I am confused about the Iron Man 3 trailer...

[RedInk]

So... isn't Ironman suppose to be able to lift a few couple tons? Cause in the trailer Jarvis said he was only able to carry like 4 or 5 which I found odd. Yes, given the fact that we don't know his suit condition at that moment but still.... I feel as if his armor should be able to over come something like that.

Oh and isn't the Mandarin suppose to be chinese as well and not the evil uncle from Prince of Persia

[CptainCrunch]

I havent watched Iron Man 2 yet, but last night I watched the first one and the big boss threw a car full of kids at him and he caught it, but had a hard time handling it.

Average size car is usually half a ton or so. So I would think 4 to 5 would be about right.

And the thing is that his suit is very compact, meaning smaller struts and shocks and stuff to make it sleek. Smaller equipment would mean he would have to sacrifice how much weight he could handle.

[RedInk]

Great explanation but still... his bio and comics have him lifting sentinels and sentrys.
I understand the movie may differ a little but still... it shouldn't differ what his suit is capable of because that's where his super powers come from. It's like downgrading Cyclops optic beam from the comic and the movies.

[CptainCrunch]

That could be. I never read the comics and I dont know the weight of the sentinels or sentrys. Perhaps they wanted to be a little more realistic about what he can lift. There is a limitation with the metal he uses and the size that he is.

Now if he made his suit gigantic like Jebadia did, then he could probably lift a lot more.

[DunkinSPE]

I'll do my best not to get too technical, but the movies are in some ways accurate and in many was a departure from the actual Iron Man Series of Comics.

One thing you need to be aware of is that the line of marvel comics that are in print today are actually a rehash or re-engineering of classic marvel characters. The hero's, their powers, their alter egos. and the events leading to their creation and their psychological profile have been adjusted to attract today's modern reader.

Simply put most people can't afford 45+ years of back issues to truly understand the back-story of Marvel Characters.

Iron Man through his history has faced many villains and won but as with all comics the best villains are never defeated for long.

If you want all the detail without buying the comics I suggest going to the Iron Man Armory. This site was up long before the movies became popular and is one of the best resources for Shellhead knowledge.

To answer your questions as simply as I can you have to remember that Tony Stark has multiple suits. Each of the suits is designated by Tony's Mark designation. The first of course being the Mark I and each iteration being a numerical increase of the line. Each Mark Suit was designed with improvements and modifications as Stark ran into different foes and situations. The standard Suit is normally equipped with the Jet Boots, Repulsor-Beams on the palms, and a Uni-Beam on the chest. Depending on the iteration Stark would add to the basic desgin. The lynch-pin of the design is the power to weight ratio. The first movie did a decent job of this with his first chest piece being used at the end of the movie. The second movie expanded on this with the problems due to his power source and need to change the element. Even with the power source in the second movie Tony is limited by the Weight ratio.

Basically he can only power the suit to lift items if the electrical motors in the suit are capable of doing the lift. In other words the suit can only be powerful if the components are powerful. Powerful components are heavier and take up more space. Iron Mans signature is having a suit of armor in a suitcase...pun intended.

Iron man can lift those heavier enemies and items but only if he has the correct Mark suit to do so. His standard suit caps out at a point.

Oddly enough Stark built a Mark version module called the Hulk Buster. Similar in size to the suit that Obidiah Stane was wearing at the end of Movie number 1. That suit due to its size, motors, and additional power sources allowed Stark to go Toe-to-Toe or more so Fist-to-Fist with the hulk.

However, the hulk buster suit was poor as a flying suit and not as fast the the standard suit.

In regards to the Mandarin. Yes he was originally Chinese. However, he was killed in one of the early series but his life essence was transferred into the 10 rings of power and who ever donned them would be possessed by the mind of the Mandarin.

Fun fact...The original Tony Stark was hit by shrapnel in Vietnam. The viet-cong captured him and wanted him to build weapons to attack american soldiers. Dr. Hue Yensen a Chinese scientist saved Stark's life by helping him create the chest plate as well as build the Mark I suit. During the escape Yensen was shot and killed. Stark escaped when he stumbled across James Rhodes a downed American Helicopter Pilot in the jungle. Both men escaped via captured NVA helo and landed at an american airbase. That's the backstory that I am most familiar with at least.

In the early 2000 era and even as recent as 2010 marvel restarted the series. They moved his origin from Vietnam to Afghanistan and updated other parts of the novel.

Fun fact: The original Jarvis was the Butler at the Avengers Mansion...an actual man not a computer program. He is the only character to stay with the Avengers for their entire history and every iteration of the team. Not to mention the only Avenger without super powers.