[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6tDt-A7ME?rel=0&w=615&h=346]

Ah, the Super Bowl, that one day a year when millions of people watch a football game and care way more about the commercials. As has become standard lately, companies are rolling out the teaser treatment for their ads to get people excited. It works! Marvel’s Iron Man 3, which, as you’re no doubt aware, opens May 3rd, will have a big spot airing sometime during “The Big Game.” Not a whole lot of new material in this 14-second teaser, but it is a “teaser” and we’re sufficiently teased.

Also released is a new poster image which depicts Iron Man falling from the sky in disrepair. Obviously, something similar happened in The Avengers, so it is as yet unknown if this image is meant to represent that or if Tony will again plummet from great heights. Either way, sold.

Finally, there is a bit of a rumor going around concerning Iron Man and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Based on several pieces of information, many people are now speculating that the Guardians will make an appearance at the end of Iron Man 3 and/or he will be making an appearance in the Guardians of the Galaxy film in 2014.

Now, the pieces of information are these:

1) Toy company Funko released images of four upcoming action figure tie-ins to IM3, one of which was entitled “Deep Space Iron Man.” Now, there have been plenty of toys where the character is wearing something they never wear in the media, but it is interesting, especially given that the pictures have been taken down.

2) This cover of issue #1 of Marvel’s Guardians comic book has someone who is definitely Iron Man at the bottom center. It was released ages ago, and the comic universe is separate from the film universe, but it’s still adding to the speculation.

3) Words from Robert Downey Jr. himself: In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, RDJ was asked if the other Avengers or Marvel characters would be making an appearance in part three. His response was, in part, this:

“…everywhere you look now in every Marvel movie there are opportunities where certain new pals of his could be useful. So they’re in the atmosphere, so to speak, but I wouldn’t expect to see them on the ground in this one.”

Many outlets (including HitFix and ScreenRant) are pointing to this as a sly allusion to the fact that the Guardians are in “the atmosphere” and aren’t on “the ground” as far as being on Earth. It’s possible, though it may also just be the actor’s way of saying the Marvel Universe characters exist and aren’t ignored.

Either way, there’s some very interesting stuff there to mull over. And, we only have a few more months to wait to see if any of this hullabaloo is more than just malarkey. (Why am I talking like that?) Stay tuned here for more on this as it develops.