Having followed the production of Iron Man 2 closely, I had thought Jon Favreau's immediate relationship with Marvel was over and he would have nothing to do with the superhero character for the near future, but it turns out I was wrong. During a geeky Hero Complex L.A. Times film festival Q & session this weekend, Favreau was joined by an unannounced special guest in the form of Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr, leaving interviewer Geoff Boucher with the unusual opportunity of grilling the two main figures behind a massive franchise so soon after one of them has departed, and the other remains attached. How much dirt could really be spilled with the franchise star Downey Jr in attendance was only going to be limited but nevertheless some interesting tidbits came out of the talk last night at Hollywood's Chinese 6 theatre, perhaps the biggest revelation from Favreau is that he could end up yet advising the franchises' new director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, writer of Lethal Weapon) with Iron Man 3. How much advising he will actually give Black is skeptical and it could simply be as much as one dinner chat and a brief visit to the set/editing room or perhaps even something as brief as a phone call away from Marvel execs who might not even want Favreau anywhere near their film. AICN, who have done a really good write up of the discussion, say Robert Downey Jr suggested Favreau seek out the advise of Black on the set of the first Iron Man movie after they hit a stumbling block on an issue and this may well be Favreau simply returning the favour. Either way it can only be a good thing that Black is seeking advise from the creator of this series of films and although we have been concerned about how much control Black himself has over his film with Marvel seemingly micro-managing the series now as it's so vital to their over-arching The Avengers plan, our worries have been ever so slightly eased with this news. Other brief tidbits from the discussion - An in-attendance Edgar Wright suggested the post-credits Nicky Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) scene in the original Iron Man come after the final credit curtain and not 30 seconds into the name scroll, as Favreau had intended. An original idea was to set Iron Man 2's ending in Disneyland but it sounds like they didn't even bother pitching it and they ended up in New York and World's Fair. Favreau, a huge Disney nut, is currently preparing to make a movie out of The Magic Kingdom as his next project at The Mouse. Favreau meanwhile has been taking after hours tours of Disneyland (lucky bugger!) as part of his research and has cited Pixar's ability to appeal to younger and older audiences as his goal for the multi-generations Disney brand. Favreau originally wanted the film to open Iron Man 2 with;
We wanted to open up Iron man 2 with Tony waking up, looking over and seeing that he just slept with Pepper Potts and just being really freaked out,
Downey counted with;
There was another one that we shot which is (me), like, over the Marvel logo going, Pepper Im dying. Tony, no-no-no, we have to go. Im not going to make it, and we cut to a transport, like a C-17 or something and hes puking into a toilet too hungover to do the mission. That was an awesome opening. Why did you cut it!?!
On whether Favreau will reprise his supporting role of Happy Hogan in the movies now that he is no longer directing;
"The toughest man of Iron Man 3 will be Jon Favreaus day rate. Its gonna be huge and Ill see that they pay it.,
Favreau majorly hints that Cowboys vs. Aliens will debut at San Diego Comic Con. Iron Man 3 is currently being written by Drew Pearce (No Heroics) and Shane Black and will begin production next year (around the time of The Avengers May 2012 release I would presume) for an opening in May 2013.