It was pretty much a given that Shane Black's Iron Man 3 director's chair would also come up screenwriting duties. We can now confirm that assumption based on an Omaha Film Festival report from Aint it Cool News. During a panel discussion, Black talked about the deal and his plans for the course correction of the franchise.
Marvel Studios seems to agree with many fans in its estimation of Iron Man 2 as a stutter step. Black promises that the third installment in the series will not feature another battle between men in mech suits. He likens Iron Man 3 to a Tom Clancy style thriller, with real world threats. As such, the film, which begins shooting after next year's Avengers, will also shy away from further Marvel hero cameos. The Nick Fury and friends meddling is simply a lead up to that film, and once they've had their crossovers, everybody returns to their own sandboxes and gets to enjoy some independence.
Black will meet with star Robert Downey Jr. later this week to talk about the script. Downey will contribute to the writing process, but the extent of that involvement is unknown.
Everything about this sounds terrific. It's maybe even one of those too-good to be true scenarios. Studios aren't supposed to know that smaller and less crossover can sometimes mean better. Can you believe a Hollywood studio in 2011 is saying "Less robot suits, please." That's not to say they're changing the name of the series to "Tony Stark: Playboy with Gadgets." There's no doubt we'll be seeing some action. But after two films with mech suit escalation, this sounds like a much-needed change of pace.
After a brief company retreat with Joss Whedon in 2012, the shellhead returns to solo adventuring in 2013.
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I’m not sure why people still think Iron Man 2 was a misstep. It was pretty damn good in my eyes.
Not sure if I like the idea of having less Iron Man in an IRON MAN movie.
Iron Man 2 was pretty damn good in my eyes too, but i would say it was more a side step then a mis step. It didn’t do much more than the first one did, which is why people may be calling it a misstep.
I’d be very happy to see a tom clancyesque story; spy oriented type thriller, and think of all the gadgets they could create for that.
What I want is Long Kiss Goodnight, but with Iron Man.
No offense TNC, but I think people think it was a misstep because, while it was okay, it wasn’t half as good as the first movie.
I really liked Iron Man 2, but this sounds very interesting too.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
I really like the sound of that. Like, a lot.
Good idea to scale back on the robots. There are lots of great Iron Man stories that don’t involve enemies in powered suits, pick one of those. I would actually love to see the latest version of Mandarin.
Well if this means less of Iron Man fighting robots or villains in robot suits then that’s totally cool with me, but I don’t really want less of Iron Man himself in the movie.
This story is iffy (and from AICN, quel surprise). I’m not arguing that Black said this stuff, I have to wonder how well informed he is though.
Marvel doesn’t even know how Avengers will do yet, and they’re already saying “we won’t do that again!”…? Really?
Sorry that’s not how the world works. In the event it’s immensely successful, of course they’ll do it again. Why would they already be acting like it’s failed when it hasn’t even shot a frame?
Cause that’s what the general public wants: To see a film about a man having a mech suit not using his mech suit.
I understand why Black would want to go in that direction, and I have read great Iron Man stories with him barely using the suit. But if you want to make a big budget action movie for the mass audience; having less of your title character outside of his mech is something I don’t see working.
It’s like that Simpsons joke where Itchy and Scratchy are going to go to the firework’s factory and Poochie stalls them the entire time. Milhouse crying: “When are they going to get to the firework’s factory!?” will be like the audience wondering ‘Where the hell is Iron Man?’
@TheNextChampion Considering how he’s echoing the “mass audience’s” grivences with Iron Man 2 and is detailing how he’s going to change said grivences…yes, this is exactly what the masses want.
@TheNextChampion You forget that the title character you are talking about is played by Robert Downey Jr. I think as long as there’s action and Downey being Downey it won’t matter how much he’s in the suit. But that’s just my opinion. also I’d love to see Paltrow do something badass in this one.
Shane Black + Robert Downey Jr is really all I need to hear.
no more dancing drunk in the suit would be nice
“Marvel Studios seems to agree with many fans in its estimation of Iron Man 2 as a stutter step.”
Where’d you get that craziness from Paul? Oh right, the iFanGods! 😉
Is this a secretive way of saying Spymaster’s in the film? Gah, I hope so….
Yeah, rewatched Iron Man 2 recently and… yeah. Starts out great, but it seems to forget which plot it wants to focus on, ignoring what made the central character interesting in favor of much less interesting characatures. IMHO, of course.
This guy Black sounds like he’s got his head on straight. It doesn’t sound like he’s arguing for less Iron Man action, but rather less Rock’em Sock’em Robots, suit on suit type stuff. A movie with more clever uses for the armor beyond “punch until it’s dead” could really revive this franchise. Creatively, I mean.
Plus, as cool as Fury was at the end of 1, boy did they over do it in 2. The less of that the better.
wasnt blown away by Iron Man 2, the inventing an element and fact that it wsa just fighting more robots was a disappointment.
I actually liked Iron Man 2 alot, and I think it’s on par, if not better, than Iron Man. Having said that, Shane Black could make the third istalment a billion times better than both.
@TheNextChampion Well, let’s not take the comments out of context. What it says above is “will not feature another battle between men in mech suits.” Both IM and IM2 followed a similar structure, in which a bad guy dons a big suit at the end and fights Iron Man in his suit.
So we’re not necessarily talking about less Iron Man in a suit. I read this as more of a recognition that there were very similar arcs in both films, and they’re going to steer away from that again.
I don’t think that saying “we are not going to make the exact same movie over again” has to be interpreted as “Wow, that movie sucked.” I happen to like Iron Man 2, but if I want to watch it again, I’ll watch it again. Let the new thing be something new.
@daccampo: They’re going to have to do something really different then to make it not about two dudes fighting in mechs. Since 99% of his rouge gallery are people with mech suits.
Maybe the two films have similar plots. But you know the old saying: ‘If it anit broke, don’t fix it’
Less mech, no cameos? Sounds to me like we’re headed for Iron Man 3: Demon in a Bottle.
The only thing that would be better: Iron Man 3: Rize of Fin Fan Foom. (A big green dragon in little pants, in a crump-off with a drunk Tony in armor. Who wins? We win.)
i said “many fans” not “most fans.” I also said stutter step, not abysmal failure. Many of the people I’ve talked to don’t think the second film is as good as the first. That’s all that means. If you love it, that’s awesome.
@TheNextChampion
Rouge gallery? They don’t sound very threatening. 🙂
@boosbaster: Well his next villain will be sponsored by L’Oreal.
Also we need to consider something else: Jon Favreau left because he was having creative differences with Marvel. So clearly Marvel has a big say on what is going to go on in their films. So Black, like any director in the industry, can say all of these things but at the end of the day he will have to listen to the studios and their ideas. Not saying he’s a slave to them and he won’t listen to all of their ideas. But if they want him to have a big, explosive ending like Iron Man 2 then he’ll probably do it.
Also Iron Man 2 made MORE money than the first, so even if people didn’t favor it over the first it certainly had more people going to the theater to see it. That’s all Marvel cares about instead of a quality product.
@TheNextChampion Changing the formula then would suggest the exact opposite. Plus Iron Man 2 was pretty weak. “Rhodey?” “YEAH IT’S ME DEAL WITH IT.” Ugh. Cheadle you are a good actor but a terrible Rhodey.
@TheNextChampion Phantom Menace also did insanely well in the box office, but that’s only because it had great movies that preceeded it, not because it was better. It’s the same thing with Iron Man & Iron Man 2.
@comicBOOKchris but attack of the clones and revenge of the sith also did well and neither were preceeded by “good” movies 😉
@mikegraham6 They did indeed do well, but Ep. 1 was a freak success.
Did he actually say, “Less robot suits” because that shows a disdain for the soure material to me. I don’t want this to be Tony Stark: Super Spy.
@AriesDog No, not according to the original article.
@mikegraham6 Revenge of the Sith was preceded by half of a good movie 😉
@comicbookchris: I know some have already commented on it but Star Wars is definitely not a good example. You have a fanbase, even greater then any comic fanbase, that is devoted to see any new material no matter how bad it is.
I will admit that they could tone down the fighting a bit and make it like the first film. But to be honest whether it is like the first film or the second film I won’t mind. I hope to enjoy the third one no matter what direction Black goes in.
@TheNextChampion 99% of Iron man’s villains are NOT guys in mech suits. Among his “clasic” villains, there are exactly two characters in similar suits to him: Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo. Mandarin, Whiplash, Midas, The Freak, Radioactive Man, the Controller, Blizzard, Madame Masque, Spymaster, the Unicorn, the Ghost. None of them are guys in mech suits.
Also, I didn’t get the impression it would be “less Iron Man” from the above statement. It seemed to me (and i may be misreading it) that Black was referring more to the threats Iron Man would be facing, as opposed to Iron man himself. I’m guessing the reference to “real world threats” would be more of Iron Man vs terrorists, like we saw in the first half of the first movie.
I would actually love to see The Ghost as the villain. Not only is he something different from the villains of the previous two films, he is a fascinating character. He doesn’t want global domination, he is more of a political idealist/terrorist than super villain.
If not Ghost, Spymaster would also be a fantastic choice. A normal guy using skill, cunning and cutting edge gadgets to take on Iron man could be really cool.
to be fair Ghost is a dude in a suit too
Unicorn and Blizzzard are in suits too I think, but I know what youa re saying John. Ghost would be a sweet villian for him as both Stark and Iron Man
@0and18 He is a guy in a suit, but it’s not a mecha style battle suit. In his original costume, it wasn’t even metal, it was mostly fabric. yeah, it gives him his powers, but he is FAR from what we’ve seen in the past 2 Iron man movies.
No i get what youa re saying and echo I think Ghost would be a nice counter sorry re reading the post and did come off a bit prickly
I’m sure all those robots and suits are expensive. I’d love it if this was more Robocop/James Bond. The hero is the one in the suit, but he fights Bondian villains. Dudes who have big plans. Iron Man 2 failed in part, for me, because the threat was never big enough. Give me a Tony Stark versus Mandarin movie where Mandarin is conceived of as a Bond baddie, like Blofeld. These movies need to be careful they don’t become guy in a suit comedies. IM 2 had far too many scenes of people joking and doing silly stuff in armor. I like it, but enough is enough. Tony needs to be more proactive as a hero. Much like he was in the middle of the first film taking on the terrorists. More of that.
@0and18 No, you didn’t come off as prickly at all LOL I actually responded to your post before the second one you posted where you said you knew what i meant appeared on my screen.
@JohnVFerrigno: Like @0and18 I get what you’re saying; but the majority of these villains you list all wear suits or have mech weapons in some capacity. Unicorn might not wear a mech suit but he uses an energy blast like if it was a mech costume.
Actually I would like to see Marvel use The Unicorn just to see the challenge of them marketing him.