Comic-Con 2012: 'Iron Man 3' Cast Talks Suit Envy; Film Will Be More Intense Than 'The Avengers,' Says Director

Posted July 15, 2012, 2:59 pm   •   by Gabrielle Chung   •   1 comments

Though both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 gained massive success and dominated the box office, the series' third installment will take a different route, according to the filmmakers behind the flick.

"We’re not aiming for bigger, necessarily, we’re aiming for different, fresh and new,” says producer Kevin Feige at the Iron Man 3 panel during this year's Comic-Con.

Since the sequel, the series has seen a complete overhaul in directors -- with Iron Man's Jon Favreau stepping down for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang's Shane Black.

What does Black envision for the new film, and its star Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark?

"Iron Man 3 is the beginning of the next phase, so it will set the tone in a lot of ways," he says. "Certainly, Tony’s journey could spin forward but it's as self contained a story since Iron Man 1."

"There is an idea about being big, but I think it’s about capturing and redoubling the intensity that The Avengers managed to capture -- that kind of lightning in a bottle feel of really stuffing so much into a limited space. We’re trying to get as much into this as we can."

The Avengers, which also featured Downey Jr. reprising his role, has raked in $1.4 billion worldwide since its premiere in April.

"Avengers even surprised us to a certain extent," quips Downey Jr. during the panel. "Looking back on it, you can kind of dissect why it was the right movie with the right people and the right director at the right time -- and we feel the same way about this now."

Though there was a change in directors between the second and third installment, Iron Man 3 will still see the same humorous interaction between the characters.

"The romance is definitely a part of this," says Black. "Obviously, we’ve got Gwyneth [Paltrow] coming back. Time has passed and, in The Avengers, Gwyneth and Tony are together, doing great, living together."

"There’s never been a movie like this, where your lead guy is in a relationship, with someone to go home to -- who's kind of like Gwyneth Paltrow, telling him what to do," Downey Jr. adds.

As for the overall superhero suits, the cast says fans are in for a treat.

“I do suit up," teases Don Cheadle, who plays Stark's right hand man James "Rhodey" Rhodes. "There are some different iterations that War Machine goes through in this film. And the Iron Man suit is really spectacular in this one, I think."

"I liked in the comics there was a bit of suit envy," Downey Jr. adds.

Iron Man 3 is set to release May 3, 2013.