Some of these entry's are a little dated as far back as a couple years.
"Confirmed:
Jon Favreau planned Iron Man as the first in a trilogy.
Favreau believed the sequel will allow a latitude in tone, and explore darker story elements such as alcoholism, which he intentionally set aside from the first film.
Wikipedia reminds us that Rober Downey Jr. has said "the next one is about what do you do with the rest of your life once you've completely changed. I think the drinking and all that stuff would be a good way to confront his age, to confront his doubts, to confront the fact that maybe Pepper gets a boyfriend."
Downey and Favreau met with Shane Black, who suggested they model Stark on Robert Oppenheimer, who became depressed with being "the destroyer of worlds" after working on the Manhattan Project.
Terrence Howard added this would be the manner in which his character would become War Machine, like in the comics: Rhodes adapting to a new suit after Stark succumbs to and defeats alcoholism.
Favreau perceived depicting Iron Man's nemesis, the Mandarin, as a challenge, as he finds the use of the character as a metaphor for communism dated.
There are references to the Mandarin into the first movie, primarily with the terrorist organisation named the Ten Rings.
Says Favreau, "I'm glad that we didn't try to attack the Mandarin the first time around. There is a lot that is very relevant about that character, in the pool of the landscape that we find ourselves in, but there is something off putting and distasteful about the way that the Mandarin had been presented back in the '60s. I don't think that is relevant anymore. How do you maintain the core spirit of what makes that villain so formidable without having something that either seemed out of our reality, as far as what his abilities are, or the way he is depicted." (ComingSoon.net)
The first screen reference to The Avengers is in Iron Man, when the Ultimate version of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) appears in a post-credits scene and speaks with Tony Stark about the "Avenger Initiative."
All of the Iron Man cast is in negotiations to return for Parts 2 and 3.
Favreau has hinted that the Iron Man 3 would feature a storyline revolving around The Avengers.
Favreau has acknowledged that he is weary of the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline because of the film Hancock and the themes it explores:
"I also want to see what other movies are doing. It seems that Hancock is dealing with a lot of those issues too. The comic book fans might see "Demon in a Bottle" as a fresh story line but I haven't seen Hancock yet. From what I've seen it seems there is a lot of imagery that seems to be shared. Him flying through billboards and things. The idea of the hero whose biggest enemy is himself, and him fighting through his demons, you want to come at the audience with something fresh. You don't want to feel like you are echoing something that somebody else is doing. I think you have to look at the comics, look at what else Marvel is doing, but then you have to look at the landscape of superhero films. There are so many out there." (ComingSoon.net)
Finally, in a May '08 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Jon Favreau gave some of his thoughts on Iron Man sequels:
“We've been speaking informally about it and in concept we would all love to work together again. There's definitely a level of enthusiasm from myself and the cast to tell more stories.”
The director goes on to talk a bit on the "Avenger Initiative" mentioned during the amazing ending of the film, stating that he would love The Avengers to appear in the third Iron Man film.
“I think that was a very, very clever way to keep the dialogue going with the fans, because if you don't have any tricks up your sleeve, they feel like they've already seen the whole movie before they did.” And the tie-in with The Avengers wasn’t just to please the fans. “I think [The Avengers] would be a very smart third film in the Iron Man series. It's very difficult to keep these franchises from running out of gas after two [movies]. The high point seems to be the second one, judging by history.”
Terrence Howard has been replaced by Don Cheadle to portray James Rhodes.
Sam Rockwell is playing Justin Hammer, an evil rival of Tony Stark.
Scarlett Johansson is playing Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow which will most likely be in her agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. capacity, as well as a love interest for shell-head.
Mickey Rourke is playing Ivan / Whiplash, presumably an agent of Justin Hammer.
Samuel Jackson says that Nick Fury won't be seeing "action" till after Iron Man 2, which we presume means he'll just be all talk until The Avengers.
Rumored:
The sequel will heavily focus on War Machine. Says Howard, "Judging from how that audience responded, we got a pretty good shot of having some War Machine go down." (MTV.com)
Thor will appear in the sequel, setting up the Thor film.
Iron Man will face off against Mandarin in the sequel.
Captain America’s shield has been spotted lying around Tony Stark’s workshop, there have been rumors that Captain America will be interwoven in the second film's story line to set up the Captain America film, due out shortly after Iron Man 2.
Stan Lee's cameo has been revealed. He will play talk host Larry King."
Many thanks to UGO.com for providing this list.
What do you think about those Cap rumors? I think they would be crazy not to reference the good Captain America in 'Iron Man 2.' Same goes for 'Thor', but, until the studio confirms or debunks these rumors then unfortunately they are just that.
Who knows, maybe the PR people will actually do their jobs for once and keep the Easter eggs on the down low this time? Surprising the hell out of everyone? Nahhh!!
'Iron Man 2' hits theaters May 7th, 2010.