Iron Man 3 is The Best Iron Man

I've kind of been sitting on this for six years. Holy shit. That movie came out in 2013. I was graduating. Jesus. But, yeah, I like Iron Man 3. A lot. I think it did a good job as a trilogy ender. I think it did well as it's own movie. And for as much as people might disagree with me, I think it's the best Iron Man movie.

Granted, it's the best because of what came before it. One my favorite things about the first Iron Man movie was how, up until Obadiah Stane's heel turn, the main antagonist was just a terrorist. You gotta understand, prior to "Iron Man" there was no superhero movie where the hero fought terrorists. Criminals, gangs, and even international terrorists. But these were 2008 terrorists. Middle East, suicide bombing, scripture screaming. These were the types of terrorists who'd record a tape of a reporter getting his head cut off. Really overshadows clowns in purple suits.

And Iron Man is a result of terrorism. Tony becomes Iron Man to escape terrorist. He creates a better armor and the first thing he does is fly to the Middle East and he just goes about killing terrorists. Yeah, it's revenge. Yeah, he believes it's the right thing to do. But in a weird way, THAT moment made the MCU just a smidge more realistic than any of the Nolan Batman movies. Because Tony Stark is a rich guy who was nearly killed by terrorists, so he escapes, builds essentially a gun with sleeves, and goes there and kills them all. Like any billionaire with the ability to make a flying gun suit would do. Hell, if the US government just dropped an Iron Man armor at a press conference, you better believe they'd paint in black and send it to Afghanistan.

That theme of terrorism being a frighteningly real threat to the world? They forget about it in the second movie, but in the third one it comes back in full force. Oddly, it's similar to those Nolan Batman movies I pointed out. Batman fights ninjas, The Joker shows up for a little, then Bane shows up with more ninjas. In "Iron Man 3", we meet a terrorist known as The Mandarin. This is the part where fans get all pissed because he isn't Asian, and he doesn't have magic rings, and he's a big fraud in the end. Boohoo. You think any of us wanted Halie Barry as Storm? Or Doctor Doom as an American businessman? Or for Harry Osborn to get amnesia in the third "Spider-Man". You think we wanted "Spider-Man 3". Fuck you.

You see, in the first "Iron Man" we learn Obadiah Stane actually provided weapons to terrorists so that the war in Iraq could continue and Stark Industries could keep their pockets full. Pretty nefarious, and cynically realistic. But The Mandarin is a step up. The Mandarin is comic-book-Osama. He goes on TV and shoots people, spouting cultural beliefs held by societies from around the world. He presents himself as an educated and worldly messiah who believes in his own mission while also being able to see from other perspectives. Now, what is scary is not that murders people on camera or even that he's a just a junkie actor playing a bit. The scary part is the motive.

Aldrich Killian wants to cure people. No matter what the cost. His Extremist Virus can do that. It cured his disability, it grew back the limbs of amputees, and he hopes to perfect it to a point where everyone can be their best self. His motives are altruistic, but his way of accomplishing his goals are inhumane. Follow me on this. He needs Tony Stark's help. And knowing Tony's ego is focused on being Iron Man, he uses that to his advantage. He crafts a fake terrorist-because Iron Man got his start fighting terrorists-and has this actor take the credit for exploding people and Happy Hogan's near death. Iron Man goes after The Mandarin, which means he falls into Killian's trap, and Killian tries to recruit Tony by threatening the only thing in the world he loves more than himself-Pepper. Killian plays on Tony's ego, and uses Tony's loved ones as ammo. Oh, and he is able to sway the Vice President because the VP has a dying granddaughter. And there is of course that little detail of Killian's enforcers being former US soldiers who help him because fighting for America got their limbs blown off. And he turns THEM into suicide bombers!

Using America's xenophobia, the mistreatment of injured veterans, and the sensitive ego of Tony Stark, Aldrich Killian almost kills Iron Man, War Machine, and The President of the United States. Fortunately, Hot and Ready Pepper Potts activates her Demon Trigger and goes Super Saiyan and just kind of murders him. That was sudden.

There are a lot of things I love about "Iron Man 3". Tony's PTSD from flying into space, Tony having to go DIY James Bond to find The Mandarin, I love how even the characters in the film acknowledge War Machine was cooler than Iron Patriot. And the finale with all the armors Tony built in his basement showing up and then he blows them all up and removes the Arc Reactor to show Pepper he can be more than Iron Man. Even all the movies after that say otherwise, at least his relationship with Pepper and his Iron Man identity is addressed in later films. But mainly, I like the villain. He's not on anybody's Top 10 MCU Villains List, he really didn't need the tattoo or to yell "I am The Mandarin". But he had a goal to heal the world, and he did horrible things to reach that. Just like all Tony wants to do is protect the world, but all he does is create more monsters to fight. In battling Aldrich Killian, Tony battles his own self-absorbed mission, and when the smoke clears he forgoes that mission. Because some people are more important than the world. And it's not him this time.

Besides, all you crybabies got "the real Mandarin" in a thirty-minute add-on to "Thor: The Dark World"'s DVD release. Wait. I just realized why nobody saw that.

Thanks for not reading.