Skip to main content
Games Radar
  • Newsarama
  • Total Film
  • Edge
  • Retro Gamer
  • SFX
Total Film The smarter take on movies
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Subscribe
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows

Recommended reading

Riri Williams flying in a suit in Ironheart
Marvel TV Shows Riri Williams wants to become an MCU icon in first trailer for Marvel's Ironheart
Marvel TV Shows Ironheart has a surprising character reveal that ties one of its cast back to a major Iron Man villain
Doom #1 cover art by Sanford Greene
Marvel Movies Robert Downey Jr. shares another Avengers: Doomsday behind the scenes picture – and he might be teasing a Galactus showdown
Yelena Belova walking into the darkness of The Void in Thunderbolts
Marvel Movies Yelena gives herself up to the Void in the final Thunderbolts trailer
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps
Marvel Movies Time is running out and The Thing teases his iconic catchphrase in epic final trailer for Marvel's Fantastic Four
Robert Downey Jr. sitting in a chair at the end of a long line of chairs
Marvel Movies Robert Downey Jr. shares a photo from the Avengers: Doomsday set – and it might reveal a controversial detail about the Doctor Doom costume
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams in Ironheart
Superhero Shows Robert Downey Jr. throws his support behind Ironheart: "Iron Man loves Ironheart"
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Action Movies
  4. Marvel Movies
  5. iron man 3

Iron Man 3 Trailer: 11 Questions Raised

Features
By Sam Ashurst published 23 October 2012

Death, destruction and insomnia. Welcome to Marvel's Phase 2...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Why can't Tony Sleep?

Why can't Tony Sleep?

At the beginning of Iron Man 3 , Tony's just literally saved the world from destruction.

Sure, he did it as part of a team, but it was his selfless act that proved decisive.

He should be having constant parties to celebrate.

And yet, here he is unable to sleep because he's having nightmares.

Perhaps those nightmares contain a clue…

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
What are Tony's nightmares about?

What are Tony's nightmares about?

After Tony admits he can't sleep, we immediately cut to some fairly nightmarish images - shadows burned to the wall, which is a side-effect of nuclear attack.

This seems to suggest that a large part of Iron Man 3 will involve Tony facing up to his past as a significant arms dealer.

The trailer opens with Tony admitting that he's "Got a lot of apologies to make."

Is he recognising that his weapons-dealing has left a karmic debt so huge that even saving New York can't cancel it out?

There is another possibility.

Maybe these aren't images from a nightmare at all, and they're actual recent events.

Perphaps Tony's invented something new, something that's gone very wrong…

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
Why is the Gold Suit waking Pepper and Tony up?

Why is the Gold Suit waking Pepper and Tony up?

We've already seen that other people will be wearing versions of the Iron Man suit - the trailer involves a grand unveiling of The Iron Patriot (more of him in a minute) - but we've got a feeling that Pepper and Tony aren't being woken by a person here.

We think Stark's been experimenting with artificial intelligence, and it's gone a little screwy.

After all, in Avengers Assemble Tony's eyes were opened to the advantages of working in a team, and - bearing in mind the size of his ego - what better team than one entirely made up of versions of himself?

We see a brief glimpse of the gold suit (Mark VIII) hunched over a prone Tony later in the trailer.

Something about the positioning and size suggests to us it's a robot.

This would explain the trailer moment when Tony exclaims "I hope that I can protect the one thing I can't live without."

He's talking about Pepper, and as he says it, he has the Mark VIII suit looming behind him.

Has he pushed his genius too far in the pursuit of protecting Potts?

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
What's The Mandarin's master plan?

What's The Mandarin's master plan?

The Mandarin has a great speech towards the end of the trailer. "Ladies, children, sheep. Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number 1: Heroes, there is no such thing."

Ignoring the fact that Kingsley sounds like Bane doing an Elvis impersonation (which is a good thing as far as we're concerned), this is a properly evil bit of posturing.

He addresses (threatens?) women and children first, then dismisses the menfolk as being mere sheep.

Then he announces his first lesson, which is presumably because the adventures of The Avengers played out on a world stage, and inspired the oppressed to stand up against their tormentors - which would be a significant problem for The Mandarin.

It appears that his main aim is to prove that people who rise up will be taken down.

We're not looking forward to lesson 2!

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
What do The Mandarin's rings do?

What do The Mandarin's rings do?

In the comics The Mandarin found his power rings in the ruins of a starship, gradually learning how to use them as weapons.

In the trailer, we see him wearing them - but not using them. In fact, the only weapon he wields is a handgun.

Does that mean the rings are only symbolic of his power in Iron Man 3 ? Or are they simply being saved for the third act?

They're a significant aspect of the character, so expect him to use them. It would be essentially like doing a Captain America movie without the shield.

Speaking of Captain America...

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Who is Iron Patriot?

Who is Iron Patriot?

Comic geeks will recognize this new suit as belonging to Iron Patriot. Casual cinema-goers will assume that Tony's given his mate Captain America a new toy.

In fact, in the comics, the Iron Patriot suit was very specifically modeled after Captain America and Iron Man.

But expect the character's movie origin story to be significantly remodeled.

As in the comics, Norman Osbourne created the armour, and as we all know by now, Marvel don't have the rights to that character.

Here, we expect Iron Patriot to be a U.S Government redesign of the War Machine armour.

The synopsis revealed that one of the key themes of Iron Man 3 is "Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?"

We'd wager that Iron Patriot will go too far in the pursuit of international justice, and Iron Man will be forced to stop him.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Who's kissing Pepper?

Who's kissing Pepper?

That's Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).

*Possible spoilers follow*

Killian is a scientist who was involved in the creation of the Extremis virus, a bio-tech weapon that rewrites the human genetic code.

Killian sells the virus to a gang of terrorists, then commits suicide because of the subsequent guilt he feels.

The trailer suggests that the movie version of Killian appears to be Tony and Pepper's friend - initially at least. Here, he seems to be comforting Pepper. We'd suggest that Tony is in hospital at this point, possibly as a result of Extremis experimentation.

And we've got a feeling that he's the reason Pepper's in that weird cage thing later on in the trailer.

*end spoilers*

We're really looking forward to what Pearce does with the character.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Who's pushing Tony up against the wall?

Who's pushing Tony up against the wall?

At first, we thought it was Maya Hansen, played by Rebecca Hall.

*Possible spoilers follow*

In the comics, Hansen is an Extremis scientist. She's an old flame of Tony's who comes to his aid when he's attacked by a terrorist powered by the virus.

However - plot twist alert - it turns out that's she's working with The Mandarin, who has infiltrated the US Government, and has been using the scientists to create an Extremis army.

*spoilers end*

But on closer inspection, it appears to be someone else - our best guess is Stephanie Szostak, whose character name is being mysteriously withheld from imdb.

We have no idea why she's getting so up close and personal to Mr Stark.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Where are the zingers?

Where are the zingers?

The whole tone of the trailer is extremely dark.

It definitely feels like Tony is facing his greatest threat yet - we see him bandaged, beaten up, exploded, ditched in some snow, dumped in some water, and fighting for his life in hospital. All that pain, in a two-minute trailer.

But, perhaps most significantly of all, there isn't a single signature one-liner. Tony Stark spends his trailer time apologising, complaining, and worrying.

There are many memes highlighting the similarities between Batman and Iron Man - they're both billionaires who rely on gadgets to fight crime - but Iron Man has always been the lighter, funnier, superhero, which is a Marvel tradition.

We love Chris Nolan's Batman films, but we're concerned to see them have such an influence here. Hopefully the next trailer will include a bit more fun.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Will Pepper Potts die?

Will Pepper Potts die?

All this darkness is making us worry that Pepper Potts isn't going to make it to the end of the movie.

Gwyneth Paltrow was asked earlier in the year if she'd be returning for Avengers Assemble 2 .

She replied: "I don't know. I'm getting old for this shit, you know what I mean?"

Which sounds to us like a no. And, specifically, like a no that paraphrases a quote from a Shane Black film.

Combined with everything we've seen in the trailer, and that line in the synopsis - "When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible." - it doesn't look good for Gwyneth.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Who is Iron Patriot attacking?

Who is Iron Patriot attacking?

Iron Patriot looks to be a bit of a brutal fighter, from the brief glimpse of him smashing someone through their desk.

We don't get to see who's under attack - but the office looks very official.

Is it a government agent? Has Iron Patriot turned on his masters?

Or is it a scientist who's been revealed as a villain?

We'll find out the answers to all of these questions and more, when Iron Man 3 is released on 24 April in the UK, ahead of the 3 May US release.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
CATEGORIES
Disney Plus Apple Tv Plus Amazon Prime Video Streaming Services
Sam Ashurst
Social Links Navigation

Sam Ashurst is a London-based film maker, journalist, and podcast host. He's the director of Frankenstein's Creature, A Little More Flesh + A Little More Flesh 2, and co-hosts the Arrow Podcast. His words have appeared on HuffPost, MSN, The Independent, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, and many more, as well as of course for us here at GamesRadar+.

See more Movies Features
Read more
Riri Williams flying in a suit in Ironheart
Riri Williams wants to become an MCU icon in first trailer for Marvel's Ironheart
Ironheart has a surprising character reveal that ties one of its cast back to a major Iron Man villain
Doom #1 cover art by Sanford Greene
Robert Downey Jr. shares another Avengers: Doomsday behind the scenes picture – and he might be teasing a Galactus showdown
Yelena Belova walking into the darkness of The Void in Thunderbolts
Yelena gives herself up to the Void in the final Thunderbolts trailer
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps
Time is running out and The Thing teases his iconic catchphrase in epic final trailer for Marvel's Fantastic Four
Robert Downey Jr. sitting in a chair at the end of a long line of chairs
Robert Downey Jr. shares a photo from the Avengers: Doomsday set – and it might reveal a controversial detail about the Doctor Doom costume
Latest in Marvel Movies
Kevin Feige at the Marvel Hall H panel during San Diego Comic-Con
James Gunn says Marvel boss Kevin Feige was a "really great role model" for what he's trying to achieve at DC: "He let me do my thing, but he also was really honest with what he thought"
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spider-Man: No Way Home script was changed after Reddit guessed how Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would be introduced
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards in Fantastic Four
Spider-Man director reveals why he stepped down from making Marvel movie Fantastic Four: "I knew I didn't have what it would've taken to make that movie great"
Spider-Man 4
An extended version of the live-action Spider-Man movie with the best Rotten Tomatoes score is swinging into movie theaters this fall
John Malkovich steps out of the shadows in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Fantastic Four: First Steps press release has removed one major cast member, leaving fans to wonder if the character has been cut
The new Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Everything you need to know about the comic run that director Matt Shakman says inspired the film
Latest in Features
Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord in Peacemaker season 2 trailer
Maxwell Lord - The comic history of the villain who mind-controlled Superman and almost destroyed the Justice League
Hades 2 announcement trailer
70 hours later and with a full launch imminent, I already miss Hades 2 being in Early Access
Toothless, Miles Morales' Mask, Battle Droid with STAP, and Nike Dunk sets divided from each other by white lines, with a 'GamesRadar+ New Lego' badge in the middle
New Lego sets for July 2025, including the perfect gift I think fans will go nuts for
Jan sadly presses a hand on a screen that says 'deceased' in The Alters
The Alters has changed the way I play games for the better, and after 18 years I can finally finish Mass Effect
Sam balances across a ladder high up in the mountains in Death Stranding 2
Death Stranding 2 is my favorite online game this year, even though you never directly see any other players
Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
The Squid Game season 3 finale is a crushing but ultimately hopeful conclusion – and I wouldn't have it any other way
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...