Vision: Every Paul Bettany Marvel movie and show ranked worst to best
By Wesley Bell
7. Iron Man 3
Still reeling from the events of The Avengers, Tony continued tinkering, creating over 35 suits since then, which puts a strain on his relationship with Pepper. He also began suffering from severe panic attacks making it more difficult for him to go out in public.
His home gets attacked and destroyed when he challenges the terrorist leader of the Ten Rings, the Mandarin, and gives his address. While trying to rescue Pepper and take on the attackers, Tony gets caught in the destruction and sinks to the bottom of the sea.
Luckily, J.A.R.V.I.S. manages to pilot the suit and rescue him, taking him to Tennessee. However, once there, J.A.R.V.I.S. shuts down due to the damage, leaving Stark entirely alone and with a non-functional suit, forcing him to rely on his skills as an inventor and engineer.
Tony discovers that “The Mandarin” is actually an actor hired by Aldrich Killian, a scientist he once ignored at a New Year’s Eve party in 1999, who went on to found Advanced Idea Mechanics and helped create Extremis.
During the final battle, Tony has J.A.R.V.I.S. activate the “House Party” protocol, summoning an army of various Iron Man suits to help him against Killian and his Extremis army. After defeating Killian, with help from an Extremis-infused Pepper, Tony orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to destroy all his suits.
After getting the Extremis removed from Pepper, Tony finally has the shrapnel removed from his chest, something he had been putting off for years. It ends with him throwing his arc reactor into the ocean and giving himself a fresh start.
Iron Man 3 is the most controversial film in the trilogy. While people generally agree that the first film was good and the second wasn’t, the third generated mixed responses. The Mandarin twist rubbed people the wrong way, and they felt like it cheapened one of Iron Man’s most popular comic villains. Although it’s not perfect, it still was a pretty good conclusion to the Iron Man trilogy and a satisfying end to Tony’s arc in these films.