'Iron Man 2' Weeks Away From Filming, and Will Favreau Direct 'Avengers'?

A couple more Iron Man/Avengers updates... First, Gwyneth Paltrow reveals on her highly criticized celebrity website, GOOP, that Iron Man 2 will begin shooting soon, and apparently, she's back as Pepper Potts. Just a couple of weeks ago, Paltrow sparked speculation about her return by admitting she hadn't seen the script and had no idea what was going on with the project. That has apparently changed.

"Jon Favreau and I met when we both had bit parts in Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle about 15 years ago. He then went on to write and star in Swingers and become an incredible filmmaker. We reconnected when he asked me to be in Iron Man. Jon is not only a confident filmmaker, he is deeply calm and funny. I can’t wait to start Iron Man 2 in two weeks and hang out with him every day."

There's more to Jon Favreau's day in the Google News feeds, though. He might be Marvel's top choice to direct The Avengers, and since he would have more experience in the arc than anyone else, that's kind of a logical conclusion to reach without this bit of news. But Ain't It Cool News learned from an insider at Marvel that Favs is not only the odds-on favorite to sit in the director's chair for that reason, but because he is, Marvel took that into consideration when announcing its new release schedule yesterday, which reflects a 2012 Avengers blast off.

"Avengers is delayed a year because of financing issues but also because the plan is for Favreau to helm it. Everybody here loves the guy and he wants to do it, but it would have been impossible for him to do before the date change given his Iron Man 2 commitments. Also partly the reason why he agreed to do the Stark sequel on such an accelerated schedule was so he could get given first dibs on this. It would still be a punishing schedule for him, so hes not firmly confirmed yet, but he is certainly the presumptive director at this point."

So any of you holding Ang Lee tickets...better luck next time.

Comments

[Will]

Given that the only franchise anyone cares about Marvel-wise is "Ironman", shouldn't the focus be on "Ironman 3"? Or maybe The Avengers will be called "Iron Man and The Avengers" by the time they are finished with it?

[Iron Man Collectibles]

Well, I agree partly, but for the most part, as long as they can keep stories going and great cast members joining, they shouldn't have any issues with Iron Man 3.

I hate seeing 2's and 3's of any movie, but if done correctly (Lord of the Rings) you can still carry the fanbase along with.

[עירך דין]

Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark. Robert has gone through severe personal problems that will play into the psych of Tony Stark. Excellent.