- "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?"
"We're five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee."
"Why?! J.A.R.V.I.S.! Not my idea! What are we doing here? This is thousands of miles away, I gotta get Pepper, I gotta..."
"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location." - ―Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.[src]
Rose Hill is a city in the state of Tennessee.
History[]
Explosion of Chad Davis[]
- "Six people died, right?"
"Yeah."
"Including Chad Davis?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah. That doesn't make sense." - ―Tony Stark and Harley Keener[src]
Chad Davis was offered to be a test subject for Extremis Program developed by A.I.M., under Aldrich Killian's direction. Davis ended up being unable to resist the side effects of Extremis, and spontaneously exploded in his hometown of Rose Hill, killing five other people. The explosion was covered up as a suicide bombing, blaming Davis for the death of the five victims.[1]
Arrival of Tony Stark[]
- "Ever been to Tennessee, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Creating a flight plan for Tennessee." - ―Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.[src]
Tony Stark investigated the terrorist attacks of the individual known only as the Mandarin, believing him responsible for the explosion that almost killed Happy Hogan in Los Angeles. During the investigation, he discovered the Rose Hill incident with many similarities to the identified terrorist attacks and the use of an explosive for the suicide of Chad Davis, with J.A.R.V.I.S. calculating a flight plan to Tennessee in order to further investigate the event.
Tony Stark in Rose Hill
Following the destruction of Stark's mansion in Malibu, J.A.R.V.I.S. sustained damage and followed the last programmed flight plan, taking an unconscious Stark to the outskirts of Rose Hill, where he regained consciousness upon crashing. J.A.R.V.I.S. was then forced to temporarily shut down, unable to explain to Stark the reason he had to follow the flight plan.
Stark, stranded alone in Tennessee, had to carry his depowered armor until he found a gas station, where he obtained some clothes to keep himself warm. Stark also called Pepper Potts to let her know he was alive, and to apologize for putting her in danger.
Stark took refuge in a garage, where he started fixing the chips implanted into his arm before beginning to repair his armor. Harley Keener, the owner of the garage, appeared and demanded to know who Stark was, not recognizing him until he saw the Iron Man Armor, and informing Stark that the press believed him deceased following the attack on his mansion. Stark asked Keener for supplies, in exchange for a non-lethal weapon to use against the kid that bullied him at school.[1]
Memorial Site[]
- "What's the official story here? What happened?"
"I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here." - ―Tony Stark and Harley Keener[src]
Tony Stark went to visit the memorial site for the victims of the explosion caused by Chad Davis, accompanied by Harley Keener, who tried to ask Stark about the Battle of New York and about the Avengers. Keener explained what was thought to have happened the day of the explosion, with Davis committing suicide using a bomb.
Stark realized that although there were six victims of the explosion including Davis, their remains only left five shadows in the wall. The explanation given is that those shadows represented the souls of the innocent victims as they went to heaven, but Davis' soul was condemned to Hell.
Keener then tried to ask again about the events in New York City, but Stark asked him to stop, as he didn't liked talking about it since he suffered anxiety attacks when remembering the traumatic events. Keener's continuous questions prompted another anxiety attack in Stark.
To focus his mind on another subject, Stark asked about Davis' family, learning that his mother, Mrs. Davis, was still living in Rose Hill.[1]
Battle of Rose Hill[]
- "You walked right into this one, I've dated hotter chicks than you."
"That's all you got? Cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?"
"Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography." - ―Tony Stark and Ellen Brandt[src]
Tony Stark went to a local bar to find Mrs. Davis, but before entering, he came across Ellen Brandt, noticing the scars on her face. After a brief chat, Brandt departed pretending not to know who he was.
Stark found Mrs. Davis and asked her what happened with her son, but Mrs. Davis gave him the file she thought he was looking for. Stark deduced Mrs. Davis was waiting for another person, and when looking through the file, he saw that Chad Davis was connected to Jack Taggart, involved in another explosion in Los Angeles. Stark quickly revealed that Davis' death was not a suicide, which was used as a cover.
Brandt reappeared, revealing herself to be the person who called Mrs. Davis. Pretending to be an agent of the Homeland Security Department, she proceeded to arrest Stark. The Rose Hill Sheriff demanded to know more about the arrest, and when Brandt's excuses about jurisdiction did not convince him, Brandt simply killed the sheriff using her Extremis derived powers.
Mrs. Davis hid the file, convinced by Stark's words, and Stark ran when he realized that Brandt was not a federal agent. On the street, Stark came across Eric Savin, who tried to shoot him, and only Harley Keener's intervention saved him by making Savin miss the shot.
Stark hid from Brandt at a diner across the street, but she managed to catch him by surprise. As Stark realized a hand-to-hand fight was not going to stop her due to Brandt's Extremis, he caused a fire inside the establishment. Brandt was able to step through the flames, but that gave Stark time to improvise an explosion using a set of military tags inside a microwave. The explosion launched Brandt to a set of power lines, killing her.
However, Savin destroyed a water depot, flooding the area and trapping Stark under the debris. He then took Harley Keener as a hostage to obtain the file. Stark told Keener to use the weapon he gave him to use against bullies, a flash grenade, and seized the opportunity to attack Savin with a concealed repulsor from his armor.
Thinking he killed Savin, Stark stole his car and obtained the file about Chad Davis. Keener approached Stark about saving his life, and Stark asked him to take care of the armor and stay close to the phone if he called him. Stark apologized for his rudeness before leaving the town, and while Keener tried to make him feel guilty for abandoning him, Stark realized it was a trick and mocked one of Keener's early quotes as he left.
Meanwhile, Savin regenerated from his wounds.[1]
Investigation[]
Tony Stark investigated Aldrich Killian and learnt how he used injured veterans from the United States Armed Forces as candidates for the use of Extremis, and its side-effects can end up with the subject detonating. Stark believed the Mandarin was the buyer of Killian's Extremis research as a weapon. He contacted Harley Keener, tasked with safeguarding the Mark 42, in order to speak to J.A.R.V.I.S. through the armor, who still showing signs of malfunction.
J.A.R.V.I.S. tracked the Mandarin's broadcast signal using available A.I.M. downlink facilities. Although Stark tried to guess the location mentioning logical places such as the Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan or Syria, J.A.R.V.I.S. revealed that Miami was the origin of the broadcast. Stark believed it was one of the failures with J.A.R.V.I.S.' speech drive, and asked Keener to read the real location on the screen. Keener read it, signaling that J.A.R.V.I.S. was right, and Miami was the actual location.
Stark asked about the status of the armor, and suffered another anxiety attack when he realized it was not ready, as the energy source was not suitable, and maybe it could not succeed in revitalizing the Iron Man suit. Keener tried to comfort Stark, and gave him an idea to build other weapons on his own. Upon the realization, Stark managed to calm himself, and went on to buy everyday items to build a series of hand-made weapons.[1]
Departure of the Armor[]
The following morning, Harley Keener witnessed how the different pieces of the Iron Man Armor kept inside his barn tried to open the door as they had been summoned by Tony Stark in Miami. As they were unable to exit, Keener unlocked the door and saw how the armor flew to Miami.[1]
A Gift from the Mechanic[]
Days later, Tony Stark showed Harley Keener his gratitude for his assistance during his stay at Rose Hill by sending the boy a series of gifts stored into Keener's now redesigned garage, such as a computer, another limited edition watch as the one Stark borrowed, a replica of Dum-E and a new potato gun.[1]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Rose Hill is one of the few fully fictional towns in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Although there are several towns in the United States called "Rose Hill", none of them are in Tennessee. The scenes from Iron Man 3 set in Rose Hill, Tennessee, were actually filmed in Rose Hill, North Carolina.
- The original concepts of Iron Man 3 shows that in a preliminary version of the movie the city was meant to be Greybull, Wyoming.[2]