Speaking with
MTV News in the website's preview for the hotly anticipated sequel, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige talks more about
Iron Man 3. He confirms that the events of
Marvel's The Avengers heavily influences Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in this journey, and he reveals the main reason why he builds the Mark XLVII armor.
"So much of the journey of Iron Man 3 is informed by Tony's experiences in The Avengers. It's almost like post-traumatic stress: he really has retreated after the events of The Avengers into his workshop, where he's building advanced versions of his suits. He has [designed] a version of the suit that can latch onto him in individual pieces ... anytime, anywhere. As he starts to realize, it's basically because he doesn't want to be out of the suit: he's seen a lot of things in Avengers and has encountered a lot of powerful people, much more powerful than he is." However, Stark's latest workshop trip will be short-lived, as his home is suddenly destroyed
"just as he's starting to realize he needs to be in the suit at all times and in the safety of his workshop," says Feige.
"It brings us back to the Tony we met in the first part of Iron Man where he's removed from that convoy and brought to the cave with nothing but a box of scraps. It's fun for all of us to watch Tony try to figure out how to get out of that scenario. Much of the movie is Tony in the middle of the country without his tools and a fairly broken suit to help him. But that's his superpower: he wasn't born on Asgard, he wasn't hit by gamma rays, and he doesn't have the super soldier serum. His power is his brain. It's fun to put Tony Stark in a corner with nothing and see how he can get out of it." Additionally, Feige comments on the villainous Mandarin (played by Academy Award winning actor Ben Kingsley) and how the character is explored in the film.
"We felt there was leeway to explore the Mandarin in a way that hasn't been explored before. We found we couldn't point to any sort of definitive Mandarin story in the comics — but if you print this, I'm sure a million fans will point to a specific story — so as we've done with many of the films, we did an amalgamation. The Mandarin is relentless: he's a non-stop threat, and you've seen that in the first teaser trailer when Tony Stark's house tumbles into the sea. He doesn't mess around, this guy." He also has nothing but good things to say about Downey's performance, as well as the supporting cast and director Shane Black.
"Robert Downey Jr. gave his all to this performance. He left no stone unturned," he says.
"No one has been shy — myself, Robert and [Jon] Favreau — about how Shane worked in the shadows of the first Iron Man film, helping with certain scenes and helping with tonal things. This film, it's much less the culmination of the previous Iron Man movies in part three: this is 'Iron Man: A Shane Black Film.' That, to me, is by far the most unique thing about this movie." Finally, Feige is asked if
Iron Man 3 will be the last we see of Tony Stark on the big screen. Downey previously stated that the threequel is the last film on his Marvel contract, and whether or not he'll return for future endeavors (such as
The Avengers 2) is unknown. However, Feige unsurprisingly confirms that we'll definitely be seeing more Iron Man in the near future.
"Characters like James Bond and Batman, whose stories go on and on and on — I think Tony is one of those characters. Where we go directly after Iron Man 3 ... I'm not looking too far ahead. I'm looking to finish Iron Man 3, getting into Avengers 2, and then seeing where we go from there. But I do think we have more Tony Stark tales to tell, and we'll take it one movie — or maybe two movies — at a time." Feige stated in the past that Marvel would be willing to recast the Armored Avenger a la James Bond if and when Downey hangs up the suit. After the success of
The Avengers, I would personally be very surprised if Iron Man is recast anytime soon. What do you think?
Iron Man 3 stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Sir Ben Kingsley. The film is set to hit theaters May 3rd this year.