Well, that was pretty cool after all. Darker and adding elements from some of the older comics while tossing in plenty of surprises (and army of Iron Men AND a Hulkbuster at the end? Nice). Of course, under all that sturm und drang it’ll be interesting to see if this third installment can feel as fresh as the first while making sure there’s humor in the right spots AND all that actually fine looking mix of CG and practical effects can get and keep asses dropping into seats for long enough that Marvel is happy-dancing around the room on day one. If that happens, they’ll be bouncing around on Hopptity Hop money sacks within a month’s time, as will anyone who signed up for a percentage of the gross (if that’s even done anymore). I actually like that they took one of the all-time corniest but cool villains (The Mandarin) and actually made him a big menace. Well, the great Gene Colan’s version was always creepy-looking, but that’s the late master at work, I say. Well, May 3 is zipping up soon, so my prediction is a no-brainer that this one will be a big pre-summer smash with legs to keep going worldwide.