"A few years ago in publishing, they created a suit called the Iron Patriot, which was an advanced Iron Man suit painted red, white and blue with a star on it. In the comics its a different character that wears it and utilizes it. But we really loved that image; we thought it was a striking image. And coming off of The Avengers where you have Captain America and Captain America is such a symbol for The Avengers, we thought it would be fun if the United States wanted to have their own version of that. Of course, Captain America works for the United States, but as hes more of an Avengers hero the US Government said, We want our own, which is why they take War Machine and rebrand him as the Iron Patriot. Shane Black and I [seeing] the Iron Patriot for the first time [was an exciting reveal] and what the guys at Legacy had done with this suit. Each suit gets better and better. The Iron Patriot practical suit that was worn on set is the best practical suit theyve ever built.
Now over the course of the film we learn that there was a nefarious purpose behind that. Its a great example of how sometimes you take and stay true to a character as pulled from the comics, and sometimes the comics can be the kernel of an idea that you then flesh out and build into something else. One of the best things about being a part of Marvel Studios is that you have the house of ideas; you have the publishing division that comes out with dozens of books a month and we flip through almost every one of those books every month and just pull things and dont know where they could be used. But you know, a few years ago we pulled out the Iron Patriot and said, Thats cool. Wouldnt that be fun to play with that someday? And youll see it in Iron Man 3.