Most of writer/director Shane Black's work takes place at Christmas, including Iron Man 3, and there's a good reason for that. While Black was a movie fan growing up, some of his biggest influences were really pulp detective novels and thrillers. This informed his love of flawed heroes and witty dialogue, and following the success of Lethal Weapon - a screenplay he sold at age 22 - he became one of the highest-paid writers in Hollywood history. After a long break following another Christmas movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, Black returned as a writer/director with the likes of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
One trait fans of Black's work will have picked up on is that most of his work is set during the holiday season, including Lethal Weapon and Iron Man 3. Black has explained this trademark in several interviews, including Den Of Geek, stating that while Christmas is "fun" and "unifying," it makes lonely people "lonelier" and sees people taking stock of their lives. It also " ...just provides a backdrop against which different things can play out, but with one unifying, global heading" and that it adds a little "touch of magic" to any story.
Do Shane Black Films Count As True Christmas Movies?
Black's Christmas movies always find their heroes taking stock of their lives, from Lethal Weapon's Riggs mourning his wife's death - but finding a new family - to Iron Man 3's Tony Stark finding out if it's the suit or the man inside it that makes him worthy. Recent years have seen the tedious tradition of debating whether Die Hard is a true Christmas movie or one that happens to be set during the holidays. Often, the definition of a Christmas movie is one where the story is defined by the season, where the main characters reflect on their past and learn lessons while being informed by the spirit of the holidays.
That said, what actually defines a "Christmas Movie" tends to change based on personal taste. It's A Wonderful Life and Home Alone meet the above qualifications - but so do Bad Santa or Batman Returns. As for Black's Christmas movies, an argument could be made they'd work fine without the Christmas elements - but it still heightens everything about them. Contrasting the noirish story of the original Lethal Weapon movie against such a jolly backdrop adds a lot of atmosphere, and as Black stated, his heroes often take stock of themselves and grow as human beings because of their experiences. So, in a certain sense, they DO fit the criteria.
The Shane Black Movies That AREN'T Set At Christmas
That's not to say every Shane Black movie is set at Christmas. The Black scripted The Last Boy Scout starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans isn't set during the holidays at all. Black helmed 2018 sequel The Predator, which switched up the formula slightly by taking place during Halloween instead; outside of a scene involving trick or treating, this added little to the narrative. While technically not set at Christmas, both John McTiernan's Last Action Hero and 2016 buddy comedy The Nice Guys still have sequences set during the season. His pilot for grubby Western Edge is probably the least Christmasy project he's ever done too.