Rumor: Has IRON MAN 3’s Connection to Another Upcoming Marvel Movie Been Revealed?

Ah, we were so close.  With just a few months to go before the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3, we had managed to stay pretty clear of any major spoilers for the film.  That may or may not have changed, as recent information could have revealed the Shane Black-directed film’s connection to another upcoming Marvel movie.  I’ll keep everything nice and spoiler-free here on the front page, but if you’d like to know more then hit the jump.  Beware, POSSIBLE MAJOR SPOILERS for Iron Man 3 lurk below.  You have been warned.

Again, POSSIBLE MAJOR SPOILERS for Iron Man 3 follow, so turn back now if you’re so inclined.

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As a brief refresher, just this morning we ran the following quote from Robert Downey Jr. regarding a possible cameo from one or more of the Avengers in Iron Man 3:

“But we can’t help it — everywhere you look now in every Marvel movie there are opportunities where certain new pals of [Tony’s] could be useful. So they’re in the atmosphere, so to speak, but I wouldn’t expect to see them on the ground in this one.”

I noted at the time that Downey Jr.’s very careful word choice might be hinting at some sort of galactic presence in Iron Man 3, and it appears that could be the case.  Spurred by the release of an Iron Man 3 toy that boasts Tony’s “Deep Space Suit” armor, the folks over at Latino Review posted the following scoop:

“According to sources, at the end of Iron Man 3, Tony actually does go up into space to hook up with the Guardians of The Galaxy where I also hear he appears at the end of that movie as well.”

I’m not sure if this would be in the film’s post-credits sequence or if it would actually be the end of the movie, but the post-credits sequences of the Phase One films all tied into how the group would come together to form The Avengers, so it only makes sense that the Phase Two tags would involve getting the heroes into outer space since the likely villain in The Avengers 2 is Thanos.

The only thing that gives me pause is the fact that James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t cast yet, so that makes it kind of hard to film a Guardians scene with RDJ’s Tony Stark.  That said, Joss Whedon and Co. filmed a scene for The Avengers just a few weeks before that film hit theaters, so the precedence is there for a last-minute shoot.  We’ll know for sure when Iron Man 3 hits theaters on May 3rd.