MCU World

Phase 2 · Infinity Saga

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Witty · Personal

Directed by
Shane Black
Released
2013-05-03
Length
130 min
▶ TrailerWhere to watch

The quick take

A hero shaken by what he went through in New York has to rebuild without his usual gear. A more personal, thriller-flavored take that plays with expectations.

Watch these first

The Avengers.

  1. 1.Iron Man2008126 min
  2. 2.The Avengers2012143 min

Prep time: about 4 h 29 min.

The bigger picture

Months after the big battle, the hero is struggling with anxiety and sleepless nights when a mysterious new enemy attacks his home. The film strips away much of his armor and puts the focus on his ingenuity.

Skip it or watch it?

Worth watching for its character work, though the larger plot is mostly standalone.

Where it sits

Release order

#7 of 59

Before: The Avengers

After: Thor: The Dark World

See the full release order list

Timeline order

#9 of 59

Before: Thor: The Dark World

After: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

See the full timeline order list

Official trailer

Watch on YouTube ↗

Where to watch

Streaming rights change by country and over time, so check before you subscribe. Links open in a new tab.

If you liked this

Phase 1 · 2012

The Avengers

Separate heroes are forced into the same room and have to figure out how to fight as one team. The payoff of years of setup, and still one of the most rewatchable entries.

Phase 1 · 2008

Iron Man

The film that started everything. A brilliant, arrogant engineer is forced to rethink what his work is for, and builds a suit to do something about it. It is a self-contained origin story, so it is the friendliest door into the franchise.

Phase 2 · 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A man out of his time finds that the institutions he trusted are not what they seem. A paranoid political thriller, and one of the strongest films in the whole run.

Cast

Credited lead cast of Iron Man 3, in billing order. Names link to IMDb, which we do not own and are not affiliated with.