A list of trivia related to Iron Man 3.
References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Aldrich Killian makes a Thor reference when talking to Tony saying "Nothing's been the same ever since that big guy with the hammer fell out of the sky". There is a deleted scene revealed called "Hey is that Thor?"
- The Mandarin has a tattoo of Captain America's shield on his neck. However, the shield is not emblazoned with a star, but an anarchist's "A". Mandarin is said that he dons symbols like those of heroes as a practice of irony.
References to Marvel Comics
- According to the writers, the storyline is influenced by the Iron Man comic miniseries 'Extremis' by Warren Ellis, which involved Tony Stark developing and using the Extremis virus, a nanotech version of Captain America's serum. The origin story in the first Iron Man film was also influenced by parts of 'Extremis'.
- War Machine's new armor is to be named the Iron Patriot armor which was Norman Osborn's in the Mainstream Comics and Tony's in the Ultimate Comics. Around the release of the film, the Mainstream version of Rhodes donned the Iron Patriot armor.
- The Iron Patriot in this film is a new set of Iron Man armor that bears Captain America's color scheme. In the comics, it was an identity used by Spider-Man's nemesis, the Green Goblin, a.k.a. Norman Osborn. The Iron Patriot in the film is nothing more than an upgraded and repainted version of the War Machine armor.
Casting Decisions
- Gemma Arterton, Diane Kruger and Isla Fisher were considered for a role. Jessica Chastain was cast but she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
- Jude Law was considered for the role of Aldrich Killian.
- Andy Lau was in talks to play the role of Chen Lu (Radioactive Man), but dropped out upon the birth of his first child. Daoming Chen and Wu Xiubowere considered for the role. Finally Wang Xueqi was cast and the role was changed to the unrelated Doctor Wu.
Production Facts
- Disney bought the distribution rights from Paramount for $115 million. This deal also included The Avengers.
- Originally, Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures were looking to shoot this movie in Michigan due to the tax incentives. However, due to North Carolina guaranteeing a $20 million tax credit, the producers decided to shoot there instead.
- First film in the series not to be directed by Jon Favreau.
- One scene was shot inside Epic Games, a video game development company known for the Gears of War franchise.
- Production was delayed on August 15, 2012, when Robert Downey, Jr.'s ankle and neck were injured in a stunt.
- The destruction of Stark's Malibu mansion was filmed at the EUE/Screen Gems Studios water tank.
Unorganized Trivia
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- When Stark is signing an autograph for two kids, he points out that one of them looks like Ralphie Parker from the 1983 film, A Christmas Story. The actor that played Ralphie, Peter Billingsley, also produced Iron Man and Iron Man 2.
- Although this is the third Iron Man movie, it is actually the fifth time Robert Downey, Jr. has played Tony Stark/Iron Man. He did a walk-on cameo as Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk and is part of the ensemble cast in The Avengers. Robert Downey, Jr. current contract with Marvel at the time of filming covered only two Avengers sequels, but he has stated he would hate to see someone fill his shoes, and that as long as the films are great then he'll keep playing the character. His contract was later extended to include Captain America: Civil War.
- Shane Black described the film as "a Tom Clancy thriller", with the focus on real-world type villains and not "two men in iron suits fighting each other".
- Kevin Feige described the film as "a full-on Tony Stark-centric movie... He's stripped of everything, he's backed up against a wall, and he's gotta use his intelligence to get out of it. He can't call Thor, Cap or Nick Fury, and he can't look for the Helicarrier in the sky." Robert Downey, Jr. further described the character as influenced by a post-"The Avengers" world: "What are his challenges now? What are some limitations that might be placed on him and what sort of threat would have him, as usual, ignore those limitations?"
- Robert Downey, Jr. had previously starred in Shane Black's film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and spoke highly of Black replacing Jon Favreau, saying that "bringing in Shane Black to write and direct the film is basically the only thing that Favreau and the audience and Marvel and I could ever actually sign off on."
- According to producer Kevin Feige, the Mandarin is portrayed with an ambiguous background: "It's less about his specific ethnicity than the analogy of various cultures and their iconography that he perverts for his own end." For instance, the Mandarin sports a "Captain America Shield" tattoo, in effect using the symbol to represent his own leadership of an army.
- This movie marks the first time Samuel L. Jackson does not appear in an "Iron Man" related movie as Nick Fury.
- This film is the third media adaption to use the Iron Man Extremis storyline. the first time was with the 6-part Iron Man: Extremis motion comic that was released in 2010 as a media-based version of the 6 comic book issues from which the storyline originated. The second time was when the plot was used (and toned down) for the Season 2 episode "Extremis" of the child-friendly cartoon show "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" which aired in March 2012.
- Iron Man 3 is the most successful movie set at Christmas time in history.