'Iron Man 2' Writer Talks Sequel, Mum on Villain

I was initially critical of the hiring of Justin Theroux to write Iron Man 2. To begin with, there wasn't anything wrong with the script for the first Iron Man, so why bring in someone completely new? Of course, Marvel hasn't exactly found smooth sailing preparing this sequel, what with the blunt departure of Terrence Howard as Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes and the bizarre approach the company took to signing director Jon Favreau up for a second tour of duty.But Theroux, who co-wrote Tropic Thunder, seems to get it. "Iron Man is just a unique character in the comic book world," he tells IGN. "He can get away with being incorrigible, slightly awful, funny, sexist at times. He has a very high threshold for things that he can do and get away with." That doesn't mean Theroux is looking at it as though he has completely free reign, saying that he still needs to make sure the story and action elements are taken care of before it's play time.

"You can't really go crazy. It has to live within the same world Tony lives in, which is the world of technology. So it can't get too far afield. It's not really our job to suit all the other characters."Our first concern – Jon [Favreau]'s first concern – is that we raise the level on Iron Man 2 and make sure the audience gets exactly and more of what they wanted before in a really satisfying story that's really fun and playful. As good a movie as possible. And after that we'll think about ways that we can plug in other elements that might exist in other films or other worlds."

OK, but what about a villain? "Everything is a moving target but we've kind of locked in on what we think will be satisfying bad people," he said, adding, "I'd love to say who but no! At some point there will be some announcement at some Comic-Con or something."

Comments

[Lengthy Johnson]

The biggest problem making sequels is understanding that the sequel must be a complete film with a life of its own. In principle, it should be possibel to watch the sequel without having seen the film before it and getting all questions answered.

This puts a lot of pressure on the first act as it has to establish a new premise for the sequel.

The most common mistakes in sequel is just tackking it on to the previous film, which makes it incomplete.

What made Iron Man work for me was the process of creating Iron Man. That story line is now completge and fionished so for the next film its vital to find another story that is just as interesting and stand on its own.

If Iron Man was about constructing Iron Man, then the sequel could be about deconstructing him. It should be easy enough considering Tony Stark's life style.