12 Years Later, I Can’t Believe How Much More Successful Iron Man 3 Was Than Both The Previous Iron Man Movies

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It has been 12 years since Iron Man 3 was released and I"m still shocked at the extent of its success compared to the rest of the MCU trilogy. Iron Man is 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 Man remains one of the highest-rated MCU movies today, though its two sequels failed to inspire quite as much acclaim. That isn"t to say that they"re bad, of course, though Iron Man 2 still consistently languishes at the bottom of the MCU"s critical hierarchy. Thankfully, the mixed reception to Iron Man 2 didn"t affect Tony 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 Close Iron Man 3 more than doubled the Box Office gross of Iron Man and nearly doubled that of Iron Man 2"s while exceeding the combined box office of the two. While Iron Man"s $580 million and Iron Man 2"s $621 million are certainly nothing to sniff at, Iron Man 3 was able to rake in $1.2 billion for Marvel Studios. This nestles it firmly among the MCU"s highest-grossing movies, and one of the 11 MCU movies to make $1 billion. In fact, Iron Man 3 was the second MCU movie to earn that accolade, after 2012"s The Avengers.
Iron Man Trilogy Worldwide Box Office (via The Numbers)
Movie
Worldwide Gross
Iron Man
$584,877,827
Iron Man 2
$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 Marvel and Black Panther notwithstanding. While Captain America also boasts a billion-dollar movie of his own with Captain America: Civil War, the fact that this movie stars the vast majority of the current Avengers can"t be overlooked. Yet to think that Iron Man 3 even exceeds the take-home of Captain 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 Close The most obvious reason for Iron Man 3"s success is its main star. By the time Iron Man 3 was 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. While Iron Man grossed less than half Iron 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 wager Iron Man 2 would have fared much better based on this fact were it not for its overall quality comparatively.

Related 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.
Posts Furthermore, Iron Man was spotlighted in The Avengers as the hero who truly saved the day when fending off the Chitauri invasion in the Battle of New York. The Avengers remains the MCU"s fourth-highest-grossing movie with a $1.5 billion global box office, and its success was yet another springboard for Iron Man to leap from. After all, Captain Marvel enjoyed a similar leg-up as the first movie to be released after Avengers: 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 Close Iron Man 3 is still the MCU"s eighth-highest-grossing movie and 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, and Deadpool & Wolverine tend to be surefire wins for Marvel, while Iron Man 3 only stars Tony Stark and his adversary, Aldrich Killian. Black Panther, which grossed $1.3 billion in 2018, is the only solo movie for an MCU superhero that 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: Endgame is 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 in every Avengers movie so far, but I"m glad he was able to round out his solo trilogy with an inarguable win in the form of Iron Man 3. Whatever you think about its overall quality, it"s fair to say that it redeemed Iron Man after Iron Man 2 shook 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.

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8/10 17 7.1/10 Iron Man 3 PG-13 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.
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*Availability in US Release Date May 3, 2013 Runtime 130 Mins Cast Ben Kingsley , Guy Pearce , Paul Bettany , Don Cheadle , Gwyneth Paltrow , Jon Favreau , Robert Downey Jr. Director Shane Black Studio(s) Marvel , Disney Upcoming MCU Movies