Black was hired to write and direct the sequel in February 2011, working with Pearce to make the script more character-centric, focus on thriller elements, and use concepts from Warren Ellis's "Extremis" comic book story arc.

At a New Year's Eve party in 1999, Tony Stark meets scientist Maya Hansen, the inventor of Extremis, an experimental regenerative treatment that allows recovery from crippling injuries.

Stark escapes and reunites with Rhodes, discovering that Killian intends to attack President Ellis aboard Air Force One, using the Iron Patriot armor, controlled by Savin.

Killian, who appropriated Hansen's Extremis research as a cure for his own disability and expanded the program to include injured war veterans, reveals he is the real Mandarin behind Slattery's cover.

Stark promises to scale back his life as Iron Man, undergoing surgery to remove the shrapnel near his heart and throwing his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea.

[26] Ty Simpkins portrays Harley Keener, a child who lives in Rose Hill, Tennessee, who assists Stark when the latter breaks into his garage in order to repair his suit.

[52] Comedians Bill Maher and Joan Rivers,[53][54] and Fashion Police (2010-2017) co-host George Kotsiopoulos have cameo appearances as themselves on their respective real-world television programs,[55] as do newscasters Josh Elliott,[56] Megan Henderson,[57] Pat Kiernan,[58] and Thomas Roberts.

The final dialogue was originally written as "I am Tony Stark" to be a response to the first film's ending, but eventually it changed to "I am Iron Man" to enhance the mythical qualities.

[28] On setting the film around Christmas, Black said "I think it's a sense of if you're doing something on an interesting scale that involves an entire universe of characters, one way to unite them is to have them all undergo a common experience.

[72] In April 2012, Ben Kingsley entered into negotiations to play a villain in Iron Man 3,[73] a part which Anthony Mackie, who would later portray Sam Wilson in the MCU, also auditioned for.

Initially, they suggested that Harley Keener be a Chinese exchange student, something Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito shot down since they did not want the film to feature "the sidekick from Indiana Jones [and the Temple of Doom]" (1984).

[79][48] The next week, Guy Pearce entered into final talks to play Aldrich Killian, a character who is featured in the "Extremis" comic book story arc.

Computer graphics were employed only to add clouds, the destroyed plane and matte paintings of the Florida coastline in the background, replace a stand-in with the Iron Man armor, and some digital compositing to combine different takes of the skydivers together.

[95] Filming took place in Rose Hill, North Carolina, in early August 2012,[96] and the town's name was incorporated into the script as the Tennessee city Stark visits.

The artists studied time lapse photography of decaying fruit and vegetables and actual phenomena such as the aurora borealis as reference for the effect of the glowing Extremis characters.

[115] Trevor Slattery was originally meant to die in the film, appearing during the climatic oil rig battle with an Extremis injector and promptly blowing up after taking it.

[126] Verizon FiOS and TCL's flat panel televisions and Alcatel One Touch smartphones are also featured in the film,[127] and the Chinese cut also shows a Zoomlion crane and Yili milk.

[128] Promotional deals were arranged with Subway and the Schwan Food Company,[127] and tie-ins included Lego sets,[129] Hasbro action figures,[130] and a mobile phone game by Gameloft.

In addition, there is a simulator game, titled "Become Iron Man," that uses Kinect-like technology to allow the viewer to be encased in an animated Mark XLII armor and take part in a series of "tests," in which you fire repulsor rays and fly through Tony Stark's workshop.

[139][140] While the UK premiere of the film was originally set for April 17, the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher taking place in that date made the event be pushed to the following day.

The cinemas were in a contract dispute with Disney, who wished to receive more of the ticket sale profit than they currently did, largely based on the projected premiere-weekend intake Iron Man 3 was expected to have.

The website's critical consensus reads, "With the help of its charismatic lead, some impressive action sequences, and even a few surprises, Iron Man 3 is a witty, entertaining adventure and a strong addition to the Marvel canon.

[195] In an early review by the trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy said that, "After nearly crashing and burning on his last solo flight in 2010, Iron Man returns refreshed and ready for action in this spirited third installment ... [that] benefits immeasurably from the irreverent quicksilver humor of co-writer and director Shane Black.

[196] Calling the film "darker and more serious than its predecessors," Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times credited Black for "chang[ing] this billion-dollar-plus franchise's tone for the better while keeping the same actor as Tony Stark.

Finding it "a swinging caper with wit, balls, heart and exploding baubles," he said the villainous "super-soldiers who can regenerate body parts and survive astounding damage [are] visually interesting ... but their motivation is murky and unconvincing.

"[201] Likewise Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York bestowed 3 of 5 stars, saying, "Black has massively upped the verbal sparring and kept the broad inventiveness of comic-book malleability in mind.

[243] The Mandarin, a cover-up adversary that is otherwise non-threatening, is a take on Americans' xenophobia towards Middle Easterns,[242] and how people's fear is taken advantage of to create and pass harmful policies.

[245] Stark enacts its symptoms, such as anxiety attacks, hypervigilance, frequent nightmares, and an inability to be in the public;[242][245] this deviates from most portrayals of not only superheroes but also strong male leads in general, where they are not traumatized from perilous situations.

[249][250] After the death of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame (2019), co-screenwriter Stephen McFeely said, "You would've already had Iron Man 4 if it was any other studio", remarking that it was a bold move by Marvel to kill off the character.

[251] In February 2014, Marvel released the One-Shot film, All Hail the King, on Thor: The Dark World's (2013) home media, featuring Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery.