For months now, it's been rumored that "Iron Man 3" will closely follow the storyline seen in Warren Ellis' "Extremis" comics. New concept art from the superhero flick certainly seems to strengthen that theory.
The official "Avengers" Facebook page premiered a first look at an illustration from "Iron Man 3" concept artist Ryan Meinerding today, featuring Tony Stark partially covered in his red-and-gold armor while a group of armed soldiers come rushing at him.
Nothing too unusual on the surface — until you realize that the Iron Man armor seems to be coming out from inside of Tony, that is.
In the "Extremis" comics, Stark is gifted with nanotechnology that allows his high-tech armor to exist inside of his bod y— allowing him to control the armor with little more than a thought, really. It's a hard concept to wrap your head around considering the past two "Iron Man" films were a bit more grounded in reality — and, really, only a bit — but considering that Tony flew into space at the tail end of "Avengers," I don't think anyone will bat an eye if his armor literally becomes a part of him in "Iron Man 3."
Shane Black's "Iron Man 3" hits theaters on May 3, 2013.