And now Marvel is going to **** it all up...

Their frugal ways are generally considered to be the reason Joss Whedon has the directing reins, by the way...Jon Favreau was the expected choice, but his stock rose quickly after the success of IRON MAN, and now commands too high a price.

Reports are that they're penny-pinching and have cut the budget substantially, demanding that the film be made for about the same price of Raimi's original SPIDER-MAN.

Their frugal ways are generally considered to be the reason Joss Whedon has the directing reins, by the way...Jon Favreau was the expected choice, but his stock rose quickly after the success of IRON MAN, and now commands too high a price. Largely, its the reason Edward Norton was replaced by the far less prestigious Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. In addition to that, Marvel's micromanagement of IRON MAN 2 (i.e. their insistence on basically making it a prelude to THE AVENGERS rather than allowing the film to stand on its own) is generally cited as the reason Favreau just left IRON MAN 3.

Aye, I await the train wreck that will be Iron Man 3. I almost hope, it never gets done.

He is scheduled to meet with Robert Downey Jr. this week when he returns to L.A. Downey will be contributing to the story and Shane will be writing it in addition to directing.

The studio was not happy with the direction Iron Man 2 took. Iron Man 3 will not be another "two men in iron suits fighting each other" film. Instead, it will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villians.

Iron Man 3 will be made after The Avengers and will not feature any other heroes from the Marvel Universe. Marvel is only doing crossover characters to lead up to The Avengers, and once that film is released, the plan is to go back to self-contained single-character stories.

There are so many characters for an Avengers, that I don't know how this plot is going to work outside a comic book... It'll either have to be very light on the plot or eight hours long.

In case you haven't seen (I don't remember seeing a straight Iron Man 3 thread), Shane Black has been signed to write and direct Iron Man 3.

This is, to me, fantastic. I know people will be very loyal to Favreau, and (mostly) not without cause...the first Iron Man was fantastic (though as Taly's noted, that's due more to the charisma of Downey and the film rather than any sort of flawless structure), and the second...had its moments. But regardless, Black is the man who wrote Lethal Weapon, Last Action Hero, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Monster Squad (for those who have a soft spot for it), and his directing debut (of his own script no less) was one of my all-time favorite movies: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. The man can handle action and wit, both scripting them and directing them, with the best. I'd daresay he's a better director than Favreau, and I can't frigging wait to see him reteamed with Downey for Iron Man 3.

Also, here are a few tidbits from Black regarding the direction of IM3:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48768

The Last Action Hero is one of the most under rated comedies ever.

"Hello!?!? I've just shot someone. I did it on purpose..."

"Shaddup down there!"

The Last Action Hero is one of the most under rated comedies ever.

I'm really excited about your vision for The Avengers and how it's really a broken family...or a family...

Broken is okay.

Is there any way you could expand on that just a tiny bit for us?

It just really just goes back to the very first incarnation of The Avengers. It goes to The Ultimates, it goes to everything about it. It makes no sense, it's ridiculous. There's a thunder god, there's a green "ID" giant rage monster, there's Captain America from the 40s, there's Tony Stark who definitely doesn't get along with anybody. Ultimately these people don't belong together and the whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously this will be expressed through punching but it will be the heart of the film.