The IRON MAN 3 News & Speculation Thread - Part 8

[OB12]

Not even close. What I'm suggesting is more like the equivalent of Lex Luthor being a puppet of Brainiac. Luthor would be powerful enough and arrogant enough to believe that he wears the britches in the relationship, but Brainiac is really calling all the shots. And that's a situation/analogy that is highly, highly probable.

I'd be more amenable to this. What I don't what to happen is for Mandarin to end up being some pawn, whose actions have very little weight after a Killian double-cross. Having Killian and AIM revealed as truly sinister but leaving the final confrontation with Mandarin to be a very epic showdown with IM would be what I'd like to see.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dent

How does that make him nerfed? I think you're using the wrong phrases to express yourself here.

No, "nerfed" is exactly the phrase I wanted to use. To "nerf" a character is to take away all or most of their usual/known powers to make them basically a mundane. That's exactly what they did to Mandarin, as there is no evidence at all that he has any powers, even in his iconic Rings.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by OB12

I'd be more amenable to this. What I don't what to happen is for Mandarin to end up being some pawn, whose actions have very little weight after a Killian double-cross. Having Killian and AIM revealed as truly sinister but leaving the final confrontation with Mandarin to be a very epic showdown with IM would be what I'd like to see.

I think the main thing we'll take away from Killian in IM3 is that AIM is set up to be a recurring and powerful and sinister evil force that will have a presence in the MCU for years to come. The MCU version of SPECTRE, if you will. Killian will be an evil genius who's typically undone by his own ego, but he'll be shown to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AIM. There'll be more evil geniuses and Scientist Supremes to take his place.

[Mr. Dent]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

No, "nerfed" is exactly the phrase I wanted to use. To "nerf" a character is to take away all or most of their usual/known powers to make them basically a mundane. That's exactly what they did to Mandarin, as there is no evidence at all that he has any powers, even in his iconic Rings.

Mundane?? Most of Mandarin's skills are martial arts-based, so we can't tell whether they've really nerfed him or not until we see the film. And the rings are Extremis based. They can't shoot lasers or whatever but they can do things just as effective that look cooler and not as silly.

[OB12]

I think the main thing we'll take away from Killian in IM3 is that AIM is set up to be a recurring and powerful and sinister evil force that will have a presence in the MCU for years to come. The MCU version of SPECTRE, if you will. Killian will be an evil genius who's typically undone by his own ego, but he'll be shown to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AIM. There'll be more evil geniuses and Scientist Supremes to take his place.

Yeah, I'm down with that. Set up AIM to be an organization that will continue to pose problems for SHIELD and our heroes throughout Cap2 and Ant-Man and possibly the SHIELD show.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dent

Mundane?? Most of Mandarin's skills are martial arts-based, so we can't tell whether they've really nerfed him or not until we see the film. And obviously the rings Extremis based. They can't shoot lasers or whatever but they can do things just as effective that look cooler and not as silly.

Pure speculation at this point. Every time anybody is asked if the Rings have powers, they pretty much say "no." If the Rings *do* have any connection to Extremis, it's probably little more than hacking into Tony's Extremis armor, or activating the "virus" in one or more of Mandarin's henchmen. I wouldn't expect to see them shoot fireballs or ice bolts or such. Would be cool if they do, and more authentic to comic-book Mandarin, but I'm not betting on it at this point.

[mkilban2]

Originally Posted by *Whiplash*

After watching the trailer to this again, I can't help but hear the same whaling noise that was in The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer...

Am I the only one? Or late to the party?

Now I have to go back and watch both haha.. not mad though! If it's the sounds I'm thinking I feel like it's been in a lot of trailers for movies lately. The almost Inception like sound effect?

[Mr. Dent]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Pure speculation at this point. Every time anybody is asked if the Rings have powers, they pretty much say "no." If the Rings *do* have any connection to Extremis, it's probably little more than hacking into Tony's Extremis armor, or activating the "virus" in one or more of Mandarin's henchmen. I wouldn't expect to see them shoot fireballs or ice bolts or such. Would be cool if they do, and more authentic to comic-book Mandarin, but I'm not betting on it at this point.

Since you don't want to buy into any kind of spoilers no matter how much they make sense or the context in which they were posted, there's probably not much point in me arguing this. But the rings would not just be hacking into Tony's armor or activating other Extremis soldiers. Those would be functions, but the key of Extremis is that it allows the user to remotely control any kind of tech based system. This mean Mandarin can essentially use weapons remotely with the rings. They wouldn't shoot out fire and ice, which would be lame in an Iron Man film, but they would do things just as effective in a cooler way that makes sense in an Iron Man film. And being authentic is not the key to making a good adaptation of a comic book villain. It's keeping the spirit of the villain that is the key. At its core the rings, and Mandarin himself, would retain the spirit of how they were portrayed in the comics.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by Crimson King

No way in Hades it's Killian playing Mandarin. They wouldn't emasculate Iron Man's greatest enemy like that. Not happening.

Feige already said that Mandarin has been operating behind the scenes since IM1. I suppose it's possible that it's really Killian that's the head of all this, but I put that possibility at around 1%. It would totally kill the Mandarin character to have that happen.

We'd have to call Mandarin "Banedarin" if that happens.


Look at the history of the Ten Rings from Iron Man through the present and it's clear that the Mandarin has been targeting Tony Stark for years. In fact, Mandarin is responsible for Tony Stark becoming Iron Man, because it was his henchmen's kidnapping Tony, injuring him and forcing him to create a weapon for them that lead to his creation of the arc reactor and armor.


Indirectly causing the creation of a hero must have been galling for Mandarin, but he and his underlings saw opportunities arising from Iron Man. They could try to acquire Stark's armor while at the same time helping Vanko to attack him. When Vanko not only failed but left Stark even stronger, perhaps Mandarin was provoked into finding a more direct method of destroying his nemesis.

[UnionJack]

Originally Posted by marvel_freshman

Boss at CBM was sent these. He doesn't know if the concept art is 100% legit considering some random person emailed them to him.

The Deep Space suit looks nice ... that Hulkbuster looks terrible like its for a hunchback, no thanks.

The concept from IRM 1 or 2 looked alot better.

[mkilban2]

if that Hulkbuster concept was standing straight up it might look better.. but I still don't hate it entirely.. just like 60% of me hates it haha.

[Mr. Dent]

That's probably really early concept art for Hulkbuster. If it ever gets used the earliest time would be A2.

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Not even close. What I'm suggesting is more like the equivalent of Lex Luthor being a puppet of Brainiac. Luthor would be powerful enough and arrogant enough to believe that he wears the britches in the relationship, but Brainiac is really calling all the shots. And that's a situation/analogy that is highly, highly probable.

Killian is no Brainiac. Even if they make him Scientist Supreme, he's no Brainiac. They're not even in the same ballpark.

Forget all that, though. Would it make sense to show Luthor as a lackey the first time we're introduced to him in the Superman universe? Who could take him seriously after that? He's Superman's nemesis, just like Mandarin is Tony's, and I have a hard time believing Killian, of all people, would take center stage when Mandarin is around.

I think you're letting your opinion of the Mandarin character skew your view of the plot.

[mkilban2]

please pretend that my photoshop skills were better/ I didn't throw this together really fast but here's my shot at making that Hulkbuster armor upright..

haha it's so bad sorry lol...

[craigdbfan]

That new Hulk buster seems to emulate the actual anatomy of Hulk thus the Hunchback (humungous traps and hunched position) appearance.



It definitely makes sense.

[Quasimod0]

Quasimodo hulkbuster lol

[ThePhantasm]

If the Hulbuster suit is big enough, Tony wouldn't actually have to be hunched over. His head wouldn't be in the helmet, it would be further back in the "body." But it could work.

[mkilban2]

Originally Posted by craigdbfan

That new Hulk buster seems to emulate the actual anatomy of Hulk thus the Hunchback (humungous traps and hunched position) appearance.



It definitely makes sense.

yup it definitely looks just like the Hulks posture, so I'm assuming he makes it that he can maneuver similar to how Hulk does. Sort of a toe-for-toe body structure to combat Hulk. That picture is a great example of how similar both actually look when you compare both.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Crimson King

Killian is no Brainiac. Even if they make him Scientist Supreme, he's no Brainiac. They're not even in the same ballpark.

Killian is no Mad Hatter, either, nor Mandarin The Joker; but you made the comparison. I made a more apt analogy: one of a powerful, arrogant, resourceful villainous leader being in a partnership with an evil genius who is infinitely more intelligent than the former; thus, the smarter man manipulates the less smarter man, who is none the wiser for it.

Forget all that, though. Would it make sense to show Luthor as a lackey the first time we're introduced to him in the Superman universe? Who could take him seriously after that? He's Superman's nemesis, just like Mandarin is Tony's, and I have a hard time believing Killian, of all people, would take center stage when Mandarin is around.

I think you're letting your opinion of the Mandarin character skew your view of the plot.

Killian is clearly not even remotely the same character that was in the Extremis comic. Comic-book Killian was a non-entity; just a corpse that started Tony Stark in on a murder mystery. This Killian is someone who is invented purely for the MCU, so Shane Black is free to make him into whomever he wants, however powerful he wants, however important he wants. Comic-book Mandarin has a long history with Iron Man, yes; but it's a history that Marvel prefers to sweep under the rug due to the blatant racist overtones. He's a Silver Age embarrassment, and even modern revamps have just moved the racism to less overt avenues --- i.e., let's make him a Triad crimelord instead (as if that's somehow less offensive). I'd be willing to bet that Marvel Studios has no intention of seeing either Killian or Mandarin return for future movies, and both will suffer the usual (mortal) fate of Iron Man villains.

It is what it is. Neither Mandarin nor Killian remotely reference their comic-book counterparts. They are both INOs, so Black can play them however he likes.

[mkilban2]

I don't see Killian making it out of this alive since we're assuming he's extermis infected I think he'll meet an end. But if Mandy is the top dog of this film as I'm assuming I think he can possibly be captured and jailed or make an escape somehow in the end and return for a MoE team up in a future film if that's the route Marvel movies are going to go in the future. Otherwise, yes he's going to kick the bucket too.

[ThePowerCosmic]

Originally Posted by mkilban2

please pretend that my photoshop skills were better/ I didn't throw this together really fast but here's my shot at making that Hulkbuster armor upright..

haha it's so bad sorry lol...

LOL, it's doing the "haters gonna hate" strut.

[ThePowerCosmic]

Originally Posted by marvel_freshman

I'm pretty sure this is the Deep Space armor that's going to be in the movie. Looks like just that toy that was shown a while back. I wonder why the eye-slits are closed off.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[mkilban2]

Originally Posted by ThePowerCosmic

LOL, it's doing the "haters gonna hate" strut.

hahahaha I know! I was going to link that picture too lol.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

the image was big but there it is.

[ThePowerCosmic]

Originally Posted by mkilban2

hahahaha I know! I was going to link that picture too lol.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

the image was big but there it is.

That's too funny. Good work on that, by the way.

[mkilban2]

Originally Posted by ThePowerCosmic

That's too funny. Good work on that, by the way.

haha hey, I tried