Thread:Milomilk/@comment-2041242-20140204235132/@comment-12522-20140210070233

It makes absolutely no narrative sense whatsoever in any conceivable way to place AoS before IM3. At all.

SHIELD did NOT know of Extremis before IM3. If they were aware of the explosive nature of Extremis and the unique heat signature, then they would have cracked the Mandarin case right off the bat. Who else could it have been? In fact, that was the whole point of Trevor's character-- to draw attention away from what AIM was developing by averting blame to Ten Rings. If SHIELD already knew about Extremis, what was even the point of Trevor's character at all?

Stark had JARVIS create a Mandarin database using, among others, hacked SHIELD files. When JARVIS hacked SHIELD in the Avengers, Stark said that JARVIS would uncover "every dirty secret" SHIELD had been keeping. If SHIELD had been aware of Extremis and it's capabilities, JARVIS would have found that information and the trip to Rose Hills would not have been necessary.

It just all falls apart if SHIELD already knew. It just doesn't make any sense narratively.