TheIron Mantrilogy is arguably the most important solo franchise in the MCU , because it was the first one . In 2008 , the firstIron Manmovie kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe withTony Stark announcing to the worldly concern that he was the alloy - tog superherothat had been spotted in the skies of Los Angeles and Nick Fury say him he was n’t the only superhero . It was then followed by two sequels , both of which received mixed review from critics andirked a fortune of fans .

Wrong: The Mandarin twist

There was a way to make the Mandarin twist work – it makes a good degree about fear terrorist leaders in the public witting being controlled by unseen tool - masters and it ’s a wholly unexpected plot number – butIron Man 3went about it all wrong . For starters , Ben Kingsley ’s portrayal of Trevor Slattery wasfar too zany and over - the - topfor the impact of the twist to really set in . Plus , the merchandising of the movie got fans unrestrained to see the tangible Mandarin , the iconic and terrific villain from the comics , in the picture . The Mandarin twistmight be the MCU ’s biggest neglect opportunity .

Right: Tony Stark’s character development

Although theAvengersmovies developed Tony Stark to an extent , his solo trilogy did most of the legwork . He arguably developed more in the first picture show than inhis integral character arc , as he realize sell weapon is wrong ( aftera near - expiry experience with a Stark Industries dud ) and decided to help others rather than himself . And as much as Marvel rooter might bawl out onIron Man 3 , Shane Black arguably understood the Tony Stark case better than any other MCU music director . By taking forth his tech and forcing him to confront the scoundrel without it , Black prove us that Tony really is a hero .

Wrong: Unfocused second movie

There ’s a lot inIron Man 2that fans were disappointed with , like its generic villain , but its most flagrant crime is its want of focus . As the spark nuclear reactor in Tony ’s chest began to miscarry him , there was an opportunity for some literal character development , but the sequel gottoo bogged down in setting up the broad MCU .

Black Widow was swot into itinstead of getting her own solo movieand Nick Fury spent the whole movie harping on about the “ Avengers Initiative . ”Iron Man 2was too preoccupied with setting the stage forThe Avengersthat it failed to be a great movie on its own .

Right: Working the events ofThe Avengersinto the plot

All throughoutIron Man 3 , Tony suffers from PTSD follow his trip-up through a wormhole during the Battle of New York . masses do meet psychological damage after near - decease experiences and it would ’ve been disingenuous ifIron Man 3ignored what had just happen to Tony in a broad plot of the MCU . The ongoing threat of the Mandarin in the early aspect ofIron Man 3is dextrously woven into his post - traumatic stress . Even though it was the very first grammatical case of a solo movie following on from a squad - up movie , it still stands as one of the most efficient .

Wrong: Recasting James Rhodes

After the firstIron Manmovie , there wasa declaration dispute between Marvel and Terrence Howard , so the studio apartment replaced him with Don Cheadle inIron Man 2onwards . This was a terrible misunderstanding , because with Howard ’s smooth charisma and genuine coolness , he was much better for the part than Cheadle . Also , being real - life admirer with Robert Downey , Jr. , Howard ’s Rhodey had much strong on - screen interpersonal chemistry with Tony than Cheadle ’s . Going back and rewatching Howard ’s performance inIron Manafter nine years of Cheadle as Rhodey , it ’s light to see thatthe role should ’ve never been recastand Howard was idealistic for it .

Right: Origin story

The MCU ’s origin stories areoften criticise for following a inflexible formula , but 2008’sIron Manfeels impudent . This is partly because it was the first ever MCU picture show and therefore had no pattern to espouse yet , but partly because it ’s just brilliantly made . It has a nonlinear structure , put perfectly to give usa pointed portrayal of Tony Stark . First , we see him get captured by terrorist . Then , we go back to see the life story of excess and luxury he leads . Then , we yield to his captivity as he builds a weaponized suit or else of the bomb the terrorist want him to build . As far as superhero line stories go , this is as good as it get .

Wrong: Finishing too early

Producer Kevin Feige is a vast buff of the trilogy as a tale proficiency . To be fair , there isa rich history of brilliant trilogies , and if it ai n’t smash , do n’t fix it . The problem with that is that Iron Man ’s solo franchiseended means too betimes . Since he had two solo movies in Phase 1 whereas everyone else had just one , Iron Man did n’t have the luxury ofa solo picture show at each stage of the MCU . His character reference arc only hit a certain stage by the end of his own trilogy and the rest period of it shed into other hoi polloi ’s movies . It would ’ve been interesting to see anIron Manmovie in Phase 3 .

Right: Blending action and humor

Tony Stark isone of the funniest characters in the MCU . He hasa pop culture - inspired nickname for everyoneand he has the double-dyed wisecrack for every state of affairs . But he ’s also a superhero who flies through the sky and blows up bad guys . It can be hard to harmonize the two .

A lot of MCU movies struggle to walk the fine line of descent between humour and natural process , oftenletting the body fluid distract from the actionor vice versa . But theIron Manmovies nail the activity / humor combo , and it ’s almost all thanks toRobert Downey , Jr. ’s mesmerizing execution in the purpose of Stark .

Wrong: Villains

Despite adhering to the cliché of the don physical body who turn out to be vicious , Obadiah Stane was a pretty majuscule villain , but he was also the last corking scoundrel in theIron Mantrilogy . Iron Man 2had two baddie – Whiplash and Justin Hammer – and they were both slow and unnecessary . The straight villain in that moving picture was the U.S. government , so they could ’ve both been swerve without compromising the film at all . The large twirl inIron Man 3was that the Mandarin was a phony all along , and the real guy wire pulling the strings was Aldrich Killian , who was disappointing , to put it nicely . Killian was set up as a wolf in sheep ’s habiliment , which could ’ve been interesting and moderate to an actually   pursue twist if Guy Pearce had n’t played the persona as a mustache - twirling villain .

Right: The perfect ending

While the real end to Iron Man ’s character arc would come in six long time later inAvengers : Endgame , involving the Infinity Stones anda timeless callback , he convey a sort of terminate inIron Man 3 . In one of his only true appearance of affectionateness to Pepper – one that was n’t simply an expensive “ Aw , shucks ! ” motion – he decides to undergo a surgical function to have the shrapnel removed from around his heart . Then , he drives down to the shore andtosses his now - useless arc nuclear reactor into the ocean . If Tony Stark ’s tarradiddle had ended there , perhaps it still would ’ve been satisfying .

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