only thing you IDIOTS care about are explosions and CGI. I’d tell you “don’t quit your day job”, but I doubt you have one
Comment by Jules Michael — May 19, 2013 @ 11:35 am
Don’t take this too personally, but that was a terrible read. There is no depth or subtext to your story. It’s just a vehicle to watch Hulk fight Iron Man. Your character motivations are cloudy at best. I mean you have Mandarin, “the master of deception” as you put it, just be a cackling, evil, cartoon Osama bin Laden whose only motivation seems to be “I do bad things cause I’m bad,” and doesn’t actually seem to deceive anyone. What is deceitful about blatantly going on TV and telling Iron Man to come to his house and then just fighting him?
The events of Avengers impacted Tony in no visibly meaningful way in your treatment, and I severely dislike the way you make the female protagonist irrelevant and actually kill what is pretty much the only black character in the Marvel movie universe because you just want to watch your favorite character woosh around more. This whole things seriously read like a 10 year old kid playing with action figures.
You’re enthusiastic, which is great, and you obviously care and think about what you’d like to see in a movie, but you need to broaden your perspective a bit if you can’t see why the events you describe are completely flat and boring.
Comment by Devan Elliott Miller — May 19, 2013 @ 11:55 am
The explained movie above would crush the existing IM3. It was good but a major wasted chance of transcending the Marvel Universe and movies in general. Way to bomb Shane, Kevin and Josh!
Comment by Clinton Robertson — May 19, 2013 @ 12:35 pm
THIS IS GREAT!!! I have not seen iron man 3 yet but this sounds way better. For real, you should pitch this idea to someone. I DONT CARE WHAT YOU DO GET THIS MOVIE MADE. maybe, The Incredible Hulk 2 or Iron Man 4 or maybe a totally different movie!!!
Comment by Christopher Kaiser — May 19, 2013 @ 12:38 pm
The character actually does spit fire in the Extremis comic, but w/e. You’re such a comic purist.
Comment by RealWorldProgressive — May 19, 2013 @ 1:58 pm
You mean like the guys who think people on Extremis breathing fire is just made up for the movie? lol
Comment by RealWorldProgressive — May 19, 2013 @ 1:59 pm
I think it could still work, if the next movie retcons and reveals that Ben Kingsley really was the Mandarin and pulling the strings, and the whole hired actor thing was a con all along. Did the oil exec really get shot, and who shot him?
Comment by Keven Miller — May 19, 2013 @ 2:50 pm
I like it! It seemed like that would’ve been the true Iron Man 3. IM3 as it is was ok, but I think your version would’ve been much more satisfying and more in the spirit of what an Iron Man movie should be. Nice work.
Comment by Gib — May 19, 2013 @ 6:13 pm
Half of the story beats are The Dark Knight Rises.
Comment by cmcp — May 19, 2013 @ 7:20 pm
As evidenced by popular music, sales/money does not dictate quality. Fuck yourself in the ear with a scalpel.
Comment by cmcp — May 19, 2013 @ 7:23 pm
Well, either you saw it so you’re an Idiot too(and using caps to accent your “insult” makes you look like a 6 year old. But hey, whatever) or you didn’t see it and you’re an idiot for commenting on the plot holes and poor story of a movie you didn’t see. So which is it? Are you an idiot or an idiot?
Comment by dizel123 — May 19, 2013 @ 7:46 pm
I could fuck myself in the ear with a scalpel…that would be more fucking then you will get…of any kind…in you entire pathetic life.
Comment by dizel123 — May 19, 2013 @ 7:48 pm
These are great ideas. EVERYONE wants to see Hulkbuster Iron Man fight Hulk, and EVERYONE wanted to see Mandarin’s rings deal out some awesomeness. And you’re right, it would have been a smooth transition to introducing any kind of paranormal or extradimensional reality to make way for Dr. Strange. Extremis was a waste, as was Mandarin. What a missed opportunity.
Comment by David J. Phifer — May 19, 2013 @ 9:29 pm
thank you. Just act like iron man 3 never happened and make this movie
Comment by do it — May 19, 2013 @ 10:36 pm
Wow. To suggest someone should kill themselves just because you’re
butt hurt that this movie wasn’t worth a crap? Are you the mistress or
do you get paid to lay on your back with the writers and directors of
this horrible movie?
And, I saw your response about Dark Knight
Rises being the “most solid script” of last summer…Let’s pick that
asinine statement apart (In the order they come to mind because I can’t
stand the thought of wasting another moment of my life to watch it again
to be more specific):
1: Bruce “works out” to get rid of his near paraplegia. He gets some fancy braces for his legs, but you never see them.
2:
Bruce has a broken back which is fixed by…..A PUNCH TO THE BACK?!?
WTF? Then, he’s able to work out enough in a couple of minutes to get
himself out of the prison that only one other person apparently has ever
made it out of, then…
3: Bruce has no money, no access to
corporate accounts, no idea where he is, and is able to make it across
the globe back to Gotham….and his travel to the prison, recovery, and travel back to Gotham occur fast
enough for him to get back to before the bomb goes off….
4:
There is a commando force holding the city in a surveilled hostage
police state and Bruce left his Bat-Plane on the top of a building under
a f***ing camouflaged tarp and it was never found?!?! Come on!
5: But that’s not the
worst part. Before He’s able to get to his Bat-Plane, again with no
resources, he’s able to sneak back into Gotham across lines being held
by both the terrorists and the power of the American Military,
apparently with no help.
Forgive me if your assessment of this
script makes every other assessment of any other entertainment piece
completely irrelevant, no matter how knowledgeable you obviously are
about who owns what and whatever. In fact, for a grown person to know
that much, you must spend way to much time in your mom’s basement. I
don’t care how much of a “geek” you think someone should be to
participate in the discussions on this site, so f-off.
Comment by BFromT — May 19, 2013 @ 11:03 pm
Oh dear, Am I the only one who thinks The Avengers is silly? The whole outer space threat feels out of place in these superhero movies (aside from Superman of course). I don’t read the Iron Man comics and I thought Iron Man 3 was great fun. Better than IR 2 – which seems to have a shitload of fans for some reason.
Comment by Raul Cienfuegos — May 20, 2013 @ 2:40 am
Dark Knight Rises was great. Get over it.
Comment by Raul Cienfuegos — May 20, 2013 @ 2:40 am
such a better movie than the one i went to see.
Comment by Randy Carpenter — May 20, 2013 @ 5:18 am
I saw Iron Man 3 with my children yesterday and we were all disappointed. So far, I love your take on it and it does sound like a better movie.
Just like you, I’m tired of the evil CEOs (three times isn’t a charm), the second movie in a row that Tony Stark has some type of personal demon and personal problem he has to deal with. This became frustrating to watch over during the third movie and I hope they drop this come the fourth. Believe it or not Hollywood, not all superhero movies need to have dark, personal issues.
And the Mandarin? The biggest disappointment in the whole film, especially after I explained to my children what the villain is like in the comics and then seeing what they did to him on the big screen.
So as far as I’m concern, your movie is something that I would have rather have seen and would probably would have made more money while staying true to the source material.
Comment by What Burns My Bacon — May 20, 2013 @ 8:49 am
Thanks for your comments. You have to understand Devan, I wrote this as a feature for a geek blog – I didn’t write an outline or a 120-page script – obviously there isn’t much depth or subtext… then again, there wasn’t much depth or subtext to Shane Black’s finished film, either.
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 20, 2013 @ 8:57 am
this is probably my favorite comment – thanks so much :)
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 20, 2013 @ 9:00 am
it’s kicking ass at the box office b/c it’s the follow-up to the third-highest grossing film of all time and it was going to be a box office success regardless of quality – you pay before you watch it – it isn’t a measurement of quality.
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 20, 2013 @ 9:03 am
Yep – like the Infinity Gems – magic to us, technology to others (the themes of Thor repeated) – and another opportunity to further connect the Guardians of the Galaxy
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 20, 2013 @ 9:04 am
The reason why this movie is making so much money is because people will pay to see any piece of crap with pretty colors and explosions. Just because it makes money doesn’t mean it’s good.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 11:32 am
I thought Iron Man 3 was ok, but I completely agree with you that this is how the film should have gone. I don’t agree with killing Rhodes though but I was really hoping for the Hulk to somewhat appear in the movie to help Iron Man since Banner works with Stark now, and since the Avengers have finally been formed, it would make sense for at least one of them to appear in each others movies. I was really expecting the Hulk to fight Iron Man in the Hulk Buster too… I was sadly disappointed…
Comment by Ryan — May 20, 2013 @ 11:33 am
How bout aldrich killian being there at all. he commited suicide at the beginning of the extremis story. He was a scientist not a rich business man or the mandarin.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 11:34 am
I would have loved that but sadly, Spider Man is still under Sony ownership….
Comment by Ryan — May 20, 2013 @ 11:35 am
If it improves the source material changes are good. This however did not improve the source material. it watered it down and made a joke of it.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 11:37 am
Everything that happened in IM 3 happened because shane black doesnt know anything about the character. Even Joss Wheedon said WTF to the crap that happened in this flic. And the twilight movies kicked ass at the box office too. Do you think those movies are good ?
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 11:46 am
Yeah, because the villain behind the villain story is such a fresh idea.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:06 pm
Rhody should be killed. He’s a needless character. He didnt help the story along at all. he was just there. Im sorry but when i get my iron man comics from the shop im not reading it thinking “i hope war machine shows up”. I dont read iron man to see war machine just like i dont watch iron man to see war machine.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:14 pm
Shane black didnt fuck up this dudes vision of iron man. shane black just fucked up iron man in general.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:20 pm
That was supposed to be the secret ending but they scrapped it for some reason.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:24 pm
IM3 was a hollow, dragged out, dull popcorn flick. It was nothing but a time killer. there was nothing in that movie that helped to push the story of iron man forward. it was all filler no killer.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:45 pm
IM3 was totally predictable ! Are you honestly saying that you didnt figure out the mandarin twist instantly ? Really ?
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:49 pm
War machine is not the only black character in the marvel movie verse. I don’t know if you noticed but Nick fury is also black.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:54 pm
That because IM2 was closer to the comics than IM3.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 12:55 pm
I thought the dark knight rises was an ok movie but the script was in no way shape or form “solid” at all.
Comment by AL — May 20, 2013 @ 1:06 pm
Damn… I liked Iron Man 3 but this… this would have been awesome.
Comment by willc6075 — May 20, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
Good show, old sport!
Comment by Boop — May 20, 2013 @ 4:26 pm
He blew up all his suits and threw away his arc and shit because he’s quitting the Iron Man life. But the events of Avengers 2 will call for him to return and he will. Then he will die a beautiful, glorious, sacrificial death. Seems like that’s what they’re setting up to me (or maybe that’s just the Avengers 2 I’d like to see.)
Comment by Boop — May 20, 2013 @ 4:29 pm
Wow! This is the movie I wanted to see. Marvel should hire you.
Comment by Manmit Mitbawkar — May 20, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
this would be a terrible film. just terrible. it might be an ok/c grade superhero movie. It wouldn’t translate well, you have highlighted mainly action scenes no “meaty” stuff, you have outlined only maybe a half hour of material. Also the idea of the team up, and such dependant team up is wrong. it would only make the film seem like a filler, or just essentially a little tie in to further solidify the MCU, not a full film. I dont disagree with the idea of the bruce banner playing a role, but i wouldnt have the hulk in this, its a solo feature. However i dont think killing rhodey is a bad idea, it would add weight both for tony stark, but also for the film in terms of the MCU, and a potential storyline for later films. i.e. the death of a known hero
Comment by mike miller — May 20, 2013 @ 5:24 pm
Yes please! This would have made for a much better, focused movie than the actual thing which I thought was rather inconsistent and gimmicky.
Comment by Ctosn — May 20, 2013 @ 5:30 pm
really cool man. i liked your take on it. I would feel more on the rings not being magical, but more symbolic. here is an idea i thought of aswell.
The Mandarin should have taunted everyone with the viral videos. those videos really made the villain seem powerful and scary in the movie
the Mandarin should of had his 10 rings on display ”these are symbols of my power and control.”. and made a statement put one ring on and carry out a terrible terrorist deed to the world. The audience could have watched him carry out all 10 different terrorist attacks. destroy tonys house, trying to hurt people close to him etc.
I think the idea of buying the extremis soilders from killian would have been good. rather than killian be the villain. it would have been cool at the end for iron man to confront the Mandarin, and the Mandarin to put on the last ring. ”heroes, there is no such thing.” and 10 extremis soilders battle with tony, each one modified to represent the powers of the Mandarin’s ‘magic rings.’ tony could battle until his suit is nearly destroyed and have a confrontation with the Mandarin then. could have been just verbal, or the Mandarin could bring back horrors of new york, causing tony to panic.
I feel this would have been a stronger villain than the trick that was played. the ten rings organisation was always hinted at in iron man 1. just wish it had a better pay off.
Comment by Mike — May 20, 2013 @ 5:49 pm
AWESOME!AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME How i wish we could see this on the big screen. This is such an awesome story. Great! i hated the movie, this would have been AWESOME. again, AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
Comment by ipeng909 — May 20, 2013 @ 7:47 pm
WHY didn’t you email this to Shane Black about a year ago? WHY?!?!?
Comment by tommy — May 20, 2013 @ 8:09 pm
Sir i think you just earned my $11 from that movie i sure enjoyed that much more than that crap they had on the screen.
I couldn’t get over the plot holes like the bad guy used the iron patriot armor and reprogrammed it to send the president back to NY…. the outer thing was Yes the armors were just pathetic just falling apart one after another when they were designed to take on the HULK!!!! ect WTF is with that, and on that note when all the suites blow up pepper pots is wearing a arm piece that didn’t blow up? Whats with them all blowing up looking like a gay $20 firework with no color all the bombs and different metals would have made amazing explosions nothing sucks more than ending a action movie with fake lame ass explosions that are nothing more than fireworks….
Comment by Rob Hubbard — May 20, 2013 @ 9:55 pm
Great story! I loved Iron man 3 and maybe they could make a 4th you can use your story without the extremis because what can happen is that its revealed that aldrich killian had created the mandarin based upon an actual terrorist who changes his name to the mandarin becuase of killian. then just do this story but dont have to much banner/hulk. I reckon that would be awesome!
p.s. loved the way you said “it’s hinted at that Banner may have helped him create a few for… special circumstances” that hints that he will face of with the hulk
Comment by Anthony The Fanboy — May 21, 2013 @ 3:19 am
The twist was bad because it crippled the film. We had this large build up to the Mandarian….then went off in a different direction. So much time was wasted setting him up that the resulting movie felt very “crammed” but yet at the same time nothing really happened. IM3 was better than 2 in this regard, but not by much.
Comment by Cyvaris — May 21, 2013 @ 7:05 am
You toss around terms like “butthurt” and “fanboy” simply because his opinion is different than yours, but all I can see is just how “butthurt” you are because he didn’t like Iron Man 3.
Honestly though, I can tell by how you “wright” that you’re an intelligent guy, but learning some humility would go a long way in facilitating some actual dialouge with other humans in a forum atmosphere. I think that I can speak for most people on this site when I say that your misanthropic diatribe is unwanted and only serves to place you in the ranks of the tired, annoying troll army of the Internet which comes with its own stock reaction from level-headed, non vein-popping people such as myself: GTFO.
Comment by kingofmoonmen — May 21, 2013 @ 8:58 am
Bravo sir Bravo!!! After reading this exciting script I just want you to know that you have a fan in me…….Marvel take note THIS is how phase 2 should have begun
Comment by Darnell — May 21, 2013 @ 9:17 am
Not bad at all, and a hell of a lot better than ‘Tony Stark, SUPER SPY!’ (aka Iron Man 3). I love the team up aspect with the Hulk and that you actually made the other armors USEFUL as opposed to being toys that fell apart in a soft breeze! Plus I think your concept of using the Mandarin’s rings as a gateway to the introduction of magic into the MCU is fantastic. Frankly, I say scrap extremis all together. It was poorly used and a failed attempt at bringing a great comic book story line to the screen. Although I would say keep Rhodey alive, just make him War Machine again.
Comment by Irabbit75 — May 21, 2013 @ 9:57 am
Nothing irritated me more than the having the armors fall apart with a slight breeze. They must have used that gag a dozen times in the movie and it was just BAD.
Comment by Irabbit75 — May 21, 2013 @ 9:59 am
He developed an overall plot. A good writer could fill in those holes easily and with more clarity than the actual Iron Man 3. Maybe change some of the details of the fight like have Hulk break the Mandarins hands ala World War Hulk when he broke Dr Strange’s hands but the overall plot is great.
Comment by Irabbit75 — May 21, 2013 @ 10:05 am
That’s a really silly comment — there are a bunch of objectively bad movies and television shows that make it to the screen because of things that have nothing to do with talent. I mean, according to your logic, Justin Bieber must possess one of the world’s greatest voices given the amount of money he’s made.
Hollywood is nowhere near a meritocracy, and studios sign off on bad scripts all the time. Your conclusion requires one to accept the proposition that the amount of money realized by a movie is proportional to how good the movie is, which we know isn’t even remotely true.
Comment by Dean Calloway — May 21, 2013 @ 10:24 am
Iron Man 3 was bad. But your solution is worse. You kill off the only current (until The Falcon next April) minority super hero in film for no real purpose (his death really means nothing), you reduce the screen time of the only woman in the film (since you mostly, if not entirely, cut the EXTREMIS storyline (which was horrible), so Maya is gone – and really, she served little purpose in the first film except to: 1. Show Tony being a playboy. 2. Get Pepper captured. 3. Die a pointless death after a random change of heart), return the Mandarin to a racist caricature, and essentially replay part of The Avengers movie by having them romp around and destroy parts of New York.
Equally awful as Iron Man 3.
Comment by PainfullyUnaware — May 21, 2013 @ 10:59 am
<3
Comment by Jeremy Harrison — May 21, 2013 @ 11:49 am
Yes, this sounds a lot better!!! I’ll just imagine in my head this is the IM3 that came out…LOL.
Comment by nate — May 21, 2013 @ 11:58 am
IM3 was stupid. The best thing to do would be to burn the masters and export the writers and producers of this silly movie to Bollywood
Comment by Jim Guentner — May 21, 2013 @ 12:05 pm
I liked Iron Man 3 a lot more than others, apparently, but DAMN do I want to see YOUR Iron Man 3!!!
Comment by Micah — May 21, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
dude, you’re a genius! that literally gave me goosebumps!
Comment by Edney Rafael — May 21, 2013 @ 12:32 pm
Yeah that reason is the avengers. You’re fooling yourself if you think this movie has done a billion on its own merit. The movie was good to me but there was sooooo much wasted potential. And if you’re gonna have an all out armour brawl why not showcase 2 of tonys most famous armors; The deepspace armor and the Legendary hulk buster Armor. What a waste. The original avengers script had the hulk buster armor. I liked the twist somewhat but I felt that they could have done it the other way around and had the mandarin pulling Killian’s strings the original im2 script had a dying alcoholic tony with mandarin pulling hammers strings.
Comment by JevyJav — May 21, 2013 @ 12:41 pm
During Dark Reign, Rhodey Was turned into a cyborg following a battle with some rebels. Afterwards, his consciousness was “uploaded” to a clone body that was a replica of his human body. What’s to say that the same thing couldn’t be done here?
Comment by Harold Owens — May 21, 2013 @ 1:47 pm
I didn’t say anything about making Mandarin a racist caricature – I like the ambiguous nature of his character – I just wanted him to actually be a real, mystical villain – I still cast Kinglsey as him, so obviously I wasn’t going for caricature. As for minority superheroes, there’s Nick Fury – but you can’t blame ME for killing off Rhodes when Marvel could have just as easily introduced Luke Cage or any number of minority characters… and it’s not like Pepper had a ton of screen time, she could easily have the same amount of screen time, I just don’t think she should be used as bait and miraculously cured of her life-threatening condition in a matter of seconds.
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 21, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
it’s hard to flip-flop back and forth – I agree War Machine would be preferable but, I think the character has moved too far in the other direction to save anything – looking back on it, what did that character really do for the series? Nothing really… sure they teamed up in 2 but that could have just have easily went in another direction…
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 21, 2013 @ 3:08 pm
That’s the thing, IM2 kicked off with Iron Man as the national hero protector and it stayed that way until at least the scene in the Avengers where Coulson gives him his “homework”. Now, Iron Man is a full time Avenger/ humanitarian and responsible for a whole new series of problems; so who fills the void when Tony focuses on being an Avenger, War Machine. The beginning of the movie would be 2 separate stories (IM and the Avengers and Rhodey attempting to keep global stability). Rhodey and Tony are BFF’s so when the Mandarin takes Rhodey then Tony’s focus shifts and he realizes he can’t just delegate etc etc plot plot plot and then faces off with the Mandarin. Iron Man and Hulk face off with the Mandarins magic rings in Paris (someone else brought up the point, and I agree, that New York is too close to the Avengers storyline and I think a good globally recognized city would be Paris) they realize it takes both of them to stop magic, include Nick Fury scene talking about magical countermeasures (AKA Dr Strange) and continue with the follow up, Bob’s your uncle and roll credits.
Comment by Irabbit75 — May 21, 2013 @ 3:34 pm
If you’re not going to give Hulk his own standalone film than why not include him in Iron Man 3? The Mandarin was just wasted and given way to Guy Pierce breathing fire, awful.
Comment by Brandon Anderson — May 21, 2013 @ 5:16 pm
YES
Comment by Kristoffer Groves — May 22, 2013 @ 1:57 am
Do one for the Dark Knight Rises too! That one was a piece of crap that had more potential than what we actually got.
Comment by Joan — May 22, 2013 @ 9:35 am
Agreed.
Comment by Moriah Geer-Hardwick — May 22, 2013 @ 10:55 am
I think you nailed it here. It seems that when Hollywood becomes this invested in a franchise, they tend to follow their formula and not the fan’s. You’ve written what I as a fan wanted to see. Hollywood made a movie that was perfectly formulated to squeeze as many ticket dollars out of the widest demographic of moviegoers possible. Disappoint.
Comment by Moriah Geer-Hardwick — May 22, 2013 @ 10:58 am
Paris would be great, I agree – I chose New York b/c of Avengers tower and its proximity to the armor vault, etc – but an exotic locale would be cool. Hulk climbing the Eiffel Tower!
Comment by Adam Frazier — May 22, 2013 @ 11:34 am
THAT’S A FUCKING AMAZING MOVIE!!!!!! I would have loved to see that Iron Man 3 than the one we got! Jesus christ! that was just the summary and it had me on the edge of my seat. What a fucking fully realized plot, with character development and real lasting consequences and great setup for further adventures within the MCU.
GOD-DAMMIT!!!!!!
Comment by Mike MacLeod — May 22, 2013 @ 12:27 pm
True, but Stark industries is global and maybe Paris is the home of the second giant Arc reactor. Paris also brings a lot of extremely recognizable landmarks that can be damaged or destroyed in the battle. Maybe a scene where Mandarin knocks down the Arc De’Triumph and Hulk has to stop it from crushing a group of tourists. Iron Man getting knocked into the Louvre next to the Mona Lisa and quipping, “Sorry, I’ve got a girlfriend.” before flying back out to fight.
Plus, Hulk smash mimes?
Comment by Irabbit75 — May 22, 2013 @ 12:28 pm
Iron Man 3 was average at best. Hardly any ‘man’ in the ‘iron’ suit and Tony Stark whimpering and quivering. Everyone else getting into the suit which basically makes Stark redundant.
Comment by Sailesh Ghelani — May 22, 2013 @ 3:10 pm
Of course the fantasy versions in out heads are always better. But once your idea was put in to script for m then rewritten and rewritten with producers adding in all their stuff, there’s no way your idea would look the same actualized as a movie.
I admire the imagination, I really do, but I also thought Iron Man 3 was a good time.
(Also, people gave Iron Man 2 hell over having 10 minutes of Avengers/SHIELD set up, so its understandable that there would be no other heroes in this movie, save for maybe a small cameo,…)
Comment by Bret Dorman — May 22, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
i’d only change a few things in this whole plot but it would still be way better than shane blacks version… i like the idea of a terrorist mandarin though i like the way you wanted to introduce the magical side of marvel through mandarin… now i don’t think you could mix both of them just my opinion so i say you make it either one or the other. in my opinion you could “mix” both using the alien tecnology plot, making him capable of controling the hulk, and obtaining rare alien tecnology from the battle of new york but still being an extreme terrorist…
iron patriot needs more love. i say introduce him from both sides right at the beginning of the movie: the governmental propaganda “america is a hero” side (this being introduced by the president talking and saying that this is the hero that makes americans feel safe at home and confident of tomorrow blah blah blah), and the actual heroic side of war machine where he really does something heroic… with this tony stark could have a field day making fun of rhoady selling out right at the start of the movie…
i agree with the hulk introduced into the storyline but here is the twist i thought of right when i was reading this… while all the suits are being “easter egged” there is one that’s under sheets and it would have engraved on the pedestal “igor” or “buster” to make things more faithful. stark asks bruce whats up with “buster” and he answers “it’s something i developed for me in case all else fails” ;) so everything fails and he remembers the project buster and asks jarvis to iniciate it while he’s fighting the hulk…
this to me should have been an iron man 4 considering how eager shane black was to explore the extremis storyline for iron man 3… he should have kept things simpler for iron man 3… most he could do is have him buy stuff from the ten rings to develop extremis… but no mandarin
Comment by Ralf Caetano — May 22, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
I have to say as a comic/gaming nerd growing up and into today I like
this story better then the I3 movie was. I hate it when characters for
our beloved comic books of past are thrown to the wind and producers
take liberties into there own hands like with “The Mandarin”. Anyway I
do feel that this is the story we should have seen and would have really
enjoyed.
Comment by Chris Smith — May 22, 2013 @ 4:09 pm
You hope this is the last one? See, real fans, just want more content, want to see their favorite super heros on the silver screen. By hoping they don’t make more, you’re showing your just a glary eye’d action film watcher.
Comment by xorth — May 22, 2013 @ 4:18 pm
Lol it’s irrelevant what I think about Twilight because I’m not the target audience. And Shane Black is a huge Iron Man fan who read the comics as a kid. And Joss Wheadon loved the film actually, in fact he was quoted as saying ‘wtf am I supposed to do with the end of Avengers 2 now?’ After being blown away by the film’s final action sequence. Haters gonna hate, by I personally loved the film and found Black’s take on the character refreshing.
Comment by Sasha Nixon — May 22, 2013 @ 4:18 pm
i’d only change a few things in this whole plot but it would still be way better than shane blacks version… i like the idea of a terrorist mandarin though i like the way you wanted to introduce the magical side of marvel through mandarin… now i don’t think you could mix both of them just my opinion so i say you make it either one or the other. in my opinion you could “mix” both using the alien tecnology plot, making him capable of controling the hulk, and obtaining rare alien tecnology from the battle of new york but still being an extreme terrorist…
iron patriot needs more love. i say introduce him from both sides right at the beginning of the movie: the governmental propaganda “america is a hero” side (this being introduced by the president talking and saying that this is the hero that makes americans feel safe at home and confident of tomorrow blah blah blah), and the actual heroic side of war machine where he really does something heroic… with this tony stark could have a field day making fun of rhoady selling out right at the start of the movie…
i agree with the hulk introduced into the storyline but here is the twist i thought of right when i was reading this… while all the suits are being “easter egged” there is one that’s under sheets and it would have engraved on the pedestal “igor” or “buster” to make things more faithful. stark asks bruce whats up with “buster” and he answers “it’s something i developed for me in case all else fails” ;) so everything fails and he remembers the project buster and asks jarvis to iniciate it while he’s fighting the hulk…
this to me should have been an iron man 4 considering how eager shane black was to explore the extremis storyline for this movie… he should have just ignored the mandarin
Comment by Ralf Caetano — May 22, 2013 @ 4:28 pm
i’ll agree with it if stan from south park makes a cameo saying “oh my god they killed rhoadey” and stan lee appears and yells “you bastards!!!!!”
Comment by Ralf Caetano — May 22, 2013 @ 5:04 pm
Cool Story Bro!!!
Comment by Juan Carlos Barbosa Padilla — May 22, 2013 @ 5:06 pm
This, my friends, is the way it should have gone down. Marvel want to add space exploration into the MCU and the logical thing would have been to hint at it in Iron Man 3. Instead, we got a turd.
Comment by reach me that milk — May 22, 2013 @ 5:13 pm
I like the idea. If anything it gives us a good strength measure for the eventual World War Hulk. By having Hulk and Hulkbuster Iron Man be on more or less equal footing, you could have an epic moment in WWH where Hulk destroyes the same armor in seconds, instantly hammering the point across that the shit is indeed deep.
Also props on killing Rhodes. It’s clear the character isn’t going to throw down with the Avengers, this scenario opens the armor up for Norman Osborne (hopefully). You could use the angle to work in some altered Demon in a Bottle plot somewhere down the line.
Comment by Jaco Barnard — May 22, 2013 @ 5:49 pm
This… is actually the movie I wanted.
I blame you for not trying hard enough to persuade the producers :p
Comment by Ben K — May 23, 2013 @ 11:03 am
This would be WAY BETTER than what was actually produced. Sadly, you seem to be missing a critical perception of what can and can’t happen in Hollywood, which currently is: the Girlfriends must be involved. So this script could never, ever make it to print in today’s political/commercial climate, since:
“Killing Rhodes also avoids that lame third act ‘surprise’ where Tony
fails to save Pepper Potts, who then reappears as Liquid Magma Super
Girl and saves Tony.”
This is exactly what can not happen, in any modern version of any story telling. At some point, the guy has GOT TO have his ass pulled from the fire by his female significant other, to prove that he is really nothing without her, so you just skipped your first obligatory point.
Again with the conclusion this is pure gold, what you wrote was fun and interesting. Unfortunately, it does not refer at any point to the hero sacrificing a major portion of his lifestyle for the satisfaction of his girl by blowing up all his favorite shit to prove she’s more fucking important.
So, not gonna sell, even though it’s better. Too bad, that was a mighty fine re-write you got there, and It’s goodness was not anything to do with it’s address of gender issues. The badness of the actual film was pretty much dictated by this, though.
Seriously I don’t care that much about gender marketing, I just notice that it’s shitting on my movie and TV enjoyment for the last five or ten years by making every fucking thing about that, rather than the storytelling.
Comment by Tungsten_Spork — May 23, 2013 @ 11:03 am
Not bad, my only issues would be that similar scenarios have been played out multiple times in the Ironman cartoons, it’s not new. Secondly, the movies have to reach for the mainstream as well as pander to us longterm fans – prior to Civil War Ironman was no longer one of Marvels A-list.. things like the Hulk Buster armour & the Mandarin’s power would stretch the credulity to thin with none fans. Saw IM3 with my brother & had to point out the Silver Sentiinal & the Hulkbuster, they meant nothing to him. Finally, the long drawn out bust-up type of battle is SO overdone nowadays, remember feeling sick watching Mission Impossible 2, IM3 did a good job of keeping things snappy and original, turning it all back into a conventional action move + Ironman would be a disservice.
Personally for me, the story and twists of Ironman 3 were fine, it was the directing that needed intensive care… there was a lot of flab and plot holes that needed filling in which could have turned a good movie into something exceptional.
Comment by Dante Solablood — May 23, 2013 @ 12:55 pm
Don’t know if this would have been a better movie, but it certainly wouldn’t have felt so out of place next to the other films. I too was completely disappointed with the Mandarin twist, another jealous corporate guy as villain, the disposable suits,etc., but I really don’t consider myself a fanboy. If you’d have asked me who Mandarin was when they revealed him as the villain of the next Iron Man movie, I would have said, “some Chinese dude with magic powers or something.”
Comment by Adam — May 23, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
That was as good an idea for Iron Man 3 as my idea for Hangover 3: have it be about Chow renewing his vows to his wife, but have him get kidnapped during the bachelor party. Let’s see Chow’s world from the inside as the wolf-pack tries to save him!
Comment by drlarrymitchell — May 23, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
Plot holes you could fly a Batwing through…
Comment by drlarrymitchell — May 23, 2013 @ 3:57 pm
brilliant…on all counts!
Comment by steve — May 23, 2013 @ 5:11 pm
So glad I got to see Shane Black’s excellent film instead of some pathetic, whining fanboy’s fantasy drivel.
Comment by BlazeForDays — May 23, 2013 @ 5:17 pm
If you think this fanfiction nonsense would make for a better film, you’re in absolutely no position to start barking at anyone else about “poor story.”
Comment by BlazeForDays — May 23, 2013 @ 5:18 pm
Well considering it was the first time his house had been attacked, I imagine his future homes will. I guess when he challenged the Mandarin to a face to face he never actually thought he’d follow through on it.
Comment by Jeffrey Shain — May 23, 2013 @ 5:20 pm
That was in the comics, you pitiful, petulant nerd. The movies have their own continuity.
Comment by BlazeForDays — May 23, 2013 @ 5:20 pm
Iron Man 3 was easily the best of the Marvel Studios movies, a much better film than The Avengers. All these complaints are from bitter nerds who’ve actually convinced themselves they could come up with a better story when most of them couldn’t compose a coherent sentence if their lives depended on it.
Comment by BlazeForDays — May 23, 2013 @ 5:29 pm
Yeah the movie sucked but yours isn’t really any better IMO. Remember, this is an Iron Man movie, not an Avengers movie or an Iron Man vs Hulk special edition. It’s kind of counter productive to throw in Avengers characters then make them battle it out near the end of the flick when there’s already a bad guy. Hulk had his own movies and we don’t need to see him battle Iron Man. It’s cool in the comics but on screen it’s just a waste of special effects money that could better be spent on making a better movie. Sorry man, I think your movie sucks worse than the real Iron Man 3. No offense, but stick to reviews. You’re much better at that. Hollywood has a hard enough time falling back on special effects over story and the result is movies like Hulk and Green Lantern. (I know, right!?!) I’m sure you put a lot of time into your fanboy script, but that’s all it really is… Just fanboy stuff. it would never hold up on screen.
Comment by hannoverfisst — May 23, 2013 @ 5:34 pm
I didn’t like it because basically of all the stupid humor. The pieces flying and hitting him in the head and crotch. The suit breaking at the end when its flying in. Knowing Pepper was going to have some powers to keep her alive and so on. It just didn’t feel like an IM movie and the Mandarian was a complete after thought…then all the various suits, etc…just a CG spectacle.
Comment by James Cave — May 23, 2013 @ 5:39 pm
Seek.Professional.Help
Comment by Gene Malkin — May 23, 2013 @ 5:52 pm
I liked most of what you wrote except that I honestly feel that cheadle has been doing a fine job as rhodes given his limited time to actually be useful. besides lets not kill like the only black superhero currently on the marvel movie roster
Comment by DMJ — May 23, 2013 @ 6:04 pm
This is a great pitch but there are a few serious problems:
1) This isn’t an Iron Man movie. It’s kind of a mini-Avengers sequel.
2) The mind control thing. It wasn’t a very good plot point for the Avengers and it isn’t a good one here.
3) Great concepts and story ideas but not a lot of deep characterization here (which I presume is why you ditch Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan pretty fast).
Comment by twophrasebark — May 23, 2013 @ 6:05 pm
Ohh ! Petulant and continuity . Those are pretty big words for a child. I assume you are a child since you went straight to name calling as soon as someone said something you didn’t like.
Comment by AL — May 23, 2013 @ 6:42 pm
He said that because black screwed the character up. Not because he was blown away. But you do have a point about the target audience thing though. The movie was geared toward little kids and people that only know about the characters from the movies
Comment by AL — May 23, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
At that point was RDJ signed on for more films after Avengers 2 or no? This is key to how to movie played out. They may have taken a safe route with ending it as a trilogy just in case he would not be back. I mean recasting Iron Man in the middle of a plotline is an issue, as everyone would know, and wrapping up Iron Man in Avengers 2 would be problematic to the length of the movie.
Comment by Christopher Mahone — May 23, 2013 @ 10:25 pm
You know Tony had that surgery in the comics decades ago, right?
Comment by James Baker — May 24, 2013 @ 12:16 am
So you don’t want anything to happen in these movies that hasn’t happened in the comics? Why would any genuinely creative writers or directors ever want to be involved in something like that?
Comment by James Baker — May 24, 2013 @ 12:19 am
I had more fun reading this guys wants and wishes for Iron Man 3 than I did watching the actual movie.
Comment by Red VonMunster — May 24, 2013 @ 1:28 pm
That’s the thing. It didn’t improve anything. It just made it yet another business man who had a grudge with Stark, the only difference is that it wasn’t done as well.
Comment by Red VonMunster — May 24, 2013 @ 1:29 pm
wow i actually LIKED iron man 3 until i read this…
Comment by Rafael Jordan — May 24, 2013 @ 1:40 pm
Iron Man 3 was a huge disappointment. Super soldiers who blow up spontaneously? Awful. I also felt as if a “bait and switch” had been done – I was expecting, based on the trailers, an entirely different movie, a movie that had the potential (as demonstrated here) to be a much better movie. I would have much preferred Famout Monster’s screenplay.
Comment by trek_rider — May 24, 2013 @ 1:44 pm
And the fact that you actually liked this movie more than avengers just goes to show what horrible fuckin taste in movies you have. Then again I’m a rope sucker like you probably thinks the twilight movies are amazing too
Comment by AL — May 24, 2013 @ 2:20 pm
Wow ! Way to suck off a sub par movie director. People like you are the reason shit movies make money. What a cock holster.
Comment by AL — May 24, 2013 @ 2:32 pm
I hope they make more. I just hope black doesn’t make anymore
Comment by AL — May 24, 2013 @ 2:34 pm
I’ve seen pornos with better plots than IM3
Comment by AL — May 24, 2013 @ 2:53 pm
I hate you. I hate the movie and was pissed off already but now I’m just sad. I knew it could have been more but… holy freakin’ crap. This would have been amazing.
Comment by jandhyde — May 24, 2013 @ 5:07 pm
3 words my man. BASED IN REALITY – believable is what marvel is going for in its movies
Comment by Kyle Burrows Mitton — May 24, 2013 @ 6:24 pm
THAT would have blown the crap-fest that was (and still is!) Iron Man III. Personally, I seriously enjoyed Iron Man 2. Iron Man 3 ia no more than a buddy-cop flick with a few flying suits thrown in.
For Shane Black to take Mandarin, Tony Stark’s perennial unbeatable arch-nemesis, and give us the absolutely ridiculous treatment he did should spell Blacks’ pink slip from Marvel studios. Sure, it made over a billion dollars. But it did absolutely ZERO to advance the Avengers Film Story Arc. ZERO.
You can simply go directly from Avengers to Thor: The Dark World without even watching Iron Man III and not miss a beat. It is a pathetic derailment of the momentum coming out of Avengers. Each film of the Avengers Phases SHOULD be advancing the story line to the inevitable climax of Avengers 3: the final defeat of Thanos by the (larger and improved) Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Inhumans. And all we got was a travesty of what SHOULD have been.
Comment by Joel C Pousson — May 24, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
Agreed, Gene. Tourettes’ Syndrome is the LEAST of that kid’s problems.
Comment by Joel C Pousson — May 24, 2013 @ 7:03 pm
I actually really liked the movie. I thought it was clever, different, and really the film Iron Man 2 should have been. While I was a little disappointed that the Mandarin was changed, I think the way the movie did it not only worked, but it was clever, and I didn’t see it coming. I knew that Killian was a bigger part of the operation than he appeared to everyone else, but I had no idea he was that heavily involved. I will say, however, that your idea is very interesting, and I think it shows promise. However, the movie gives a perfectly good reason why the other Avengers weren’t called in: Tony didn’t have the time or resources. Everytime he had the resources, he was too busy, and every time he had time, he didn’t have the resources. Also, it feels like this movie was the final step in Tony’s evolution as a character, and it fits really well. Your idea was great, and would’ve been really interesting, but I think the film works fine on its own.
Comment by P Carlock — May 25, 2013 @ 5:29 pm
Sounds like you have AMSR Edney, Goosebumps… Haha. No I liked it too. I’m going to see Iron Man 3 on Tuesday yet I Know what happens in it and I’m expecting to hate it yet I’m a critical movie goer. I’ll be reviewing it on Facebook and showing the disgust at Shane Black within.
Comment by Andy Warren — May 25, 2013 @ 8:53 pm
This is a great read. That isn’t to say I didn’t like Iron Man 3, just that this would have been better. My only worry would be how easily magic would be accepted in Iron Man’s movie-verse by those who don’t read the comics.
Comment by Redline — May 26, 2013 @ 3:08 pm
Geared towards little kids? That’s hilarious. “Don’t be a pussy about it.”
Comment by Sasha Nixon — May 27, 2013 @ 5:17 am
Eh these fanboy flamewars are so exhausting to read. Have fun kids. The movie is what it is and is now the 5th highest grossing film of all time. Congrats to Marvel, Black and RDJ on the film’s immense success and I hope each subsequent Marvel film in this movie-verse dare to be as bold and as fun as IM3. Out.
Comment by Sasha Nixon — May 27, 2013 @ 5:26 am
it’s coming, regardless, with Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2 – I think after Avengers and the alien invasion, all bets are off!
Comment by thefraze — May 27, 2013 @ 2:58 pm
Really? Asgardian Gods? Super Serums? Giant Green Rage Monsters? Mystical Realms and Alien Invasions? What Marvel franchise have you been watching?
Comment by thefraze — May 27, 2013 @ 2:59 pm
gawd damn this was perfect. would have been the perfect movie…christ
Comment by Kitano_Ken — May 27, 2013 @ 3:52 pm
Yep, this would have been a MUCH better movie – but it wasn’t that the scenario in IM3 was bad, it is just that the casting and execution of it left a lot to be desired. And getting Shane Black to do it instead of Jon Favreau (who was doing what instead?) was perhaps as big a mistake as getting Brett Rattner to sub for Bryan Singer.
Comment by consptheory77 — May 27, 2013 @ 5:41 pm
God that sounds so much better than the actual piece of garbage we got
Comment by Lance Miller — May 27, 2013 @ 5:42 pm
What happened to slightly likeable villains? It’s a lot easier to feel emotionally involved in a storyline when it seems like the characters are. I love Guy, but Christ he had a boring role.
Comment by anthony — May 27, 2013 @ 5:58 pm
This is by far a better story than what I saw obviously…however after the events of the previous films it was needed to see Tony and not the armor in action as well as other plot points from the comic…
I agree with the fact that not having Banner in the film in some capacity was not good especially if this film was to be a connector to the marvel films..
Yes I agree that the Mandarin should’ve been better represented, I mean Guy should’ve at least put on the rings and the robe but all we got were some dragon tats ala Iron Fist…If anything..if ever they bring him back hopefully they will fix this issue and the Mandarin will have more motivation….
But the lengthy fight scene you just described with the Hulk does border on FF film quality so it would obviously need to be shortened and its the hulk by the way…… iron man can’t handle him by himself…
Also it was necessary for Tony to have faked his death because of the Mandarin
Comment by vk at nyte — May 27, 2013 @ 6:17 pm
It’s interesting how a bunch of dimwit fanboys got their panties in a bunch over Iron Man 3. Yeah, sure, you were okay with Batman recovering from a broken back and crippling joint injuries by doing a few sit-ups in prison, but OMG, Iron Man avoided using the stupidest “villain” outside of Fin Fang Foom, and listen to you morons whine.
I’ve been an Iron Man fan my entire life. My first Iron Man comic was Tales of Suspense. When they announced that the Mandarin was going to be the villain for Iron Man 3, I just groaned. The Mandarin is impossible to film. He’s a old-school Big-Talk cornball villain with magic rings that he stole from the spaceship of interstellar talking dragons. THAT’S who you dumbasses are “sad” that the movie “disrespected”? That’s like complaining that Heath Ledger didn’t engage Batman in a “boner” competition, the way he did int he comics.
Comment by Mavent — May 27, 2013 @ 8:00 pm
I didn’t get why Tony Stark was so traumatized in Iron Man 3 by the events in New York of The Avengers. That made no sense to me considering that he had already had 2 previous movies with near-death experiences that didn’t seem to affect him as much. Also, I didn’t get why Pepper Potts wanted him to stop being Iron Man when clearly he now has the back-up of the Avengers in case things get really bad. Those are the two points that troubled me. Other than that I liked Iron Man 3 better than 1 and 2. But, I haven’t read the comics.
Comment by Ali Mitchell — May 28, 2013 @ 2:51 am
I hope they don’t kill Iron Man. He’s my favorite one, mostly because of the comic relief. They should kill off Captain America.
Comment by Ali Mitchell — May 28, 2013 @ 2:55 am
I agree. I really like Loki as a villain.
Comment by Ali Mitchell — May 28, 2013 @ 3:54 am
Yes, people who enjoy character development and story have shitty taste while brain-dead, functionally illterate morons who prefer weak dialogue, empty characterizations, and two-hour action sequences with nothing of substance are obviously of far more refined taste.
Simple twat.
Comment by BlazeForDays — May 28, 2013 @ 3:16 pm
BURRRRRNNNNNNNNNN
Comment by dubliousMaximus — May 28, 2013 @ 6:25 pm
Hahah worst troll online, the funny thing is that if you look at his other posts, he’s obviously just a little kid, poor guy.
Comment by dubliousMaximus — May 28, 2013 @ 6:26 pm
you are a geek! a brilliant geek! reading that movie was 1000xs better than the movie. Can’t kill Rhodey though, he’s too pivitol to the marvel universe, west coast avengers his ass and put him on hold or something, killing no. Kill happy hogan, if he doesn’t wanna direct kill em! much less lost overall! I like what you did with the iron patriot story though! atleast he wasn’t there as a bs tactic. I would’ve changed one thing…have them do the extrims aldrich line, but after the first mandarin fight, have tony’s ass whooped, beaten bloody, if not for Jarvis doing an evac protocol, Tony would’ve died. Enter the ACTUAL extremis, nanites in his blood, healing tony, making him stronger, tapped in to JARVIS suit more responsive, he goes back and deals with a ivon venco but controling the crimson suit. Tony and War machine or the Hulk, battle it out with the mandarins flunkies, crimson dynamo/venco, maybe some cheap super soldiers but not extremis powered and BAM mandarin escapes, OR your ending he is caught and given to shield. either way we just wrote a better movie!
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:34 pm
relevant…but then there’s Thor…sooo yeah
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
fanboy or not, that shit was lame, does sound like a delicious beverage though!
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
Didn’t dislike the film as much as you, but also totally geeked out on your treatment. Love it. Maybe it’ll come to be as a fanfilm?
Comment by JudgeJeph — May 28, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
aldrich killed himself a few panels into the comic.
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:37 pm
lol the 1 and 2 did happen in the story that way, the rest i agree with you.
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:38 pm
which is dumb cause pirates johnny depp was drunk always! well jack sparrow you know what i mean.
Comment by Mannie Grant — May 28, 2013 @ 6:42 pm
Really enjoyed reading this. One of my biggest complaints was a continuing theme between the Avengers and Ironman 3 about Tony just being a man in a suit. Then they introduce Extremis…keep making that same comment only to end the movie with Tony just being a man…no more suit…I mean wtf. No extremis upgrade? I felt like they kept hinting towards it and just dropped the ball. The way the Mandarin was handled sucked as well. I ended up expecting it, but then kept waiting for the second reveal of the real mandarin in the background directing Pearce and Kingsley.
Comment by Beau — May 28, 2013 @ 6:45 pm
Good point! I think there is something about a “superhero” with a substance abuse problem that hits a negative chord more than a rum-riddled pirate pseudo-protagonist. I hope these family-oriented decisions don’t affect the next star wars movies….I need Corillian smugglers to shoot first!
Comment by bigshynepo — May 29, 2013 @ 12:29 am
At the very least, Whedon should hire you and make this Iron Man 4. Would just have to explain how very torked the REAL Mandarin was at the fake that was using his name — that could even be what impelled him to take center stage in this movie.
Comment by admiralmike — May 29, 2013 @ 8:35 am
Wonderful… Can we go to an alternate universe where this movie exists and Iron Man 3 is just another rejected bad script?
Thank you.
Comment by Manuel Porras — May 29, 2013 @ 2:43 pm
Good stuff!!!
Comment by Erik Yurkovich — May 29, 2013 @ 6:30 pm
Spot on.
Just read this terrific treatment to my 10-year old son, who was only a little less disappointed than I with IM3…
We are big fans of the Marvel Studios movies and have been very impressed by their excellent adaptations of their properties up to this point. However, now that Marvel seems no longer trustworthy to give us the stories the properties deserve, I think a new position needs to be created at Marvel — the Fan Quality Control Editor, and we hereby nominate you!
my son adds:
Keep Shane Black away from Marvel. He can do an action movie all right but for comic book movies he has no idea what he is talking about. You should have been the director of Iron Man 3. I was most upset when I realized there was no AC/DC song. If your movie was made it would have made more money then Avatar. You really know what you’re talking about. :) :) :)
Comment by Steven SAVITSKY — May 29, 2013 @ 7:11 pm
Much better than the actual movie!
Comment by Kevin Thompson — May 29, 2013 @ 9:39 pm
I enjoyed the movie, but did feel like it was a wasted opportunity to really set up the whole magical aspect of the Marvel universe.
As it’s own standalone film… Iron Man 3 was pretty ok, but I didn’t feel like it did a very good job at introducing “Phase 2” which is that whole idea of “You’re part of a much bigger universe, you just don’t understand it yet.” idea.
New York was one thing, and now that Tony’s seen Aliens and Wormholes and that kind of thing, it seems a little beneath him to even want to get involved with a terrorist.
I would have liked to see your Iron Man 3 the more I think about it.
Comment by Tommy Walker — May 29, 2013 @ 11:15 pm
Great actualization and story line. One detail I might add though would be that we would get to see Tony use more of his remote control Iron suits throughout the film, and even using one suit (or all the suits) against Hulk and the Mandarin to confuse them, making the Mandarin think that he knows which one Stark is in only to be surprised from behind and have his hands crushed. :-)
Comment by Alex — May 30, 2013 @ 9:42 am
THANKS for this version; really!
It really did get frustration away for the lesser movie it was.
Comment by pedrobagoduva — May 30, 2013 @ 8:12 pm
Tourettes MUST be your problem. You MEANT to say, “Hello, I disagree” didn’t you ?
Comment by Phil K — May 31, 2013 @ 10:16 am
Dude, GREAT story. Wish this is what happened.
Comment by Harout — May 31, 2013 @ 1:58 pm
Agreed. And this also actually fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think Feige just gave up and fell asleep during Iron Man 3. Nothing memorable or unique about the plot. Nothing but cheap jokes and Tony being a d*ck for seemingly no purpose.
Comment by Dave Penner — May 31, 2013 @ 2:17 pm
So you’re saying everything in IM3 was pointless…
Comment by Dave Penner — May 31, 2013 @ 2:21 pm
Let’s not get too happy. I was all for Marvel Studios until they let the IM3 crapfest slide by.
Comment by Dave Penner — May 31, 2013 @ 2:22 pm
I despised the after credits scene. Gimmicky, lazy, forced, irrelevant and completely unbelievable, an exact representation of the whole movie. Shawarma which was genius. Joss Whedon should be the only one allowed the write these comedic scenes. Shane Black was just utter fail.
Comment by Dave Penner — May 31, 2013 @ 2:26 pm
Yes, all the way!
Comment by Marvin Dimaculangan Schober — May 31, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
I like the thought but the hulk fighting scene is to similar to the avengers with the team fighting on the carrier.
Comment by buddy — May 31, 2013 @ 4:51 pm
Submit this to Hollywood. Maybe they’ll learn something.
Comment by John — May 31, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
You know what really grinds my gears the blowing up of all of the suits. What happens if some of the soldiers survived he just gets rid of the suits. So for avengers 2 he has to rebuild all if not most of the suits or he’s utterly useless.
Comment by buddy — May 31, 2013 @ 4:59 pm
I’m referring to the author’s post-credits scene above. Not the disappointing mess of a scene we actually waited for and groaned after in cinemas. You are aware of this, yes?
If you are, and still mean that, then yes, I suppose I understand gimmicky. Slightly. Though my opinion stands. I wanted to see, if not Iron Man actually IN space, then at least the development of a space-flight-capable suit. The above would have been an ideal post-credits scene for me.
On another note: I entirely agree. Shawarma was, without question, pure genius.
Comment by hisrealface — May 31, 2013 @ 5:44 pm
Haha definitely didn’t get that you meant the above one. I’m glad we can all agree. I would have honestly taken anything instead of the Marvel movie parody we got.
Comment by Dave Penner — May 31, 2013 @ 5:51 pm
Ha! I see what you did there. I see it.
Comment by hisrealface — May 31, 2013 @ 5:54 pm
1. Well, you never see him wearing shorts other than in that one scene either so there you go. And no, Bane wouldn’t have removed them, he WANTED Bruce to try to get out of the prison, he just never thought he would.
2. Agree with you, that was a pretty big eye-roller. But forgivable in a genre where a guy can have an arc reactor implanted in his chest to keep shrapnel from going further into his heart.
3. He did it in Batman Begins and nobody had a problem with it then.
4. Wow, knit-pick much?
5. If two Special Forces guys can do it, Bruce Wayne can do it. Would showing how REALLY have made the movie better?
Look, I’m not defending this 1Hate2To3Whatever567, he’s clearly an infant. And I’m not saying Rises is without its flaws, but I always gotta jump in when I see people giving simplistic under-developed criticisms of that film. I often feel like people who do that only watched it once, weren’t paying much attention to begin with and then formed opinions based on misunderstood plotpoints and knit-picks that they normally would forgive in films that they liked, without ever going back to figure out why they actually didn’t like it to begin with. It’s fine if you don’t like it, but so many of the complaints I see are about things that aren’t even true half the time, or are a matter or personal taste, or aren’t that big a deal if you are engaged in the story. Maybe a good question is why weren’t you engaged by the story?
Comment by Daniel Van Cortlandt — May 31, 2013 @ 6:21 pm
I watched the movie and knew of the twist ahead of time. The twist wasn’t great, but he movie was not good besides that. In fact, IM2 was better.
Why?In IM2, they took a lame character like whiplash and made him interesting. IM3, the villains remained lame.
I also didn’t like how cheap the suit became in this movie. It no longer seemed special. Has the only upgrade really been how the suit gets on Tony?
Plus, I didn’t like Tony Stark sneaking into the Mandarin’s base being suddenly able to take out body guards without his armor. Yes he used gadgets, but suddenly the guy can take on highly trained guards and soldiers in hand to hand? Plus some of the things he did without the armor were on a superhero level. The movie was weak.
Comment by kego — May 31, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILRES IN BELOW COMMENT….
1) that was an excellent take on how IM3 could have and should have played out. That said..
2) The whole bit with Mandarin and Guy Perse switching rolws with Mandarin being a fake front man is brilliant in that it most accutaely reflects the fake BS we get from our government about terrorism. We know its all false flag BS that the feds let happen so that their buddies in the Military Industrial Complex can ‘keep selling us stuff we don.t need. We get more then enough films that follow the fake “The terorists bogeyman is here to get me so send in the super troops”. Blacks alterantive take was refeshing if less entertaining then what you put forth as a better IM3.
Comment by BlueCollarCritic — May 31, 2013 @ 8:19 pm
You’ve got your Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes ratings wrong. IM3 is rated higher than IM2 on both.
FWIW, I thought IM3 was probably the best of the three, and better than Avengers.
Comment by Greg Maletic — May 31, 2013 @ 8:45 pm
great job! i had a better time reading this then i did watching the movie. honestly, i had a few of the same ideas but you topped it off way better then Mr. Black…. To me he killed the Iron Man….
Comment by Tyler Scott Powell — May 31, 2013 @ 8:45 pm
its ok but kill war machine…..?…..kill the black guy are you serious?
Comment by Jason Barkley — May 31, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Loved the movie, and am a Marvel fan. Can’t always go the route of the book. I liked the Mandarin switch. This movie was hilarious and focused on turning Tony into more than just a tough dude in a metal suit. His interaction with the kid and war machine were great. Fake mandarin was Hilarious too. Fixing his heart IS comic related, and just made SENSE for any genious. He’ll OBVIOUSLY come back even stronger in Avengers 2 and have to have a REASON to come back other than just because he feels he has too.
Comment by Jason Cunningham — May 31, 2013 @ 11:07 pm
kego, The movie itself showed Tony that developed fighting skills when he was showing off some hand to hand moves on a practice dummy. And the only upgrade was not just how the suit gets to Tony. Don’t forget that the newer suits were practically autonomous and the Mark 42 can be controlled remotely by Tony.
Comment by Pillar — June 1, 2013 @ 11:57 am
Care to elaborate?
Comment by Pillar — June 1, 2013 @ 12:29 pm
As far as not improving anything, that is your take. I would have to disagree with your assertion though. I see Killian’s moviations as more ambitious than just settling a score with Tony. Whether you accept the motivations behind creating a terrorist like the Mandarin is up to you.
Comment by Pillar — June 1, 2013 @ 12:30 pm
i would rent out living space in the cinema and pay them to constantly play the film over and over, if this was the plot.
Comment by Lee — June 1, 2013 @ 4:42 pm
Nice treatment but Fing Fang Foom in place of Hulk would’ve been the only thing that would have worked better. Fing Fang Foom under Mandarin’s control from the rings. But “FFF” finds a way to betray Mandarin, tries to destroy Mandarin and Iron Man at the same time. A three way fight goes on where Mandarin and Iron Man have to fight together until they defeat FFF. The fight goes Iron Man and Mandarin mano a mano, Iron defeats Mandarin but almost dies, right before Mandarin ppretends to be dead, he attempts to shoot Iron Man in the back when all of a sudden, FFF uses his last bit of life to grab Mandarin by the leg and drag him down into the volcano he fell into.
Comment by Blastaar — June 2, 2013 @ 12:07 am
elaborate? have you read the iron man comics? imagine if venom or joker or even lex luther was an actor. you can’t do that to an arch nemesis. or have you not read those other comics either?
Comment by WRONG! — June 2, 2013 @ 11:16 pm
Define pointless. I mean, was The Dark Knight Rises pointless because Batman decided to quit? I mean, the whole idea of a hero coming to the end of his journey and realizing he doesn’t need to do it forever, to me, is a beautiful thing. Maybe Iron Man 3 wasn’t the best movie to reflect this moment, but that’s what I think the storytellers were going for.
Comment by Boop — June 3, 2013 @ 12:37 am
Right, I get what they were going for but they didn’t earn it. It was more so just tacked on at the end to make it somehow more meaningful. And then he will ultimately go back to the suits in Avengers 2, contradicting the whole premise. So really what’s the point?
Comment by Dave Penner — June 3, 2013 @ 3:10 am
WOW Great story!
Comment by aries0413 — June 3, 2013 @ 9:41 am
I think in Avengers 2 they’ll spend a lot of time trying to recruit Tony because at the beginning of the movie he’s going to be all like “Guys…, I don’t do that hero stuff anymore” and then Thanos comes in and is like “The fuck you don’t! DESTROY EARTH!” or whatever and shit gets real and Tony’s like “Oh, alright, guys. One more round.” And then he goes out like Boromir in a blaze of sacrificial glory. That’s the way it should go and if Marvel and Disney got any balls at all, that’s how they’ll do it. (And if they wanted to bring him back, just give him a new series where he’s still alive in an alternate universe or something. I mean, why not. Comics do that kind of shit all the time.)
Comment by Boop — June 3, 2013 @ 5:13 pm
Yes. I would have paid more to read this concept than go and see that crap movie called Iron Man 3
Comment by Chris Sirias — June 4, 2013 @ 6:12 am
While I agree that all of your suggestions would have made a way better film than IM3, I must also add one more thing. You really just shouldn’t have The Mandarin at all. The Cold War is over, and China is the new epicenter for our global economy (well if it isn’t now, it will be in another 15 minutes). The whole concept of The Mandarin is just racist. You wouldn’t have an arch villain named The Korean, would you? Come on…
Comment by techraan — June 4, 2013 @ 7:00 am
yes, except dark knight rises was worse than pointless. so far spider-man 3 x-men3 dark knight3 and iron man3. all so devoid of the magic, you’d think 1 and 2 were a dream if we hadn’t made copies. hmm. and superman3 and batman3. The third installments don’t run out of steam so much as they’re run into brick walls. Why is this? Maybe there’s still something in Hollywood that doesn’t want to produce movies as endless serials anymore, and it’s baked into the dna. They try to turn a (for them horrifying prospect?) future of infinite sequels/episodes into some bow-tied trilogy format and deliberately confuse a bunch of story-lines into some forced kind of more mature, less action bulging-at-the-seams-showing “meaning” by which to bind this triumvariate, and its blown up in their faces. Superhero movies weren’t able to work until the men making the movies started with respect for the format. The third intallments all seem to lose it. They try for “something else” and lose what they had in the first place.
Comment by Claude — June 4, 2013 @ 12:19 pm
Premium tv shows are discovering the novel power of paring down to 10 and even 6 episodes per season (thanks BBC). The movies are ultimately failing to meet premium tv halfway (unless you count all 6 movies leading up to avengers as one awesome show, and count iron man 3 as a disappointing/slow start to the second season of the Avengers franchise; as opposed to the falter of the iron man franchise). So– will the new show, SHIELD, help bridge the two media with the new premium aesthetic? Very curious about it. For more than one reason.
Comment by Claude — June 4, 2013 @ 12:32 pm
If you’re going to take Iron Man out of his suit and give him a shield, this is not an improvement. If your story idea is good enough, try it on Captain America, but don’t waste Iron Man on it. What’s so cool about the Mandarin as a super-villain is not armor or shield– he has these incredible rings. The Mandarin was ill used in Iron Man 3. Both in substance and tone,
Comment by Claude — June 4, 2013 @ 12:50 pm
you’re right, i guess iron man being drunk would be different, though him fighting the abuse would’ve made the movie that much better from a role model perspective, not just eliminating it. but yeah dude, disney needs to branch off and be ballsyier,
if Walt can be antiSemitic, and all our kids movies and those perverted undertones, our comix and sci fi should be able to open all doors! IDK about Star Wars, i’ll cross my fingers with you though!
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 4, 2013 @ 1:02 pm
remember when they showed a very very VERY small part where he’s hits his little training post? I think that was a subtle hint to let us know he’s been h2h training. very sublte. :/ in the comics he trained with Cap, who i still am not sure how he got so good at h2h either, but yeah they NEVER introduced that at all!
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 4, 2013 @ 1:05 pm
Yeah, I just think that’s lame. We already had to go through all that in Avengers. No one wants to see a ball-less Tony and waste a bunch of time convincing him. It contradicts everything his arcs have been in previous movies and the team coming together in Avengers. They should have pushed him the other way. Whedon will fix it I’m sure, but I’m just dumbfounded Feige let Shane Black do this with little to no consideration for future movies.
Comment by Dave Penner — June 4, 2013 @ 1:27 pm
Cool plot, but the whole point of seperate superhero movies is to focas just on one hero and his/her life. This could make a pretty good avengers movie though, not like it focases any more attention on ironman than the first one. Realy like the hulk v. hulkbuster part though
Comment by Andy Oilenroc — June 4, 2013 @ 10:30 pm
Having Mandarin take control of Hulk is just a rehash of the Avengers comicbook origin story, substituting Mandarin for Loki. And the Hulkbuster reveal sounds like Ripley in the power loader in Aliens. Does he call Hulk a bitch? Honestly, Hulk an Iron Man shouldn’t fight. They’re buddies now! Comrades in arms! And it’s yet another rehash of Thor fighting Hulk, or Thor fighting Iron Man, or Thor fighting Captain America! Can’t we all just get along? Especially you, Thor?
Comment by GeneralChaos — June 4, 2013 @ 10:46 pm
Oh, brooother.
Comment by GeneralChaos — June 4, 2013 @ 10:47 pm
Completely agree. I’m a huge Marvel & Iron Man fan, and I was permanently annoyed by Shane Black’s Lethal Weapon-y take on Iron Man & Iron Patriot. TONY STARK DOESN’T GO TO TGIFRIDAY’S TO HAVE WINGS & A MARGERITA WITH RHODEY, AND HE DOESN’T PARK HIS ARMOR OUT FRONT!!!!
Comment by Daniel Walsh — June 4, 2013 @ 11:29 pm
I was thinking the EXACT same thing. I literally have just forced myself to forget the real movie and pretend that what you have just described is what we actually got. I will go on forever perpetrating this illusion not only to myself, but to each and every soul I ever meet….ever.
Comment by MYgoodness — June 5, 2013 @ 1:10 am
This review is an embarrassment. The worst kind of review is the “I woulda done it THIS way” review.
Comment by Capital_7 — June 5, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
I agree, the story here is better. I hope the director and other people involved in making iron man 1 and 2 returned for the third installment, and maybe we saw a better iron man 3. I like the story you posted better than the film. Nice, and thanks for sharing.
Comment by Francis — June 5, 2013 @ 11:15 pm
THis sounds perfect.
Comment by Chan Ngo — June 6, 2013 @ 12:00 am
You’d think with almost 30 movies under their belt, Marvel would have learned boy now to go to comic book fans over bad action movie directors when making these
Comment by Ben Dick — June 6, 2013 @ 12:50 am
This movie you describe sounds like one big boring sfx-filed slug fest without a point. Only thing I like was killing off War Machine. He is a bit of a nothing character in the movies and could have served as an interesting motivation for Ironman.
I liked that they went smaller for the movie, focusing on the aftermath of the Avengers movie, having Tony question things and being unsure of being ironman. The Mandarin twist was actually well done, delivering an interesting take on what we perceive to be true, media manipulation; something that most people seem to miss.
While Ironman 3 was not perfect, it is a good story – something that is very lacking in the movie described here
Comment by Alex Miller — June 6, 2013 @ 11:29 am
The entire movie I kept saying, “WHY don’t the Avengers come help him??” (of course I said this in the comfort of my own home, not a movie theater- I wouldn’t pay to see this crap movie) You explanation makes perfect sense why none of them could help except Hulk. I WISH they would just make Iron Man 3 never happen, and remake it this EXACT way instead. The Mandarin was such a disappointing villan, Killan was such a disappointing villan, Pepper was such a disappointing Magma woman.. they definitely should have just dropped that entire plot line. And self destructing all his suits? What was the point of that, exactly? To prove some stupid shit to Pepper? After the suits all came to save her and the president? What if not everyone was dead- and you just destroyed all your damn suits, Tony? You gonna rely on your lava woman to help you again? Made him look like such a pussy.
Comment by Andrea Wright — June 6, 2013 @ 11:38 am
Yes reading this was better than watching the movie. When i found out they switched directors though i knew it was going to blow my mind or make me regret spending money on a ticket when i could have went to something else that day lol.
Comment by Joe — June 6, 2013 @ 2:42 pm
This was 500,000,000 times (yes five hundred million timess!!!) better than the actual movie. I’ve been an avid Marvel Geek since i was 4. I don’t like what they’ve done in this one. I still want to wait and see how they tie in all the story arcs together, i super agree with you that Hulk should appear in this, him and tony need to be mashing their brains together..and now with Mandarin not being a mystical entity they basically just wrote off any mystical story arcs, so no doctor strange, no power rings, does that possibly mean no scarlet witch? Anyway back to Mandarin, he is Tony’s Arch-Nemesis, and we kind of have to appreciate the modern spin that they’ve given the Mandarin, even though it makes it seem like they’re completely writing of Magic from the storyline…we’ll just have to wait and see. I’d Love to see your writing put into a movie even if an animation, sounds frigging EPIC!,
cheerrs.///
Comment by Boudy — June 6, 2013 @ 6:22 pm
Maybe I didn’t give a shit since I didn’t read the comics, but I actually really like the movie. And Iron Man 2. I guess that’s weird, or something? The story you wrote out above sounds like an awful, Shyamalan-grade mess. Explosions and a focus on action does not instantly make a good movie. Sorry kid.
Comment by Zetal — June 7, 2013 @ 5:12 am
Holy cow I got goosebumps after reading the movie you wanted to see. I would have seen Iron Man 3 at least 5 times opening week if it had been like you wanted. My god man, you needed to be the writer of IM3. Now we’re stuck with Extremis Pepper and Trevor… :( Great post!
Comment by TomatoHead — June 7, 2013 @ 3:56 pm
Ya’ know, not bad at all. This story would’ve connected Iron Man 3 with Guardians of the Galaxy
Comment by Jaimme Riaño — June 8, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
My opinion is that the Marvel universe is trying to explain everything with science. They even say in Thor that magic is just science nobody understands. Unless they were going to spend the bulk of the movie figuring out that the Ten Rings were powered by an arc reactor clone, there was no point in bringing it up. I agree that earthly magic would be the way to start the next phase of Marvel stories, then Thanos going for the Infinity Gauntlets would be the logical move. But we don’t know what they are planning for A2. Thanos might just be a good idea to play the role of the talking evil guy with a powerful army. It all depends on whether they want to keep throwing Science into every explanation and ignore the stories about real magic.
Comment by James Barber — June 9, 2013 @ 3:55 pm
MASSIVE let down after the build up they spouted in the first film. We introduced the 10 rings, but couldn’t bring in the Mandarin yet. He’s one of Iron Man’s greatest foes so we went with Stane and the Ironmonger instead (even though they should’ve happened later). It’s like having Luke fighting Palpatine in a New Hope…it wouldn’t make any damn sense.
How far they’ve fallen….They merged the Mandarin with a character in the Extremis comic line who, no kidding, dies 3 pages in….and 80% of the characterization is from the dead guy.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:10 pm
The IM2 Whiplash was 80% Crimson Dynamo, 20% Whiplash….so..yeah..IM2 had nothing to do with making Whiplash not suck….Crimson Dynamo is just better.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:12 pm
In truth…No…actually…..I’d much rather see the character I came to see, then some POS original character borrowing their name.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:15 pm
Killian dies 3 pages after the Extremis storyline starts…now you know. He has almost no input at all…and yes…the IM3 uses HIS characterization primarily….instead of a MUCH better and much more wanted character.
My Mom (HUGE comic nerd (though mostly a DC (big Wonder Woman fan)). went and saw the movie and liked it, and said she couldn’t understand why I hated it so much….so I lent her the Extremis comics and several of the Manderin’s comics…..yeah…she changed her mind pretty damn quick.
Comment by Kaiyl_kariashi — June 10, 2013 @ 8:20 pm
This proposed movie-plot sounds 10,000 times better than that abomination we had in theaters. Marvel — hire this man immediately to develop your films. As a long-time Iron Man fan, to have The Mandarin reduced to comedic foil was terrible. Marvel failed to stick with the formula that made them successful before IM3 — make movies that appeal to comic book fans first, then the masses will come. The Avengers proved this.
Comment by Mike — June 11, 2013 @ 1:26 am
Sounds like Fanboy BS that would have tanked. I thought Ironman 3 was really enjoyable – Much better than number 2 which was approaching turkey status.
Comment by fourthletter — June 11, 2013 @ 10:06 am
I loved your version of Iron Man 3, it carries the touch lit by the Avengers movie, while providing explanations for major plot points. I personally enjoy of Hulk’s appearance because it helps fan to get at least to get their favorite brute in some action-packed scenes, because a second Incredible Hulk movie is only scheduled until after the Avengers 2.
We (fans) don’t need to see yet another Obadiah Stane or Justin Hammer, there is more to Iron Man’s story than that.
Comment by Claudio Petherson Santos — June 11, 2013 @ 10:13 am
Meh. 1 billion worldwide means it doesn’t really matter what you think,
Comment by Jackie Jormpjomp — June 11, 2013 @ 12:06 pm
Well go do something about it and pitch it to Marvel so we don’t have to sit through any more awful iron man movies please!
Comment by Sak — June 11, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
well, this isn’t my review, it’s a feature article. Here’s my review: http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/02/movie-review-iron-man-3
Comment by thefraze — June 11, 2013 @ 1:03 pm
Nick Fury. The Falcon – Cheadle isn’t the only black actor in the Marvel Universe. I’m not killing off Rhodey b/c he’s black – I’m killing him off because Marvel completely WASTED the War Machine character. I would love to see them introduce Luke Cage into the mix though – and Black Panther is rumored for Avengers 2.
Comment by thefraze — June 11, 2013 @ 2:05 pm
I would love to see West Coast Avengers but Cheadle just isn’t a very good War Machine to me… if it were still Terrence Howard, I’d be way more interesting in seeing more of the character.
Comment by thefraze — June 11, 2013 @ 2:07 pm
I didn’t want Mandarin to be a carbon-copy of his comic book counterpart, all I ask is that the the writers would aspire to make a villain greater than a cheap gimmick.
Comment by thefraze — June 11, 2013 @ 2:09 pm
Agree x100. The actual movie was one of the biggest letdowns I’ve had at the movies in a long time. There is no excuse for the lazy writing and crappy plot they threw together.
If only people who actually cared about continuity were given some input into these types of projects….
Comment by DanielG88 — June 11, 2013 @ 11:51 pm
The point of the film was Tony’s emotional journey and that the
awesomeness was in the man, not the suit. The whole film dealt with him
adapting to a lack of resources and kicking arse regardless, fighting
with weapons cobbled together from hardware store supplies or just a
boot and glove from a malfunctioning prototype suit. This was the evolution of the hero.
Granted blowing up the suits and ditching his at-hand resources was stupidly short sighted but his character is prone to grandiose displays that aren’t always forward thinking just because he wants to make a statement, e.g antagonising a terrorist publicly when hunting him down quietly would be
the way to go. He destroyed the suits to make the obvious gesture for
Pepper, but remember the last line in the film “One thing you can’t take
away, I am Iron Man” and the reference to his suits being a cocoon; he
has no intention of quitting the hero business but he’s changing how he
does it, which seems obvious to me as meaning that he’s gearing up for
the Extremis armor (wiki Extremis if you have no idea)
What they did with the Mandarin wasn’t bad, it was a much better way to go than if they had tried to make the character genuine and flubbed it like Christopher Nolan did to the Joker and Bane (not a reflection on the actors themselves, they were just handed portrayals that were badly written, much like the entirety of TDKR). I mean hell, they’ve essentially even left it open for a genuine Mandarin to come out of the shadows with ten rings of power made from alien tech if they want to (they weren’t actually magic), one of the rings was for psionic powers, he could have put the idea in Killian’s head. But regardless “there is no spoon” is preferable to them playing knifey-spoony with us.
My only real problem with Iron Man 3 is that Tony kept fighting Killian hand to hand even when he had access to suits that could take him at range.
Your suggestions for how the movie should have played out: this was an Iron Man movie not a Hulk movie and also movie-Tony has faith in Bruce, more than anybody else as we saw in the Avengers, he wouldn’t make Hulkbuster armor, he’s not Batman. Also, no New York, pick a different city in a different country, New York was literally the most recent thing they did. And crushing the Mandarin’s hands does nothing, he’s not the Green Lantern, he can use them even when not in physical contact.
I could go on but that’ll do.
Comment by Matthew Timms — June 12, 2013 @ 1:31 am
That gave me MY laugh for the day. Heheheheh eh eh eh eh! “gobbled pigshit like it was your dick!” hee hee hee heh heh eh heh heh!
Comment by Imo Maru — June 12, 2013 @ 4:04 am
love ur “alternate marvel timeline” of IRON MAN 3. I really do. but let’s just put Rhodey in a coma that wakes up at the end rather than killing him. :)
Comment by Jasper Franelan Sumagpao — June 12, 2013 @ 9:41 am
That would be ‘Oh brother’. Unless your deliberately being derogative and trying to make fun of some ethnic group. You aren’t trying to do that are you?
Comment by BlueCollarCritic — June 12, 2013 @ 11:22 am
I was content with what I saw on screen… bu now I would have liked to see your version. Kudos.
Comment by Miguel Valdez Lopez — June 12, 2013 @ 12:25 pm
the avengers hulk was nerfed as hell, hated it.
Comment by Paul Johnson — June 13, 2013 @ 11:02 am
They should do a Iron Man 3 remake using this concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Jay Mason — June 13, 2013 @ 12:44 pm
So, _Ali_ wants to kill _America_? Did I read this right? Don’t you follow the news man? Obama is reading this (I’m with you btw, Cap is lame)! Also Josh Wheadon is overrated. He puts the “corny” into anything he touches from my perspective.
Comment by Spartakus_X — June 13, 2013 @ 10:52 pm
biggest marvel-related let down!!!??? DEADPOOL IN WOLVERINE ORIGINS! *nerdrage*
Comment by Spartakus_X — June 13, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
I’m a girl. Ali is short for Alisha. Goodness I love America. I’ve been in enough other countries to appreciate it. I just don’t care for Captain America (although part of that maybe because I still see the Human Torch when I look at that actor).
Comment by Ali Mitchell — June 13, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
Just pulling your leg anyway, uhm, miss! We’re good, right stranger?
Comment by Spartakus_X — June 13, 2013 @ 11:31 pm
Yep!
Comment by Ali Mitchell — June 13, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
it was definitely geared towards little kids, to sell merchandise. you saw that random ass kid in the movie right? you saw how they never touched the previous drinking problem, replaced by what, panic attacks?
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:05 pm
I didn’t care for either one actually. BUT there’s no way they can change Rhodey again so bleh, stuck with it i suppose. I mean, too much shit keeps happening on the east (as it is with marvel) when aaaalll of california is there. only thing that happens is thor lands in NM and hulk jumped from state to state. We need to see that whole Vegas fiasco in the next Hulk, but before then fox and disney need to work it out, so they can create the illumanti of marvel Doc strange black panther professor x tony stark…
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
it would’ve made more sense if they added it to his drinking problem then his anxiety attacks, he’s flown a prototype suit at mach speeds, now he has anxiety? yeah, but think about this, if you almost get in a car accident, near death experience, if you choke on an ice cube etc. if you see a whole in space open up, and an alien race trying to kill your planet, well that’s cause for a mental break down, however it should be affecting everyone, cept maybe hulk.
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
agreed with everything, well except i’m 28.
Comment by Mannie Grant — June 14, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
it wsnt suposed to be power rings mandarin. in the ultimates univers it is just an orginisation and a nmae. the fact people expected rings megee from the main marvel verse was there own missguided expectations. there was never gonna be any rings becasue this is all still set in ulitmate universe.
Comment by Jonathan Tansley — June 14, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
but in the ultimate universe where this is set the mandrin is just an organisation and an idia not a load of magic rings. I understand people where hoping for classic marvel mandarin and where disapointed. but if you go into the film expecting mystical power rings and dont get them that will happen. The manderin of the ulitmate universe was fine and portraide acuratly. I had bigger problems with iron man 3 that did not come from misconseptions. My problems are the little boy , just the whole small town bit blergh. and the fact the new suits are stupidly easy to break it seems. killing iron patriot could have worked well instead of the whole small boy bit but please will people stop complaining about the rings they where never gonna be in it.
Comment by Jonathan Tansley — June 14, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
That would have made for a MUCH better Iron Man 3.
Comment by o kiraan — June 15, 2013 @ 12:21 am
Not bad at all. 100x better than the actual film, which was a sad joke.
I’d have worked in parts of the real Extremis storyline though. Supercharge Tony’s heart/arc reactor and have the Hulkbuster Armor be a giant Extremis type suit that grows out of nanos in his body like the way ‘Extremis’ was actually written. Call it ‘Extremis Hulkbuster Armor’.
Adding Ruffalo is a nice touch as well, because (sadly) he’ll never get his own stand alone film before Avengers 3. Probably not even then.
Comment by Leroyspoboys — June 15, 2013 @ 3:43 am
Great idea. I agree with Kevin, I was smiling more reading this than i was watching the movie.
Comment by Stephen Baxter — June 15, 2013 @ 4:53 am
the only things I would change would be to not kill off Rhodes and to still include the Iron legion somewhere in there but this was good.
Comment by sean — June 15, 2013 @ 5:29 am
It would have been an epic movie, that’s for sure. I would have loved to see Bruce Banner and Tony Stark working together. However, that would mean Bruce Banner either had a small role or someone else needs to be scapped from the movie (thinks of the whole Extremis storyline).
For this story to be good, the whole Extremis plot needs to be removed anyway. Otherwise it’s too much new stuff. The fact that Aldrich Killian is behind the Mandarin is brilliant. The audience is completely caught offguard. I didn’t have any expectations, so I thought the twist was awesome and I was laughing hard.
In this version, Aldrich Killian wouldn’t have a part. He would just come off as another rich guy with a grudge. In Iron Man 3 he actually fools the entire world. Without that twist, he shouldn’t be in the movie.
This version also makes it more than just Iron Man. The Hulk is a pretty great character in his own right, so a movie with both Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Tony Stark should get a name of its own.
In all honesty, a Hulk and Iron Man team-up should be done in Iron Man 4 or instead of Iron Man 4. Mark Ruffalo is great as Bruce Banner, but the Hulk is just not that interesting on his own. “The world is filling up with people that can’t be matched”, quote from Fury in The Avengers. Banner and Stark need to start working together, not just to create an armor to fight The Hulk, but also to think of ways to counter alien invasions.
Comment by Henk Sloeber — June 15, 2013 @ 7:04 am
This sounds like a way better version! the only thing i disagree with would be killing off Rhodes, i’d love to see the hulkbuster suit and the hulk go toe to toe on screen :D
Comment by Jack Mehegan — June 15, 2013 @ 9:21 am
nice, i actually enjoy this more than the movie, but it would be ice to introduce fin fang foom instead of the hulk…it’s an ironman movie afterall…no need for other heroes…the suit themselves are the star…
Comment by disqus_K0cd4Tfbd4 — June 15, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
DAMN!!! I’D LOVE TO WATCH THE MOVIE YOU’RE DESCRIBING MY FRIEND!!!
Comment by Lucho — June 16, 2013 @ 4:36 pm
It is sad when you just delivered a better script that Iron Man 3. One that would of pleased fans like me who have read Marvel Comics as a child, and others who are just jumping in from the movies. You need to head to Hollywood, and show them how its done! I would back you up all the way!
Comment by Julius Belle — June 16, 2013 @ 9:13 pm
I think Iron Man 3 could of worked if Guy Pearce character was the Mandarin that you describe in your story. Have the twist on the Mandarian still in there with Ben Kingsley, but make Guy Pearce character much stronger by incorporating what you wrote. Make him a terrorist in a business suit, and have the reveal of his power be the rings, not fire (so stupid). So combining both elements would of been really interesting and a great social commentary on how people perceive terrorists.
Comment by Alexis Hall — June 17, 2013 @ 8:51 am
Do one for Man of Steel.
Comment by dednrurc — June 17, 2013 @ 4:47 pm
Personally I liked Iron Man 3 although there were some issues I had with it. Surprisingly, not the Mandarin. The Marvel CU has always blazed its own trail, they showed that in the first movie by having him reveal his identity. Which, yes, has happened in the comics, although not quite in this way.
My issues were a) Tony destroying his armors. Which, yes, I know why they had to do it but the reasoning was lame. Having Jarvis get infected with some kind of virus would have provided far better rationale. b) Iron Patriot was a chump, practically useless.
All that said, I pretty much like everything you put here and wouldn’t have minded if they’d made a movie like this. My issues would be a) having Hulk star so prominently in what is supposed to be an Iron Man film seems problematic. b) Having Tony win by crushing Mandarin’s hands? That’s it? How anti-climatic. Having him discover something about the rings and find some sort of weakness or something would be a lot better, IMO.
Still, IM3 was a fun movie, I enjoyed it and that final fight scene was cool. Although, call me whatever names you want, I too wasn’t overly jazzed by having Pepper save the day. It just made Tony feel like a bit actor in what is supposed to be his show.
Comment by cypherhalo — June 18, 2013 @ 3:49 pm
I also despised IM3 and what they did with the Mandarin and I think your idea is definitely better, tho maybe better for IM4. I’d rather see the Hulk in a solo film before helping Stark again. Rhodey dead, yes, Cheadle is not Rhodey, and that is way better angst than panic attacks from “meeting Thor”. Not sure if this has been mentioned already in the 300 other comments but the Mandarin’s powers should come from alien tech, not Dr. Strange related eldritch energies. Stark has fought against Stark-tech and Vanko-tech, so alien Fin Fang Foom tech would seem appropriate. Chitauri tech doesn’t count since he didn’t really do anything science-related there. Anyways – fine effort.
Comment by Ed C — June 19, 2013 @ 9:22 am
I cannot think of a better IM3 to be honest. I was so disappointed with the movie, but this plot outline makes up for it. A LOT! Had a much better time reading this (and picturing the scenes in my head) than watching the actual movie. So many things wrong with Shane Black’s movie, but you single-handedly managed to come up with a well thought out, logical, action packed movie that continues the story from the previous films and fits in nicely with the larger cinematic universe. If only Marvel had done something like this.
Comment by Kevin Tiberius Rockhead — June 19, 2013 @ 10:25 am
i haven’t seen Iron Man 3 yet and probably never will, i’ve heard nothing but bad reviews from my friends. i would have loved to see this though. it makes so much more sense, especially having Bruce around since the Hulk Buster armor’s there.
Comment by Ani Bacon — June 19, 2013 @ 5:23 pm
I just read your story and watched an epic film in my head. I would pay to see this movie 100 times over!
Comment by John — June 20, 2013 @ 9:45 am
Better than any of that crap that was thrown up on the screen and called Iron Man 3. Favreau must be kicking himself over this. The only reason the damn thing made cash was because of Avengers.
Comment by Shadowking — June 20, 2013 @ 11:41 am
HowItShouldHaveEnded on YouTube did a great take on this. Jarvis asks Stark if he should activate Garden Party since he gave his address out on TV to the Mandarin. When the helicopters show up, there are 50 suits waiting that blow them out of the sky. Comedy gold!
Comment by Shadowking — June 20, 2013 @ 11:48 am
Actually it’s not set in the Ultimate Universe it’s loosely inspired by it AND the 616. If it were the Ultimate, Banner would have expelled the formula which caused his transformation, after being stopped on his rampage by Spider-Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony Stark’s body isn’t one giant brain. Thor wasn’t a nurse. See where I’m going with this? Basically what I’m doing is taking a long time to tell you that you’re stupid.
Comment by Red VonMunster — June 20, 2013 @ 10:55 pm
WOW that was epic man…
Comment by Jordan Casedy — June 26, 2013 @ 3:36 am
I agree with a lot of what you have proposed but instead of random upgrades and a hulk team up he should come back with the Comic version of the extremis upgrade (not the fucking retard fire breathing version of extremis) to return for the rematch and now extremis upgraded star wipes the floor with mandarin and tony is also super powered so he can get rid of the shrapnel (assuming that if they did that for reasons we don’t know of yet and it had to be done its a better way to get rid of it and we still feel like tony has a driving factor afterwords, because the way they did it is like the equivalent of having batman’s parents stuck in a lazarus pit and revived, IE BAD IDEA) that’s been plaguing him because hes enhanced by extremis like in the comics it makes him super human by smarts not by strength and this also replaces the shrapnel chest piece super power with another new super power that is wayyyyyyy better this isn’t an opinion thing its just good writing and im not talking myself up its what happens in the comics to some extent and is considered a classic iron man story line
Comment by Stuart Wetovich — June 27, 2013 @ 2:20 pm
I liked the movie, but I absolutely loved yours. For starters, you’re write. Mark Ruffalo was my favorite of the Avengers, and after watching Iron Man 3, I was disappointed that he wasn’t in it.
Comment by Anna — June 28, 2013 @ 12:43 pm
do you mind if i post a link to this page on a site full of iron man fans? i will give you full credit.
Comment by Skywarp12321 — June 29, 2013 @ 12:42 am
That is fricking awesome! I definitely preferred reading this to watching the movie! Something that actually pays attention to the comics! Iron Man 3 was such a let down for me – especially the ending. Whereas this plot actually works! <3
Comment by Lauren — June 29, 2013 @ 1:29 pm
As awesome as this plot is compared to the actual movie, they never could have made it. Because it would have been amazing and likely better than the Avengers. Now who would really want to continue to improve the story arc.
Comment by Avenger Fan — June 29, 2013 @ 1:46 pm
Sure Skywarp, share it all you like – just link back here!
Comment by thefraze — July 8, 2013 @ 2:47 pm
10 times better than the movies plot!
Comment by Rojage Geo — July 9, 2013 @ 12:56 am
I feel like I should’ve paid you for reading that wonderful piece of art. Hopefully iron man 3 isn’t a precursor of things to come, because in my mind I don’t feel like phase two has started yet, it seemed like it was more of an epilogue
Comment by yZach Yeti Leamon — July 10, 2013 @ 11:41 pm
This movie would suck. Just saying.
Comment by Kiekan — July 14, 2013 @ 3:55 pm
With all due respect, I have to totally disagree with you on most of your summary and some of your points.
I was an avid fan of both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. I think they were both fantastic movies. This is the main reason I was so pumped to see Rises. Now, having said that, yes, there is obviously a suspension of disbelief that has to happen in order to get immersed in the world of a superhero movie, but the days of Jim Carey’s Riddler and Arnold’s IceMan are thankfully long forgotten. A new era of hyper-realistic (well, as hyper-realistic as it can be) super hero movies that at least attempt to base their fantastical powers and devices on science and their characters and their emotions in the real world has been ushered in, largely by Batman Begins!
Now, To tie this discussion back to the current thread and to smartly thrash your second argument…I was wholeheartedly disappointed at the end of IronMan 3 when Stark got the shrapnel taken out of his chest effectively making his need for the arc reactor over time, and therefore most of the story arcs of the entire franchise, completely superfluous. You mean to tell me a multibillionaire weapons genius who was able to create the arc reactor MacGuyver style in a hole in the remote desert and do surgery on himself, of type medical (to keep the shrapnel out of his heart) structural (seemingly removing his sternum and replacing it with a metal hole to keep his chest from breaking open Alien style) and cosmetic (not much damage apparent to his chest after all that), couldn’t just get the damn shrapnel removed while in said hole and install the arc reactor in the awesome first generation suit he made? Then, instead of having it removed when he gets home, he suffers through being vulnerable to Obadiah Stane’s attack of removing the arc reactor (which, by the way, almost killed him so how is he having it removed again?) and blood poisoning from the arc reactor? Crap. Pure crap. Yet another instance of the vale of reality being shattered to allow you to see the absurdity of the genre. I don’t want to feel absurd while watching these movies. I want to be entertained to the level that they pulled me in with Begins, IronMan1, and the Avengers.
Now, back to the topic at hand. Bruce’s self imposed banishment and subsequent phoenix-like reimagination of himself as crime fighter in Begins could only have occurred through the kinds of self revelation brought about by the types of travels he chose to undertake for the amount of time he chose to take them. Now, you “could” argue that this is why he is able to so quickly rehabilitate himself and return to Gotham in Rises, but the unfortunate nagging issues that pop up ALL over the rest of the movie just make this that much more difficult to believe. If he is thoughtless or ill-prepared enough to leave his Bat-Wing under a tarp used for desert camouflage on top of a building in the city instead of in some bunker somewhere, how can he pull off this amazing recovery and journey in no-time flat? And, I’m sorry, but that’s only nit-picky if that was the only issue with the movie. Just like the idea in Superman3 that you can amass a fortune by stealing portions of a cent at a time, the creators of this movie slowly killed the ambiance of reality, little annoyance by little annoyance at a time.
Comment by BFromT — July 14, 2013 @ 5:43 pm
RESOUNDING YES! You have my vote to be hired by Marvel Disney to help Story edit their next film…What a great read!
Comment by Emanuel Camacho — July 21, 2013 @ 1:27 am
WOW!!! Why couldn’t Marvel/Kevin Feige/Shane Black have filmed this story? I was SO let down by IM3, and this is a miles, miles better story. Why are they so afraid of mystical, magical elements? We’re supposed to believe Thor/Loki etc. but magic’s too much? This would’ve been a sweet story, with Iron Man emerging the true hero. I’m sure Downey would like this treatment of his character. Oh well….
Comment by Elephant — July 22, 2013 @ 10:04 pm
I enjoyed the movie, but would have either loved to see this version or an actual attempt at Warren Ellis’s Extremis. Extremis is one of my favorite Iron Man stories and to see a watered down, PG13 version where Maya gets off as a repentant tragic empathy character instead of representing tainted idealism and the path Stark could have taken. Man, did I want to see her led away in chains with the plot coming full circle and the point properly made. Nope
Comment by Gotz — July 23, 2013 @ 11:44 pm
The plot sounds great and is fanboy awesome, but getting it produced this way after director and co. get ahold of it. Well, good luck. In real life, attempt fan boy awesome and end up with Kevin Smith. You either derail yourself or let others do it for you.
Comment by Gotz — July 23, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
3rd movie Marvel syndrome. Spiderman 3, X-Men the Last Stand, need I go on? In comparison even nitpicking, IronMan 3 came out pretty good.
Comment by Gotz — July 23, 2013 @ 11:50 pm
I’m not all impressed with this IM3 as it seems like it was produced by Hasbro not a movie studio, but the bottom line is IM3 was disappointing. Seems Marvel us unable to create 3 consecutive strong movies. X-Men 2 was better than 1, and 3 was the worst. Spiderman 2 was better than 1, and 3 was awful. And now as great as Iron Man 1 and 2 were, 3 just fell flat. That’s one major edge DC has on Marvel so far (Batman)
Comment by Drew Pierce — July 24, 2013 @ 1:23 pm
But he’s BATMAN. Dammit!!! That IMMEDIATELY negates any shitty (or stupid) writing.
How DID he do all those things? Because….Batman!
and you forgot my favorite: he stops to make a bat signal on the bridge with some flammable substance and naturally no one saw him and he knew EXACTLY where to stage it for the most cinematic impact.
Because….BATMAN! dammit
(i’mbatmandammit)
Comment by Nathan McMahan — July 24, 2013 @ 11:50 pm
In comparison to X3 and Spider-man 3, Iron Man 3 was AMAZING… And this was even better. Someone give this man a contract writing films for Marvel!
Comment by yourdailymarvel_onfacebook — July 25, 2013 @ 12:42 am
Freakin’ awesome!!! Yeah, that’s the movie it should have been.
Comment by Michael Link — July 25, 2013 @ 1:13 pm
this was sick. loved it
Comment by wooooops — July 25, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
“I just don’t care about yet another industrialist with a grudge against Tony.”
Amen!
Comment by DrNope — July 27, 2013 @ 1:08 am
Such an enormous improvement, no time wasting bull-shit. I still cant believe it. The screenwriters decided to ignore the Mandarin and opted instead for “fire-people.”
Comment by Randal Thomas Richardson — July 27, 2013 @ 6:56 pm
Yup, and it would have been loved by a couple thousand teen (at least mentally) geeks while the overwhelming majority of the audience would have wondered why they wasted money on a teen boys comic wet-dream.
When are the geeks going to get it? I count myself as a comic geek too (and at 48 one of the older ones) but am able to step back and see that comics do not translate directly to the screen. You also have to open up the world to those who don’t care about the minutia from decades of comics nor do they want to “catch up” with the entire history of each character just to watch a 2 hour flick.
We have our own problems with story and character that for some reason we find acceptable. “Retconning” is nothing more than a massive cheat used to regain the ability to tell a story without breaking the rules. Have any of you really tried to step back and look at origin stories? Most of them are horrible and many are structured like a dartboard was set up with verbs and nouns just to create some BS intro and reasons for powers real quick to get to the main story. I’ve always loved the way characters just happen to have names that line up with their superpowers.
There is a large amount of silliness to many comics, face it.
I still love comics. The pro’s generally outweigh the cons but I’ve always known they would never make it as mainstream works by a large part of the population.
The best movies of the past decade have done a pretty good job of opening up to a larger audience while maintaining many of the comic themes.
The idea that a bad movie “ruins” a property somehow is also stupid.
Comment by Frank Mondana — August 2, 2013 @ 7:19 pm
Dude KUDOS i thoroughly enjoyed that. I did not like the movie I was one of the thousands of mandarin fans let down by the charade played out by black and marvel I was never a huge iron man 3 but all hell I love THE MANDARIN and ben kinsley was sit for an awesome performance than that thing marvel calls iron man 3 happen. I love how the internet is having an effect on the things we grew up loving in life allowing us to keep the legacy alive!
Comment by Stephen Palmer — August 3, 2013 @ 8:56 pm
I think this is an awesome plot, but I wouldn’t kill off Rhodey. I liked Cheadle as Rhodey at least in Iron Man 2. I didn’t like he was done in the 3rd, but the rest I would definitely love to see happen.
Comment by FallenMarvel — August 3, 2013 @ 11:55 pm
I would have paid just to read what I just read.
Comment by AfricanAtlantian — August 5, 2013 @ 5:00 pm
Yea i never thought of it but rhodes is totaly useless would help to let him go
Comment by JeagerPrime — August 10, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
But i think it would be cool to keep the twist of the mandarian on the tv set is not the mandrain but is being controlled b the real one instead of having the adrian dude have a actual middle eastern dude in control using magic
Comment by JeagerPrime — August 10, 2013 @ 11:49 pm
Why can’t people stop bitchin’ this I wouldn’t even call it a script wouldn’t have been better all you people praising this it should have been done my way dummy would have complained if this shit was produced. If your gonna bitch about don’t watch it or the sequel, movies and writers have limitations put on projects like these that might’ve passed by a studio in merry merry go fuck yourselve imagination land. “but it could’ve been better” yah it would’ve been better if I was getting blown in the theaters while watching it but I’ve learned to deal it disappointment suck it up princesses
Comment by Michael Nichol — August 11, 2013 @ 10:50 am
The Mandarin’s rings are alien tech, he has never been nor will he ever be a master of mystical arts (you’re thinking of Baron Mordo or possibly Victor von Doom)
Comment by Lexavian — August 14, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
I liked Iron Man 3. Yeah, the Pepper Saves the Day thing was corny, and I didn’t like the destroying suits thing (though I suspect he destroyed his suits intending to restart using the Extremis technology). That said, I like your idea a lot too, could have been awesome. If Mandarin is a master of deception though, he could still come back and be revealed to have been the mastermind after all. Hell, Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin might have been a puppet of the real Mandarin.
Comment by Sam Kay — August 15, 2013 @ 4:03 pm
That was a REALLY entertaining read haha
Comment by Liam Mortimer — August 16, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
If this was im3…. it would have been my favorite marvel movie, sans avengers
Comment by Darian Decker — August 16, 2013 @ 6:08 pm
I really liked the Mechanic-and-kid scenes, personally, and this alternative plot misses out on them. Otherwise, great ideas for how it could have gone down!
Comment by Jules — August 17, 2013 @ 8:12 am
This is pretty generic and awesome for a storyline. With more time, fine details can be fine tuned… i guess it’s all about who you know in Hollywood. I wish a true enthusiast can take on these roles. Maybe with Joss Whedon in charge, it’ll change a bit.
Comment by Ramodelmar — August 17, 2013 @ 3:37 pm
Not a bad plot for Iron Man 4, where the REAL Manadarin makes an appearance. It could work.
Comment by Rickthecompgeek — August 20, 2013 @ 3:30 pm
The comic-style graphics in the closing credits were more authentic and stylish than the movie.
Comment by MediaCritiquer.com — August 20, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
I really don’t understand the grief Iron Man 3 gets. It was by far the strongest film in the trilogy. It had the perfect mix of humour, drama and action. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the overly CG multiple Extremis bad guys versus multiple Iron Man suits bust up at the end. It got a bit too busy and hard to follow like the battle at the end of Transformers 2. It just became so big that I didn’t really give a shit who won in the end.
The treatment of The Mandarin in the movie made sense to me and totally fits the tone of the film. Ben Kingsley was great. The Marvel films are set in the real world (Well! an imagined real world, but a world that is trying to be believable to a modern cinema audience.). The outcome of the Ten Rings and Mandarin arc make perfect sense for this movie trilogy. The Mandarin reveal is the only possible outcome for the character in this movie universe and it worked a charm. I think it was a daring choice that I greatly appreciated because it didn’t treat the audience like drooling morons. It forced you to compare the events in the story with the very real “War on Terror” that is currently being waged in our name and to call it out for what it really is, “bullshit”.
Stop whining because you didn’t get to see the Mandarin bust out his ten rings of power for an epic Iron Man/Mandarin showdown. Yawn!
Comment by Jerome Mazandarani — August 21, 2013 @ 5:44 am
i seriously enjoyed this article way more than the movie itself. you should submit this to marvel, the could aplogize to the fans and re-make IM3 like this…
Comment by Sean Gilly — August 21, 2013 @ 4:28 pm
I would love to see Hollywood back this version of Iron Man 3. Much better story than the garbage we were fed by Black.
Comment by William — August 21, 2013 @ 4:33 pm
this would have indeed been a better movie and will make viewers salivate on the next avengers movie
Comment by Hulk Hogan — August 22, 2013 @ 5:57 am
Well done.
Comment by Bann Man — August 22, 2013 @ 10:00 am
“Ironman 3 ” wasn’t terrible,but the slap in the face of having a bogus Mandarin with no rings made it so disappointing.One of the reason “The Avengers” was so good was that it came close to the original spirit and identity of the characters we all came to know and love in the books.”IM3″ was a step backwards,much like the “FF” movies-too much deviation from the stories and plot lines that fans grew up with (Galactus as some space-orb instead of a giant purple guy? Who made the decision to go with that approach?).
Comment by josephpuma — August 22, 2013 @ 1:12 pm
this would have been the perfect movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Rudy — August 22, 2013 @ 1:25 pm
Way better than the movie
Comment by Fraser Hughes — August 22, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
Not only should he have been in space. But staring into a portal of a mysterious spaceship where we get a glimpse of a talking Racoon looking back at Tony. Rocket exclaims, “What the…”, and the camera cuts black.
Comment by Grady — August 23, 2013 @ 2:15 am
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THEY MADE THE SCRIPT?!?!?!
Comment by Paul — August 23, 2013 @ 3:39 am
SO much this. I stumbled upon this 3 months later and really enjoyed. I wish to see more now. Maybe someone can even make a sweet HISHE-like short outta these things.
Comment by Yam Borodetsky — August 23, 2013 @ 9:44 am
Uhhh…the Mandarin’s powers are not MAGIC BASED!!!! He does not CAST SPELLS!!!! The source is alien technology. Your plot sounds much worse than what we actually saw.
Comment by goosh69 — August 23, 2013 @ 5:51 pm
Wow you are one heck of a storyteller !
Iron Man 3 should have been directed by you man :D
Comment by Johanan — August 25, 2013 @ 3:22 am
I know I’m 3 months late to this party, but goddamn, this is EXACTLY the Manadrin movie we needed, but the studios for some reason felt we didn’t deserve… :(
Comment by sadoul1 — August 26, 2013 @ 1:41 pm
How they handled the Mandarin was genius, and the fanboys are so upset that they didn’t get the comic book that they expected is preventing them from seeing that. Why was it genius? Because the movie did to the audience exactly what the characters in the movie did to the world: allowed everyone to believe that this guy was a huge criminal mastermind in order to cover up what was really going on. It played on the fact that The Mandarin is such a major bad guy. I’m sorry you didn’t get the character from the comic, but if you wanted the character from the comic, you should have read the comic. But y’know, there’s nothing saying that part of The Mandarin’s genius is that he convinced everyone that he was just some actor.
An entire film built on Hulk vs. Iron Man? Sorry, no. That would work great in the comics, or as a couple scenes in the next Avengers movie. But there’s not enough meat there for 90 minutes, just like there isn’t enough meat in Warren Ellis’s “Extremis” story line to carry a movie by itself.
Comment by Keith — August 26, 2013 @ 3:16 pm
@famous monster
great script, i would pay to read your script rather than watch IM3 again. why the fuck are not working in Hollywood?
Comment by ccdev — August 29, 2013 @ 10:09 pm
Shane Black’s Iron Flop was just sloppy storytelling, pure and simple. Genius? Really? LOL. Amazing how people bought into a petty twist to cover up Black’s inability to create an epic film.
Comment by Joe F — August 30, 2013 @ 10:06 am
Oh, and great article man!
Comment by Joe F — August 30, 2013 @ 10:07 am
Wow that was spot on!!! damn. Someone hire this guy and fire Shane Black from ever touching a Marvel film ever again please. The only thing I would have like to see is better back story on who the Mandarin is/was.
Comment by mbq1 — August 30, 2013 @ 6:10 pm
Ah but you forget those films were not under the control of Marvel.. This was and should have been way more intentionally streamlined into the Marvel universe and authentic to the original source material.
Comment by mbq1 — August 30, 2013 @ 6:12 pm
I love this idea so much more than what we got. IM3 was a good movie but not Avengers good, I left feeling like I watched IM2 again only with more Pepper. IDK this was the disappointment of the summer for me. It was ok but not the follow up I was expecting. I still think they should have let one of the other movie heroes out first like Cap 2 then IM3 (especially since it took place at Christmas in the movie) and then Thor 2. I am just Iron manned out at this point and want some new blood.
Comment by Zombiest — August 30, 2013 @ 6:49 pm
The rings are alien, that’s true, but they cannot be explained by earth science. We use the word ‘Magic’ because magic is the explanation to the unexplainable…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — August 31, 2013 @ 4:47 am
This is exactly the movie I had in mind. Apart from Rhodey dying, I actually hadn’t that too much about his character. I mean, why would you hint in the Avengers that Bruce Banner is going to be working with Tony Stark if you weren’t going to use that arc. I thought for sure that giant Iron Man from the trailer was the Hulk Buster. And having Killian become the Mandarin as well as being a Human Light-saber? No thanks… But your vision, A+ Good Sir! Good Form…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — August 31, 2013 @ 4:52 am
Nearly have of that couldn’t happen in Iron man 3 makes sense in context, even if it isn’t the best, but at least iron man 3 makes sense what you said is sad. Hulk can’t get a crushing blow and why in the world will their be a iron patriot if he just died two minutes in the film. It is called iron man 3 not iron man and the hulk. The laugh off that the hulk could have just killed iron man. Also the mandarin just has magic powers that aren’t explained, if something isn’t explained don’t expanded it into something. Also i think if the mandarin mind controls someone why not iron man himself. Last, none of his weapons work, but you say he just has upgrades to beat him that’s sad.
Comment by Spencer Reece Giles — August 31, 2013 @ 7:24 pm
Also it’s already a movie there’s nothing you can do about it. The movie will still be there just say you don’t like it don’t make a whole new story line when that doesn’t matter.
Comment by Spencer Reece Giles — August 31, 2013 @ 7:35 pm
i really enjoyed the main points made in “your iron man 3”
especially the whole iron patriot being off and captured and the whole hulkbuster suit being made by bruce and tony incase hulk goes outta controll again and then using it at the end to fight hulk. awesome. i too agree iron man three ruined it .
Comment by rob — September 1, 2013 @ 12:52 am
and to those who are against the hulk fighting iron man, i get it. . . its not a hulk flick but wtf was the point of the avengers if tony were to get in over his head and didn’t get help from the team they created to stop such threats??? but then again it dosent need to be hulk who he gets to fight him but perhaps somebody else, idk iron patriot or say some other NON-avenger strong type? but like in IM3 showing us the hulk buster suit and then not seing it used on the hulk is a tease….. just sayin
Comment by rob — September 1, 2013 @ 1:34 am
I loved Iron Man 3. Trevor Slattery forever!
Comment by ClaraTheGalvatron — September 1, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
That was beautiful!!! 8D
I liked it, and understood why you would kill off some people (Rhodey…), but i call it a slight bit extreme. It was still great! You gave the (real) mandarin a good spotlight, which is was the only thing missing from Iron Man 3.
In all honesty, i like what they did with Killian, but i HATED that they made him the Mandarin…
You made a lot more references in your version, which is what the movie needed. And everyone would have loved to see the Hulk again – considering he is not getting a standalone.
You have my admiration for expressing your opinion – and what an opinion it was. I hope my opinion somewhat contributes as feedback!
Comment by Rpd7x — September 2, 2013 @ 8:16 am
I was thinking the EXACT same thing. Iron Man 3 was a waste!!!
Comment by John William — September 3, 2013 @ 2:57 pm
Iron Man 3 sucked ass. I was such a big Iron Man fan based on the first 2 movies and The Avengers. The third movie was a great disappointment. I strongly believe that this movie was such a failure due to the fact that Jon Favreau (who plays Happy Hogan in the movies) did not direct it. Shane Black really sucks for messing this movie up. Jon Favreau directed the first 2 movies and they were really good in my opinion and then Josh Whedon did a great job with The Avengers and then came Shane Black (you know how that turned out.) This fan fiction kicks the third movie’s ass. I am greatly impressed and wish that your story was actually the movie.
Comment by Gareth Matthee — September 5, 2013 @ 9:48 am
Love it dude! this was great, I would go watch Iron man 3 and pay 3d if they re-did the movie in this fashion, despite it would be Iron man 3: revised.
(they would think of a better title to replace Iron man 3).
Though if the Mandarin were to attack with his heli’s I was surprised they weren’t picked up by radar or something ages before they got to malibu. I would have launched the other iron man suits on stand by to guard after challenging a tyrant dude like the mandarin. doesn’t take a billionaire genius to figure that out.
Comment by Phil — September 6, 2013 @ 4:01 pm
Hm… let’s see:
1) You’ve got the Mandarin as the racist caricature that Marvel brilliantly sidestepped by having Ben Kingsley be a red herring and Aldrich Killian being the real mastermind.
2) You kill off the only major person of color in the Marvel Cinematic universe so far.
3) You sideline one of the major female Marvel film characters so far, of which there are only a handful, compared to the guys.
4) You ignore the logical PTSD which was perfectly portrayed in the actual film.
Fuck that shit. It’s implicitly racist and sexist.
It’s also dark and dreary for no good reason.
Basically, your idea is shit. I’m glad Kevin Feige didn’t hire you.
Comment by totz the plaid — September 8, 2013 @ 12:09 am
the moment that really make me sorrow is when Tony decided to unplug the arc reactor on his chest. i mean, what is iron man without his chest- arc reactor?… and the mandarin?…. please!!!!!
Comment by Topsykreet — September 9, 2013 @ 7:14 am
Metacritic, rotten tomatoes, they’re all garbage man children with temper tantrums. Their reviews are embarrassing on most movies and games
Comment by DL — September 9, 2013 @ 10:30 pm
That MIGHT work but for the fact that you said “cast spells.” Meaning you did not know that his rings were not really magic. Fail.
Comment by goosh69 — September 26, 2013 @ 4:13 pm
1) actually, if you noticed – I left Mandarin as the same character, more or less, that Ben Kingsley portrayed him as – he isn’t a racist caricature – he’s the same character, with actual powers.
2) Nick Fury doesn’t count? Rhodes isn’t a compelling character, and Cheadle doesn’t make him worth keeping around – so get rid of him. Don’t blame me for Marvel’s ineptitude.
3) Sidelined would be more respectful to her character than turning her into a sports-bra wearing piece of bait. Let’s not call her a “major female character” when all she’s been used as so far is a possession for Tony and Guy Pearce to fight over…
4) Yeah, no one else seems to be suffering PTSD – not even Banner, who has a Monster inside him… I think a billionaire playboy should be OK with accepting the fact that he’s a hero.
Comment by thefraze — September 26, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Honestly, I thought Iron man 3 was great. It showed Tony in a way never seen before, he had to improvise because he was vulnerable. It was at the very least on par with the first, but much better than the second.
Comment by Eggimations — September 26, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
hey that story it doesn´t so bad it all man you have a great story telling you should do something about it it{s a great material that is should not be wasted you are great like kevin said I had a better time reading this than watching the actual movie this is amazing
Comment by Marlon Perez — September 26, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
totally agreed I{ll do the same thing
Comment by Marlon Perez — September 26, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
I certainly did not say he casts spells, and its been awhile since I read the article here, but I don’t think he said cast spells either. He said it would be like Thor, The Mandarin coule use Magic and mysticism. I think its just a word to him. Really, what other word could you use for Thor’s, or Mandarin’s “Power”
Comment by MitchAll2gether — September 27, 2013 @ 11:33 am
His is so much better than the film, I think even a plot to explore other dimension from going up into the worm hole would have a good twist where tony could have still been in a coma in this world……
Comment by happy — September 27, 2013 @ 12:55 pm
Nice. I like the concept. Didn’t hate Iron Man 3, but this would have been a great way to get into Phase 2.
Comment by Redd — September 27, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
I thought you were the author answering. Anyway TOP says “When it looks like Mandarin is defeated, he casts a mystical spell on Hulk and takes control of the beast, aiming him like a weapon toward Iron Man.”
Comment by goosh69 — September 27, 2013 @ 4:26 pm
I stand (I’m actually sitting) corrected, he did say that. But I believe he didn’t mean it as a literal casting of a spell. The word ‘Magic’ is used in this context just to describe a weapon that Humans don’t fully understand. It’s advanced alien technology that we dont understand how it works and how it has the powers that it does. As Thor said, Where he comes from Magic and Science are one in the same. And I remember that one of his Rings on his left hand has a Mind-manipulating ability. I’m Curious as to how you would phrase or describe why and how the rings have abilities? And I am not wanting to sound like a dick, I am truly curious…
Comment by MitchAll2gether — September 28, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
You are a genius sir! This would’ve been a way better plot.
Comment by Patrick — September 29, 2013 @ 8:23 am
Hate to tell ya but no. they already comfirmed that RdJ is on for 2 more films. think Avengers 2. and iron man 4. if not iron man 4 then he will probably die in Avengers 3. But it’s been hinted that Captain America dies. Sense Ultron does kill him in the comics.
Comment by Richard — September 29, 2013 @ 2:14 pm
I feel like I watched the movie in my mind. And, it was AWESOME. I want a refund from Iron Man 3.
Comment by MoTres — October 6, 2013 @ 11:29 pm
DAMN. That was a movie, this is how you tie other movies and allow for spin-offs. Hurt my feelings to watch IM3
Comment by Charles A. Marshall — October 6, 2013 @ 11:30 pm
Yours was a well told synopsis in full visual effect of would have made a better movie! Well Done!
Comment by Ruufus — October 8, 2013 @ 1:26 am
I think, what it is is, this is the point when all of the actors have the most power they’re ever gonna have. They only really ever sign up for 3 movies. If the first was successful, they’re thankful for a 2nd. Once the 2nd one is successful, suddenly they all want the last one on their terms.
They want more lines, more screentime, a more vital, heroic role. Because by now they’ve been this character for almost a decade. Halle wanted Storm to be a bigger character, Gwyneth wanted Pepper to be a part of the fun stuff.
And the studio is scared, because they know renegotiating for more, contract-less films will be costly hell, so this last one has to be a huge splash. They need every gimmick. They need Venom. They need Phoenix AND the cure.
And then sometimes the reach far exceeds the grasp. The Dark Knight Rises was the most ambitious non-Inception blockbuster of the last decade imo. The problem is, the film needed to be about 40 minutes longer. It needed the Joker to transition where TDK ended to when Bane reaches town. And it needed to not feed into the worst characteristics of both Batman Begins and TDK. Because it really was the weakest instincts of BB and TDK writ large. And it also needed Bane to not sound like that, or to make such a joke out of the mechanics of the city and its police being taken hostage.
I think the best chance we have for a great 3rd film is probably Captain America.
Comment by MrONegative — January 6, 2014 @ 2:32 am
Nice original idea: let the final fight happen in New York because thar city has only been destroyed in Transformers Superman, Avengers, etc.
You just rehashed a bunch of plots and aspects already covers. Black did something original that’s why you have a blog and he has a movie.
Comment by mjgardnerfilms — January 9, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
I do think your story idea sounds cool. However, I think anyone in the art industry- specifically books, movies, plays, games and tv shows- anything with a story- will say that you can’t judge a story based on what you wanted it to be. What I mean is, it’s okay to want certain parts to be better, or changed slightly, but you can’t want the whole story to be different.
For example, take the Harry Potter series: it’s okay to want different romantic relationships, or even something as different as Harry dying. But it is wrong to judge the series if you wanted it to turn into a murder mystery or a comedy mid-series.
Going back to this, this is pretty much just fanfiction. You are judging this movie based on the fact that it was very different from the story you had in mind.
Comment by Joesatmoes — April 1, 2014 @ 11:36 pm
Why didn’t Marvel hire you to make Iron Man 3?
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Comment by Guest — October 23, 2014 @ 9:40 am
The Avengers franchise just said ‘your wish is my command’, the Age of Ultron teaser gives a glimpse of the exact Iron Man vs. Hulk climax sequence from your Iron Man 3 plot ;) Kudos
Comment by Navaneeth Suresh — October 23, 2014 @ 9:41 am
I would go with this but instead of Rhody pepper dies, and tony loses that fight to save pepper by a possesed hulk from mandarin then at the end they team up to fight the mandarin at the end of the movie and Tony gives up his drinking addiction in peppers memory instead of the stupid panic attacks, and the extremis is the power tony uses throught the movie to heal the sharpnel, after credits scene all of the rings are fragments of a broken infinity stone
Comment by crashguy44 — April 26, 2016 @ 1:49 pm