I AM IRONMAN

By: Kate Clough

     Soaring into theaters, “Iron Man 3,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, plans to make its landing May 3. The third time around, Iron Man will be facing the Mandarin, a skilled martial artist and holder of the 10 rings of power, which grant him a different, superhuman ability for each finger. Iron Man will be also learning to deal with his past encounters with the Avengers.

    “I have a lot of apologies to make...nothing’s been the same since New York. You experience things, and then they’re over. I can’t sleep, and when I do I have nightmares,” said Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the “Iron Man 3” trailer. “Honestly, there [are] a 100 people who want to kill me. I hope I can protect the one thing I can’t live without.”

     Fans last left their valiant hero battling aliens casted to earth by Thor’s malevolent brother, Loki. Iron Man made the dumbfounding decision to throw the nuclear bomb sent to destroy New York City into space through the aliens’ portal in the sky. But, by doing so, he nearly lost his life to lack of oxygen and power for his arc reactor, which kept the beat of his heart strong.  The heart-pounding event traumatized our iron superhero, and director Shane Black is determined to carry that frame of mind into the upcoming sequel.

     “We had kind of a conundrum in that “The Avengers” opens up this huge sky hole full of interdimensional aliens,” said Black in an interview with Comicbookmovie.com. “You kind of look back and [think], ‘Well, what do you do after that?’”

     Subsequently, the answer may lie in the psychological slogan of this new Iron Man adventure: does the man make the suit, or does the suit make the man? According to junior Jaspen Nelson, the answer is clear.

   “The suit definitely makes the man,” said Nelson. “Without the suit, Tony Stark would be dead in that underground cell.”

     However, for junior James Gildersleeve, Tony Stark plays more of a role in the legacy of Iron Man than the suit he wears.

    “A suit cannot craft a human being, for it is an inanimate object,” said Gildersleeve. “Also, without the man, the suit is
nothing.”

     The man behind the suit, Tony Stark, will be challenged by his own creation. Coming from such an exciting event, as hurtling into space—the emotional stress from Tony Stark, communicated through the eccentric actor, is expected to be an interesting combination to watch. Junior Janae Lawrence prophesizes Downey will nail the part.

    “The films have done an awesome job introducing Tony Stark and his quest to protect earth,” said Lawrence. “Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect Tony Stark.”

     Comic book enthusiasts and movie-goers everywhere are waiting to behold the new conflict: the Mandarin and, possibly even more treacherous, the conflict within our great protector’s own mind.