This has been bothering me since the recent IRON MAN 3 trailer premiered. We have known for a while now that the Extremis comic was being incorporated into the story for the new film, but never to what extent. We do know that Rebecca Hall and Guy Pierce are playing doctors Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian, the designers of the Extremis virus, but not whether they would be altered by it. I was less concerned with them as I was with the two images above. What if the Extremis storyline is a plot designed to make Pepper Potts into a superhero?
ScreenRant has taken an interesting look at the trailers and images for IRON MAN 3 and supposes that Killian may turn into a victim of the virus and become an enemy for both Tony Stark and the Mandarin to battle. We see a sequence in the trailer showing multiple patients being given the virus, one of whom resembles actress Stephanie Szostak who has been rumored to be playing Wasp. Whether that is true or not, the images above clearly show Gwyneth Paltrow strapped to the same contraption as the Extremis patients and what I theorize is the character after she has been transformed by it. The shot of Paltrow in her bra surrounded by debris and flames looks like the result of the lab after being destroyed. Of course, this is all theory.
This brief new trailer features a little new footage, including Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) apparently injured gravely. The stakes are clearly raised in IRON MAN 3, but would Shane Black and the Marvel team make this huge move? I think so. In the comics, Pepper eventually dons her own suit and becomes Rescue. In the Extremis story, Tony himself is forever altered by the virus, but if they made that change to the woman he loves, that would provide some serious drama for future films, as well as launch a potential spin-off as well.
We have only weeks to go as IRON MAN 3 opens everywhere on May 3, 2013.