showing up and bringing the entire plot to halt, we get two offhanded references to it and Thor.īlack’s indifference manifests itself in how he treats the Iron Man armor. It’s also one of the reasons Iron Man 3 is so much fun to watch - instead of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury makes time to drop by when Tony Stark is spiraling out of control and on the verge of death, but he, Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders), and the nameless agent that guy from USA’s Common Law played in The Avengers are nowhere to be found when Tony is presumed dead and there’s a terrorist running around with human grenades and dangerous tech? That kind of violates one of the rules the MCU established in Phase One.
wasbecause it’s such an intrusive constant of the MCU. As I rewatched this movie, however, I couldn’t help but wonder where the hell S.H.I.E.L.D.
Usually I get annoyed when people raise the question, “Why didn’t this superhero team show up to help this random superhero with this seemingly big crisis?” If you read enough comics, you just learn to accept that your favorite heroes can’t team-up all the time. In fact, the level of disinterest in engaging with that stuff broaches on the absurd in Iron Man 3. However, the film’s concern with The Avengers or the MCU ends there.