Iron Man 3’s press machine has been turned to 11 lately, as we’ve seen multiple new posters in the last few days, and now new character and plot details have been revealed in Empire Magazine. The publication was reportedly shown 15 minutes of footage from the new Marvel film and it has revealed quite a few juicy details.

According to Empire, in the footage that it was shown Tony Stark is seen seeking the help of a ten-year-old boy, played by actor Ty Simpkins, and the magazine confirms that Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) will definitely be in the fold of the film’s major villain, The Mandarin. It also reveals that Killian could possibly be using the ‘Extremis’ virus in an attempt to gain superhuman abilities. There are quite a few more details, but we suggest picking up the latest issue if you’re interested in the full scoop.

Below you’ll find excerpts from the Empire issue which detail the footage revealed to the magazine and some quotes from Marvel’s president Kevin Feige, which definitely give us some hope that this trilogy will have a much different final act than the previous Iron Man films. If fans remember, the last two films ended with somewhat of a similar battle between two armored foes – not the case in Iron Man 3, according to Feige.

  • The scene ends with Stark, bloodied and dazed, flying away not entirely in control of his malfunctioning prototype. He lands hundreds of miles away in a snowy field, where, out of power, he can’t get in touch with Pepper. Or Rhodey. Or The Avengers, neatly sidestepping that question.

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  • Breaking into a deserted-looking garage, the tone then zigzags again as Tony is startled by a ten year-old kid, Harley (Ty Simpkins) sparking what [Drew] Pearce calls the film’s “sci-fi Capra” phase. “We loved the idea of doing something classically Spielbergian – a kid finds a superhero in a shed. Their relationship is not something you would traditionally see in Spielberg, though; it’s bawdier, more fractious.”

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  • Extremis is a scientific program invented by Hansen and abused by the Mandarin and his right-hand man, Guy Pearce’s slimy Aldrich Killian. It rewrites the operating system of the body, upgrading strength, speed and durability to the very zenith of human possibility.

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  • “We’re calling it a biological reality and there’s a science behind it that allows people to glow and rip apart Iron Man suits,” says Feige. “Frankly, Shane was not interested, and we were not interested, in having another armoured character and another armoured character fight. We’ve done that twice before.”

    • What do you think of the new Iron Man 3 character and plot details? Are they giving away too much too soon? The film will hit theaters May 3, but with specifics like the ones above, we’re a bit skeptical about checking out the new trailer that’s reportedly attached to Disney’s Oz: The Great and Powerful.

    Who are we kidding, of course we’ll be checking out the new Iron Man 3 trailer when it’s released in the next two weeks. Interested in seeing a biological reality which allows people to glow and rip apart Iron Man suits?

    Marvel, sign us up.

    Other ‘Iron Man 3’ News

    Some new concept art reportedly for Iron Man 3 has been swirling around the Internet lately, and while we’re unsure as to whether it’s real or not it certainly looks interesting. Today we have a new piece of concept art which shows us a new Iron Man suit thanks to ScreenRant:

    What do you think of the concept art of the new suit? Think we’ll see the bulkier suit when the film hits theaters?