WMG for Iron Man 3.
- He seems to share some ethnicity with the terrorists who captured Tony (of course, maybe not seeing as the Mandarin can be depicted as a hodge-podge of many cultures.) Assuming he is, though, he may be against the idea of Tony atoning for those days simply by becoming a superhero. In his mind, Tony still needs to pay.
- Eh, feels like too much like it would be a retread of Vanko's storyline, honestly. We've had the bad guy who's out for revenge because the Stark family wronged him already. From a storytelling standpoint, it just seems redundant.
- Jossed. The Mandarin is just a British actor.
- Though technically not Jossed, if you believe Aldrich Killian is really the Mandarin. Just played very differently.
- As said earlier Killian was in a way, but the real Mandarin first introduced/brought up in All Hail The King presumably isn't.
- Eh, feels like too much like it would be a retread of Vanko's storyline, honestly. We've had the bad guy who's out for revenge because the Stark family wronged him already. From a storytelling standpoint, it just seems redundant.
- Might just be this troper's wishful thinking, but she is seen being in Tony's home in Malibu as it is destroyed, which could very well lead to her getting her own chest magnet, and eventually become Rescue from the comic storyline. The shot of her wearing a headband similar to Tony and touching an armor makes this likely.
- There is a shot in the trailer that looks like Pepper is in immense pain, so it's possible that could happen. It could be too early though for Pepper to don the Rescue Armor. Instead, the Reactor will be installed only as a stepping-stone down the line.
- The producers have already said they're kind-of looking to play around with the usual damsel-in-distress stuff with her character, here. We already know that Pepper dons the newest armour at least briefly in the film, and it's not like she's never been the sort not to get involved in Tony's battles. The producers have also suggested that whilst she might not specifically become Rescue, they are aware of that development.
- Confirmed. Pepper does use the armor twice, once in a full suit, and once as one of the repulsors.
- There is a shot in the trailer that looks like Pepper is in immense pain, so it's possible that could happen. It could be too early though for Pepper to don the Rescue Armor. Instead, the Reactor will be installed only as a stepping-stone down the line.
- When asked about this at Comic-Con they kinda danced around the question, which means "yes". However, Tony really should have invited him over from dinner on that day in Malibu...
- HOLY COW!! The trailer shows a shot of a very large familiar proportioned fellow in Iron Man armor...
- Jossed. Both Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Mark Ruffalo have confirmed that neither Bruce nor Hulk will make an appearance. Feige mentioned that post-Avengers and pre-Iron Man 3, Tony dropped Bruce off at the New York Port Authority. Furthermore, the large suit seen at the end of the second trailer is the famous Hulkbuster armor.
- Actually, that armor is the Igor Armor. Hulkbuster will make an appearance though.
- Nailed it. He shows up in The Stinger.
- As it says. Because the potential for (very, very) Black Comedy is immense.
- Jossed. Jarvis shows no romantic interest in Tony or jealousy of Pepper.
- Given that he's a terrorist leader in this continuity, it would make sense he'd subvert symbols most associated with American superiority. Having a tattoo of Cap's shield with the star replaced with an anarchist's "A" probably adds to this.
- Alternatively, given he isn't wearing the Rings, that's an imposter?
- Spot on. It's just an actor.
- And ultimately, neither the tattoo or Captain America himself are even brought up in the film, unfortunately.
- Alternatively, given he isn't wearing the Rings, that's an imposter?
- Guy Pearce is playing Dr. Aldrich Killian, who in the comic arc that the movie is based on commits suicide early in the story. It wouldn't be the first time that Jeremy Renner showed up after Guy Pearce was suddenly killed.
- After being resurrected by the Mandarin, he was brainwashed because Mandarin knew how much it would hurt Tony to see Coulson alive and against him. Part of the plot will be to return Coulson to normal so they can set up the SHIELD series.
- Jossed. Coulson does not appear in the film.
- Knowing Coulson, though, he could still have a tattoo of Captain America
- Jossed. Coulson does not appear in the film.
- In Super Hero Squad (Which is technically Marvel Canon) Thanos used the mindstone to manipulate Hulk's dreams so Hulk would destroy the city. Now, a common guess is that Loki's scepter is infused with the mind stone (somehow) since he could out right control people when he wielded it. Loki attempted to use it on Stark, which did not work... at the time. It's finally made it's way to his brain, not as a method of outright control, but a seed that Thanos can use to take control later. In the mean time, Thanos is using this in to manipulate Tony Stark in subtler ways so he can't be at his best.
- Nope.
- Seeing as Tony will be suffering from PTSD, if there are any nightmare sequences it seems only natural that the Trickster God would make an appearance (if only in flashback).
- Jossed. Loki does not appear in the film.
- It's highly unlikely that he would be a major plot point in this movie, much like how the first two Iron Man's didn't tie in with what came in the Avengers, but the post-credits likely would. Perhaps it'll be revealed that one of the Mandarin's rings has one of the Infinity Gems in it.
- Or maybe the'll just add Arc Words like "Infinity" or "Death" Or Arc Numbers like Four or less likely Thirteen.
- Besides the fact that this has happened in the comics before, a look in the background of the trailer shot where Tony and Pep are blown back by the force of the explosion shows...a random giant stuffed rabbit in the background, with an unreadable nameplate around it's neck. A gift from Tony? This might also explain Tony's protection comment in the trailer (having a kid would turn his guilty instincts up to eleven), the scene where Pepper's in pain (she gets tortured and loses the baby then?), and what Pepper whispered to Tony during their scene in the Avengers (a stretch, but judging by his face it was something extremely shocking).
- Well, Word of God from Paltrow was that the two hadn't slept together yet. Still, could have been later.
- She said they hadn't slept together by the time of The Avengers. But that could have been his reward for "doing his homework".
- Jossed.
- In the latest stills from the Empire magazine article, Tony is seen wearing a shirt with the letters "AIM." This could just be a mythology gag, but given its presence on the main star of the film, it's likely a piece of a larger plot element. So, if there's a professional logo on a shirt, AIM would seem to be a public group, not just a secretive terrorist group. Killian (a scientist) is your average Suit in all the stills seen so far. So he's probably the public Dragon for one of Mandarin's many corporate holdings.
- Half-confirmed. Killian is the head of AIM... and the Mandarin is an actor who takes the heat for the bombings.
- Jossed. In All Hail The King we learn of the real Mandarin and he wasn't controlling Killian and is very upset at how Killian treated his name.
- Half-confirmed. Killian is the head of AIM... and the Mandarin is an actor who takes the heat for the bombings.
- One of the toys promoting the movie had an updated Iron Monger figure. If that's not simply promotion, Zeke will come in to take his revenge on Tony Stark for what he did to his father.
- Given the usual trend for trotting out action figures of characters that don't appear, this feels unlikely.
- Jossed. No such character appears in the film.
- And he'll be the Big Bad of Avengers 2.
- Thanos has already been confirmed to be its Big Bad.
- Jossed. As we learn in this film, there never really was a Mandarin. It was just a ruse set up by Killian.
- However, given the properties of Extremis, it's entirely possible that Killian survived his apparent death. He did it once...
- Killian died HOWEVER according to All Hail The King there is a real Mandarin around and he's very much alive so......confirmed.
- The severed arm will grow into a new Killian!
- It appears that the villain will be Scarlet Witch
- Nope again.
- Thanos has already been confirmed to be its Big Bad.
- A shapeshifting subspecies of the Chitauri, maybe working for Thanos, maybe not, called the Skrulls, will infiltrate Earth governments, S.H.I.EL.D., et cetera, and Spiderman will team up with Iron Man (And possibly the other Avengers) to take them down. Just like in Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn will kill whoever is leading the Skrulls, and in the Stinger will become the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., order Rhody to hand over the War Machine armour, and become the Iron Patriot. This will lead into the final Amazing Spiderman movie (which won't be a crossover), which will focus on Spiderman fighting Norman Osborn in both his Iron Patriot and Green Goblin suits. Why else would they introduce the Chitauri (Who are the Ultimate 'verse's version of the Skrulls), but not give them their shapeshifting abilities, AND introduce the Iron Patriot armour, but not have Osborn wearing it, unless they both are huge Chekhov's Guns.
- Unlikely to happen in Spider-Man, given it's not a franchise Disney actually own, movie-wise.
- And Unlikely to happen in either since the Skrulls due to the oddities of licensing, are technically part of the Fantastic Four brand, and thus owned by Fox. (That's why the enemy aliens in Avengers weren't Skrulls.)
- Jossed further by the revelation in Captain Marvel that the Skrulls are good.
- Unlikely to happen in Spider-Man, given it's not a franchise Disney actually own, movie-wise.
- It is Fin Fang Foom. What better way to modernise him than to make him a Ctuthulu-esque Eldritch Abomination sleeping in the ocean near Tony's house. The character is already associated with the Mandarin (In the comics Mandarin's rings are technology made by Fin Fang Foom's race), perhaps the Mandarin's attacks on Tony are just a smokescreen, an excuse for blowing up his house to allow Fin Fang Foom to wake up.
- The Iron Patriot armour is appearing, this can't just be a coincidence. He mentions being elected in the trailer, perhaps he's referring to his election as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. He also has a kind of ominous-ness surrounding him, perhaps he is working with (and will betray) the Mandarin. It would be a nice echo of the first movie, and tying in with the above two WMGs, perhaps he betrays Mandarin by killing Fin Fang Foom, which gives him enough popularity for the second or third Spiderman movie adapting the events of Dark Reign.
- Osborn would unfortunately fall under the ownership of Sony, and unless they've worked things out with Disney, it ain't happening, just like we're not likely to see the Avengers versus Galactus anytime soon.
- That blond man appears to be the President of the United States.
- Actually, it's possible that's Killian.
- Killian is the man in that trailer who says that the whole world will be watching to an unknown person in a dark room. He's definitely not the guy (who we first hear after the Marvel and Paramount logos appear) talking about being elected on the platform of defending America from the Mandarin.
- Jossed.
- Either Coldblood or Firepower will steal the Iron Patriot and use it to attack Air Force One. The evidence for this is that the armor lands awkwardly in the trailer, indicating an inexperienced pilot. Also, Rhodey doesn't seem to be helping Stark out with the falling victims in the Super Bowl trailer. This will force Rhodey to revert to the standard War Machine colors by the end of the movie.
- A brief shot in the new trailer shows an unknown person trying to cut their way through the armor, perhaps lending more credence to this WMG.
- Confirmed. Eric Savin (Coldblood) steals the Iron Patriot armor and kidnaps the President aboard Air Force One.
- Perhaps he's the Wasp's father (making him President Van Dyne)?
- Kinda odd to joss myself, but it turns out the President's last name is "Ellis", and it looks doubtful that President Ellis is related to a Marvel Universe character.
- There was one scene in the second trailer which showed some people in harnesses, which looked like they were about to have ARC reactors put in them by surgeons. Also, Pepper is in a similar harness.
- I would assume that the people in harnesses aren't volunteers that have offered to assist Tony, but rather "test subjects" for Extremis procedures. Some LEGO toys tying into Iron Man 3 also feature Minifigures of so-called "Extremis Soldiers", so I'd be inclined to think that they're the "test subjects" from the trailer.
- Jossed. They are just Extremis soldiers.
- Jossed as a whole. The suits are all controlled by Jarvis.
- I would assume that the people in harnesses aren't volunteers that have offered to assist Tony, but rather "test subjects" for Extremis procedures. Some LEGO toys tying into Iron Man 3 also feature Minifigures of so-called "Extremis Soldiers", so I'd be inclined to think that they're the "test subjects" from the trailer.
- For those unclear, Phase Two of S.H.I.E.L.D's plan in The Avengers was to develop weaponry to fight any potential invaders, like the Chitauri, or malevolent Asgardians like Loki. Stark is shown wielding alien looking guns in the second trailer.
- Jossed. That's just a machine pistol and a Iron Man repulsor.
- Tony explictly states that he has nightmares, so it's not unsurprising that the film would have at least ONE of Tony's night terrors.
- The theory is jossed, but the reason isn't. A nightmare scene does appear, but it's of the events in New York. The suit appearing is just Tony instinctivly calling for it in his sleep.
- Having said mansion be blown up in a magnificent manner seems like an easy way to justify Tony permanently making Stark Tower his new place of residence.
- Also, Tony decamping to New York will mean no more superheroes in the L.A. area, which will allow The Pride to kick their operations up a notch...
- Jossed. He sells the tower in Homecoming.
- The cinematic universe has played loose with realism, but they're not crazy enough to say that the armor is controlled by magic.
- Jossed. He does implant himself, but the real reason for the surgery is to remove the shrapnel in his heart.
- The Mandarin's existence as the leader of the Ten Rings is a secret even to many of its own members. The Ten Rings group became interested in the applications of the Extremis project for creating living suicide bombers and coding their soldiers to become even more fanatical. The Mandarin himself decided to infiltrate Aldritch's organisation by assuming the identity of a British stage actor, a persona he effortlessly mastered. He easily fooled Aldritch with his powers of deception supplemented by hypnotic suggestion of his Mento-Intensifier ring. He subtly manipulated Aldritch, not only becoming The Man Behind the Man to The Man Behind the Man but announcing his presence to the world while simultaneously clouding his existence and identity. Thanks to the Mandarin, Aldritch went much further than he would have, threatening the President himself - one of the Mandarins many agendas in his manipulation of AIM. When Aldritch's plan went belly-up and "Trevor" was arrested, the Mandarin was later sprung or cleared of charges thanks to his many connections. Only time will tell whether he determines Extremis to be worth its many complications.
- Well, he was remarkably calm and unphased while having a gun shoved into his face by Tony and later Rhodes. although the many drugs he was flying on might have had something to do with that.
- Jossed. The real Mandarin exists he's just not Trevor or Killian.
- Well, Maya does talk about someone called "the Master" when speaking with Killian, even though she seems to already know about the whole Mandarin scam involving Trevor.
- One of the Mandarin's rings is short range mind control. Killian might have thought he was the Mandarin without ever knowing he was just a pawn.
- As of All Hail The King this is indeed confirmed.
- It's unclear whether she keeps her Extremis-based abilities or not, though it could've been made deliberately vague to serve as a potential plot hook for a future movie. If she doesn't keep her powers, she could still get a custom Iron Man suit (she does have one in the comics, under the codename of Rescue)... but if she keeps her Extremis powers, including the Playing with Fire aspect, she could always become the MCU Firestar.
- Jossed. She is only briefly mentioned.
- Alternatively, she could have injected herself with Extremis after being shot, when no one was looking. It seems to be a long-running tradition for fatally wounded scientists to inject themselves with their own experimental super-serum, although such things rarely end well.
- Funnily enough, Iron Patriot ended up doing this. Close enough, right?
- He is seen drinking a glass of wine at one point in the film, though...
- Jossed.
- Even better, he could become Tony's sidekick and the MCU version of Iron Lad.
- Jossed. He doesn't appear again until Tony's funeral.
- Exactly this happens in Iron Man 3: The Official Game . He's a Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killian and his consciousness takes over Stark Industries.
- Jossed.
- Yes, Tony knew enough to impress Maya; but he is Not That Kind of Doctor. Fortunately, his good friends with someone who is. He also has the habit of narrating his life to Bruce while they're hanging out after research.
- True, she'd have kind of a husky voice and a tomboyish fashion sense, but she's already an up-and-coming bb Tony, and it's nice to think of Tony recognizing that a love of classic rock, engineering, and ridiculous cars (that Harley won't be able to drive for years) crosses gender lines.
- During an adventure when she's older, she is transported into another universe... There, she finds true love with a monstrous clown and becomes known to the world as Harley Quinn!
- He could possibly be Maya's kid.
- It might work if he's 13.
- This Troper read somewhere that he's 10.
- Maya may not be his mom, but he still could be Tony's son from another fling.
- It might work if he's 13.
What if Maya wasn't actually joking when she said that the kid (in response to Tony begging her not to tell him that there's a 12 year old kid in the back of her car) was 13? With the MCU's timeline, the fact that both Tony and Maya are relatively short dark-eyed brunettes, and the fact that we haven't actually heard anything about Peter's parents in the MCU as yet, means that it's still kind of plausible.
- Sure, he gave reasons as Iron Man being a cocoon, but realize how glitchy the Mark 42 was. After some consideration, one realizes...having a giant magnet in your body couldn't possibly help with the signal those chips were sending out. Tony realized it, and knowing he doesn't need that arc reactor to power his suits, since Iron Patriot is self-powered, he had the magnet taken out to remove any potential interference with the chips' signal. Mark 43 is gonna work just fine.
- Seriously, I hope someone at Marvel reads this and makes it happen.
- While this is a joke, unless somehow Trevor survives his encounter with the real Mandarin this won't happen.
- Trevor has now officially outlived the real Mandarin, Wenwu. So this could still happen at some point!
- Supported if for no other reason that he sounded miffed at Operation: Clean Slate but also because he’s surprisingly autonomous and frighteningly intelligent.
- Imagine the film Literature\Demon Seed here J.A.R.V.I.S takes control of Tony Stark's house and torments Tony and Pepper, while he has the abused robotic armature assistant work on a body for itself in the form of Ultron.
- Because of this teaser trailer , this theory is looking very likely.
- Jossed. He becomes Vision instead.
- And therefore Aldrich is not Mandarin, he's actually Fing Fang Foom. That is, he is 100% human, just his character corresponds to that one in comics.
- Confirmed.
- Building on it...
- This and the previous entry were Jossed by Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tony doesn't make any mention of having Extremis, and he doesn't display any enhanced abilities.
- Buy now and you get a free copy of "No, Tony. Tony, No." an autobiography by Pepper Potts.
- Jossed.
- If so then Raza got those rings from the REAL Mandarin, unless he was also tricked into believing he exists.
- Jossed. The real Mandarin is very mad that his name was tarnished and misused according to All Hail The King.
Let's start with the Hulk. It's been theorized that where he gets all his mass from is from a mass-energy conversion, an actual property of gamma rays. In this article (in the section about Hulk's mass), the author theorizes that he gets the power to do so from the sun, which provides 1.7 x 1017 watts of energy, enough that in he could transform in about two and a half minutes. But why does the Hulk take in solar power? Well, Extremis is first shown in Iron Man 3 to have been tested on a plant, and maybe even partially extracted from it. And the Hulk's skin is green. Perhaps the reason why is because he's able to photosynthesize, and thus absorb solar energy.
Now, back to Extremis. If it's created from the same plant that the Hulk's formula was, they may share similar origins in the original Captain America formula. Given as the details of that were classified, Maya was probably not intending to recreate Captain America, but may have simply made a parallel discovery, although improved because Extremis users display greater healing powers.
Back to Hulk. What is the main weapon Extremis users receive from their formula? Heat abilities. Who is the Hulk's hottest foe? (No, not Caiera.) Red Hulk, who displays similar powers of extreme heat and strength. Might it be that Red Hulk may appear in a sequel, through a fusion of Hulk's formula and Extremis? And, on the mention of Planet Hulk, might the plant origins of Banner's abilities be reason for why his blood causes plants to grow again on Sakaar, if Marvel Studios adapts a theatrical film of Planet Hulk? One can theorize.
- I for one would pay all the money to see a Planet Hulk movie starring Mark Ruffalo and a World War Hulk version of Avengers 4.
- If the Hulk's transformation is solar-powered, how is it that every transformation Banner underwent in the Norton movie happened indoors and/or at night?
- Sadly, unless it's joining whatever Coulson's new S.H.I.E.L.D. grows to be by then, it can't happen anymore.
- This seems possible, now that Ben Kingsley has said he was working on a secret Marvel project.
- After his behavior when Tony found him? So much for dignity.
- Jossed. However in All Hail The King the real Mandarin takes Trevor from prison.
- As of All Hail The King Confirmed!
- The Mandarin being a Legacy Character has been used in a number of continuities (most notably the animated movie and most recent animated series). Also, All Hail the King indicates that the real Mandarin was around during the days of ancient China. That said, it's confirmed that he's not Killian or Trevor.
- During the middle of the movie, he described to Harley "the thing in his chest" as an electromagnet. It was apparently never clear as to what Tony threw on the sea, since the same never had that distinctive glow as before. And the fact that the later incarnations of the Arc Reactor (The second, palladium-powered version from the first movie, up to the Vibranium-powered one from the second) were quite slimmer compared to the one on Tony's hand at the end of the movie.
- Another possibility is that by this point in his story Tony noticed Bruce dozing off and started improvising a crazy ending just to check if he was still paying attention.
- Alternatively, the real Mandarin wants Trevor to work for him, possible to run the PR/communications side of things. Since Trevor has already been arrested for pretending to be a terrorist (and has told everybody that the actual terrorism was Killian's fault), any more "terrorist" activities he gets involved in will just seem like him trying to keep his fame.
- It's surmised above that Extremis is yet another variant of the super-soldier formula, but one with heat as a byproduct or side effect. Rather, the heat could be a consequence of this version of the formula being constrained in how much bulk it can add to the human body: enough to repair damage; not enough to make the subject grow, with any excess tissue-growth being converted to thermal energy rather than mass.
- In other variants, the super-soldier formula seems to be directed by the subject's self-image, even if that image isn't accurate. Schmidt was a psychopath who wanted the power to deal death at will, and wound up a superhuman with a skull-face. Blonsky was a combat addict who got off on battle, who felt "like a monster" and liked it; the formula made his body match. Rogers, the one real success-story, always had a skewed idea of his own physical capabilities ("I can do this all day"), but still thought of himself as basically just a kid from Brooklyn: he stayed human because he never, even subconsciously, thought he was special.
- With Extremis, the variant-formula doesn't make a person into the embodiment of their self-image, because it's been redirected to maintain the body in its proper physical state, as determined by the somatosensory cortex rather than whatever nodes of self-awareness is usually tapped in potential super-soldiers. That brain region tracks the body's movements and sensations, so perceives it as it is, not as what the subconscious presumes it to be. It's also the region responsible for "phantom limb" sensations in amputees, as it remembers the missing part from when it was present: hence, Extremis's ability to regenerate lost body parts.
- What's this distinction got to do with Banner? Because Banner's ability to transform into the Hulk isn't really the extraordinary thing about his case: it's his ability to change back again that's unique. Schmidt and Blonsky are permanent monsters, and Rogers never reverted to being a shrimp. Presumably everyone's been blaming this on the gamma-radiation factor, but the Extremis users — people whose control of their formula-imbued abilities are also linked to their emotional stability and self-control — suggest it may not be that, at all. Rather, it may be that the super-soldier formula is working exactly as it should, with Banner; indeed, it's still active in his system, kept constantly at work by the gamma radiation in his blood. Small wonder, that Mr. Blue could make it transmissible: Banner's variant of the formula never shuts down.
- So why's it only transform him into the Hulk if he's angry or stressed? Simple: just as he's always angry, Banner is always affected by the super-soldier formula. It's just that, most of the time, he thinks of himself as exactly what he was before the accident: a regular human being, very smart but not otherwise special. He didn't have any particular hang-ups or aspirations for the formula to manifest... none, that is, except that he could be a real grouch and blow his top sometimes, when he got too fed up or mad. Which wasn't even all that bad of a problem, really - everyone needs to blow off steam sometimes - except he hated his own temper, thinking it far worse than it was, and believing it made him like a big ugly ogre to release such emotions. It was this misconception about himself (and it is a misconception, otherwise the Hulk would be a villain) that the formula initially latched onto when he ran his Professor Guinea Pig experiment, and that it keeps manifesting when his mood aligns with what he'd thought of as his "monster" side.
- Now, Kilian's mooks probably had just as diverse a range of subconscious quirks and misconceptions as the other would-be supersoldier characters, yet because Extremis gets its cues from the brain's body-monitoring region instead of the subconscious, they maintained a human shape even when they were healing. The formula did kick into overdrive when they got stressed, much like Banner's does, except the excess mass beyond what the human anatomy required would be instantly converted to heat, not bulk. If Banner can learn enough about how the brain suppresses excess growth of tissue from Pepper's Extremis case, and he (or maybe Stark) can devise a heat-sink mechanism that averts the risk of blowing up, he could keep the Hulk in check permanently, or at least reduce "the other guy" to something human-sized, hence less destructive and conspicuous.
- Jossed. The real Mandarin is much older than Genghis Khan.