Iron Man 3Follow

I'd just like to point out that it's a bit unfair to characterize the degree to which SHIELD normally interacts with superheros by showing how often they show up in superhero films. Um... Because they're superhero films. So there's going to be superheros in them. Doesn't tell us what percentage of the SHIELD mission mandate actually involves working with superheros though. It's quite possible that 99% of their time and resources are used dealing with other stuff, and 1% interacting with superheros. But since all the films so far have revolved around superheros we tend to see SHIELD involved.

Maybe the whole point of so little involvement was to make make it more clear that this isn't really what SHIELD focuses on. Saying "that's strange because they were always involved in the other superhero films" doesn't work if their intent is to suggest that that was the exception and not the rule all along. You just happened to see films that included the half dozen or so times they were directly involved with superheros.

Or something like that. Dunno.

Question: In IM3, a major part of the plot is the Mk 42 suit running out of power. Except I thought the suits were powered off the generator in Stark's chest (the quality of said generator vis-a-vis the suits' abilities being a plot point in previous films) and there was no reference to Stark's little chest engine being compromised. So what gives? Previous movies had Stark taking transcontinental flights in his suit and now he can't make the trip from the West Coast to Tennessee?

Well obviously that was a stupid choice

Or at least removing the ability of the suit to tap the reactor if its internal power fails.

Well, it's designed to break into individual pieces, each of which is equipped with repulsors and capable of flight. Kinda necessitates individual power sources.

And considering how much Jarvis screams about the suit being a prototype and not combat ready, I'm guessing the Mk 42 was more a proof of concept piece than something ever intended to see battle. I bet the reactor-based-charging would have been included in the Mk 43 (or just added to 42), once the original design was stable enough to further alter it.

I mean, the new suit didn't even include the launching mechanism for his missiles, if you recall.

I'm just surprised that ALL of his suits were being kept there. I mean, he was in TN. New York isn't that far away, and a Mk 7 should have been easily accessible once Jarvis woke up. Why wait for the 42 to charge and fly to him... when he could use any other suit?

It would be one thing if they hadn't set Jarvis up to be capable of flying them and made Tony and his arm-chip thing a necessary interface component, but they didn't.