Although it's hard to imagine Infinity War without Iron Man being around, there was a time during Iron Man 3's release where people honestly didn't know if Downey Jr. would ever return to the part. His contract was finished with that film, and looking back on Iron Man 3 today, it's clear to see that the film actually closes the book on his character.
Iron Man 3 is all about Stark's journey to a world without Iron Man. The symbolic act of him destroying the suits, as well as the fact he spends most of his time out of them, represents his attempts to move past his armour. Sure, this means absolutely nothing in the context of Age of Ultron, wherein a burned out Tony Stark ends up birthing yet another nightmare from his scientific efforts, but still, there's a clear end to Stark's arc in Shane Black's film.
Perhaps that's why, five years on from its release, Iron Man 3 is somewhat forgotten. The steps it takes to develop Tony are completely reversed in the following feature, but even then, it's not difficult to appreciate the efforts it went to flesh out his character. It adds a new dynamic to the somewhat upbeat nature of 2012's Avengers and gives Tony the room to grow as a human being, much like Civil War would do (and be lauded for) a few years later.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
