It has been 12 years sinceIron Man 3was released and I’m still shocked at the extent of its success compared to the rest of theMCUtrilogy.Iron Manis largely to thank for the fortunes of the MCU, which has since become the most successful cinematic franchise of all time. Its charismatic star and perfectly-struck tone set the standard for what fans could expect from this new shared cinematic universe while paving the way for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark to become the de facto protagonist of the entire franchise.
Iron Manremains one ofthe highest-rated MCU moviestoday, though its two sequels failed to inspire quite as much acclaim. That isn’t to say that they’re bad, of course, thoughIron Man 2still consistently languishes at the bottom of the MCU’s critical hierarchy. Thankfully,the mixed reception toIron Man 2didn’t affectTony Stark’s overall legacy, nor did it significantly impact the overall take-home of the Iron Man trilogy. In fact, it grossed nearly $50 million more than its predecessor.Iron Man 3, meanwhile, is in a league of its own.
Iron Man 3’s Box Office Is Almost Two Times Iron Man & Iron Man 2’s
It Grossed $1.2 Billion
Iron Man 3more than doubled the Box Office gross ofIron Manand nearly doubled that ofIron Man 2’s while exceeding the combined box office of the two. WhileIron Man’s $580 million andIron Man 2’s $621 million are certainly nothing to sniff at,Iron Man 3was able to rake in $1.2 billion for Marvel Studios. This nestles it firmly amongthe MCU’s highest-grossing movies, and one of the11 MCU movies to make $1 billion. In fact,Iron Man 3was the second MCU movie to earn that accolade, after 2012’sThe Avengers.
$584,877,827
$621,156,389
Iron Man 3
$1,214,630,956
This feat is especially impressive considering that Marvel’s other billion-dollar movies tend to feature an ensemble cast,Captain MarvelandBlack Panthernotwithstanding. While Captain America also boasts a billion-dollar movie of his own withCaptain America: Civil War, the fact that this movie stars the vast majority of the current Avengers can’t be overlooked. Yet to think thatIron Man 3even exceeds the take-home ofCaptain America: Civil War’s $1.1 billion blows my mind all over again. Still, there’s plenty to explain exactly how this occurred.
Why Iron Man 3 Did So Much Better At The Box Office Than The Previous Two Movies
Iron Man 3 Was Released Immediately After The Avengers
The most obvious reason forIron Man 3’s success is its main star. By the timeIron Man 3was released in May 2013, Tony Stark was well-established as the de facto protagonist of the entire MCU, and one of its most beloved characters. WhileIron Mangrossed less than halfIron Man 3, it laid such a solid foundation for its eponymous hero that there was only one direction that its sequels were going to climb. I’d wagerIron Man 2would have fared much better based on this fact were it not for its overall quality comparatively.
MCU: Every Movie Starring Iron Man (& The Order To Watch Them In)
As Iron Man, Tony Stark hugely shaped the MCU, and in order to best appreciate his story, his movie appearances should be watched in a specific order.
Furthermore, Iron Man was spotlighted inThe Avengersas the hero who truly saved the day when fending off the Chitauri invasion in the Battle of New York.The Avengersremains the MCU’s fourth-highest-grossing movie with a $1.5 billion global box office, andits success was yet another springboard for Iron Man to leap from. After all,Captain Marvelenjoyed a similar leg-up as the first movie to be released afterAvengers: Infinity War, meaning the success of preceding Avengers movies can’t be overlooked.
Iron Man 3’s Box Office Still Holds Up Immensely Well
Iron Man 3 Is Still One Of The MCU’s Top Ten Highest-Grossing Movies
Iron Man 3is still the MCU’s eighth-highest-grossing movieand doesn’t look likely to drop out of the top ten any time soon. As I mentioned, ensemble movies like the Avengers franchise,Spider-Man: No Way Home, andDeadpool & Wolverinetend to be surefire wins for Marvel, whileIron Man 3only stars Tony Stark and his adversary, Aldrich Killian.Black Panther, which grossed $1.3 billion in 2018, is the onlysolo movie for an MCU superherothat exceeds Iron Man’s box office. The fact that this was in MCU Phase 3 makes Iron Man’s earlier success even more impressive.
Avengers: Endgameis the MCU’s highest-grossing movie with a $2.7 billion global box office.
To be perfectly honest,I think this is entirely deserved. It’s fair to say that Tony Stark enjoyed the limelight inevery Avengers movie so far, but I’m glad he was able to round out his solo trilogy with an inarguable win in the form ofIron Man 3. Whatever you think about its overall quality, it’s fair to say that it redeemed Iron Man afterIron Man 2shook confidence in his solo trilogy, and I think this final win for the character largely responsible for the MCU’s overall success is perfectly apt.
Cast
Iron Man 3 pits genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark (Iron Man) against the Mandarin, an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his world destroyed by his mysterious antagonist, he embarks on a dangerous quest to find those responsible. His journey will test his character at every turn. 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 and determine whether or not the suit makes the man or if Tony himself is the hero.
