Jon Favreau sees Iron Man 3 and The Avengers in 3D

"I really love the 3-D," director Jon Favreau told MTV at the San Diego Comic-Con. "I think 'Up' was probably my favorite movie I've seen this year."

Marvel has plans to make at least one more "Iron Man" film, as well as an "Avengers" film in 2012 that will feature Tony Stark. If Favreau has his way, he'd like at least one of those films to be three-dimensional.

"I like all the new technologies, 3-D being one of them. James Cameron had brought me around a few months back to see what he was doing with 'Avatar'; that's what's been seen now by many of the fans," he said of the 3-D footage shown last week. "It was exciting to go in there and see what he's doing with cutting-edge technology. He's just a great storyteller as well, and to see a great filmmaker working with the cutting-edge of this technology is amazing."

"I talked to Marvel after I'd seen [Cameron's footage] about doing 'Iron Man 2' in 3-D," he said. "I was hoping to get a shot at doing it this time around, but it didn't work out that way. ... There are a few drawbacks to it at this point — there's more cost involved, and it also forces you to shoot digitally. My cinematographer [Matthew Libatique] really likes film, and 'Iron Man' had a certain look because it was film."

As of right now, Favreau isn't certain he'll direct "Iron Man 3" or "The Avengers." But Feige is on record as saying that he'd like to see Marvel films jumping off the screen soon, and Favreau is convinced that the technology will be there for whichever film he makes next.

"We haven't had any talks about [me directing 'Avengers'], although we do have talks about what the content of 'Avengers' will be," Favreau said of the film expected to feature Iron Man, Nick Fury, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and others. "I'm going to be involved in some capacity with it, but as far as directing goes, we're still working on this one. ... I'm happy they brought me back to do 'Iron Man 2.'

"But I think that, as the digital technology gets better, 3-D is going to be a lot easier," the filmmaker continued. "Certainly for 'Iron Man,' I think it would work out well."

Would you like to see the Marvel superheroes go 3D?

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Iron Man 2 footage from Comic Con

Well almost. Some people who saw it did a "sweded" version of it. Excellent stuff.

You can see some screenshots from the actual footage here.
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Iron Man 2 won't end on a cliffhanger for the Avengers to resolve

At the moment we know that War Machine (check out the screenshot from the Iron Man 2 footage) will make a significant appearance, Black Widow could be good or evil, and Sam Rockwell will be reinventing the character of Justin Hammer. Director Jon Favreau weighed in as well at Comic-Con with his own details on the film, stating that the sequel won't leave an open-ended cliffhanger for Marvel's 2012 "Avengers" movie. We also know what heroes to expect in the Avengers film.

"We're working towards 'Avengers,' but by the same token we want to resolve this film and make ['Iron Man 2'] play on its own," Favreau told MTV News. "It's not a serial. It's a self-contained film."

Since Marvel Studios began planted movie crossover appearances in "The Incredible Hulk" and the first "Iron Man," continuity buffs have had a great deal to speculate about, given Marvel's ambitious calendar of releases, including "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger." Favreau stressed that while the movies would all be working off of each other, his focus remains on making his film work on its own.

"It's not building towards a cliffhanger that's the next movie," he explained. "It's about wrapping up our story and making it a complete tale."

What about Iron Man 3? "There’s an Iron Man 3. Here’s how I know. When they make the option deals, they include Iron Man 3. So I know they’re planning on 3. Whether that would be before or after Avengers, they’ve announced that Avengers is next but they pushed back The Avengers once which I thought was encouraging."

As for whether, like many sequels, there will be too many villains in Iron Man 2 Favreau had this to say, "Well, we had to walk a fine line. I think you’re good for number two. Two seems to be the charm because you got your origin story out of the way. You can add some complexity to it and you have room, because you don’t have to tell the origin story, to introduce the characters. When you get to number three, you can get hidebound. You’re like a beached whale sometimes because you have so much, you collapse under the weight of the complexity that you’ve created. We looked at the successful sequels that we liked. I’m not talking about Two Towers or films that are chapters based on novels or Harry Potter. I’m talking about true sequels. The two that we liked the most, this was me and Kevin Feige talking, were Wrath of Kahn and Empire Strikes Back. Those were the two that we said, “They did it right. Now let’s look at what they did right.” There were so many others that didn’t feel as good as the first but for those two, what we found was that it really gave room to explore the characters and the villain plotlines were very simple but the stakes were very high. The less you get bogged down in complexity, the more you could really let the audience enjoy what they really like which are the relationships. Two years later, I know I’m a pretty savvy audience member, I don’t remember the dynamics and the subtleties of it. It’s not as precious to me as it is to the filmmakers. So it’s putting yourself in the seat of the audience and saying, “What do they want to see more but you want to go bigger.” You go from Alien to Aliens and then you want to show them the characters that they’ve invested in and how they’ve changed and change those dynamics by introducing new characters. Don’t just add to the action but throw the relationship into a little bit of a curve ball."

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Iron Man 2 Comic Con Panel

San Diego Comic Con panel for Iron Man 2, which features Q&A with Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson.

Check out some photos from the exclusive Iron Man 2 footage that was shown.

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UPDATED with Pics - Iron Man 2 - War Machine has been seen at Comic Con

Jon Favreau premiered a look at for Iron Man 2 during the San Diego Comic Con. /film had the following description and it sounds brilliant.

Tony Stark is eating a donut while laying in the hole of the huge donut on the roof of Randy’s Donuts. Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury yells up “Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!”

Cut to: Stark and Fury inside the restaurant eating and chatting. Stark asks if Fury was going to ask him to join his group again, to which Nick responds “I remember, you do everything yourself. How is that working out for you?” Stark asks Fury if he is supossed to look at his working eye or the eye patch.

Cut to: A government court hearing, where Tony is talking with Pepper Potts a few rows behind him. Senator Stern Asks Tony if he posseses a weapon, the iron man weapon. Stark says that its not a weapon, and that technically it’s a high tech prosthesis.

“Its a weapon Mr Stark!

“If your priority was to protect…”

“Well you can forget it!”

“I am Iron Man, the suit and I am one. You cant have it!”

The Senator calls Rhodey to the stand. Rhodey walks by Stark and tells him he’ll deal with it.

The Senator asks Stark what his point is and Stark responds that his point is “You’re welcome, I’m your nuclear deterrent,” … “I’ve kept the world safe, what more do you want? I tried to play ball with these ass clowns!” The Senator then says “F— You Mr. Stark!”

A montage begins with shots of newspapers and magazines with Stark on the cover. Voice over in a Russian accent “You come from a family of thieves and butchers…” Shots of Rourke putting together his whiplash suit. A bunch of random shots, including a bunch of girls dancing in front of a display with the American flag, and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, kicking ass. Rourke arrives at the race car track in his Whiplash suit. He activates it and the wires light up with electricity as he whips them around. Stark is bloody, in his racing suit, down on the concrete. We see a close-up of Rourke laughing.

Cut to: Iron Man flying through the night air, dodging missiles which explode behind him, as he blasts towards Earth.

The Iron Man 2 logo appears on the screen, along with the music.

Then we get an extra sequence. Rhodey in a air plane hanger. Justin Hammer walks over and asks what this is about and Rhodey says it’s classified. Hammer looks down at a suit, which appears to be Stark’s old Mark II armor. “Is that what I think it is?” “What can you do for us?” Hammer shows Rhodey a bunch of different weaponry. Rhodey tells Hammer “I think i’ll take it.” “Which one?” “All of it.” Cut to: A shot of War Machine blasting off his guns.

Teaser Trailer had the pics

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Photo of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2

Marvel Studios has premiered a new photo of Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2 on Yahoo Movies. Johansson plays Russian superspy Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, who is hired as Stark’s assistant which inevitably sparks romantic tension between Stark and former assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who’s been promoted to CEO of Stark Industries.

Iron Man 2is due out on 7th May 2010.

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Iron Man 2 has finished filming

Good news for fans of old shellhead. Production on Iron Man 2’s principal photography has wrapped on Saturday, after 72 days of shooting.

Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige issued a statement to Marvel.com:

Shooting ‘Iron Man 2′ was a fantastic experience and we couldn’t be happier. Although there were many challenges in making this film, having Jon Favreau, Robert Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow and almost the entire crew from the first film back on board, allowed us to hit the ground running as everyone was instantly familiar with each other from day one. This dynamic allowed us to get done what we needed on a day to day basis and was a big factor in why we finished slightly ahead of schedule. Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell and especially Don Cheadle all stepped right in and meshed well with our returning cast. From our experience on the first film, we learned what works and doesn’t work in terms of shooting practical versus CGI especially with the Iron Man suit. This enabled us to be much more efficient in many departments, making it a much smoother experience.” … “The next step for us is beginning the post production process which is extensive and filled with its own set of challenges. It is also a very exciting time because you get to see all the hard work from the hundreds of cast and crew members begin to come to life.

We’ve only seen a smattering of photos from the shoot so no doubt there will be many more over the next few months. I also wonder what Jon Favreau will unveil at the forthcoming Comic Con this year. Personally, I am still itching to see the War Machine armour that is meant to be in the sequel.

What are you looking forward to seeing in Iron Man 2? Do you think there will be a glimpse of the mysterious Mandarin? Maybe Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer is working for him?

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Iron Man 2 - First look at Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer

EW have debuted some new photos from Iron Man 2. On the left you can see Don Cheadle, who replaced Terrance Howard as Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. Behind him is Sam Rockwell as weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer.

The photo on the right shows director Jon Favreau, who also plays Happy Hogan, and Robert Downey Jr watching some playback in a boxing ring.

Source: /film

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Iron Man 2 - a better look at Black Widow and is Gwyneth Paltrow getting a suit?

This morning I posted the blurry photos of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Now I have the much better versions from EW.com. The costume does seem spot on from the comic, but still not sure about Johansson as Natasha.
The photo below (via Topless Robot) shows Gwyneth Paltrow who plays Pepper Potts. Obviously there is a bit of Iron Man tech going on there, but not sure if it is simply for the photo or whether Potts gets a suit or an implant as she has recently had in the comic.
Still it is all good stuff from the house of Iron Man 2. Can't wait to see it.

What do you think of Johansson as Black Widow?

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Green Lantern in Iron Man 2?

Well not really, but Jon Favreau did tweet that Scarlett Johanson's husband, Ryan Reynolds, visited the set. Who, as we now know, is playing Green Lantern.

Here is a video from the Iron Man 2 set at Sepulveda Dam in Los Angeles. It shows a great big green screen and not much else.

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Iron Man 2 - Nick Fury won't be doing much and lots of Armoured villains?

Samuel L Jackson is in Iron Man 2. That's known, as is the fact he's signed up to star in all the other Marvel films. However, will he be doing much kick ass spy type stuff? MTV spoke to Jackson who said fans will likely have to wait for The Avengers for Fury to see some action.

“Not this time, not yet,” Jackson said likelihood we’ll see his character become the action hero fans know in “Iron Man 2.” “We still haven’t moved Nick Fury into the bad-ass zone. He’s still just kind of a talker.”

Asked whether fans will have to wait until the superhero team-up in “The Avengers” to see Fury get into some action scenes, Jackson simply said, “Looking forward to that, yeah.”

Along with dropping some hints about Nick Fury’s potential brawl, Jackson also told MTV News that he’s done filming on the project, adding that most of his scenes were shot with Robert Downey Jr., but there were also a few with Scarlett Johansson, too.

Cinemablend have a news story saying Robert Downey Jr went to the aid of an extra who was injured during filming. That's not the interesting part though. Apparantly this happened during a scene in which stunt men dressed as robotic villains rampage through the set.

That's the interesting bit and reminds me of the Armour Wars storyline. That is the one when Stark realises his technology has got out and tracks down all the armour that utilizes it and shuts it down. We know Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) has armour that appears to be derived from Stark Tech, could these be more?

Image by Skottie Young

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Couples Retreat - They're so money!

Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love star in Universal Pictures’ upcoming comedy Couples Retreat. Based on an original idea of Vaughn’s, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resort’s couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows is a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples. The film also stars Kali Hawk and Jean Reno.

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What will Stan Lee's Iron Man 2 cameo be? You could win a No-Prize

Almost every Marvel comic film has had a cameo by Stan Lee. They started off with him as an everday joe saying a line here and there, then he became more character based when he played the postman Willie Lumpkin in the second Fantastic Four film. In the first Iron Man film he was Hugh Hefner at the big bash that Stark attends.

Now Collider have some news on who he will be playing in the sequel. Apparantly he will be Larry King and will ask Tony Stark when he will be appearing on his show. Nukethefridge also say he will be asking Stark about his new Black Iron Man suit - could this be War Machine? Still waiting to see a photo of that.

'Nuff said True Believer. Excelsior!

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Posters for Iron Man 2, Shutter Island, The Last Airbender and Up in the Air

Here are some promo posters for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, M Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2.

Film1.nl were the ones who got the photos off them from the Cinema Expo International 2009 being held in Amsterdam.

These are not the finished official posters but rather a way to advertise the films at the show.

I think the Last Airbender one is my favourite.

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Kenneth Branagh acted out the whole Thor film

In his latest Cup O’ Joe column, Joe Quesada spoke about his time with Thor director Kenneth Branagh and head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige. He mentioned one specific meeting as “one of the highlights of my time here at Marvel”.

“It was performance art,” Quesada recalled. “Kevin would give us the establishment of the shot and the situation: ‘Here we are. We’re in (take your pick of location). And here’s Odin and he’s coming up to (pick a character.)’ And then Kenneth would come in and give you the color commentary. ‘Odin has an air of majesty to him’ and he’d act out the Odin part or the Thor part. So we sat there and literally got a three-hour one-man show from Kenneth Branagh. It was fantastic.”

Quesada said that the “very Shakespearean” Kenneth Branagh had a phenomenal grasp on the characters of Thor, Loki, Odin and the rest of the film’s cast.

“He’s definitely about character, which is the quintessential trait you have to have to understand the Marvel characters,” he said. “It’s not just big hammers and capes and things like that. It’s about what makes the character tick. There’s definitely a reason for Thor, a reason for him being and a very deep family relationship and story in the movie that I think is going to be very cool.”

“I think it’s going to be [a tougher sell] on the surface,” he said when asked if it was going to be harder to market the film compared to Iron Man. “[But we've] got plans already to get Thor’s name out within a younger group of kids. I think the upcoming ‘Super Hero Squad’ and ‘Avengers Animated’ shows are going to do wonders to get that across, and then we’re working on a couple of ancillary things here and there to boost the desire for kids in particular to know more about Thor and the general public as well.”

I would love to see some video of Branagh acting out the Thor film. It would be amazing to watch. I wonder if he will have a cameo in the film as Jon Favreau did (although it was a bit more than a cameo) in Iron Man.

The more I hear about the Thor film the more excited I get.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Here is Mickey Rourke as Whiplash

USA Today had this photo of Rourke as Ivan Vanko aka the villain Whiplash in Iron Man 2. His "outfit" consists of a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one used by Tony Stark. "The technologies are definitely related, and that's part of the core theme of the film," explains director Jon Favreau. The chest piece powers the two whips attached to the arms.

It looks as if this was shot at the set that was recently built for the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The look is not quite what I was expecting, but it will more than likely follow the set up from the first Iron Man film with this being Whiplash's Mark 1 suit and then evolve through different versions as the film progresses and businessman, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) gets involved.

What are your thoughts on the photo?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Jon Favreau talks War Machine and Whiplash

Jon Favreau chatted to Empire about what we can expect to see in the sequel to Iron Man.

"Tony's expected to be a role model and I don't think he's ready to be one. He's under a great deal of pressure and when you're under pressure, I think you find outlets for that. That's one of the tensions of the film: it's one thing to say you're Iron Man, and another thing to actually become Iron Man."

He then went on to talk about Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle this time round) putting on his own armoured suit as War Machine. "Rhodesy is definitely stepping up in this film. Let me put it this way: Tony's not the only person with technology in the film."

Mickey Rourke, who appears as new Iron Man nemesis Whiplash, had this to say "I'm having the time of my life!" he enthused about joining the Iron Man franchise. "It's been really brutal, because my Iron Man suit weighs 23lb. It's sort of a half-suit, with half my skin showing, with lots of Russian tattoos, because [Whiplash is just] out of a Russian-zone prison."

Iron Man 2 is due out on 7 May 2010.

I really hope this is going to be as good as the first one. Still not sure about Scarlett Johanson as the Black Widow.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Downey Jr back in the suit

People magazine got hold of this photo of Robert Downey Jr. on set shooting a scene for Iron Man 2 on location in Inglewood, California.

It is a cracking photo and great to see the red and gold again. Those black and white strips are digital markers so they can add the CG goodness afterwards.

If you are wondering where he is sitting that can be explained in the photo below.

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Johannson and Jackson have begun filming on Iron Man 2

Today, according to MTV , Jon Favreau has provided fans with two bits of information about filming on Iron Man 2 — the first of which involves the film’s new female lead.

“Scarlett’s first day on set in the Black Widow outfit,” the director wrote today on Twitter. “You’ve never heard a crew get so quiet so fast.”

Scarlett Johansson’s involvement in the movie as Natasha Romanoff has already been well publicized — but the character was originally referred to as Tony Stark’s assistant, leading some to wonder if we’d even see her action-packed persona. Yet Favreau’s comments confirm what everyone has hoped to hear: Johansson will definitely appear as a fully costumed version of the Black Widow.

In addition to verifying the arrival of an in-costume Black Widow, Favreau also confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson was filming his role as Nick Fury on the “Iron Man 2″ set. The secrecy surrounding the S.H.I.E.L.D. director’s cameo in the first film is clearly out the window, as Favreau not only revealed the character’s involvement — he spilled the beans on who he’s filming with.

“Now shooting first scene with Tony Stark and Nick Fury,” declared Favreau.

Great news indeed. Also as the Tweets were sent within a few hours of each other it could be assumed that the three actors may also have a scene or two together. I can't wait to see some photos of Jackson and Scarlett on set.

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Iron Man 2 - Our first official photo

This is our first proper look at Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2. Good to see Robert Downey Jr back as Stark and I love the various suits along the wall behind him. Just like the comic book. Brilliant.

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