In the midst of Marvel's The Avengers growing box-office success, The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with producer Jon Favreau, who notably helmed the debut of Marvel's cinematic Universe with 2008's Iron Man. Reminiscing the ensemble flick's early stages, Favreau also praising writer-director Joss Whedon, discusses his involvement on Iron Man 3 as a producer, and the Shane Black-directed threequel's production status.
On the success of Marvel's The Avengers:
Yeah, how do you like that? Turned out really well. Look, it was something we always planned for, and hoped for, but anything could have gone wrong and it took a lot of things to go right. First and foremost, Joss, to be able to pull together, four different characters based on four different sets of films, that shared a lot tonally and they shared some cast-wise, but he had to pull all those things together and make it work, it’s a very high degree of difficulty for him. But we had done a lot of setup in Iron Man 2 and even in Iron Man 1, we were hoping that it would come to this. I don’t think it became a reality until the last few years, but we were definitely planning for it. But it took a lot of people to pass the baton well, and each director that had been involved with the franchises did their part, but it took Joss to really seal the deal, and clearly it worked out, because the moment seems to continue going.
On the current production status of Iron Man 3:
Yeah, down in Wilmington, it’s starting to shoot in a couple weeks. I was just talking to Shane Black and Downey and look, I think it’s a really smart way to go. After Avengers, you want to start with something really bold and inspired, and if you’ve ever seen Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang you’ve seen that when Downey and Shane get together, interesting and unexpected things happen, and I’m happy to see that it’s taking a bit of a tonal shift from The Avengers and it’s going to be something completely different and exciting, and I’m happy to be a part of it.
On a potential shift in tone; more dark perhaps:
No, just a little bit more off beat, I’d say. Shane and Robert definitely have an original point of view and an original take on the character, and I think it delves deeper into what makes Tony Stark tick, and plays on the unexpected original unpredictable quality of the character that I think fans gravitate to.
On whether he'll be involved on a regular basis:
I’ll be very involved on that one. I’ve already been talking to them and I feel a tremendous connection to that franchise and that character and I’m very proud to see it moving forward in a way that re-enforces that story.
For the full interview, where Jon Favreau discusses J.J. Abrams'
Revolution and more, head over to
THR!
Iron Man 3 is loosely based on the six-issue "Extremis" story arc written by Warren Ellis. Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige says Tony Stark will be "stripped of everything, back against a wall, & has nothing but his intelligence to get him out." Starring Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Gwyneth Paltrow (Virginia Potts), Don Cheadle (Col. James Rhodes), & Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian) with Ben Kingsley in "final negotiations" for an undisclosed villain role, Shane Black directs Iron Man's third solo outing into theaters on May 3, 2013!