The above image shows off Tony Stark’s latest creation, the Mark VII (I think that’s what we’re on) Iron Man armor that will be seen in use for the upcoming Marvel Studios film Iron Man 3. In the wee hours of the Comic-Con morning, it was unveiled at Marvel’s booth, where Stark’s Hall of Armor has been standing guard all weekend. Later in the day, the likes of director Shane Black, producer Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. took the stage to show off the first footage from their movie. They also brought Marvel’s Kevin Feige along with some other special announcements up his sleeve.
Iron Man 3
“Robert Downey Jr. then killed his entrance,” explains Garth Franklin at Dark Horizons. “Right from the back of Hall H dancing down the aisle ahead of the first footage from the third “Iron Man” which confirms that Ben Kingsley is indeed playing the Mandarin complete with beard, rings and cloak. Consdering they’ve only shot about half the film, the footage so far is impressive including Stark’s house being destroyed by missiles (along with his old armour).”
On the subject of The Mandarin, Matt Patches at Hollywood.com puts it into perspective. “The leader of the Ten Rings terrorist group (hinted at in the first Iron Man). He’s got a crazy hairdo – shaved in the back with a single ponytail. He’s decked out in flowing robes and a ton of bling. Ten rings is right! Kingsley looks evil as hell, and he sits awaiting Stark’s next move in a throne fit for Iron Man’s ultimate villain.”
From the sound of it, Iron Man 3 is the return to form that Shane Black has promised. A little more Iron Man than Iron Man 2, which should go over well with fans. More as that film develops.
Ant-Man
Despite Tweeting all week about being stuck in London, director Edgar Wright showed up on the Hall H stage to show off some test footage he shot for Ant-Man. According to Germain Lussier at /Film, “The footage begins in a long, Matrix style hallway with two Matrix style agents. The camera moves down the hall, through a grate, and we see a tiny man standing behind the grate: Ant-Man. He jumps through and starts running at them. Of course, they don’t see him. He then pops up into real size, they start shooting, he gets small again, jumps, runs down the shaft of the gun, jumps up and punches the guy in the face, shaking the face in slow motion. With that guy done, Ant-Man gets big again, flips the other agent over….okay, honestly by this point I was kind of freaking out and it gets fuzzy. I do know that Ant-Man takes care of business, is about to jump through another grate when the elevator pings, and he gets on it.”
Excitment over that one should be huge. And while Feige and Co. didn’t confirm a release date or a timeline for Ant-Man, they did say that it’s coming and show off the above title treatment. That has to count for something, right?
Guardians of the Galaxy
“And we saw Colin Wen’s concept art of first Rocket Raccoon, and then the entire Guardians of the Galaxy team,” reports Charlie Jane Anders at io9. “with a firm release date of August 1, 2014. The team consists of Starlord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot and of course Rocket Raccoon.” Marvel has now released the concept art online:
The Rest of Marvel Phase II
Marvel also locked down dates and titles for their other Phase II films. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (can’t wait to see that storyline come to life) is due April 4, 2014. Thor: The Dark World is due November 8, 2013 and Guardians of the Galaxy will drop on August 1, 2014. There are no timelines, but there are general plans for Ant-Man and The Avengers 2.
Check out the entire gallery of Marvel photos below, including more shots of the Iron Man 3 armor from our own crack photographer, Kate Erbland:
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Related Topics: Iron Man
