Fans Are Now Bringing 'Iron Man 3' Into The Best Christmas Movie Debate

As the calendar inches closer to Christmas, the age-old debate continues to pop up: is Die Hard the best Christmas movie ever made? For fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the answer is simple enough. No, Die Hard isn't the best Christmas movie ever made.

Select Marvel fans are even now going the length to claim Iron Man 3 as a Christmas movie superior to that of the Bruce Willis-helmed film. As one fan has pointed out, director Shane Black has a habit of setting his movies during the holiday season. In addition to Iron Man 3, other Christmas-time movies directed by Black include Lethal Weapon (1987), The Last Boy Scout (1991), and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) to name a few.

While it's not explicitly stated when Iron Man 3 takes place, there are several nods to the holidays. Towards the beginning of the Shane Black-helmed flick, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is working on suits in his lab while jamming to a cover of the classic Christmas carol "Jingle Bells." Throughout the movie, Stark ends up giving Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) a present and makes a passing reference to the holiday classic A Christmas Story.

The biggest telltale sign of the movie's exact time and date is when Tony mentions that "As Christmas morning began, my journey had reached its end," immediately after he and Pepper are able to dispatch Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).

Black had previously talked about placing the events of Iron Man 3 right around the holidays.

"There's something at Christmas that unites everybody and it already sets a stage within the stage, that wherever you are, you're experiencing this world together," Black told /Film. "I think that also there's something just pleasing about it to me. I mean I did LETHAL WEAPON back in '87 and Joe liked it so much he put Die Hard at Christmas and there was some fun to that. So, look, you don't have to do every film that way."

Critically speaking, Die Hard comes away as the movie that's better received by critics. The John McTiernan-directed film has a 93% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Iron Man 3 falls in at 80%.

So, the question remains — while Iron Man 3 and Die Hard both seem to be Christmas movies, which one is the better flick? What do you think, Iron Man fans? Is Iron Man 3 a better Christmas movie than Die Hard? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on May 3, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.