Tuesday 14 December 2010

Hollywood Babble On & On #647: Marvel Dumps Man Behind Iron Man

Welcome to the show folks....

The interwebs is buzzing over reports that director Jon Favreau is out as the man behind the camera for Iron Man 3.

I went down to Marvel headquarters, which is behind the Taco Bell in Burbank, and asked if these reports were true or not, this was their response...



Since that really told me nothing other than I love to repeat hacky jokes, I returned to my luxurious mountaintop mansion to ponder the issue. The first two
Iron Man movies were very successful financially, and usually studios are wary to drive off who many consider as the goose laying the golden eggs, so if this report is true than they must have some kind of reason behind it.

Let's look at the possible reasons:

1. Favreau is expensive. Jon Favreau isn't a fool and when dealing with major media companies like Paramount and Marvel/Disney he knows that it's a matter of getting what you can up front and holding onto it.

Marvel and Disney would rather find
someone cheaper, no matter how it affects the franchise, because since it's the third film in a trilogy, they're expecting to just coast along.

2. Favreau has too much clout.
One of the biggest complaints against Iron Man 2 was that there were too many villains trying to do too many things all at once. But the blame for that falls squarely on Marvel who insisted on pumping in more characters in the hopes that it would help spur the upcoming Avengers movie. Rumor has it that Marvel is planning to cram every second tier character into Iron Man 3, in the hopes that it will open the door to other future franchises for them to exploit.

It's unlikely that Favreau will go along with that, considering how he was blamed for the overcrowded nature of Iron Man 2, and how fans now openly mock Spider-Man 3, which was product of just going along with Marvel. His box office record's too strong right now, and will be stronger if Cowboys and Aliens clicks with the audience, and Marvel/Disney doesn't want to have to fight to get what they want, when they can just order it.

Personally, I think it's a mistake. Tony Stark is a right wing, defense contractor alcoholic, womanizer, and aside from the booze and broads, Hollywood doesn't have a good record at presenting that kind of character in a heroic role. Favreau and Downey Jr. created the right alchemical mix of charm and brains to pull it off.

Will his replacement be able to do it amid the rumored cacophony that Marvel/Disney is planning? I don't know, but I don't think so.

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