Iron Man 3: Summer Preview

by Helen Earnshaw | 18 March 2013

If there is one movie that we are super excited about this summer then it is Iron Man 3 - and it kicks off our Summer 2013 Preview.

I have been a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr for many years but the role of Tony Stark was tailor made for him and he plays it to a tee.

It was back in 2010 when Iron Man 2 hit the big screen and we have since seen the action hero saving the world in last summer's Avengers Assemble.

Iron Man 3 is the first film to be released since the billion dollar success of Avengers Assemble and it kicks off a new phase in Marvel's movie plans.

Downey Jr is back as Tony Stark aka Iron Man and he will face his toughest and most personal challenge yet as his life is left in tatters.

The movie sees the actor reunite with director Shane Black for the first time since the terrific Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - a movie you really should check out if you have not seen it.

Downey Jr is not the only familiar face as Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are also returning as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, and this movie will see the pair feature more than ever before.

But it is the new additions to the cast list that really are super exciting as Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall and James Badge Dale are all on board.

Kingsley will take on the role of the Mandarin in the film while Pearce will play Aldrich Killan.

Hall is set to play Dr Maya Hansen while Dale will play Eric Savin aka Coldblood.

We don't see Shane Black in the director's chair very often and Iron Man 3 is the first film for him since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang back in 2005.

It is the first time that he has tackled a big budget blockbuster and only his second time in the director's chair after making a name for himself penning the screenplays for Lethal Weapon and The Long Kiss Goodnight.

But Black really is an incredibly exciting filmmaker and it is going to be interesting to see him put his own stamp on this franchise.

Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds.

When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle.

With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him.

Iron Man 3 hits the big screen early in the summer blockbuster season and it will be the movie that really sets the bar for all others to follow.