Iron Man 2 is not even out yet and still, a third movie has already had much discussion. "Demon in a Bottle" and Iron Man's involvement with The Avengers have been storylines alluded to. What about a villain? Further involvement of Justin Hammer to Fin Fang Foom have been mentioned but the biggest one is Iron Man's greatest foe: The Mandarin. We already know this particular storyline is building in the form of The Ten Rings. Our own, MultiPurposePoni made some incredible observations and connections in his article:
How does the Mandarin fit into
Iron Man 2?
MovieWeb got a chance to sit down with
Iron Man 2 writer Justin Theroux and asked if the character would cameo in the upcoming Shellhead movie.
"Yeah, we tip our hat to that but that's a tough one to get in because it's such a big storyline. So that, I don't know, and I don't dare say it but it might feature in "Iron Man 3", I don't know?"
Cast and crew, especially Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau, have repeatedly acknowledged his screenplay and his ability to adapt to improvisation. So, would he be interested in the third movie?
"Yeah they seem very stoked. I think they are super focused on "The Avengers", which I'm not available for and who knows when the next one comes around what I'll be doing, if I'll be around? But I'd love to do it."
DogsOfWar-Now, I may be reading into this more than I should (though, I don't normally do that), but we all know Marvel already has sweeping arc interconnecting the movies that lead up to
The Avengers. From Justin's comment that he was not available for Avengers, it would seem he has seen the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or at least a glimpse of it. The Mandarin being in an Iron Man movie is not exactly a shocker but to hear any type of confirmation that he might be featured is certainly exciting, since that storyline will require a large set-up to be done correctly. The first two will have laid the groundwork.