Iron Man 3 is the seventh entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film in Marvel’s Phase 2. The movie had a lot of expectations when it was first released, being the third entry in the popular Iron Man film franchise but also being a direct follow-up to the massive hit of The Avengers, which redefined the superhero genre. While the kick-off movie for the summer of 2013, Iron Man 3 was notably a Christmastime film.
Before Iron Man 3, the only other superhero movie set at Christmastime was the infinitely darker Batman Returns, which was released 19 years prior. In the years since, superhero Christmas adventures have become more commonplace, with Shazam!, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and both Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Wonder Woman 1984 concluding at Christmas. The MCU has explored Christmas again in the Disney+ series Hawkeye and the recent special presentation, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Yet even after all those releases, Iron Man 3 still sticks out from the pack and remains a great Christmas movie. Here is what makes Iron Man 3 a great pick for the Christmas season.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Iron Man 3 Is a Shane Black Movie
Marvel StudiosDisney
Iron Man 3 is written and directed by Shane Black, and one hallmark of the prolific screenwriter-turned-director is that his films tend to be set at Christmastime. His screenplays for Lethal Weapon and The Long Kiss Goodnight, as well as his directorial feature film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which starred Robert Downey Jr. in one of his first big comeback roles), all take place during the Christmas season, and the director uses the holiday setting as a contrast for his characters.
The protagonists of Shane Black movies tend to be lonely individuals dealing with some form of depression, and Black uses the Christmas setting to highlight that loneliness. When everyone is gathered together, his characters feel more alone than ever. Yet by the end of the film, they find some semblance of purpose and family during the holidays, and Iron Man 3 is no different.
Throughout the film, Tony Stark is dealing with PTSD following The Avengers and his own sense of inadequacy in a world filled with superhumans. He has trouble sleeping and has buried himself in his work. Yet during the Yuletide season with the help of his friend Rhody, A.I. Jarvis, new child confidant Harley Keener, and romantic partner Pepper Potts Tony finds his purpose once more.
Different Type of Christmas Aesthetics
Marvel Studios
When most people they think of Christmas, they tend to imagine certain images: rural settings and snow, typically associated with a white Christmas. When it does revolve around a city, it typically is New York, as the city has become linked to the holiday season (and the MCU has taken advantage of this with other Christmas programming like Hawkeye). Yet Iron Man 3 steers into a different set of holiday aesthetics.
The film’s two primary locations are California and Florida, two coastal states commonly associated with sun and beaches as opposed to snow and forest. This means they embrace a Christmas aesthetic in a non-traditional way. There are still Christmas lights and decorations, but it is not the typical backdrop to these images. This juxtaposition, in a movie that is set at Christmas but doesn’t feel like Christmas, highlights Tony Stark’s isolation and practically makes him a superhero version of Charlie Brown.
While the film’s second act does feature a prominent scene in Tennessee and gives audiences the snow they expect from a holiday movie, it does highlight the contrast of the Christmas locations for a majority of the movie. It breaks away from the conventions of what Christmas can be, to show that Christmas has many different looks across the country. Much like Tony Stark and Iron Man, it isn’t the outward appearance that makes the holiday but instead what is inside that counts.
Draws From a Rich History of Christmas Stories
Iron Man 3 on the surface might be a story about Tony Stark facing off against The Mandarin, and that certainly is what the trailers sold to the audience. Yet many of the film’s dramatic beats are drawn heavily from other Christmas classics. Most notably, the main threat of the film is a ghost from Tony Stark’s past, a result of his own past selfish transgressions, drawing a parallel to Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Those past regrets also draw a parallel to Tony Stark and George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life. Tony even quips that one of the kids looks like Ralphie in A Christmas Story (Ralphie’s actor, Peter Billingsley, appeared as William in the first Iron Man and would later reappear in the MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home).
Iron Man 3 even draws similarities to other action films set at Christmastime that many have debated about being Christmas films. The comparisons to Lethal Weapon are obvious, given Shane Black’s involvement, but the movie also has much in common with Die Hard. Tony Stark eventually finds himself needing to survive and face off against a bunch of enemies as just a normal man. He doesn’t have any superpowers or even his high-tech suit, so he needs to rely on his wit and ingenuity just like John McClane.
An Ending Marks a New Beginning
Christmas arrives at the end of the year, and alongside New Year’s Eve makes for the final holiday of the year and tends to mark a time of reflection. It is in many ways an end of the year celebration, with the hopeful promise of something new on the horizon. It is worth noting that Iron Man 3 begins with a prologue at New Year’s Eve and primarily takes place during Christmastime, tying into the idea of endings and new beginnings.
In a metatextual reading, that is exactly what Iron Man 3 was for the MCU. It was the kick-off film of Marvel’s Phase 2 and opened up a whole new world of storytelling following every hero after the events of The Avengers. Yet it also marked an endpoint for the franchise. This was the final Iron Man solo film, and while the character would still appear in three more Avengers movies, Captain America: Civil War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming, this marked the final time Tony Stark would be the lead in his own solo film.
Iron Man kicked off the MCU, and Iron Man 3 marked the ending of one era and initiated another. Yet even with Iron Man over, Marvel elevated established franchises like Thor and Captain America and launched whole new blockbuster series like Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. Iron Man 3 was an ending, but also the mark of a new beginning for the MCU, and that is one of the many elements of Christmas that the movie embraces to become a holiday favorite.
