It’s no secret that the fans of the Marvel Universe are large and widespread. There a lots of fandoms dedicated to comic books and their movie adaptations. Although none are as diverse as Marvel’s fandom. Since the release of Iron Man 3, a continuation of laid out storylines of Iron Man and the Avengers, the fandom has grown and now includes even more who can relate to his struggles. Rose F., details her connection to the character and how it has strengthened as his current issues with PTSD arose. She digs into his self image hindrances and identifies with overcoming such a disability.
Some fans like to share their views and connections to the film through other methods, such as the Youtube channel How It Should Have Ended. They typically make alternate endings to large blockbusters and the video for Iron Man 3 caught the attention of blogger Nat B of tfgeekgirl.
Other fans have created fanfiction to get the endings or happenings that they were hoping to see but did not make it into the movie. There was controversy regarding Marvel’s portrayal of the badass villain The Mandarin, those who disagreed with the executive decision to change his character altered their own universes where all was well and followed how things went in the comics. Fans who loved the film also created fan art. Unam-et-solum recreated the movie poster.
Overall the fandom was satisfied with Iron Man 3. Mark Bousquet gave a spoiler filled review that is quite balanced on how well Iron Man 3 did when compared to expectations, hype, and a need to be better than the previous movies in the series as well as The Avengers. Another reviewer was Imrahn Hamid. He shares others’ opinions regarding The Mandarin, saying he was “underwhelming.” There are some people who are surprised by others feeling disappointed with Iron Man 3. As seen below, Allen Tan certainly is.
Ty Burton feels divided.
The Mandarin appears as a centering point in whether fans liked Iron Man 3 or not. Iron Man 3 fans who were either happily surprised or let down by The Mandarin. Some are now hesitant about future Marvel Movies, namely the upcoming Captain America: Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think it’s boring when you already know the ending, so here’s to hoping there’s more plot twists in the future as Marvel enters Phase 2.
Fandom Evolution 