You can be forgiven for assuming the summer blockbuster season has already started. Olympus Has Fallen blew up the White House in the name of movie-going thrills last weekend, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation is prepared to kick things into the highest gear as Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum and Bruce “Freaking” Willis take the fight to Cobra this weekend. But summer doesn’t officially start until Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 soars into theaters on May 3, and a few key folks involved in the Marvel franchise are starting to share crucial details.
Marvel President Kevin Feige, for instance, opened up about the plot of the third Iron Man film, elaborating on the status of important characters like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who has a new part in the ongoing Iron Man storyline. SuperheroHype has the 411, but this information is very spoilery, so proceed with caution if you don’t want to know details going into the Marvel sequel.
On Rhodes’ status, Feige says:
“Tony has let Rhodey have this suit; he’s using it in conjunction with the U.S. Government. So, at the beginning of Iron Man 3, we see that the President has asked Rhodey as War Machine to get a new paint job and take on the new moniker of the Iron Patriot in order to do American business and be the American hero as opposed to The Avengers or Iron Man himself, who is sort of a separate entity ... In a way it becomes a buddy action film, in the third act, where they team up. Neither of them have a suit at a certain point in the movie and they really team up in a great, sort of old- fashioned action movie way and Don and Robert have such an amazing rapport.”
Not a lot if known at this point about Guy Pearce’s character in the sequel, Aldrich Killian. Comic readers might assume he’s associated with the development of Extremis, which is designed as an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum. In an interview with Marvel.com, Pearce goes into great detail about his history with the Iron Man franchise, and how he fits in:
“Killian is an interesting character as he’s somebody who came into this world with a number of physical disabilities. He’s never been able to accept those limitations though and has spent most of his life trying to overcome them in any way he can. His tenacity and blind determination in fighting for a better life are seen by some as irritating, as he often comes across as obnoxious. He just won’t accept the cards he was dealt, and being as intelligent as he is, has real drive to change and become a different person.So we find him at the start of the film in a flashback and we see the ambitious, almost annoying, guy that he is. He takes opportunities to try and latch onto people like Tony Stark. So you see this very ambitious character and you see him later on in the film having made a change, and Tony and the other people that have met him early on kind of go, ‘How did this happen? How did he do this?’ But he’s a dangerous character. He wants to become all-powerful. That’s sort of a driving force with him and Tony Stark realizes eventually what this guy is capable of.”
Pearce goes on to spill the beans about the creation of A.I.M. as well, and a possible love triangle between Killian, Stark and Pepper Potts. Oh, speaking of Pepper, have you seen the TV spot that spoils the fact that we’re going to see Gwyneth Paltrow in a suit yet?
So it’s official. You now know everything you possibly need to know about Iron Man 3. But you’ll still go see it when it comes out on May 3, right?
