“We create our own demons” are the arc words for Iron Man 3, and the movie fully commits to this idea. It also creates an opportunity for Iron Man 3 to perform something of a do-over on Iron Man 2’s flubbed critique of Tony’s character, and being willing to be so tough on its protagonist winds up being one of Iron Man 3’s best attributes. Tony’s PTSD and anxiety attacks are a direct consequence of confronting an alien menace in The Avengers, and his ultimate self-actualization as “the mechanic” being more important than the armor he creates is a way to distinguish what type of hero he is in contrast to his fellow Avengers like Captain America or Thor.

Meatier character work about Tony becoming less of an egotist and more of a team player, to the point of being willing to make a genuine sacrificial play, takes place in The Avengers, and that’s the film that Iron Man 3 finds itself paying off more so than its numbered predecessor. In both threads, Iron Man 2 gives Tony an easy way out, which makes the final film largely immaterial to his character development. His father apparently mapped out a new element that is exactly what Tony needs to fix his heart decades before he’d need it (?), and the villain of the piece, Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash, doesn’t really challenge Tony to change anything about himself, instead posing purely a physical threat to be overcome. It is nominally about Tony confronting his toxicity, both literal (his blood is being poisoned by the palladium arc reactor) and metaphorical (his cavalier behavior is making all of his problems worse), but this doesn’t really pay off in any meaningful way through his own actions. Part of the reason for this is Iron Man 2 is a very scattered film. In many respects, Iron Man, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3 make a more coherent trilogy for Stark than Iron Man 1, 2 and 3. But more substantively, it’s a sequel to The Avengers, which takes precedence both in terms of cultural footprint and this movie’s character journey for Tony, which is a direct response to what he experienced in the 2012 ensemble film.

Sure, it’s the third Iron Man movie, so it’s literally a sequel to Iron Man 2. Nowadays, MCU movies and TV shows paying off storylines and character beats from multiple franchises simultaneously is common, but back in 2013, Iron Man 3 was one of the first ever examples of a movie having to act as a sequel to two films simultaneously.

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