MARVEL’S IRON MAN 3 – THE ART OF THE MOVIE: The Art of the Movie Slipcase

“Iron Man 3: The Art of the Movie” is another great entry into the series of art books for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’d be right to think that certain design aspects of the Iron Man films have been well-covered in the previous books for Iron Man and Iron Man 2, the addition of Iron Patriot and the Mandarin allow for a unique reading experience with all new artwork to accompany the text.

At this point, the main characteristics of the Iron Man suit are well defined by the previous two films. But it’s fascinating to see the evolution of Stark’s design throughout the series – he’s up to Mark 42 when this film starts. Also, the with the addition of Stark’s Iron Legion, the artists really got to design suits in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Stark essentially has a suit for every function – Mark 24 is specifically for combat, while Mark 34 is for disaster rescue and Mark 39 is for suborbital flight. These suits will make brief appearances in the background or might be in one or two shots during the final action sequence, but the book allows you to study them in closer detail.

It’s not my favorite of the MCU art books, but if you are a fan of Iron Man and enjoyed the film then it’s definitely worth reading.

Das ist mein erstes Artbook von einem Marvel Film und ich bin mehr als begeistert.
Wunderschöne Bilder, tolle Aufmachung, wirklich gute Qualität und das riesige Buch kommt in einem stabilen Schuber. Man sieht, da hat sich echt wer Mühe gemacht die Fans zufriedenzustellen.

Man bekommt einen tollen Überblick von Iron Man 3 und erst jetzt habe ich erkannt, wie viel Arbeit in so einem Actionfilm tatsächlich steckt. Darin befinden sich jede Menge concept arts von den verschiedenen Rüstungen von Tony Stark wie auch von Rhodey, wovon mir jede sehr gut gefallen hat. Am meisten habe ich mich gefreut, dass die ganze Iron Legion (von Mark 1 bis Mark 42 klarerweise) abgebildet ist.

Außerdem wurde inhaltlich immer wieder auf die ersten beiden Iron Man Filme bzw. Marvel’s The Avengers eingegangen, sodass man wirklich einen runden und perfekten Abschluss mit der Iron Man Trilogie hat.

Das Geld ist es auf jeden Fall wert und das riesige Artbook inmitten der Comichefte macht eine sehr gute Figur!
Für Sammler, Fans der Comichefte oder auch der Filme des MCU ein absolutes Muss.

Excelentíssimo produto, chegou muito rápido, em estado extremamente conservado, parece até que o produto era completamente novo.

Packed with pre-production art and pictures, this is a great book for Marvel movie lovers. A superb addition to a great series !

Iron Man as a franchise certainly is at its peak with the third movie.

Since the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark has created six Iron Man suits. Mark VII appeared in The Avengers. In Iron Man 3, there are 42 models.

All 42 Iron Man armor suits are featured in the book. They are lined up side by side on a gatefold page from Mark 1 to Mark 42. The Iron Legion, they are called. This is probably the only place you can see all the suits.

The suits that appear more prominently in the movie are given more pages accordingly. They are namely, War Machine, Iron Patriot, Mark 15 Sneaky, Mark 16 Nightclub, Mark 17 Heartbreaker, Mark 25 Thumper, Mark 33 Silver Centurion, Mark 35 Snapper, Mark 37 Hammerhead, Mark 38 Igor, Mark 39 Gemini, Mark 41 Bones and of course Mark XLII (that’s 42). Those that are briefly or not shown in the book are just on that gatefold page.

Overall, there are more suits than in artbook one and two. Besides the suits, there are also concept art for the characters, scenes, locations (not much), and storyboards.

The characters are the Mandarin, Aldrich Killian and his Extremis gang. You won’t get to see Pepper Potts in the way as shown in the movie and that’s a shame. Locations include Tony’s Malibu mansion and workshop, Rosehill town, Mandarin’s Miami mansion and the seaport. There are quite a few storyboard sequences, about 20 over pages.

The art is fantastic, right from the start of the slipcase cover to the end of the 280-page hardcover. Fans who geek out over the film can continue to geek out with this artbook.

Highly recommended.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

Having changed my opinion of the movie slowly (I don’t hate it anymore), this is a fine companion piece. Light on information, but heavy on images. It’s what I expect in an Art Of book, and I was not disappointed.