Marvel's Iron Man 3 (Earth-113599)

Marvel's Iron Man 3 is a 2013 live-action superhero film produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios respectively. It is the follow up to the successful Iron Man franchise and the smash hit team up film The Avengers. It is the ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was released on May 3rd 2013 in theaters worldwide.

Production
It was announced in 2010 after the profitable success of Iron Man 2 Marvel announced that there would be a third film to finish the Iron Man trilogy. It was also confirmed that Jon Favreau was signed on to direct it. In the autumn 2010 comic con Iron Man 3 was given a release date of May 2013, with all of the cast confirmed to be reprising their roles from the previous two films. Jon Favreau revealed that this movie would be having The Mandarin as it's main villain, and be exploring the Ten Rings group from the first movie in greater depth. Some controversy arose from this announcement saying how The Mandarin was an offensive caricature and how centering an Iron Man film around him might not allow it to be approved for airing in China. Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau claimed they also agreed with these criticisms of the character and that they would giving him a "Politically Correct re-imagining" to fit with modern audiences and tolerant ideas. Favreau also revealed in interviews they discussed potentially using Guardsman or Titanium as the main villains instead, but he strongly refused. Saying how he didn't want Iron Man to fight another dark parallel again, and this time focus more on attempting to combat the superhero trope of villains having the same powers as the hero.

In 2011 Ben Kingsley was announced to be cast as The Mandarin, and that Sam Rockwell would be reprising his role as Justin Hammer. James Earl Jones was also added to the cast with an unspecified role. Jon Favreau confirmed at the 2012 Comic Con that the movie would be based on the The Dragon Seed Saga and Enter the Mandarin, two of his personal favorite stories involving the character, he also revealed Jones would be voicing fan-favorite villain Fin Fang Foom. In addition he also confirmed there would be tie ins to the greater MCU and The Avengers. In addition to Jeremy Renner joining the cast as well, returning as Hawkeye to help Iron Man fights the Ten Rings. Borrowing elements from the Tales of Suspense series where he appeared alongside Iron Man in the comics.

It was also announced that Rebecca Hall would also be joining the cast along with William Sadler and Miguel Ferrer. It was asked frequently if Mickey Rourke would be reprising his role as Crimson Dynamo for the movie, he confirmed via Twitter, that he was not.

Filming began in mid to late 2012 and the film was successfully released May 3rd 2013.

Cast

 * Robert Downey Jr. as Anthony "Tony" Stark/Iron Man


 * Ben Kingsley as Zhang Tong/The Mandarin


 * James Earl Jones as Kakaranthara/Fin Fang Foom (Voice)


 * Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War-Machine


 * Rebecca Hall as Bethany Cabe/Rescue


 * Jeremy Renner as Clinton "Clint" Barton/Hawkeye


 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts


 * Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S.


 * Jon Favreau as Harold "Happy" Hogan


 * Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer


 * Scoot McNairy as Jackson Norriss


 * Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart


 * Dale Dickey as Harley Keener


 * William Sadler as President Matthew Ellis


 * Miguel Ferrer as Vice President Paul Rodriguez


 * Wang Xuegi as Yao Wu

Plot
The movie starts with WHiH News Reporter Jackson Norriss walking through the mysterious Valley of Spirits in China. He takes a sip from his canteen while talking into a recording device. Saying that he thinks the Fortress he's looking at is the base for the Ten Rings Terrorist Group, housing The Mandarin himself. Right after saying that he notices the machine behaving oddly and tries to work it. Suddenly, a group of Ten Rings footmen sneak up behind Norriss and hit him, knocking the reporter out unconscious.

He wakes up inside an Ancient Chinese Style temple with a hooded man sitting on the throne. Jackson asks where he is and the hooded man tells him it's not of importance, asking instead why he is trying to invade his home. Jackson tries to tell him he's a tourist that simply got lost and doesn't know what any of this is. The hooded man than reveals himself to have Ten Rings around his hands and uses one of them to create darkness that begins consuming Jackson. The pain is too great he confesses to being a reporter from the United States. He wanted to investigate the Ten Rings. After that the hooded man uses another ring to create actual light and stop the darkness. He proceeds to get up, take off his hood, and open his arms wide and everyone bows.

He points out that Norriss must know who he is then, the Mandarin. Leader of the Ten Rings Revolutionaries and the man who will turn society as they know it, on it's head. The soldiers in the room all bow as he walks down to Jackson Norriss and asks him if he would like to be part of something greater than himself. He asks if Mandarin is insane, he's never going to join this terrorist cell. Mandarin says that Jackson doesn't have a choice. The necklace around the Mandarin's neck begins to glow yellow, with him saying the Heart of Knowledge can cure anyone of stubborn dogmatism. As he touches Jackson's heart with his fingertip the reporter's irises turn the same shade of yellow. Soon afterwards, he bows to The Mandarin too.

It then shows the IRON MAN 3 Title card.

Pepper Potts is pulling up to the Malibu Mansion Drive Way and sees a large Teddy Bear with a bow tie on it. She walks into the house only to see Tony inside completely decked out in his latest Iron Man suit. As they caress each other, Pepper asks him why he's dressed up and Tony claims that he is simply trying to break the newest suit in. Pepper also wonders what Mark it is and he suggests maybe fifteen or sixteen (the camera reveals it however to be Mark 42). Tony asks her if she likes the early christmas present, but Pepper says it's a little bit much. Iron Man tells her not to worry about it, he loves her and wants to cherish her every moment they have together with gifts like that. Pepper asks what that means and Tony quickly dismisses it. She soon after starts trying to get him to come out of the suit but he refuses, Pepper then goes downstairs to find something to open it only to see Tony himself down there operating the suit remotely. Pepper gets angry seeing this commenting how he's spent almost every day down there, and this was supposed to be there date night. Tony denies it asking J.A.R.V.I.S. how long he's been down there, the artificial butler quickly replies thirty-six hours. Tony says how the time must've slipped by working on his latest Iron Man upgrades. He can now robotically control the suit even when he's not in it, so if a threat ever arises and he can't get to it Iron Man will still be able to stop them.

But Pepper tells him that even so this can't be healthy, Tony replies saying being part of The Avengers now means he has to improve his technology and push himself to the very limits. They can't afford to have another New York, that was too close. Pepper tells Tony it's okay to relax sometimes, that these suits might be important, but they shouldn't be a distraction from who he is. Adding on that she's going to take a shower upstairs and wants him to make it up to her and "join". He follows and comments on how Happy's been working hard at his new job too, Pepper agrees saying employee complaints have gone up 70%. At the Stark Industries Main Headquarters, Happy is walking around the Lobby asking all the security guards if they're wearing their proper badges. He then goes up to the the newest employee Bethany Cabe and tells her she has a special ability to always look busy when he knows she's playing on her phone. He tells her there are hundreds of other low end tough guys who would kill to have her job, but Bethany says she was on break but Happy tells she's never on break, Stark Industries is always too busy. He quickly gets over it though and asks if the interview is ready.

She tells him it is and Happy walks into the boardroom, only for the camera to reveal he is being interviewed by WHiH newscaster Jackson Norriss himself, wearing thick sunglasses to hide his eyes. Happy says he was expecting Ms. Everhart but Norriss claims she couldn't show, but he'll ask all the same stuff. Happy complies answering all the questions and criticisms directed at his new promotion (being the head of security for Stark Industries now). At the end of the interview though he asks a cryptic and bizarre question about the whereabouts for most of The Avengers, not seeing the problem Happy answers the God is in another dimension or something, Hulk is cooped up in a lab somewhere, Cap is on some mission, and Tony is working on his latest Stark Tech. Jackson thanks him saying that'll be useful for the piece he's writing on them. As he walks out Happy notices a weird tattoo on his arm that looked like the Ten Rings logo. He tells Bethany about it and she then comments how he didn't even come in a WHiH news truck, just some windowless black car. He tells Bethany he'll be back soon and heads outside to start tailing them all the way to Grauman's Chinese Theater. There Jackson and a bunch of other men in sunglasses come out and reveal themselves to be terrorists on behalf of the Mandarin, revealing their yellow eyes, and begin shooting everything with their guns and other firearms, Happy uses his own skills and training to fight them off.

At the Malibu mansion Tony is doing a run outside until he gets a call on his tablet from Bethany Cabe, when he asks if he should know who she is, the woman explains the situation of how Happy followed some shady reporter and they're in a shoot out now, she doesn't know what to do. He stops dead in his tracks, a look of terror on his face. Tony then replies saying he'll be right there, moving quickly into the basement and telling J.A.R.V.I.S. to get the new motion control tech ready, the artificial butler asks Tony if sending an unmanned suit to the scene is a wise idea but he says it's the most practical and not to question him on this. Tony then gets the face piece ready and sends Mark 42 flying over there easily dispatching of the Ten Rings fighters. While doing so he starts to get PTSD flashbacks of fighting the Rock Trolls in New York, but manages to snap out of it. He asks J.A.R.V.I.S. to contact Rhodey he does just that and asks him for assistance in California but War-Machine says it's just as bad in Washington D.C. the country is having a full on terrorist mutiny right now in a ton of major cities. Iron Man asks who's protecting them and Rhodey responds saying S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to be getting on top of things. It then pans to Times Square where Ten Rings terrorists are harassing citizens a quinjet lands and Hawkeye jumps out using impressive bow and arrow techniques. Back in Los Angeles, Happy is running and about to hit by the van driven by Jackson Norriss until it is vaporized by one of Iron Man's blasts. After that it looks like the attack is over.

Tony tells Rhodey he cleared them out of Los Angeles and War-Machine likewise says he did the same in D.C. He then informs Tony they should catch up again soon, that weekend he'll fly over and they can get some Neptune's Net just like old times. He wanted to talk to him about something important. It then shows on the TV the Ten Rings hijacking news stations to promote propaganda. The Mandarin begins speaking about how the United States has been trying to stifle his efforts of killing off the corrupt and dying government of China. But he isn't surprised they're the same. They need to be educated just like his native brethren do. He proudly confesses to the recent terrorist attacks and claims it was their first lesson. That structure breeds nothing but repression and misery, the american people only have their government and businesses to blame for what's going on. After that the entire country begins to panic, Christine Everhart swearing that they had no part in this and President Matthew Ellis announcing at the podium that he will be taking full measures to stop The Mandarin and the Ten Rings terrorists at all costs. Vice President Rodriguez claiming similar things and encouraging the average civilians not to panic.

It then shows back in the Stark Industries building Pepper walking in and asking Happy how he's doing. He just says he has a broken arm, that it will take more than a couple goons to really do some damage. Pepper then goes over to Bethany and hugs her, telling her it was really awesome how she called Tony. But Bethany says how anyone would've done the same thing in her shoes. Pepper tells her she's getting a promotion, she looked over her transcript and knows her and Tony could totally use her as part of their personal security. Bethany is really excited by the proposition and gladly takes it.

Act 1
At Neptune's Net, Rhodey says to Tony he's worried about him. Pepper and Happy told him he's barely been sleeping, eating or doing much of anything besides working on his so-called Iron Legion. Tony argues with Rhodey, claiming that after New York that's just called being practical. He wouldn't understand he didn't fight there. Rhodey explains that's because his armor was confiscated after the Hammertech fiasco. James says he's making up for it now, fighting the Ten Rings. Tony says "not good enough apparently" based on how they just attacked the country. Rhodey asks if Tony thinks he could do better. Tony says he could. Obviously they've been getting bigger and bolder, the world needs a hero to put them down. With all of his suits and Stark Tech, he could make a dent in their operations. Rhodey says Tony has personal stakes with the Ten Rings, they kidnapped him years ago and put shrapnel in his heart. But he simply says how that's more a reason to he wants to stop them. Rhodey gives in saying he can talk to the Pentagon about it, but no promises. Tony says this is just be what he needs, some missions, something to make him feel useful again.

Rhodey says he won't vouch if Tony acts like a "Dictator". After that children come over and ask for Iron Man's autograph. Tony happily complies, signing a young boy's drawing. It depicts him flying into the Tesseract's portal with the Nuclear Bomb from back in New York. He starts getting queazy thinking about that time and then the little boy asks how he got out of the hole, which causes Tony to bolt out of his seat and walk into the middle of the street outside. He asks J.A.R.V.I.S. what could possibly be happening and he explains that it must be a severe anxiety attack. This disturbs Tony who quickly runs away, much to the annoyance of Rhodes.

In the Valley of Spirits, The Mandarin is smoking a pipe while walking through the halls of his palace until the ground below suddenly begins to shake. An enraged Mandarin throws his pipe down and begins gracefully walking to the lower levels going into a cave that houses a chained metallic Leviathan called Fin Fang Foom in the shadows. He speaks to The Mandarin saying his ten rings and the Heart of Knowledge were not meant for salvation of greed and power, they're meant for wisdom and education. The Mandarin yells back saying he is using it for the intended purpose. Educating the populace that society is simply an oppressive system built to hold everyone and everything down. He and his followers will change that. Foom says he is a madman and a villain before trying to attack him, but The Mandarin shoots the Leviathan with his Ice ring enough for him to submit once again. Fin Fang Foom then spits to him that his stupidity is ruining what was once magnificent and he will make sure retribution is coming. The Mandarin simply leaves after that and tells his guards to tighten the chains even further on him, they do just that clenching into his scales as Foom is obviously in pain.

At the Malibu Mansion Tony and Pepper are sleeping. He starts to have nightmares of The Marauders and destroying their main ship. Tony then starts to become more and more overwhelmed by them until Pepper wakes up and sees the Iron Man Mark 42 standing right above her, she screams in terror which wakes Tony up and causes him to make the armor power down. He then says he must've called it during his nightmare. She says angrily that she's going to sleep downstairs he follows and asks if that's really necessary. Pepper tells him of course it is! Ever since New York he's been riddled with paranoia and nightmares, doing nothing but making suit after suit. It's consuming him, he needs help. Tony claims that he knows he's a "pipin hot mess". Tony sits down while Pepper comforts him. He says after all the things he saw, who knows what's out there. How close he was to losing everything, out of all the experiences he's gone through in life he can't make peace with what was in that wormhole. Pepper says she wants to help him, he needs something, or else he's going to go back to drinking. Tony says that he knows and just wants to feel some control in his life, some sort of power over these things, he can't sleep knowing he doesn't. So he does what he does best, he tinkers. Hoping it will lead to something good. And now the Ten Rings are back in his life taking the whole country hostage, he then promises Pepper that he won't go back to the bottle. Not this time, he's pasted that point in his life and will stay clean through thick and thin. She seems calmed and goes back upstairs, Tony then turns on his cellphone and sees he has a new message from Rhodey saying that The President is interested in talking to Tony about that thing they discussed during lunch.

The next day they are both walking through the White House, when Tony asks what Rhodey said to get him on the project. But he insists that he didn't do anything, the President actually requested him. Tony is confused by that saying how he thought the Government agreed with his skepticism, Rhodey claims he thought that they did, but then they asked for help from some super... heroes. Vice President Rodriguez lets both of them inside the Oval Office and Iron Man is greeted by Hawkeye. Who tells Tony it's good to see another Avenger. Surprised, he simply responds saying "likewise". They all sit down while President Matthew Ellis gets up from his desk and personally greets all of them, saying it's nice to see James Rhodes and wishes he could meet the two Avengers Tony Stark and Clint Barton under better circumstances. Hawkeye says to save the formalities. S.H.I.E.L.D. is looking for answers about the Ten Rings, and the President has to say what he knows, his kids aren't happy about their Dad being away for Christmas. Matthew Ellis claims though that he doesn't know much more than they do, but his friend, the Chinese Ambassador Yao Wu does. Yao stands up and says The Mandarin as he calls himself, along with his Ten Rings, have been terrorizing China for many years now. Rhodey says that makes sense, the Ten Rings originated in China. Yao affirms this, saying The Mandarin's activities started during the end of the cold war, took over the mainland and spread throughout the rest of Asia, and now to North America.

President Ellis says ever since aliens poured out of the sky in New York the political climate has been suspicious towards anything even remotely... out of this world. Because of that reporters have been investigating them more closely as of late. Yao says after dealing with the Mandarin all these years they are not any closer to tracking down his location or stifling his terrorist activities then they were in the 1980s. He is using technology the likes of which they have never seen before rumored to be of alien origin. Stark Industries inventions are the only available hardware that even comes close. Tony turns his head down and claims that's why they want him to gank this guy, because they think he's the only one who knows Tech enough to stop him. President Ellis affirms that this was indeed the plan. Tony says the attacks, the messages, he wants to help.

Hawkeye adds on that S.H.I.E.L.D. has theories of Mandarin but nothing substantial. Citing Jackson Norriss, the official report says the group brainwashed him, but brain scans showed his mind was completely changed. In ways they've never seen. Iron Man tells all of them he'll do it, The Mandarin is a clear and present menace. He saw first hand in a cave in Afghanistan how deadly they are, and if he's the one who can do this, he can't sit ideally by. Not after how close everything was to total chaos in New York. Rhodey adds that he has a duty to his country and he will help stop the Mandarin too. President Ellis says he's glad to hear it. Yao Wu points to coordinates saying that they've theorized the Mandarin's general location in the southwest of China, near the Pakistani border. Hawkeye says a search and seek out mission, his favorite. Rhodes asks how long until they head for China. Yao Wu says after the third party arrangements are in order. Tony asks what third parties, and President Ellis says though they're happy with Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. helping to stop the Mandarin, but that they have pre-existing contracts in case of situations like this. Everyone is silent for a moment until Tony says "You don't mean..."

The camera than pans to Justin Hammer being interviewed on his floating villa by Christine Everhart. She asks how Justin Hammer is adapting to life outside of prison. He says it's been great, as it should be. That he had nothing to do with the rise of the Crimson Dynamo or the Masters of Evil and he should've been released earlier. Christine brings up the proof of his involvement was overwhelming and Justin Hammer claims it's all circumstantial. He's once again working with the Government, this time to stop the Mandarin from destroying America. It shows Tony, Rhodey and Hawkeye walking on the Villa, and after the interview stops by them. They exchange fake formalities while Justin asks Tony how "Coulson is doing" and commenting on how his War-Machine suit still looks good on Rhodes. Tony is about to be triggered, but Rhodey says not to let Justin provoke him, not now.

Hawkeye looks at the Villa and says he's seen bigger. Justin quickly replies saying how "out of the Super Soldier, the Gamma Mutant, and the God, they give us the Avenger who can shoot arrows?" Tony says they're only here because of the President's orders, they need Hammertech to officially recognize them as allies before doing anything. Justin says he'll do that no problem, signing the necessary papers. Hawkeye says S.H.I.E.L.D. has default jurisdiction over problems like this, he just needs to sign off a duel partnership with Stark Industries. Rhodey hands him the paper and Justin smugly signs it. He then says business can proceed and tells them to all get suited and ready, they'll be in China first thing Tomorrow. At the Malibu Mansion, Hawkeye is getting his best bows & arrows ready, Rhodey is getting fitted into the War-Machine suit and Iron Man is prepping his Mark 42 Autopilot with J.A.R.V.I.S. Afterwards, Tony asks Hawkeye how he's been holding up lately. Clint asks what he means, and Tony says he's having a hard time adjusting after the battle. What could've happened to everyone, Clint says but it didn't. They won, they stopped Loki and put everyone away. Tony asks again what if they didn't.

Hawkeye says one thing he's learned all his life and especially during his time with S.H.I.E.L.D. is that regret and what-ifs are meaningless. There are times in life where you'll be forced into scary or bizarre situations, but that the lord gave them free will and the ability to make them right almost every single time. In his case, could things have definitely gone bad seven months ago. They were the world's most powerful supervillains and army of alien pirates. But he survived it by trusting in his comrades and the magic of trick arrows. Tony says he wishes it were that easy for him, but clearly he's one of those people who needs the bottle or tinkering to cope. Hawkeye says that the other Avengers may not think this, but Tony is actually a really good person, and not to lose that quality to him even though it might be easier to be numb.

Bethany Cabe walks in and tells both of them the Quinjet is ready whenever they are. Rhodey, Hawkeye and the Mark 42 Armor all load onto the plane and shortly after and fly off across the city. Meanwhile, Tony hears Pepper and Happy watching a frightening video which is revealed to be another Mandarin propaganda hijack where he brags about attacks across the country and criticizes the President for allowing this to happen by forcing himself and his country where they don't belong. That soon they will pay the ultimate price for his hubris. Tony angrily looks at it and Pepper nervously asks when this will end, Tony tells her they're going to stop him, he looks over his shoulder at the jet flying. In China, Hawkeye is in the quinjet cockpit and asks how Rhodey and Tony are doing down there. It shows them in the Suit Holding Quarters and War-Machine tells Tony the strategy for the mission and J.A.R.V.I.S. answers claiming his assessment has been saved on the clipboard. Tony then comes back claiming he was drawing the Mark 43 schematics and James explains what just happened which Tony replies he updated the systems so that J.A.R.V.I.S. can manually control the suit when he's busy with something else, but Rhodey claims he needs to focus on what's happening right now and look over his plan.

Act 2
Hawkeye continues flying the jet when the controls begin acting strange. He tells the two Iron Men that this must be why Yao Wu said the Chinese Government could never find Mandarin, he's got some sort of tech dampening systems that the S.H.I.E.L.D. firewalls can't keep out. Rhodey claims he's feeling it too and Tony back at Avengers Tower says the Arc Reactors are key, they're unaffected by the dead zone and if they use it to power the suits it'll keep them charged until they're done. Hawkeye says they need to carry the quinjet or else it's going to go splat in the middle of the snow. Both men exit and begin flying and carrying the jet into the safe landing. Hawkeye exists the cockpit (claiming it's crisp when he feels the cold air) and they all see a giant Chinese Style Fortress in the distance. Iron Man has J.A.R.V.I.S. translate the calligraphy on the castle's front which read Dragon of Heaven. War-Machine says they need to follow the plan if this has any hope of this working. Hawkeye says he'll take the lower levels and they can search the top floors, Tony says he's learned his lesson arguing against plans. The two soldiers fly up and Hawkeye sneaks in through the bottom.

Iron Man lands on the balcony and walks inside, only to see himself surrounded by armed Ten Rings soldiers. With quick thinking Tony uses special laser to hits all of them and afterwards quips about sneakiness being overrated. On the highest level Rhodey is traversing through a dark hallway each wall riddled with different drawings on it. He eventually makes it into a throne room, only to find the chair itself empty. Before he can even turn around a powerful blast hits him. He begins frantically shooting but no one is there. He then screams out "Mandarin!" To which he replies that his patience of intruders is beginning to ware thin. Off camera fighting between the two can be heard, before cutting to Hawkeye in the dungeon. He uses a special arrow to get through an old fashioned lock on a giant metal door. He then goes inside and sees something big curled up, not knowing what it is he whispers under his breathe what kind of weapon the Mandarin must be keeping down there, until the creature awakens and violently insists it doesn't serve The Mandarin! Revealing it to be Fin Fang Foom, who shoots powerful laser beams from it's eyes that the Arching Avenger barely escapes. Tony feels the shaking and soon after the Ten Rings soldiers begin causing chaos throughout the palace at the presence of intruders. Tony and Hawkeye are both seen fighting off the fodder soldiers that attack while The Mandarin is shown slowly putting on traditional Chinese armor.

The two meet up and realizing the plan was busted decide to just work together to confront The Mandarin themselves. After entering a large chamber the two of them see Rhodey on the ground, badly beaten and his War-Machine suit destroyed with The Mandarin standing over him, fully decked in armor. The warlord says how War-Machine is a perfect example of the societal desperation to force control over the world. He served no purpose then to benefit the elite, just like The Avengers themselves do. Iron Man says he's had a bone to pick with the Ten Rings for a long time, but now after what they did to his friend he's might just have to tear the whole skeleton down. Hawkeye gets his bow out and shoots an arrow which The Mandarin manages to transmute into ash with one of his rings. Bragging that his technology is from beyond this world. The three of them engage in an epic brawl where the Mandarin's Ten Rings overpowers both heroes. He even manages to single handedly destroy the Mark 42 Iron Man armor, causing Tony to suffer PTSD back in the United States from shock at his raw power, and the realization he failed his friends. Hawkeye in China gets beaten badly by The Mandarin. Who says that his american example for President Ellis, the WHiH Reporter was taken from him, why not succeed that with an icon of Justice. The Heart of Knowledge then begins glowing again and he gently touches Hawkeye's chest, turning his eyes yellow and into a loyal subject of The Ten Rings.

After that Tony runs into the other room with Pepper and Happy telling them how the mission failed. The Mandarin's literal Ten Rings destroyed the Mark 42 suit and almost killed Rhodey & Clint, he couldn't stop him. It then shows at a christmas party Justin Hammer is chatting with Yao Wu discussing possible Hammertech contracts until he gets a call from Bethany Cabe. Saying how The Mandarin was unable to be stopped and the War-Machine suit was destroyed, Justin begins arguing with her saying how that's impossible they had an Avenger. Hammertech and, as much as he hated to say it, Stark Tech's best stuff in this. Yao Wu then asks if something is wrong and Justin tells Bethany he'll call her back, answering the ambassador that there's been a little snafu with stopping The Mandarin. Back in Malibu, Tony Stark is walking out of his home when he gets surrounded by a bunch of reporters asking him about the Mandarin and if he truly captured James Rhodes and Clint Barton. He refuses to answer most of them until someone says how he isn't doing anything to stop this fight. Tony stops dead in tracks after hearing that and turns around saying there is never going to be a fight he doesn't put his all in, especially when his friends are involved. That the Mandarin is just a coward hiding on the other side of the world, he sends his cronies to do dirty work for him. If Mandarin wants to play like that he will more than happily bring out his own army. All of his Iron Man suits, hundreds of them each with different purposes all coming after him and his bunch of criminals. Even if he has to team up with that douchebag Justin Hammer to make it happen, it'll be worth it. This isn't about politics anymore, just revenge. And the Iron Man-Mandarin war is just beginning.

In rural China, a small village is working to harvest rice in the nearby swamps. This continues on until they hear gun shots and see Ten Rings terrorists begin raiding everything with all of them lead by yellow eyed Hawkeye himself. Eventually the entire town is sacked and the officials are taken outside and forced onto the ground while The Mandarin himself approaches. Telling the villagers that they might not know it yet, but he is freeing them from the shackles of oppression and disappointment. He then proceeds to use his rings to electrocute all the officials standing under him while all the Ten Rings footmen scream justice. The Mandarin tells the people enlightenment is a slow process without an expanding Heart. As he begins walking through the mountains Mandarin is informed that Tony Stark has publicly announced he will continue to wage war against their revolution. He laughs saying he expected nothing less from the American Stark, and asks Hawkeye what he knows about his former teammate. Clint explains that they were close he knows a good amount of his secrets, clearances, contingencies. The Mandarin says his first strike in this newfound war between him and Stark will start with him. Use his knowledge the find the chink in Iron Man's armor, both figuratively & literally. Hawkeye says it will be done, but Mandarin says that first they must take good care of their leverage.

It then shows a wounded Rhodey being dragged by Ten Rings soldiers into the large dungeon of the Dragon of Heaven fortress. He asks them why he wasn't brainwashed like them and one terrorist sharply says he isn't worthy to know The Mandarin's truths. He is a statist dog and must be disposed of just like one. They chain him to the wall inside the dungeon and shut the door. Fin Fang Foom awakens shortly after and begins examining him. Rhodey cowers in fear saying how he doesn't want to be eaten, but Fin Fang Foom says he doesn't hunger for human flesh. He tells the Ten Rings soldiers he will not be The Mandarin's personal killing device and shouts for them to leave, revealing himself in the light. He then looks to Rhodey and screams that he should not mistake his mercy for apathy, he has no love of any kind after years of imprisonment, and is not sparing him out of some self righteousness. Rhodey says he hears what he's saying but still doesn't understand what the hell is going is, asking if Foom is some kind of vicious, robot snake. But the beast says he will not speak his true origins to the likes of him.

Meanwhile, Tony is in the basement working on ways to defeat The Mandarin. He has J.A.R.V.I.S. replay the fight in China and quickly begins to figure out and learn what each of The Mandarin's rings can do. He can generate fire, ice, electricity, light, darkness, lasers, force fields, transmutation, aerokinesis, and terrakinesis. Tony also investigates the glowing necklace the Mandarin is always seen wearing and also realizes it enhanced his mental capacity enough to use all the rings efficiently, holding many similarities in internal structure to the Tesseract. Tony sarcastically claims that's wonderful and rubs his nose wondering how he's "going to beat this goon". Suddenly, he hears a knock on the door. Slowly Bethany opens it and tells Tony that Pepper then comes and says that she wants him to come upstairs, he asks what for and she says his favorite meal is ready. Tony then walks upstairs and tells Pepper he'll eat soon but still has work to do work downstairs with J.A.R.V.I.S. but Pepper says she's done with this, Tony promised to snap out of this. He's working himself to death! Tony responds saying his friends are in danger, there's a terrorist warlord on the loose holding America hostage, it's a little justified this time.

Pepper says he knows what she means, this is all because of New York and his inability to accept that he can't personally control everything. They argue for even longer, Pepper even threatening to walk out and Bethany watching until she gets a call from Happy. Hearing what he says she interrupts the argument and asks if either of them called Helicopters, both responding no. It shows outside more helicopters coming closer to the mansion with Hawkeye driving the main one, he shoots a missile and blows the three of them away destroying the living room, proudly claiming "I never miss". Inside Tony gets up and goes to try and get his suit, but right before he can get into it starts to have another panic attack just thinking about actually being in there again, getting flashbacks to the Battle of New York again. In his stalling Pepper runs over and jumps into the suit protecting Tony and Bethany from falling Debris. Bethany than gets Tony out with Happy outside while Pepper desperately tries to shoot the Helicopters with her suit. Tony watches nervously vocally saying how wrong it is that he couldn't protect Pepper in her time of need. Instead he opts to walk her through the workings along with J.A.R.V.I.S.

Hawkeye gets out of his Helicopter and shocks everyone having the yellow eyes and working for The Mandarin. He jumps into the collapsing mansion and battles Pepper who despite his powerful arrows punches him into the water. Pepper begins running out as all of the Iron Man suits in the basement begin to explode and the entire house collapses into the water, the camera pans lower through to show Hawkeye emerge from the water largely unharmed. Pepper quickly gets out of the suit as fast as possible and tries to find Tony, only to realize he's gone. Happy, Pepper and Bethany all call for him only to figure out he's is nowhere in sight. He completely left the entire property. Later that night it shows Tony walking through the town of Lancaster where he steals a poncho off of a wooden indian and leaves Pepper a phone message saying he has a lot of apologies to make, but can't face her right now. He failed as a man and a hero back at the attack and he can't even think right now he just... needs to find a way to get through the day. He then walks into a nearby bar and just sits there. A homeless woman named Harley Keener sits next to him and gets a drink, she asks about the Arc Reactor in his chest and he explains what it can do, before she puts the pieces together that he's Iron Man. But Tony says he doesn't deserve that title anymore, he can't even the wear the suit, stop The Mandarin, or save his friends. He just needs to get his mind off the chaos that's surrounding him. She starts drinking but Tony still refuses to get anything in spite of the Bartender and Harley insisting.

In the Dragon of Heaven Fortress Dungeon, Rhodey is still sitting with Fin Fang Foom. He asks the monster if he still won't tell him anything, Foom asks why he cares. Rhodey insists that they both clearly have beef with The Mandarin, and since they're stuck in this room together why not share stories. He did it all the time back in Iraq and it helped raise morale. Foom tells him he has no interest in working with him, but his logic is hard to refute. He then says that says that was a royal leviathan on Annakul, one of the largest and most valiant in the fleet. Rhodey slows him down asking what any of that means, the creature says it is a world far from here. Rhodey realizing afterwards that he's an alien. Foom confirms it, saying he is a Chitauri, from the planet Annakul. They used technology so advanced it evolved to become part of their very flesh, all of their collective consciousness generated by the powerful Heart of Knowledge. Rhodey asks if that's what The Mandarin has in the center of his robe, Foom says not only that the Rings on his fingers were used by the head pilot to control the ship.

The Chitauri eventually were able to conquer space travel, and began exploring the universe building up knowledge for the Heart to absorb. Until crashing on Earth, the ruler was tragically slain in the accident along with his comrades, all except him. But he slumbered too long in the rubble that Zhang Tong (the man who would become The Mandarin) found all of it, and unnaturally manipulated his people's remains for his own twisted ends, to enslave him! Humans had mutilated the sacred objects and he will not let it stand, even if it kills him. In the throne room Mandarin is sitting as usual when Hawkeye enters and bows to him, saying that he destroyed Stark's Residence. All his suits, technology, and dignity fell with it. The Mandarin asks if the man himself was destroyed but Hawkeye says it appears not. He then says he expected nothing less, claiming he couldn't help but admire Stark's bullheaded refusal to die, but without his armor and bureaucracy to protect him there will not be much for him to evade the inevitable. Hawkeye claims he would more than willing to return to the United States and finish the job, but Mandarin quickly tells him no! Iron Man might be an infuriating rival, but the true enemy is society itself. And he has a few more lessons to expose their fraud. One which he needs Hawkeye's help in seeing through. Clint is then seen opening the dungeon doors as Rhodey is taken out of. He asks what's going on but he doesn't get an answer while Fin Fang Foom begins cursing him, and Hawkeye responds by tightening his chains even more. Enough to actually start breaking the rusted and old metal, the beast notices this too.

In the White House, Justin Hammer is drawing schematics on a white board for a potential missile to drop on the approximate vicinity of Mandarin's fortress. The President claims though that there are villages scattered across the entire region, the Communist Party would never allow something like that to occur on their territory. Justin argues saying he needs to talk them into it, all before the screens all over the country and in the very room begin being hijacked for more Ten Rings propaganda. It shows The Mandarin holding a gun to James Rhodes bound to the ground. He and his Ten Rings henchmen conveniently snatched him up awhile back when he tried to invade his home along with their beloved hero the Iron Man. Mandarin says that President Ellis must call him on the phone or else he will shoot War-Machine in the head in front of everyone. Vice President Rodriguez and Justin try to convince him not to let the Ten Rings control him like this, but he refuses to put an innocent man's life at stake. Mandarin receives the call and reveals the gun had no bullets in it. Gloating about how he just exposed a crack in the pathetic american institution. How easy they can be controlled with a toy. But that there's one lesson left, one that will expose just how futile not just the US Government, but the Chinese, the British, every government around the globe really is. No one will be able to stop the truth from coming out and for Anarchy to reign. It reveals that broadcast was on screens all across America, with Tony Stark as a homeless vagabond oblivious to the fact the propaganda is playing on a free TV inside a department store.

Act 3
He starts conversing with his friend Harley where she asks if he's sure he doesn't want a drink. Tony says there's nothing more he wants, but he made a promise to someone he cares about. Harley tells him he left and the entire country is going under. Hell, he saw the end of the world himself. Tony says not to talk about that but Harley asks him more question causing another anxiety attack. She apologizes after and he says it's fine, and that he might need the drink after all.

Before he can take a sip Harley begins crouching down in pain, Tony asks what's wrong and the woman says she thinks she's going into labor. Tony sets her down and for awhile tries his best to talk her into giving birth to the baby, but struggles without hospital equipment. Soon after he notices Bethany Cabe walk up to him and use her mild medical training to successfully deliver Harley's baby boy. Tony so surprised to see her and emotionally overwhelmed by the event ends up passing out from exhaustion. He awakens the next day in the hospital with Bethany standing by the bed. She tells him that she didn't tell Pepper or Happy anything, it might get her fired but she couldn't figure out how to say... Tony says he almost fell off the bandwagon. He then starts crying saying he can't believe he was so close to throwing everything away. Bethany encourages him saying that it didn't happen and he's still sober. Everyone has days where they want to go back, where everything feels too difficult. Bu the fact he rose above it shows just how much he cares and powerful his conviction is, he asks how she found him. Bethany says she's his personal bodyguard and is there not to just protect him from other people, but himself. He comments on the humorous irony of Iron Man, an Avenger needing a bodyguard. But Bethany says it's not funny, heroes have the right to be weak sometimes. Tony then hears a baby crying in the other room, and figures out that even when he was weak, he still saved a life by delivering a baby. Imagine how many more babies he could save if he just pulled his act together and put on the damn suit. Inspired by this line of thought he tells her to call Pepper and explain everything, he's not going to let this get out of control again.

Meanwhile, Matthew Ellis is boarding the Air Force One plane alongside the Vice President and Justin Hammer. The secret service explaining it will take at least a couple hours to make it to the safe house. The President tells them to just do it as soon as possible while Justin asks if there will be any Mai-ties where they're going. Both board while it start to fly, Ellis is sitting comfortably until the pilot notices they have a bogey on their tail. They soon notice a lot of constructed airplanes manned by Ten Rings going after them, one with The Mandarin inside. They fire at the wings and create a hole in the side, causing the plane to fall but before it can land into the ocean Mandarin creates a force field under it until it lands more securely. He walks inside with a group of soldiers and tells President Ellis that it's nice to finally see him face to face. Ellis says nothing while The Mandarin says not to feel glum, his downfall will lead to a new age in world history, it's an honor. Justin Hammer points his finger to The Mandarin claiming they are americans, and won't be bullied by him or his psychotic terrorists. That he has connections, and if he wants to can easily wipe his entire guild off the map. Mandarin simply gives him a disgusted look and with his ring lights him on fire, claiming he's useless to the final lesson, everyone watches as he dies a horrible death.

In China, Yao Wu is working inside his office Zhongnanhai answering phone calls and filling out all the important paper work. Until outside the window Hawkeye is perched in a tree and uses an arrow to slide across and jump into the ambassador's office. When he enters Yao tries to use his phone to call for help, but Hawkeye says his arrow is laced with the same tech dampening Chitauri metal that guards the Mandarin's Fortress. Yao quietly asks what he wants, and Hawkeye just tells him the Ten Rings needs to teach the world something very important. Tony and Bethany are walking until the camera shows them standing right next to Avengers Tower all the way in New York City. He tells her he always did consider it his home away from home. As he walks in Pepper slaps him. Shortly after though she hugs Tony, trying to hold back tears saying she's sorry. He tells her not to apologize, he clearly needs help with this and shouldn't have been ignoring the signs this whole time. He then asks Happy how far this Mandarin incident has gone up. Happy says there have been reports of Ten Rings not just around the US, but in England, France, Germany, and big Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Bethany adds on that it's the tip of the iceberg, the President is missing. Tony grits his teeth and goes over more of the reports, realizing it's not just the President who's kidnapped, world leaders and generals seem to be too in every country they sacked. This must be what The Mandarin was building up to this entire time.

Tony runs upstairs while Bethany asks what he's going to do. Tony tells her that he needs a team to stop what the Mandarin has planned, but The Avengers are all busy with their own problems. She asks what he could do then, and Tony says he spent these months working on a contingency in case the Rock Trolls ever came back. Fighting the Mandarin wasn't quite their intended purpose, but if you can't bring Muhammad to the mountain, you gotta bring the mountain to Muhammad. He then tells J.A.R.V.I.S. to preform the House Party protocol. All the suits scattered throughout the tower then begin powering up. Tony almost goes into one of them, but begins feeling deep anxiety again and backs down. Meanwhile, news stations across the world are getting hijacked by the Ten Rings Propaganda. The Mandarin proudly telling everyone he hopes they're having a wonderful Christmas Eve because the final lesson is here. The camera then shows President Ellis, Vice-President Rodriguez, Ambassador Yao Wu, and multiple British, French and German politicians are tied up atop a large oil drilling company in the mountains above the yellow river. Mandarin reveals that what they're standing is the biggest Roxxon Oil Facility in all of China. One of the biggest deals in history made between Chinese and American companies. This is where both countries and their allies, will die. Their leaders are defenseless and will be shot like cattle, and the governments they represent will be nothing.

As the broadcast ends Yao Wu tells the Mandarin he is a traitor to all Chinese people. He laughs saying that he is the opposite, humans were never meant to toil under rules and regulations. His "glorious" country is the finest example of that, suffering from cruelty all the way from Genghis Khan to the Japanese Empire. He wraps his hand around Yao's neck claiming it all ends now. He then hears Iron Man's voice who abruptly tells him he's right, for him. The Mandarin looks surprised that Iron Man is back, but Tony corrects him by simply stating they call themselves the Iron Legion revealing he has multiple other suits backing him up this time. Mandarin uses his Ten Rings and the incessantly glowing Heart of Knowledge to fight off all the suits, while Hawkeye helps. Tony at Avengers Tower starts sending other suits to infiltrate the Dragon of Heaven fortress by flying to the Valley of Spirits. There, Rhodey is being moved over to a headsman's block and about to get chopped until multiple Iron Legion suits blast all the soldiers away. Rhodey says it's nice to him again, and Tony proudly says "now we're even". At the Roxxon Oil facility Tony has one of the suits begin freeing both Vice-President Rodriguez and President Ellis, who thank him greatly along with Yao Wu and the other politicians. But The Mandarin and Hawkeye destroy the other remaining Iron Men. Mandarin demands Hawkeye go after the ones who are bringing the prisoners to safety in Beijing.

Tony is then informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. all drones fighting The Mandarin are offline. He curses and then says he just has to make due with what's left until reinforcements arrive. He begins helping Rhodey get away while the rest of the Iron Legion shatters the Dragon of Heaven. Fin Fang Foom in the dungeon notices the crashing and pulls with all his strength against the chains. And with all the damage about escapes and breaks down the entire castle. Rhodey watches in awe as Tony becomes frightened wondering what that is. Rhodey explains that it's some creature the Mandarin stole his Rings & his necklace from but it's super aggressive and wants nothing but revenge. Tony says he might be able to work with that and The Iron Legion tries to make peace, but the confused creature quickly dispatches of the suits with his immense strength & eye lasers. J.A.R.V.I.S. informs Tony that most of the suits have been depleted, he claims he needs more now to stop Mandarin and the Leviathan. J.A.R.V.I.S. claims he can send more but it'll take at least an hour to get across Asia. Tony says under his breathe it would be quicker if he was manning a suit. Tony then goes on the ground and starts having a near panic attack at the very thought. Remembering though his new perspective on life and how he would try and get through this Tony takes a breathe and stands up. Putting his arm out the suit begins forming around his entire body and goes online, to which Iron Man says it feels surprisingly good to be back. He starts trying to walk to the balcony while Bethany follows and insists she wants to help, that she's his bodyguard and will follow him to the end and back, just like she promised. Pepper points out that she doesn't have any experience in a suit, she knows first hand how hard they are to casually use, but Tony says he has the perfect model made in case a situation like this ever come about. He tells J.A.R.V.I.S. to initiate the Training Wheels Protocol which reveals a special suit that Bethany can control. He says he made it in case he ever needed a Rescue in the field from someone without experience, this complies. The two fly off together.

In the middle of the Chinese Mountains Rhodey is standing by a giant machine falling in front of him. J.A.R.V.I.S. says it's a gift from Tony, James opens it and finds another War-Machine suit built inside gladly getting in and flying. The Mandarin is wandering until Fin Fang Foom screams to him he is free and demands he take off the sacred Heart of Knowledge. Mandarin says this technology has shown him the way to fulfill his dreams and will never give them up. The Leviathan and human argue until The Mandarin attacks Foom into submission and uses the Aerokinesis Ring to propel himself into the air all the way over to Beijing. In anger, Foom uses his lasers to crash down against nearby mountains. This continues until War-Machine comes over and begs the alien to calm down. That they're just trying to help, they're after the same thing. He says no one has ever helped him, they just want to exploit him and his power. Foom then starts trying to snatch Rhodey, but Bethany then flies to help Rhodey saying "Rescue, reporting for duty" Rhodey rolling his eyes that's her chosen codename.

The Mandarin, free now, begins terrorizing Beijing along with Hawkeye. Eventually making his way to Tiananmen Square uses his rings to instill chaos on the populace until Iron Man trails right behind Bethany and lands right in front of him. Saying a face to face duel between them was long overdue. He says likewise, he will complete the task that he failed in Afghanistan. The two fights begin and Pepper along with Happy start controlling the Iron Legion to repel the Ten Rings and soldiers and officially bring the politicians to safety. Hawkeye keeps attacking the Legion while Pepper and Happy desperately try to control them as best as they can without causing anymore casualties.

Rescue and War-Machine both still work together to battle Fin Fang Foom barely holding their own against the monstrous techno-organic being. He refuses to back down until Rhodey gets the idea to trap him in between a narrow tunnel and then attack him from both ends, he won't be able to attack every which way. They do that and it manages to weaken him considerably. The Mandarin gets flown by Iron Man into the side of the Great Wall but he manages to transmute his flesh into steel which weakens the blow. He then uses his light ring to force Iron Man into his grasp and flings him onto the wall, smashing his armor to near destruction. Fin Fang Foom weakened on the ground tells Bethany and Rhodey to kill him, he cannot live as a mere object any longer. Bethany has an idea and puts Pepper on the line who says Foom is going to be free now. The only thing stopping that is him and his own unreasonable fear, that she knows exactly what it's like. Experiences can scar them and make anyone, humans and aliens behave irrationally. But that he needs to just calm down and look at them fighting The Mandarin too. They don't want to hurt him and he needs to just trust them. She knows it's hard but begs him listen please.

Back to Iron Man and The Mandarin, Tony weakened asks why he's doing this. The Mandarin says society abused him all of his life. Growing up a peasant farmer he spent whatever money he could to try and be something better, to make a difference like everyone said he could. But eventually he lost all his money and was persecuted for not paying taxes. Society holds him back, inhibited him and everyone else. He wants to free humanity from that bondage. Tony says he doesn't see a savior, he sees a man who recklessly spent everything to his name and blames everyone else for his own stupidity. Even pointing out he has to use that thing on his chest to brainwash everyone into blindly agreeing with him. Mandarin says despite his ignorant words he actually admires Tony Stark. When his men captured him two years ago, he only saw him as a disposable profiteer from the American Imperialist machine. Not worth being converted with the Heart of Knowledge. But because he didn't take action, Iron Man was born. He won't make that mistake again. The Mandarin then puts his hand to Tony's Arc Reactor and touches it, but he doesn't become mind controlled. Mandarin tries again, insisting that this usually works. Iron Man kicks him and the two begin fighting again, with Mandarin once again winning and hurting Iron Man badly. Iron Man yells that his new heart is protecting him. He then says he'll return the favor and yanks off the Mandarin's necklace with his hand. He then gasps in horror as his eyes begin to twitch and his mind becomes too unsophisticated to grasp the complications of controlling the Rings without the Heart of Knowledge. Hawkeye suddenly then falls to the ground, Happy notices and sends a soldier to get him up, only to see his eyes returned to their regular light green color. Pepper and Happy are delighted he's back and asks if he's alright, Hawkeye simply asks what he's done. Back at the Great Wall, the Mandarin begins screaming in agony as he indirectly starts powering all the Rings and is about to blow. Until Hawkeye latches over and kicks Mandarin off the wall, while he explodes in the middle of the forest. He finally says under his breathe again, "I never miss".

After Hawkeye helps the hurt hero up, he leads him down and apologizes for everything, but Tony claims he made up for it in the end. The two of them alongside War-Machine and Rescue talk to the now peaceful Fin Fang Foom amongst the rubble. The Leviathan apologizing for his reckless behavior, he feels great shame for it. War-Machine tells him fear is a terrible motivator, and it can only be conquered by hope. Everyone agrees while Tony asks if he's really an alien, and he confirms he is claiming he has faith he will be able to return home again. Rhodey tells him the Overmind is out there and free now, but Foom says their time of knowledge and exploration has long past and the Chitauri must find their new place in the universe now. They all wish him well as the Leviathan gracefully flies into the sky above the clouds. Iron Legion members land all around and Pepper says how everything looks clear they won this time, Rescue says her first mission was awesome she can't wait to do another. Back in the United States on New Year's eve, everyone is celebrating at Avengers Tower along with the President Ellis and Vice President Rodriguez. Even on the TV screen Christine Everhart is interviewing Harley Keener who claims she named her baby after Tony Stark, and thanked him for stopping The Mandarin. The President goes to Rhodey and tells him his bravery during the Ten Rings hostage crisis was impeccable, and he wants to give him a medal of honor as soon as possible, for everything he's done for the United States and hopefully more to come.

Happy walks over to Bethany and tells her he's not one for formalities, or really anything that nice to say about anyone outside Tony Stark & Pepper Potts. But that he feels really happy she's the one guarding him now, he's in good hands being protected by Rescue, she smiles ear to ear and thanks him for getting that blessing at last. Tony is arguing with J.A.R.V.I.S. until Hawkeye approaches him and says he wanted to give him a belated Christmas gift, he tells him it's not necessary. But Clint insists he should have it. Tony says he can't argue and takes the wrapping off only to see that it's the Heart of Knowledge. Hawkeye confesses that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him to study its properties for them, but he thought he could rewrap it as a gift. That he was thinking about the conversation they had before this started and and remembered how Tony couldn't really find peace when they finished the Battle of New York. It'll be the final nail in the coffin. The gift is a trophy and a reminder that he might've lost some battles, but he won the war. After that everyone begins insisting that Tony give a speech which he agrees to and does. Saying that he wishes everyone a merry christmas and goes on to discuss his struggles with alcohol, PTSD, and even general greed. Through all those lessons he's learned that you create your own enemies. That you have to be grounded, and strong to be a truly fulfilled man in this brave new world. He holds up the Heart and says things like this have no affect on him anymore. Everyone begins clapping after that especially Hawkeye.

Later, he walks over to the Avengers Tower balcony and looks out at the snowy city. Pepper follows him and asks when she should expect him to start working on Mark 43, but Tony says not until at least next year. Surprised, Pepper asks what's that about and he says the speech in there was all true. She was right about the suits being a distraction, he has to learn he can't control everything and make peace with what he can. It's the only way for him to really move on. From everything that's been plaguing his life over these last couple years, he's so exhilarated to have learned it now and gets to spend so much time with her. Pepper claims she feels the same way and hugs him. Tony still looking into the distance proudly says, "I'm not a legion, not a fortune teller, I'm just me. I am Iron Man."

First End Credits
Teasing Avengers: The Ultron Imperative

Tony in the Avengers Tower lab tells J.A.R.V.I.S. to open up space in his schedule for a new project. He reminds Tony that he did tell Pepper he wouldn't be working on more suits for the foreseeable future. But Tony says it's not another addition to the Iron Legion. That just because he's a man, doesn't mean his work is done, It just means something better has to come along to stop The Mandarins and Lokis of the world. J.A.R.V.I.S. asks what he wishes to do and Tony replies back the Ultron Imperative.

Second End Credits
Teasing Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A group of Ten Rings terrorists are going through the rubble of the Dragon of Heaven Fortress. They talk about trying to find any scrap of Chitauri technology they could use for themselves. To restart the Ten Rings and succeed The Mandarin. They'll do it better this time, and finally kill Tony Stark. But before anything else could be said the men grow weary hearing footsteps. After asking if anyone's there a metallic arm with a red star on it flies over to them and casually snaps their necks shortly after flying somewhere else off screen.

Trivia

 * The place Tony and his team stay after his Malibu home is destroyed is Avengers Tower. Which was ironically called Stark Tower before being changed at the end of The Avengers.


 * The Iron Legion in the comics each suit is controlled by a different individual person instead of just one using advanced A.I. systems.


 * Each Iron Man movie appears to largely deal with Tony trying to make peace with a certain period in time. The first movie focused on changing his ways in the present, while the second was about learning to deal with and accept what his father did in the past, and the third finished the pattern by having Tony finally come to terms he can't control the future.


 * The Ten Rings terrorist group who are the main antagonists of the movie appeared already in Iron Man and being that is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie this fact makes them the first ever antagonists to appear in the continuity.


 * In the comics, the Chitauri are a race of shapeshifting conquering aliens, who in the MCU appear to have many more similarities to the techno-organic species The Phalanx.


 * The Mandarin's rings in the comics came from a race of Dragon-like creatures called the Malkluan. Who, like in the movies, used the rings to control their spaceship. This is referenced by Fin Fang Foom's real name being in the prelude comic being revealed to be Kakaranthara.


 * Fin Fang Foom was aesthetically reimagined as an amalgamation between another Mandarin related character called the Ultimo since Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau considered using a stereotypical Chinese dragon to be "distasteful". This is also apparent in the fact he shoots laser from his eyes instead of breathing fire and being referred to as a Leviathan.


 * In the comics, Pepper Potts donned the Rescue armor, instead of Bethany Cabe who instead was referred to as Iron Woman years earlier. Jon Favreau mentioned this change occurred as making Pepper become a superhero after all this time felt contrived. But that he did reference her status in the comics by having her wear the suit temporarily while the Ten Rings attacked the Malibu mansion.


 * Hawkeye being brainwashed by the Heart of Knowledge and working with the Ten Rings is a reference to him originally being a villain when he first met Iron Man.


 * Dragon of Heaven, the name of Mandarin's fortress in the Valley of Spirits in the comics is instead the name of his gigantic flying helicarrier style base.


 * Tony Stark almost returning to alcohol and becoming a homeless vagabond while helping a woman birth a child is inspired directly from the comic story arc where Obadiah Stane pressured Tony into a similar state.


 * In the comics the Heart of Knowledge is called the Heart of Darkness which offers anyone who wields it a variety of powers. None of them however have ever been mind control abilities.


 * Tony Stark telling Rhodey when he saves him from the Mandarin's captivity "Now we're even" is a direct reference to Rhodey playing a significant role in saving Tony after he is lost in the Afghan desert in the first movie.


 * While telling J.A.R.V.I.S. to start up the House Party Protocol a suit that looks nearly identical to the Extremis Armor from the comics. Though, it is never actually seen in combat afterward.


 * The Ultron Imperative is a reference to the notorious super villain Ultron. Who had been confirmed by the time of Iron Man 3's release to be the main villain for The Avengers inevitable sequel.


 * The metal arm which slays the final Ten Rings terrorists resembles the appendage of a super villain called The Winter Soldier. All the way down to the red star on the shoulder.