The first official trailer and images have just been made available and you can see it here.

Fans can catch a glimpse of Tony Stark’s new armour, and a first look at Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin.

The trailer is darker, deeper, more serious and promises danger at every turn and even hints at the death of a favourite character. It’s Tony Stark battling himself as well as the villain.

Production of the much-anticipated film was delayed in part because of a sprained ankle suffered by star Robert Downey Jr. and LA Times reports that planned filming in China has not yet begun, despite Walt Disney, Marvel Studios and Beijing-based DMG Entertainments’ intention to make Iron Man 3 a Chinese co-production.

Iron Man 3 sees the return of Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes (who becomes War Machine at the end of Iron Man 2), Jon Favreau as Stark’s beloved bodyguard Happy Hogan and Paul Bettany as the artificial intelligence-based butler and fan favourite JARVIS.

New to the Stark world are Kingsley, Guy Pearce, and James Badge Dale, among others.

The trailer, as well as a few production shots show the Iron Patriot making an appearance. Don’t get too excited yet. Rumour has it that the Iron Patriot is actually just War Machine in a prettier outfit.

Iron Man 3 is to be released April 2013.