When Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 first came out, the reception wasn’t the best. In fact, some fans downright hated the MCU entry. A lot of that came from the film’s big misdirect regarding The Mandarin, who turned out to be a thespian; far from a warlord. Thankfully, it seems those wounds are finally starting to heal, in part due to the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The critically praised movie saw Marvel properly adapt the famous villain in a way many thought it did so perfectly, having created a new interpretation of the character as the strained father to Shang-Chi himself.
While the Mandarin was billed as the key villain for Iron Man 3, it was Aldrich Killian who ended up actually occupying that spot. By the end of the movie, he had seemingly been killed and the threat against the United States President ended.
With how much Shang-Chi revisited the events from Stark’s third adventure, what are the odds that fans could see Killian return from the dead?
Will Guy Pearce Return as Aldrich Killian?
In a new interview with Comicbook.com, Iron Man 3 star Guy Pearce was asked what he thought about potentially returning as Aldrich Killian in a future Marvel Studios project.
Pearce seemed all for it as he exclaimed that "he'd] be very much interested... to see him come back," and how it's "totally conceivable that he could [return]:"
"I'd be very much interested in to see him come back. And I think because of the nature of the character that he is, it's totally conceivable that he could come back. So yes, I would love to see what he is up to, as well. Because he's somebody – obviously as we saw in Iron Man 3 – went through a sort of rapid vast change from the beginning of the story. So who knows where he's ended up."
Iron Man 3 to Gain More Importance
There's a lot about Iron Man 3 that feels forgotten. While it's hard to argue that Pearce's villain is among those aspects in question, his tech, and mainly his company, certainly is. For one, AIM is an extremely important organization in Marvel Comics lore; Hydra level importance. Yet, there's been no movement in getting them back into the picture.
That said, the most recent Marvel Studios affair hasn't completely forgotten about the film either. After all, not only did Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings involve the real Mandarin and the imposter Trevor Slattery, but somebody with Extremis running through their system was seen in Xialing's underground fight club.
If Marvel Studios wanted to revamp AIM for a re-introduction, would they feel the need to bring Aldrich back? Or would he be a relic of a bygone era?
If there were ever a place for Killian to make a return of any sort, it would be in Armor Wars. While the Extremis technology featured in the Shane Black film wasn't a product of Tony Stark's, the advanced concept could easily fit into a crossover event focused around an all-out war between parties trying to acquire bleeding-edge tech for their own purposes.
Marvel Studios' next film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, hits theaters on May 6.
