Iron Man 3 Was Different In China: What Scenes Were Added (& Why)?

Iron Man 3's release in China featured the addition of four minutes of extra footage. At times, Hollywood and China have seemed to be opponents rather than allies, but it's now generally accepted that the Chinese market is becoming increasingly important to the American film industry. As such, studios have even changed movies for Chinese audiences, even though China's box office isn't as important as people think.

In the case of Shane Black's Iron Man 3, Marvel Studios' efforts proved to be a tremendous success. China was Iron Man 3's biggest international market; in its opening weekend, it brought in $64.5 million and, over the course of its run, grossed an impressive $121 million in total. Iron Man 3 was the highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year. Oddly enough, though, it received only a lukewarm reception from critics in the country.

The problem was that Iron Man 3 had an additional four minutes of footage in China, ostensibly an attempt by Marvel Studios to tailor the film for its Chinese release. On paper it must have seemed like a surefire strategy, but in reality it led to a massive amount of criticism. So how did this come to happen, what are these additional scenes, and did Marvel make a mistake?

This Page: Why Iron Man 3's China Release Is Different
Next Page: Iron Man 3's Extra Scenes & The Bad Reaction To Them

Why The Chinese Version Of Iron Man 3 Is Different

In 2012, Marvel Studios announced that Iron Man 3 would be a co-production with the Chinese firm DMG Entertainment. "The co-production of ‘Iron Man 3’ in China is testimony to the importance of this audience to Disney and the local industry capability to deliver a blockbuster title," Stanley Cheung, managing director of the Walt Disney Company, Greater China, explained in an official statement. In reality, that approach was driven by financial incentives; it would have streamlined Iron Man 3's entry into the Chinese box office, where the government enforces a quota to restrict the number of Hollywood films that are released each year.

As a co-production, Iron Man 3 would have been counted as a domestic release in China, and it wouldn't have been caught up in that quota. Unfortunately, Disney realized that there would also be a cost. An element of creative control would have actually been handed over to the Chinese government, and so Disney pulled back from the co-production idea.

The Chinese market remained important, and the partnership with DMG Entertainment was still on. So, instead of co-producing, Marvel Studios decided to film additional scenes that would be added to the Chinese release; although Marvel hoped these scenes would appeal to Chinese viewers, in truth this seems to have been done purely to placate the government. To further sweeten the pot, they hired two of China's biggest film stars, Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing; Xueqi's Dr. Wu was considered to be an important secondary character, conducting surgery upon Tony Stark to remove the Arc Reactor from his heart.

Page 2 of 2: Iron Man 3's Extra Scenes & The Bad Reaction To Them

What Scenes Were Added To China's Iron Man 3

The Chinese version of Iron Man 3 begins with a question: "What does Iron Man rely on to revitalize his energy?" After a three-second blackout, the answer is provided: "Gu Li Duo." Marvel fans don't need to bother scrabbling through their Handbooks to try to work out what this is; Gu Li Duo is a Chinese milk drink. This isn't just product placement, though. Back in 2013, the Chinese government was trying to calm fears over the safety of domestic milk, because a major dairy company, Yili, had been forced to withdraw some of its baby formula due to mercury poisoning, thus leading to a boom in black market milk sales.

Another extra long scene served the same function, focusing on Dr. Wu taking a long drink of Gu Li Duo - just in case audiences hadn't gotten the message the first time. Meanwhile, another commercial later in the film is for a Chinese manufacturer of tractors and cranes. And then, yet another scene features Dr. Wu making a telephone call from his Beijing office, while a television screen shows Chinese schoolchildren cheering on Iron Man. Fan Bingbing plays Dr. Wu's unnamed assistant, who helps him perform surgery on Tony Stark in order to remove the Arc Reactor, and has an extended discussion with him about the operation. One final, tense scene discusses whether or not this has been a success.

Although these extra Iron Man 3 scenes were ostensibly added to reach Chinese audiences, they were clearly all about trying to make sure the Chinese government approved Iron Man 3 for the Chinese box office. Why else would Marvel focus on product placement that the government desperately wanted at the time? Given that's the case, it's hardly a surprise that popular reaction to these additional scenes was far from positive.

What Was The Reaction To Iron Man 3 In China?

Xueqi once said that he signed up for Iron Man 3 because he was attracted to the complexity of Dr. Wu's character. Suffice to say, viewers disagreed; they were infuriated that Dr. Wu was essentially a throwaway character tossed in to help the film market Chinese products and pander to the government. The fact Dr. Wu's role was so diminished in the international version seemed to underscore Marvel's lack of interest in him; if he added so much depth to the film, why wouldn't those scenes be released everywhere?

The Chinese trailer was heavily criticized for being misleading, hinting that both Dr. Wu and Fan Bingbing's unnamed assistant were somehow crucial to the plot. The product placement was seen as over-the-top and, frankly, insulting to audiences. Chinese bloggers were highly critical online, with many preferring the non-Chinese cut. Interestingly enough, though, even the standard version of Iron Man 3 has a distinctive element of product placement in it - look closely and you'll see TV sets and mobile phones made by the Chinese company TCL.

Still, for all the popular backlash, it's important to remember that Marvel won big at the Chinese box office. The additional footage got the studio exactly what it wanted - a long run in the Chinese market. That said, it's interesting to note that this approach hasn't been repeated. In part that's because Marvel seems to have realized they didn't need to; Marvel films are blockbuster hits in China, with Avengers: Infinity War becoming the top-grossing Marvel movie in the country. Only one person will probably be disappointed about how all this has panned out: Wang Xueqi, who seemed to believe that his character would be important to the future of the MCU and a major figure in any further Iron Man movies. Instead, as far as most Marvel fans know, he's just a random doctor who operates on Tony Stark in one scene, and it's doubtful he'll ever be seen again. Western audiences really haven't missed out on anything with these extra four minutes.