The internet has been blowing up over the past 48 hours with the leaked photos from the set of Iron Man 3. The photos feature a man dressed in what looks to be a very patriotic Iron Man suit. Who is this colorful character you may ask? None other than the Iron Patriot.
You can view the original article I saw here.
Now, I have yet to see the ‘official statement’ from Marvel, but the photos are pretty hard to explain otherwise. I am unsure whether just the armor will be making an appearance, or an entirely new character as well. After doing some research on the history of the Iron Patriot, apparently the suit was worn by Norman Osborn (Green Goblin from Spiderman). According to some of the sources I found online, Norman Osborn will not be wearing the armor in the upcoming movie. Since the character of Norman Osborn is from the Spider-Man series, the Iron Man franchise does not have the rights to use the character. The Iron Patriot armor in Iron Man 3 will be worn by Eric Savin, who is actually a cyborg named Coldblood in the comics. James Badge Dale will be playing the role as Eric Savin.
I thought Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were both really awesome movies, so I have pretty high expectations for the upcoming movie. I am a little disappointed that they cannot stay completely true to the comics, but hey, sometimes you have to be flexible. It seems like they did their research to see who would be the most logical replacement. I am also looking forward to seeing if S.H.I.E.L.D. will be making in appearance in the solo-Avenger movies now that The Avengers have been established.
Looks like we will have to wait and see!
~Ian
Gamenomics & Comicology 
it’s interesting to me that Norman Osborn can’t be used, despite the fact that Marvel owns both Spiderman and Iron Man
Agreed! I would guess that they don’t want a repeat villain. Viewers might become uninterested if they hear about a movie with a villain they have already seen