Tony Stark’s Iron Man 3 Ending Never Made Sense

Tony Stark was the first hero to be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and thus the first to get three solo movies, but the ending of Iron Man 3 doesn’t make sense and completely ignores what turned Tony into Iron Man in the first place. The MCU began in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, introducing Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and setting the tone for the subsequent movies, as well as the basis for the formation of the Avengers team some time later. Since then, Marvel has produced over 20 movies as part of the MCU and still has a long list of projects coming up in the near future.

Tony Stark ended up becoming the leader of the first three phases of the MCU, collectively known as the Infinity Saga, and his rivalry with Steve Rogers/Captain America divided the Avengers and allies into two groups in Captain America: Civil War. The two heroes eventually joined forces again and Tony sacrificed himself in Avengers: Endgame in order to save the world. Tony’s death was fitting with his journey from egocentric, selfish, and narcissistic billionaire to an actual superhero who put others before himself, but looking back at his solo movies, the ending of Iron Man 3 did some damage to the character and ultimately didn’t make much sense.

Iron Man 3 took place after the events of The Avengers and saw Tony struggling with PTSD and anxiety as a result of the Battle of New York and his near-death experience when he took a missile through the wormhole in order to destroy the Chitauri fleet and save the world. Tony also came across a terrorist known as the Mandarin, who turned out to be a paid actor posing as the evil genius, and the real threat was Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a scientist and creator of the Extremis virus. With the help of Rhodey (Don Cheadle), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and his new friend Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins), Tony overcame his demons and defeated Killian, which is a very typical ending for an MCU movie, but at the end of it, Tony made the decision of reducing his time as Iron Man and had the shrapnel piece near his heart removed, meaning that he no longer needed the arc reactor on his chest, but assured the audience that he would always be Iron Man.

In Iron Man, Tony was severely wounded by a missile that left a shrapnel shard close to his heart and removing it represented a big danger. With the help of Yinsen, Tony developed the arc reactor that kept him alive for years and also powered his first Iron Man suits, but the arc reactor and the shrapnel piece threatening to end his life if something went wrong have a lot more meaning than it seems. Being close to dying at all times is part of Tony’s payment for his past sins, as he spent years developing technology used for weapons that made way for many battles and wars, and was ultimately key in pushing him to do the right thing from then on. The arc reactor symbolized Tony’s rebirth now as a hero, so getting rid of it and asking for the surgery to remove the shrapnel – a surgery that, it’s worth noting, Tony once said would kill him – pretty much undid some of the early plotting in the MCU and what drove Tony to become Iron Man in the first place.

Of course, Tony without the arc reactor would have been a very strange thing to see, so the MCU gave him another one (without the risk of a piece of metal getting dangerously close to his heart) in Avengers: Infinity War, now with a different purpose not related to his health, instead being all about his new armor. Iron Man 3 has been heavily criticized for years and considered among the worst movies from the MCU, and though it has some strong points, it’s ending definitely isn’t one, and it’s so nonsensical that subsequent movies had to find ways to make up for it, even giving him a brand new arc reactor to keep a connection with Iron Man’s roots.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
(3270 Articles Published)

Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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