The newest young scream queen in Hollywood, Jenna Ortega, has been everywhere lately. The beloved young actor has plenty of notable roles in her acting discography. While most of the media she's starred in has been released in the last few years, she was featured in a big movie in 2013. Believe it or not, the You star played a small but crucial role in Marvel's early Phase Two.
Jenna Ortega is becoming a household name for plenty of good reasons. From her role as the iconic Wednesday Addams in Netflix's new show, Wednesday, to her place in the latest Scream film, she's been gaining popularity. Luckily for her fans, Ortega's greatness is finally being acknowledged. Surprisingly, she didn't get her acting start recently. In fact, she's been acting since she was a little girl. Her debut role is a little less widely-known than others in her repertoire, but the film she's featured in belongs to one of the biggest franchises in the world. She starred alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Gwenyth Paltrow's Pepper Potts in Iron Man 3.
Wednesday's Jenna Ortega Appeared in Iron Man 3
Iron Man 3 primarily follows Tony Stark as he deals with the personal aftermath of the Chitauri Invasion (Battle of New York) and another powerful enemy. This powerful enemy is none other than The Mandarin, aka Aldrich Killian, a terroristic scientist. Throughout the film, Stark deals with many attacks associated with the biotech company A.I.M and a genetic manipulation project called Extremis.
Stark's battle against Killian and his soldiers culminates in an incident on Air Force One. Later on in Iron Man 3, it's revealed that Killian has some form of partnership with the Vice President of the United States to overthrow the government. This is where Ortega comes into the picture, as she plays the Vice President's daughter and provides some motive for the plot.
Jenna Ortega's Small Role Was Important to the MCU
Ortega in no way plays a main role in Iron Man 3 or the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. So, it would be understandable for one to disregard her debut movie role altogether. But that would also be ignoring the significance of her character.
The reason the Vice President is involved in The Mandarin's plot is to help his daughter. The young girl had unfortunately lost her leg. Because of this, her father wanted to work with A.I.M. so his child could get the same treatment that Iron Man 3 villain Killian took to heal his bodily ailments. Considering the Extremis program was designed to provide the human body with regenerative properties, it's fair to assume that Vice President Rodriguez hoped to somehow grow her leg back. The young girl cannot be blamed for the crimes of her father, though her life and disabilities provided some of the plot for Iron Man 3. Without her, her father probably wouldn't have been involved, and the plan to kill the president would not have been so achievable. Rodriguez is just as guilty as Killian, as he was responsible for covering up the attacks and abusing his political authority.
Seeing as most Marvel movies are intertwined, it can be argued that Jenna Ortega's character changed the face of the MCU. Iron Man 3 has its spot in the chaotic movie timeline and connects to plenty of other films within the universe. So, even if small, the role that Wednesday's Ortega plays in Iron Man 3 is still important to the franchise.