Transhumanism in Iron Man 3

I have always felt that Iron Man was the anti-transhumanist super-hero. His chest-plate is there to prevent shrapnel from entering his heart, not as an augmentation of an already healthy body. And instead of building a better soldier, Tony Stark builds a better suit. A suit that can be taken off at the end of the day and at the end of a career. Apparently, Iron Man 3, which opens in May 2013, delves into a tranhumanist plot line where Tony is compelled to enhance his body as well. Subculture for the Cultured has the story:

Extremis focuses on a battle between Tony Stark and a reactionary named Mallen, who has taken a dose of a genetic enhancer called Extremis.  In their first encounter, Mallen handily defeats Stark leaving him beaten and close to death.  Tony realizes he has no chance of defeating Mallen as long as he lacks Mallen’s speed and genetic enhancements.

Tony genetically enhances himself using the Extremis, effectively making the Iron Man suit a part of himself, then defeats Mallen outside of DC.

So Iron Man defeats the bad guy.  But did Tony go too far?  After all, we’re ok with heroes gaining superpowers by accident.  But when they purposefully modify themselves to make themselves more powerful, well, that’s what villains do.  Isn’t it?...

Modifying oneself to gain power over another is generally viewed as evil, while modifying oneself to overcome a challenge is ethically acceptable.

The writers of Extremis seemed aware of this moral distinction, and made sure to note that without Extremis, Tony would die.