Iron Man 3 is hitting theaters on May 3, and much like the last Batman movie, it looks like the story’s going to be much darker this time out.
And like many big event movies these days, Iron Man 3 will also be playing in a limited IMAX 3D engagement, which kicks off overseas on April 25.
Speaking of The Dark Knight, we owe director Christopher Nolan for bringing IMAX back, and making it the cool new movie gimmick. As you may recall, Nolan shot much of the last two Batman films in Imax, which gave the images more depth and scope, especially the city skylines. As Collider reports, Iron Man 3 is the fourth film Marvel is putting out in the format, following Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Avengers.
As Greg Foster, the Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, told Collider, “Marvel and Imax are a perfect one-two punch and the Iron Man franchise has become a global phenomenon that resonates with fans around the world.”
This report also has a brief synopsis for Iron Man 3, and it does sound a bit like The Dark Knight Rises, where Batman lost it all and had to fight his way back from physical and financial devastation. As the plotline tells us, “Iron Man 3 pits bras-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark against an enemy,” the Mandarin, “whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle.”
This also sounds like it’s going to be a more introspective Iron Man, where Stark has to realize, as the synopsis puts it, whether the man make the superhero suit, or whether the suit makes the man. And where Jon Favreau directed the first two Iron Man films, screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight) is helming this time out. (Funny enough, Favreau does have a featured role in the film).
Whatever format you’ll see it in, the third Iron Man could be an interesting reinvention of a Marvel great. The first film was terrific, the second one wasn’t great, and now’s a great opportunity for the character to reinvent himself. We know that Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin will deliver great performances, and we’re also hoping the third Iron Man will be a strong return to form for the franchise.
