5. Does Iron Man "Die"?
It's extremely hard to ignore the similarities between this trailer and the pre-release campaign of The Dark Knight Rises in this trailer. We have a superhero coming to terms with the after-math of a catastrophic and life-changing event, wearing the bodily and mental scars of that situation, and to a certain extent questioning who he is and how his work affects his personal relationships. We also have ghosts of the past - Tony's confessed nightmares standing in for the deaths of the Wayne family and Rachel - and a very real and immediate threat to the central hero, which results in massive trauma - enough to bury him under the sea; enough to inspire that strong emotional reaction from Pepper Potts in her shackles. And to top it all off, we have the image of the broken mask: a motif that is now extremely familiar with the current crop of superhero movie fans as a suggestion of death or at least defeat, thanks to the Dark Knight Rises - and in general thanks to the mythology of masked heroes. I can't shake the feeling that Iron Man is supposed to die, at least in the world's eyes - that his personal story is going to be one of both redemption and personal vengeance, which would explain exactly why he would be removed from the assistance of the rest of the Avengers' team. The hints in the trailer aren't exactly subtle, and that certainly appears to be what we should expect to happen - it would allow for the rise of the Iron Patriot in his place, and it would also create the necessary narrative intrigue that was occasionally missing in Iron Man 2. Chances are someone is going to die for real. My money is on Happy Hogan. But then, perhaps that's just wishful thinking after his ridiculous fight scene alongside Black Widow. Worst scene in Marvel's often illustrious movie-making history. What did you think of the Iron Man 3 trailer? Share your thoughts below.