Though Iron Man 3 only just hit theaters a couple of weeks ago (and crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office today), many of the conversations surrounding the film have revolved around the prospect of Iron Man 4.  A fourth film in Marvel’s most prominent—and successful—franchise seems like a no-brainer, but there’s the tiny matter of star Robert Downey Jr.’s contract.  His agreement with Marvel is currently up for renegotiation, meaning there is no guarantee that he’ll don the Iron Man suit again.  The actor is said to be in negotiations to return for The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3, but an agreement has yet to be made regarding another standalone Iron Man film.

Downey and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently talked a bit about the prospect of seeing Iron Man 4 pop up in Marvel’s Phase Three slate of films, and while Feige is confident that the character will live on no matter what happens, Downey seems keen on taking a break from Tony Stark for a bit.  Hit the jump for more.

Not to be confused with the John Wells-directed drama of the same name starring Bradley Cooper, Jon Favreau’s Chef will instead be an indie comedy both directed by and starring Favreau himself.  Joining him will be the world-renowned billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark Robert Downey Jr.  The story centers on “a man (Favreau) who loses his chef job and starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise and reclaiming his estranged family.”  Also starring are Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale.  Hit the jump for casting news for Nicole Kidman and Stephen Lang.

The folks at Marvel are no doubt celebrating the massive opening weekend for Iron Man 3—which currently stands as the second highest of all time behind The Avengers—but the studio still has a very large question mark lingering over its future.  With the release of Iron Man 3, star Robert Downey Jr. fulfilled his contract with Marvel.  He is not contractually obligated to appear in any more Marvel films, and thus has a rather sizable amount of leverage over Marvel going forward given that he is, to the moviegoing public, the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Iron Man is the most recognizable character in Marvel Studios’ roster, and the character is now synonymous with Robert Downey Jr.

As such, everyone has been wondering whether RDJ will be back and if there are any more standalone Iron Man films in the future.  The negotiations have now begun, and things are, well, a bit complicated.  Hit the jump for much more.

A Tropic Thunder reunion may be in the cards.  Robert Downey Jr. has been trying to mount a new feature film version of Pinocchio for some time now, and most recently he had discussions with Tim Burton to possibly direct.  The film is based on an idea by Downey himself, and the actor would tackle the role of Geppetto as well as produce the pic alongside wife Susan Downey.  While on the Iron Man 3 press circuit, the actor recently hinted that his Tropic Thunder director Ben Stiller would be a great fit for the Pinocchio director’s chair, and now it appears that discussions between the two have materialized into something a bit more concrete.  Hit the jump for more.

There are almost as many concepts floating around in Iron Man 3 as there are suits of armor.  The only difference is that the armors have a clearly defined purpose.  In an attempt to bring Tony Stark back to basics, his latest outing is a strangely bloated affair that still manages to be an incredibly fun thanks to the hilarious comedy and exhilarating action.  Without question, it’s the funniest and most exciting of the trilogy, but it’s also surrounded by a host of underdeveloped ideas relating to notions of desperation, augmentation, and obfuscation, not to mention the aftershock of The Avengers.  Like riding in one of the Iron Man suits, it’s a bumpy but highly enjoyable ride.

It’s almost like this weekend is a national holiday with regards to all the hoopla surrounding the release of Marvel’s first Phase Two film, Iron Man 3.  We’ve already shared details and images for Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man as well as new info and concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy, and now it’s time for some updates on Marvel’s foray into television: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The pilot for the S.H.I.E.L.D.-centric potential series has already been shot (Joss Whedon co-wrote and directed), and now the series awaits an all-but-guaranteed greenlight from ABC.

We know that Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson returns as the star of the show (under some strange circumstances) and the series takes place after the events of The Avengers, but further details about how Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would fit into the larger Marvel universe have thus far been unclear.  EW’s recent cover story on Phase Two provides a closer look at the show, however, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige addressing the possibility of using the series to introduce new characters and Robert Downey Jr. talking about a possible appearance on the show.  Hit the jump to read on.

The wait is almost over for Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, which debuts in the States on Friday, May 3rd.  However, if you’re looking ahead to the rest of Marvel’s Phase Two slate of films, we’ve got a few nibbles of information to pique your interest.  Since there’s currently no Iron Man 4 on Marvel’s lineup, it’s looking like Robert Downey Jr.’s next appearance as the armored Avenger will be in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers 2.  But who else will be joining him?

Hit the jump for more on Iron Man 3 from Downey Jr., Black, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marvel’s Kevin Feige, along with updates on The Avengers 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Spoilers ahead.

Finally opening Stateside this weekend is Shane Black’s Iron Man 3.  The international debut has already set new box office records and will likely set the pace for the rest of 2013′s superhero features.  In a new clip from Iron Man 3, Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle appear out of their armor as Tony Stark and James Rhodes respectively.  Rhodes-y is worried about his pal, and with good reason.

Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Sir Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the clip and a new TV spot.

Marvel: Phase Two hasn’t even started to hit theaters, but sometimes you just want to rush to desert.  While walking the red carpet at the Iron Man 3 premiere, writer-director Joss Whedon was asked a couple questions regarding The Avengers 2.  First up, since it sounds like Robert Downey Jr. is considering retirement from the Marvel Universe, some may be wondering if we’ll see Iron Man flying around in Whedon’s film.  Whedon responded, “I am not the guy who has to worry about him being replaced. He is Iron Man at this point. When I heard that he was cast I knew that something had just changed, and I usually don’t know stuff like that.”  It sounds fairly certain that Downey is on board for The Avengers 2, but beyond that, Whedon doesn’t know if the actor will continue with the series.

Hit the jump for more including what Whedon had to say about Thanos’ presence in Phase Two.

Kicking off the blockbuster movie season, Marvel Studios is releasing Iron Man 3 on May 3^rd.  This time out, brilliant billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), aka Iron Man, faces a terrifying enemy, known as The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), whose reach knows no bounds, and he must rely on his own instincts to protect those that he loves.  From director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), the film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow (“Pepper Potts”), Don Cheadle (“James Rhodes”), Guy Pearce (“Aldrich Killian”), Rebecca Hall (“Maya Hansen”) and Jon Favreau (“Happy Hogan”).

During this press conference at the film’s Los Angeles junket, co-stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Sir Ben Kingsley talked about the biggest challenge in making Iron Man 3, the transformation of Pepper Potts, how Rhodey has evolved, how much of The Mandarin was actually in the script, what director Shane Black brought to this installment of the franchise, finding the right tone, how much they wanted the aftermath of the events in The Avengers to affect Tony Stark, what they hope people get out of the film, and the future of the Iron Man franchise.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

It’s tough to imagine there’s someone out there who has yet to decide whether they’re going to see Iron Man 3 or not, but Disney is nevertheless still keen on releasing clips from the film to entice fans even further.  Last night we saw a clip that focused on Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark dealing with the after effects of the events that transpired in The Avengers, but today’s clip is 100% action-oriented.  The clip highlights an aerial action sequence from the film that takes place in (and outside of) Air Force One midflight, and director Shane Black filmed actual skydivers falling to Earth in order to bring some much-welcomed reality to the sequence.

Hit the jump to watch the latest clip.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Sir Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

Marvel has released a new clip from Iron Man 3, which shows Tony Stark dealing with the fallout of the events of The Avengers: “Nothing’s been the same since New York.”  Robert Downey Jr. walks the fine line of arrogance and charm better than just about any other actor, but it helps for us to see Stark in a vulnerable moment, as he is here with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley also star.  Directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Iron Man 3 opens May 3.  Watch the clip after the jump.

After the worldwide success of Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers, writer-director Shane Black stepped into an almost unwinnable situation helming Iron Man 3.  While he would have Marvel’s biggest star, Robert Downey Jr., he wouldn’t be able to call on the rest of the Marvel universe for help, and fan expectations for the third installment were sky high.  But even though the cards were stacked against him, I’m happy to report that Iron Man 3 is a rousing success.  Not only is Black’s script fantastic and laugh out loud funny, he’s also crafted some amazing action set pieces and created a villain that everyone will be talking about.  Continued after the jump.

The U.S. premiere of Iron Man 3 was held last night in Los Angeles, and pretty much everyone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe walked the red carpet.  Though the various actors, actresses, directors, and producers didn’t exactly have time for lengthy interviews while making their way into the theater, a couple of them did drop some interesting tidbits about some upcoming Marvel films.  Gwyneth Paltrow, for one, seems to think that there isn’t going to be an Iron Man 4, and Joss Whedon provided a few more updates on The Avengers 2, even hinting at two new characters he says are in the film.  Hit the jump to read on.

Although Iron Man 3 has already had its world premiere, we here in the States have to wait a little over a week before we get to see it.  In the meantime, a new TV spot and 10 new images feature not only the principal cast of Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, but new looks at the supporting cast.  We get new looks at James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, Guy Pearce and Ty Simpkins, plus a TV spot takes us inside the surprisingly rustic cabin retreat of Tony Stark.

Also starring Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley,  Iron Man 3 opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the TV spot and check out the new images.