Iron Man 3 Speculation – Extremis?

The Avengers movie hasn’t even hit theaters yet and, already, speculation has become rampant as to the plot of Iron Man 3 – which is still in pre-production. Over at Latino Review, columnist Da7e, has posted a video in which he claims that “an anonymous source from the New York test screening of The Avengers” told him that the villains in Iron Man 3 would be “extremely dangerous” – Da7e’s emphasis, not mine. There were air bunny quote gestures and everything. From there, Da7e postulates that Tony Stark’s next story line would be taken from Warren Ellis’s Invincible Iron Man: Extremis story run, in which Stark injects himself with experimental nanotechnology to fight a similarly powered bad guy. A motion comic version of Extremis can be found at Hulu.

Beyond the anonymous source, Da7e himself points out that part of his post comes from his own “geeky fanboy conjecture” – Stark may demonstrate a willingness to create what The Film Stage refers to as a “‘technology-based solution to replicating the super solider serum that turns Steve Rogers into Captain America,’ known in layman’s terms as nanobots.” The good Captain knew Stark’s dad from back in World War II and has been dismissive of little Tony as merely being a guy in a super powered suit in the trailer. Does Tony Stark have unrequited daddy issues? Why not just ask me if Tony has a Jackson Pollock and impending cirrhosis of the liver?

Are there other hidden clues that point to an Extremely Extremis threequel? Maybe! After the jump.

The potential for the seeds of a race to discover a new way to create a super soldier serum certainly is present. The last incarnation of The Incredible Hulk found Bruce Banner’s gamma experiments eventually being used to create the super solider that became The Abomination. Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow will be bringing Bruce into the Avengers fold in this movie, where alpha scientist egos certainly will clash. Another clue could possibly be found in The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week limited series, released this past week. Issue one retells key moments from the previous solo title movies that lead up to the formation of The Avengers. One of these moments the book shares is the lead up to just prior to when Black Widow injects Tony with lithium dioxide to slow his poisoning from palladium, caused by the arc reactor Tony’s inserted in his chest to stay alive. Here are some behind the scenes from the S.H.I.E.L.D labs:

The lithium dioxide is not a permanent solution to Tony’s palladium woes. Could it be possible that Tony begins down the Extemis path in order to save himself from death-by-arc-reactor?

In any event, there’s certainly enough in the previous movies and the prelude comic books to support the possibility of and Extremis storyline in Iron Man 3. All we can do in the meantime is wait for The Avengers movie and see if any further hints are dropped in the meantime.