So Jon Favreau has bailed on Iron Man 3 to the surprise of absolutely no-one and he'll spend the next couple of years re-tracing his childhood routes hanging around with Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and the gang at Disney. Basically, he will be transforming himself into the biggest 44 year old kid by taking on the dream job of helming a Magic Kingdom film, an adventure movie that's literally set in a Disneyland Theme Park where the rides and characters come to life! What he leaves behind at Marvel is of course their marquee character, Iron Man. The character that gave Marvel a film franchise, a franchise that gave Marvel a production company and proved that they might just get away with their audacious plans for an unprecedented cinematic comic book continuity that stretches over half a dozen films in a decade, with the promise of further expansion if the audience's interest in comic book films holds up the way we think it will. In the very same article that declared Favreau had left the property, Vulture announced that Marvel had already started to draw up plans for who might replace him for the forthcoming Iron Man 3, a movie whose May 2013 release date is intact. As we always like to do with our 'Fantasy Casting' feature, here's 8 potential candidates who we think Marvel will already have earmarked as potential candidates to direct their next installment in their biggest franchise. Now the following names aren't necessarily my top eight choices but rather eight plausible choices for the job. Expect a few of these to crop up as rumoured in the coming months as some sites try and gain unlawful hits before the actual hiring is announced next year. Oh, and we are ruling out current Marvel family members Kenneth Branagh (Thor) and Joe Johnston (Captain America) as they are busy on their respective heroes and also, obviously, Avengers helmer Joss Whedon. Plus Louis Letterier who seems to have been kicked out of the family circle after The Incredible Hulk's disaster and his complete snubbing for all Marvel projects greenlit since. The majority of this list is made up of mostly young, inexpensive directors who Marvel are probably interested in, though we should be reminded that neither Branagh or Johnston were young or rookie-cheap when they were hired...
David Fincher
Why: Ok, ok, before you tell me I'm living in cloud cuckoo land for thinking an auteur, who might very well win the Best Picture Oscar this year for The Social Network, would be interested in a comic book franchise, I say the following to you as a preemptive response. 12 months ago, hell 6 months ago, would you have said that A) David Fincher would be interested in helming the highly populist, overtly feminine crime series The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as a big studio feature B) Hasn't Fincher's big 2010 Oscar rival Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky just signed on to helm a sequel to the frikkin' Wolverine franchise at Fox? Suddenly, Fincher directing Iron Man 3 doesn't sound that implausible. As Iron Man is the more 'grounded in reality' of the Marvel heroes, essentially existing as their version of Batman, this writer could see how Fincher might be interested in a dark, character driven take on Stark, especially if they were to touch on the excellent Demon in a Bottle storyline and really push the PG-13 environment as far as they could. And there seems to be something in Fincher that wants to challenge himself with a big budget blockbuster. He has recently made it known he wants to re-do 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea at Disney and if he's willing to make that movie... then why not Iron Man 3? Plus, he would come director approved for Robert Downey Jr (who has the right to refuse any director he doesn't like in his contract) having worked together on Zodiac and there's plenty of political and social intrigue in Iron Man that Fincher could play around with here. Why Not: Well the biggest why not would be Fincher's probable lack of interest in the Marvel universe but also probably the fee it would cost the studio to hire him. Marvel are notoriously known to be cheapskates with their wallets and Fincher's salary would probably equal Favreau's $10 million+ deal, one of the reasons why Marvel and him didn't see eye to eye on Iron Man 2. Plus, the last time Fincher jumped into a franchises third entry, he found it difficult working under a intrusive studio control with Alien 3, Fincher's weakest film on his CV.
James Mangold
Why: In many ways and although it might seem crazy to say this given that he has worked with Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Russell Crowe, John Cusack, Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon and Christian Bale, we can't help but feel that James Mangold is Hollywood's best kept secret. You know there's plenty of discussions and millions of words in academic film texts dedicated to the craft of filmmaking and they tell us that great filmmakers are auteurs, those storytellers who have a body of work that show consistency in style, theme and a distinct personal imprint. But what of Mangold, who doesn't particularly have a discernible style, who decidedly works with different actors from project-to-project and who seemingly can adapt to any genre he works in and although showing 100% control of a production, he doesn't have a signature style that follows him. But what he makes time and time again is damn fine films... no matter what challenge comes his way. 3:10 to Yuma is his high point as a director to date and although he might have let himself go a little to over-the-top with Knight & Day, we can forgive him for that knowing that Tom Cruise probably pushed him to think bigger and bigger with his plot and set-pieces. We think his blend of great character work and smart, considered direction makes him a key contender here. Why Not: For whatever reason, Mangold is perhaps routinely overlooked for non B-movie material and to date, we have nothing that suggests he is a comic book fan. Plus, as we saw recently with Knight & Day, when Hollywood gives him a bigger budget and scope... he can let loses his focus and direction. Having said that, there's no reason Mangold couldn't knock Iron Man 3 out of the park and these are more niggles than problems that can't be overcome.
Joe Wright
Why: Wright has a movie out next year by the name of Hanna and we ran the trailer earlier today for what looks to be a fun and offbeat actioner from the usually dramatic director - that has a bigger scope than Kick-Ass, but plays very much in the same ballpark. Simply put, it's his first action vehicle and the trailer shows he has had no problem adapting to the challenge. Wright would be an interesting choice for Marvel because he brings with it an assured dramatic direction (his drama's Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and The Soloist) and actors are obviously comfortable in giving their all for him with Saorise Ronan and Keira Knightley having been Oscar nominated in films he made. And with Robert Downey Jr having 'director approval', we can't help but think his director of The Soloist has to be seen as a strong contender. Why Not: Well as far as Marvel are concerned, they might be worried about introducing a new director to their family who isn't likely to stay around for further sequels, etc. Marvel are clearly looking at building a family and Wright probably has dozens of his own stories he wants to tell to commit for the long term. Also, maybe we are knee-jerking it by saying Hanna is a sign of his action chops when we've only seen the trailer to date?
Guy Ritchie
Why: It's the 'Downey Jr approved' contract stipulation that has kept our mind ticking over and we can't help but think there aren't many filmmakers out there who are going to be more Downey Jr approved than Guy Ritchie. After all, they have made two Sherlock Holmes movies together almost back-to-back. And you know, I've been a very vocal critic of Ritchie's filmography for over a decade but he surprised me greatly with Sherlock Holmes - he managed to tone down his usually style over substance direction and he just allowed the film and his actors to tell the story. Sure it wasn't a perfect blockbuster but it was at least a passable one, I think, made by Ritchie for the chance at bigger things further down the road. We know he is a big comic book nerd, so maybe a property like Iron Man 3 is what he really wants to get his hands on? Why Not: Ritchie has a solid relationship at Warner Bros. where his lucrative Sherlock Holmes series is based. He has worked closely with Joel Silver for years trying to get more comic material off the ground with Sgt. Rock and Lobo, but if he were to jump ship to Marvel, he probably wouldn't be invited back... but then again, this is Iron Man and maybe he just wouldn't care? If the Sherlock Holmes version of Ritchie turns up and not his gangster/Tarantino clone, then I would be happy with the choice.
Matt Reeves
Why: Reeves was on the final shortlist to helm The Wolverine at Fox before Darren Aronofsky swooped in and nabbed the job. He is a director on the up and up, and we imagine that's a studio's dream when they are looking to replace expensive former directors because they come with bags of enthusiasm and have a relatively cheap asking price. With his first two motion-pictures he has shown he can work well with difficult-to-film material on tightfisted budgets, another plus for Marvel. And on paper, a handheld movie with no stars and a small plot about a monster you only get brief glimpses at with Cloverfield AND of course a remake of a still fresh and much loved Swedish original horror with Let Me In is as difficult a two-picture debut can get and to come out smelling like roses from both projects... that's gotta get you noticed. We are certain Reeves will get a sit down chat with Marvel over the project, if he is interested. Whether he can convince them he is worthy of their money is another question. Why Not: Still very much a rookie helmer Reeves has yet to direct a star vehicle with a big name. That of course doesn't mean he can't do it.
Neil Blomkamp
Why: You know everytime we do one of these shortlists, Neil Blomkamp's name usually crops up. His Oscar nominated District 9 changed his life forever and we imagine he has found several comic book movie offers come his way in the year and change since it premiered. And with good reason... he made a low-budget sci-fi spectacle look like a $200 million production, so just imagine what he could actually do with a $200 million sized production! Has unlimited desire for this and has been mentored by Peter Jackson.... this guy's gonna get one of these big jobs sometime down the road. Why not nab him now before someone else gets the idea? Why Not: He has said many times before that his experience on working on the failed Halo movie and all those weeks of hard graft he put into it, turned out to be a big waste of time and he would never again go for such a strong, studio controlled environment. Not when he has worked out a way to be resourceful enough to create his own universes on stretched budgets. Plus, as impressive as District 9 was, it was still a first time director's movie and jumping on board the third film in an already established and popular franchise isn't a job I would personally like to give to a rookie helmer. Much easier to start your own franchise than continue someone elses and I'm sure Blomkamp would agree.
Shane Black
Why: When you need a director to tackle a smart action series that's loaded with adult-humoured gags and a narcissistic lead, who better than Shane Black - the writer of the Lethal Weapon movies, The Long Kiss Goodnight and the writer/director of Kiss, Kiss, Bang Bang - which incidentally starred a then much less bankable Robert Downey Jr. In many ways, Tony Stark is the Shane Black character he never created and Iron Man the franchise he would have made if Stan Lee & co. had gotten there first! His one directorial credit to date (aforementioned Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) boats a wildly entertaining action vehicle that plays it loose from one of the best scripts of the past decade. If Marvel were to hire Black to write and make the Iron Man movie the way he wanted it... then the end result could be spectacular. Why Not: As we've said, Black would need complete reassurance that he had full control on Iron Man 3, which would include freedom on the screenplay and he just won't get that. Plus he's been working on a comic book adaptation of the pulp character Doctor Savage that holds his interest from the time being. Still, I would love to see it happen.
Alex Proyas
Why: We are pretty big fans of sci-fi director Alex Proyas in these parts (ok, not THAT big a fan to call his films our favourites of the year, but his blockbusters tick all the right boxes as far as we are concerned, except Knowing anyway) and he can do large scale actioners with big budget CGI as good as anyone else. We know he has been trying to convince 20th Century Fox to let him make a Silver Surfer stand-alone picture for a few years now but he's getting no dice over there, so one would think he would be up for this. And Favreau's biggest weakness with this Iron Man movies were his problems with the action scenes, so this would be a welcomed improvement under Proyas' touch. Why Not: Does he rely on CGI a little too much, and also action over story? Maybe. Also, he would be under pretty tight studio control at Marvel, something that might not interest him so much. Other than that, we can't see many negatives. Except for that he directed Knowing. So there you have it, Obsessed With Film's 8 Likely Contenders for Iron Man 3 at Marvel. Agree or disagree with our choices, have we overlooked someone? Who do you want to see direct Iron Man 3? Do tell, do tell...