| Starring |
- Robert Downey, Jr.
- Gwyneth
Cast
- A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with mechanical suits of armor of his own invention. Stark now struggles to come to terms with his near-death experience in The Avengers,[4][5] suffering from anxiety attacks. On making a third Iron Man film, Downey said, "My sense of it is that we need to leave it all on the field—whatever that means in the end. You can pick several different points of departure for that."[6] On following up The Avengers, Downey said they "tried to be practical, in a post-Avengers world. What are his challenges now? What are some limitations that might be placed on him? And what sort of threat would have him, as usual, ignore those limitations?"[7] Screenwriter Drew Pearce compared Tony to an American James Bond for both being "heroes with a sense of danger to them, and unpredictability" even if Stark was a "free agent" instead of an authority figure like Bond. He also likened Tony to the protagonists of 1970s films such as The French Connection, where "the idiosyncrasies of the heroes is what made them exciting."[8]
- Stark's girlfriend, longtime associate, and CEO of Stark Industries.[4][9] Paltrow says of her character's relationship to Tony, "[She still] adores Tony, but she absolutely gets fed up with him. He gets caught in a feedback loop."[10] Kevin Feige comments on Pepper's role in the film: "The love triangle in this movie is really between Tony, Pepper and the suits. Tony, Pepper and his obsession with those suits, and the obsession with technology." Feige also states that the film uses the character to play with the damsel in distress trope, and posits the question, "Is Pepper in danger or is Pepper the savior?"[11]
- Stark's best friend, the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force in the department of acquisitions. Rhodes operates the redesigned/upgraded War Machine armor, taking on an American flag-inspired color scheme similar to the Iron Patriot armor from the comics.[5] Feige said of Rhodes and the armor, "The notion in the movie is that a red, white and blue suit is a bold statement, and it's meant to be. With Rhodey, he's very much the foil to Tony's eccentricities, and in this one you get to see this and be reminded of the trust and friendship between them in that great Shane Black buddy-cop fashion."[12] In the film, the president asks Rhodey to take up the moniker "Iron Patriot," and don the red, white, and blue suit, in order to be the government's "American hero" in response to the events in The Avengers.[13]
- The creator of the Extremis virus[14] and the founder of Advanced Idea Mechanics,[15] who adopts the mantle of the Mandarin as his own.[16][17] Killian develops Extremis to cure his own debilitating disability; in addition to his regenerative healing qualities, he has superhuman strength and the ability to generate extreme heat. Prolonged exposure to Extremis also grants him the ability to breathe fire. On taking the role, Pearce said, "I feel a little more experimental in what I'll take on these days, but I still don't know that I would want to play the superhero myself, since I'm playing a different kind of character in this film... The main difference was that, when I did The Time Machine, I was pretty much in all of it, so it was a really grueling experience. Prometheus and Iron Man are really kind of cameo stuff, so the experience of shooting them... I mean, on some level, it's tricky because you feel like a bit of an outsider. You don't really live the experience that you do when you're there all day every day with everybody. But at the same time, it can be more fun sometimes because you're just working in concentrated spurts."[18] Pearce described his character as a man "who came into this world with a number of physical disabilities. He's never been able to accept those limitations though and has spent most of his life trying to overcome them in any way he can. His tenacity and blind determination in fighting for a better life are seen by some as irritating, as he often comes across as obnoxious. He just won't accept the cards he was dealt, and being as intelligent as he is, has real drive to change and become a different person."[15] Shane Black specified, "Ultimately we do give you the Mandarin, the real guy, but it's Guy Pearce in the end with the big dragon tattooed on his chest."[16] He elaborated, "Do they hand me a blank check and say, 'Go break something!' Or, 'Go violate some long-standing comic book treaty that fans have supported for years?' No, but they'll say: 'Let's break something together.' So it's okay to come up with these crazy things, these far out ideas … and they'll fly. It's just that the Marvel guys have to be in the room."[19]
- A botanist whose work helped create Extremis.[5][20][21] Hall said Hansen would be a "strong female character," and described her decision to take the role, saying, "I decided to do Iron Man 3 because I've never done the 'hurry up and wait' movie before. Even the studio movies I've done have been small studio movies, or indie films that we made on a wing and a prayer. I love those, but Iron Man is refreshing in a way because it's something out of my realm of experiences."[22]
- A war veteran who becomes an assassin after her exposure to Extremis.[5][23] Describing Brandt, Szostak says, "... [Extremis] was a second chance at life. We talked about what you feel like and I think it almost makes you a fuller version of who you are, all your weakness and your qualities – just everything gets enhanced. I saw it as very freeing, almost you become your true-self and your fantasy-self all at once."[24] The writers originally envisioned Brandt as Killian's main henchman, which would return throughout the movie to fight Tony, but eventually that role was reassigned to Eric Savin.[25]
- Killian's Extremis-powered henchman.[5][26] Dale stated that his character in the film was "loosely based on" the comic version of the character.[27] According to Dale, "Ben Kingsley is the mouthpiece. Guy Pearce is the brain. I'm the muscle."[28]
- Tony Stark's former bodyguard and chauffeur, now Stark Industries head of security. Favreau, who served as both actor and director on the previous two Iron Man films, said participating in the new film was "like [being] a proud grandfather who doesn't have to change the diapers but gets to play with the baby."[29]
- A British actor with substance-abuse problems whom Killian hired to portray the Mandarin, a terrorist persona in jammed television broadcasts, in which he is depicted as a leader of the international terrorist organization The Ten Rings.[5][30][31] Kingsley was filming Ender's Game when he was cast, and said that, "Quite soon I'll be with everybody and we'll be discussing the look and the feel and the direction of the character. It's very early days yet, but I'm so thrilled to be on board."[32] On his performance, Kingsley stated: "I wanted a voice that would disconcert a Western audience. I wanted a voice that would sound far more homegrown and familiar—a familiarity like a teacher's voice or a preacher's voice. The rhythms and tones of an earnest, almost benign, teacher—trying to educate people for their own good."[33] The Mandarin was initially set to appear in the first Iron Man film, but he was put off for a sequel as the filmmakers felt that he was "too ambitious for a first [film]."[34] On the character, Feige stated, "The Mandarin is [Iron Man's] most famous foe in the comics mainly because he's been around the longest. If you look, there's not necessarily a definitive Mandarin storyline in the comics. So it was really about having an idea."[12] Shane Black explains that Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is not Chinese in the film as he is in the comics in order to avoid the Fu Manchu stereotype: "We're not saying he's Chinese, we're saying he, in fact, draws a cloak around him of Chinese symbols and dragons because it represents his obsessions with Sun Tzu in various ancient arts of warfare that he studied." The filmmakers also cited Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now as an influence for the character.[35] The videos where the Mandarin give historical background to the attacks expressed how it emerged as the product of "a think tank of people trying to create a modern terrorist."[25] Thus the Mandarin "represents every terrorist in a way," from South American insurgency tactics to the videos of Osama bin Laden.[35]
- The first child featured prominently in the Iron Man films, Harley is a troubled boy living with his mother, who must work all hours since Harley's father left them before the events of the film. After Stark arrives in his town, Harley becomes his sidekick[36] and helps to repair his suit and track down the Mandarin.
Paul Bettany reprises his role from previous films as J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark's AI system.[23] Ashley Hamilton portrays Taggart, one of the Extremis soldiers.[37] William Sadler plays President Ellis,[23][38] (named after Warren Ellis, who wrote the "Extremis" comics arc that primary influenced the film's story)[39] and Miguel Ferrer plays Vice President Rodriguez. Adam Pally plays Gary, a cameraman who helps Stark.[40] Shaun Toub reprises his role as Yinsen from the first Iron Man film in a brief cameo, and Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a beauty pageant judge.[39] Dale Dickey plays Mrs. Davis, mother of an Extremis subject that ends framed as a terrorist.[41] Wang Xueqi briefly plays Dr. Wu in the general release version of the film.[42] A cut of the film produced for release exclusively in China includes additional scenes featuring Wang and an appearance by Fan Bingbing as one of his assistants.[43][44] Mark Ruffalo makes an uncredited cameo appearance in a reprisal of his role as Dr. Bruce Banner from The Avengers in a post-credits scene. Comedians Bill Maher and Joan Rivers and Fashion Police co-host George Kotsiopoulos have cameo appearances as themselves on their respective real-world television programs, as do newscasters Josh Elliott, Megan Henderson, Pat Kiernan, and Thomas Roberts.
Paltrow
- Don Cheadle
- Guy Pearce
- Rebecca Hall
- Stephanie Szostak
- James Badge Dale
- Jon Favreau
- Ben Kingsley
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