TheMCUintroduced a famous villain organization in 2013’sIron Man 3, only to abandon it right afterward. Shane Black’sIron Man 3concluded the MCU’s Iron Man trilogy as early as Phase 2, and it introduced an extremely different version of Iron Man’s comic book archnemesis. InIron Man 3, Aldrich Killian revealed to Tony Stark that he created the Mandarin persona to intimidate the world. However,Killian was never actually the Mandarin, as Xu Wenwu — the real leader of the Ten Rings — explained inShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Throughout the years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced fictional organizations such as the Ten Rings, SHIELD, Hydra, SWORD, the TVA, the Serpent Society, and OXE. Hydra and SHIELD have been the most deeply developed, as they made their MCU debut back in Phase 1 and drove a significant portion of the MCU’s overarching story in Phases 1 and 2. The TVA plays a major role in the Multiverse Saga, and SWORD, the Serpent Society, and OXE have taken part in at least one Multiverse Saga installment each.
Iron Man 3 Introduced AIM As Aldrich Killian’s Tech Company
Marvel Studios Made A Big Change To AIM
Iron Man 3established that Tony Stark ignored and humiliated Aldrich Killian, which motivated Killian to become a silent rival to Stark and turn his own company into the next Stark Industries. With help from Maya Hansen, Aldrich Killian’s A.I.M. — Advanced Idea Mechanics — created Extremis, which Killian weaponized against Iron Man.Aldrich Killian managed to create a small army of knock-off Super Soldiers and kidnap the president, but he appeared to be the only brilliant mind at AIM, and his experiments never reached perfection.
AIM created a wide variety of powerful weapons in the comics, including MODOK and the Cosmic Cube itself
The MCU’s AIM really falls short of its comic book counterpart’s legacy. In the source material, AIM was created by Hyrda’s Baron von Strucker, who assembled a team of evil geniuses to destabilize governments and conquer the world through technology. AIM created a wide variety of powerful weapons in the comics, including MODOK and the Cosmic Cube itself. They have also interfered in world politics and have been a huge threat to the Avengers, the X-Men, and Wakanda. Much like Hydra, attempts at dismantling AIM always fail, and AIM is reborn from the ashes.
The MCU Completely Forgot About AIM After Iron Man 3
AIM Hasn’t Been Acknowledged Directly In More Than A Decade
Besides the imperfect Extremis formula and a modified Iron Patriot suit of armor, AIM didn’t come up with any standout invention of their own.Tony Stark and Pepper Potts killed Aldrich Killian, and AIM completely disappeared from the MCU as soon asIron Man 3concluded.The only hints at anything remotely related to AIM and Aldrich Killian have beenan Extremis soldier’s cameo appearanceand Wenwu’s derisive comments about the fake Mandarin, both inShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; as well as the Super Skrulls' Extremis powers inSecret Invasion. AIM, however, remains absent.
The MCU Has Lost Many Chances To Make AIM A Worthy Villainous Organization
Marvel Studios Has Introduced Several Characters And Elements Related To AIm
There have been several chances to bring AIM back into the fold sinceIron Man 3, but none of them have even acknowledged Aldrich Killian’s organization.Baron von Strucker made his MCU debutinCaptain America: The Winter Soldier’s post-credits scene, butAvengers: Age of Ultronkilled him off in its opening sequence, thus wasting the opportunity to delve deeper into AIM’s original creator. Likewise, the Tesseract changed hands multiple times, but AIM never had anything to do with it.AIM’s most powerful creation, MODOK, was created by Kang the Conqueror, andAnt-Man’s Daren Cross replaced George Tarleton inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Man-Thing made his MCU debut inWerewolf by Night, but the MCU has yet to bring him back and explore his origins, which are tied to AIM’s interest in Dr. Ted Salis' Super Soldier serum recreation. While not traditionally connected to AIM, it would also make sense for the Power Broker to work with them, but the MCU has also seemed to forget aboutSharon Carter’s Power Broker twistsinceThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s finale. It’s still possible for Marvel Studios to makeIron Man 3’s AIM a threat, but the organization’s twelve-year absence suggests it won’t be a priority anytime soon.
