As Kevin Smith sees it, Shane Black's Iron Man 3 is one of Marvel Studios' first true auteur films.
The subject came up during Smith's interview with Uproxx, in which the actor/filmmaker talked about Edgar Wright's infamous departure from Ant-Man. Wright had already spent eight years working on the movie for Marvel when he stepped down as director in May 2014, citing creative differences.
"It felt like it was a teachable moment," said Smith. "Where it wasn’t like [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige had some sort of come to Jesus... I don’t know, I wasn’t in the room, but we have seen auteur Marvel movies since then, hands down, so it looks like they are, I wouldn’t say loosening up, but I think they’re letting people bring more of their style into it."
"They’ve got a blueprint," Smith added, echoing Dune director Denis Villeneuve's recent comments about Marvel Studios' films being "made from the same mold." In Smith's case, however, he doesn't see this as a bad thing, per se. "They’ve got a story, a never-ending story that they want to tell, and I want them to tell that, but it is breathtaking when you see somebody come in and do something different with the movie. He doesn’t get enough credit, man, but Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 is, I think, one of the first auteur Marvel movies."
Released in 2013, Iron Man 3 finds Tony Stark struggling with post-traumatic stress after the Battle of New York when a new threat emerges in the form of a mysterious terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). "That movie felt like Shane Black. It felt like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It even felt like the Lethal Weapon movies, even though he didn’t direct those," said Smith. "I feel like more of that is starting to happen, but I have nothing to offer Marvel beyond my money for their movies."
Despite being a critical and financial success, Iron Man 3 stoked the flames of controversy with its big plot twist, in which it turned out the Mandarin was really a bumbling actor named Trevor Slattery and not the famous super-villain from Marvel's comic books. Feige admitted he still loves Iron Man 3's Mandarin twist earlier this year, ahead of Trevor's return and the introduction of the real Mandarin, Wenwu (Tony Leung), in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters.
Source: Uproxx