Ok, now this is just getting bizarre. After learning that Iron Man 3 might be having Ben Kingsley playing Tony Stark's Chinese nemesis, The Mandarin, now comes word that the film will also feature a newer enemy to the comic book canon: The Iron Patriot. This may just sound like another lame patriotic hero like hundreds of others, but I assure you the Iron Patriot armor brings with it a ton of baggage.
To start: the Iron Patriot armor first appeared in the pages of Dark Avengers back in 2009, and it was worn by none other than Norman Osborn. Yes, the Green Goblin who continues to plague Spider-Man. He donned the red, white, and blue Iron Patriot armor as part of a scheme to pass himself off as a superhero leading a team of government sanctioned crime fighters. This took place during a time when Osborn had taken over the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was arguably the most powerful man in the world, using that power to steal technology from Stark Industries. The patriotic tone of the Iron Patriot was specifically designed to be a slap in the face to Captain America, who had recently been killed(well, sorta killed).
Since Osborne is a Spidey character and thus under rights with Sony Pictures, somebody else has to be donning the armor. The Superficial has the first photos of the Iron Patriot armor on set, and exactly who will be wearing it. If you don't want that information spoiled, turn back now.....
Still here? Ok. Above is the first photo of the Iron Patriot armor on the set. And below what you'll find in the below images is that James Badge Dale is the guy in the suit. This could mean a couple of things. It's possible that Dale is playing two roles, as he was recently signed to play the cyborg villain, Coldblood. Or, the Coldblood and Iron Patriot characters will be one and the same. We already know that the storyline will in some way involve Mandarin putting together his own team of villains, but is it possible they're taking a cue from the Dark Avengers and crafting a team of duplicitous heroes? This just keeps getting more and more interesting.[SuperheroHype]
