Is “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau a little displeased with being out of the loop and a tad frustrated with Marvel’s studio’s apparent lack of communication since announcing “Iron Man 2” for 2010?
If you’ve been keeping score at all, it seems pretty apparent that he is. In early May just after “Iron Man” was released, Favreau seemed a little cheesed that the announcement of “Iron Man 2” was made without his knowledge. He heard about it at the same time every one else did.
“I found out about the announcement last night, so it’s not something that — we would definitely love to collaborate more with the sequel,” Favreau said the day after the news was announced (note the weird pause with something he was about to say.
Mid May after “Iron Man” was nothing but an unqualified success, Favreau told Howard Stern that he still hadn’t been offered a slot for the sequel yet. Considering “Iron Man” was Marvel’s flagship production and something that the film division of the company was completely riding on, you’d think the company might have been a bit more grateful and laudatory of the man whose vision brought their character to the screen, but more and more it appears as if Marvel is treating him simply as a pawn that put their already genius idea into play (it’s not like Iron Man was the most notable character in the Marvel Universe before this movie, either).
In early May even Robert Downey Jr. seemed to be unclear if he was going to be apart of “Iron Man 2,” suggesting he was signed on for the final Iron Man (part III) or the Avengers film, but nothing else was set in stone.
“I really don’t know [about my involvement in “Iron Man 2″]. What I’m on board for right now is the ride home,” he said somewhat cryptically.
At the beginning of June, Favreau began to hint that the alcoholism “Demon In A Bottle” storyline that many suspected would be the next major “Iron Man 2” arc would be one that Marvel might want to shy away from, especially since the upcoming Will Smith film, “Hancock,” might touch upon a lot of similar subject matter.
Favreau also said it was looking more and more likely he wouldn’t be able to direct “The Avengers” because of scheduling and that again, Marvel wasn’t really telling him anything and keeping it all close to the vest.
“I look at their release schedule and they have announced ‘Iron Man 2’ for 2010 and then ‘Avengers’ for 2011. I know from experience there is no way I could. I don’t know what they have in mind, but there is no way that ‘The Avengers’ could be done in a year. Either they are thinking about somebody else doing it or they have something up their sleeve that I don’t know.”
Clearly the man that opened the door to Marvel’s opening cinematic success was being kept in the dark.
Now, on his Myspace page, Favreau has outwardly come out to say he thinks the 2010 release date for “Iron Man 2” is an unrealistic one given the fact that the script hasn’t even been written. And he seems pretty annoyed at Marvel’s continued non-communication.
“It’s been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.”
Favreau seems upset that he and Robert Downey Jr. haven’t been kept apprised to Marvel’s plans and voiced apprehension.
“I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the Batman Begins/Dark Knight, X-Men/X-2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.”
Meanwhile, it appears that Hilary Swank’s reported involvement in “Iron Man,” was just some red herring or purposeful disinformation. “Hilary Swank was never involved in any way,” Favreau said answering a fan’s question on Myspace.
When asked if Iron Man 2 would begin filming in March of next year (as has been the assumed plan), Favreau said flatly. “March seems unrealistic.” Is Favreau trying to tell Marvel something here? Is anybody listening?