Doctor Aldrich Killian was a virtual nobody in Iron Man comics. He developed the robotic technology Extremis as an attempt to replace missing organs, but when he sold a sample to a terrorist group who used it to create a supervillain he committed suicide out of shame. All of this happened in exactly one issue and Killian became a forgotten minor character. The Aldrich Killian who appeared as the main antagonist of Iron Man 3 shared exactly two things with his comics counterpart: his name and the fact that he developed Extremis. The MCU version is an obnoxious billionaire genius who attempts to use the virus to manipulate the War On Terror for his own ends. In fact, Iron Man 3 filmmakers used Killian's obscurity to their advantage because when it was revealed that Pearce was playing Killian many fans assumed he had a minor role in the movie. It was a pretty calculating move on the part of Marvel, given that many fans thought the main villain of Iron Man 3 would be major Iron Man foe The Mandarin.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
