Shane Black Confirms Writing & Directing Iron Man 3, No Suited Villain!

When director Shane Black was first linked to Iron Man 3 it wasn't mentioned if the famous screenwriter would also handle writing duties. Now there is word from AICN that Black himself spoke about the third Iron Man during the Omaha Film Festival.

He went on to confirm that Robert Downey Jr. is contributing to the film's story and Black will write the script along with directing. Shane is one of the greatest action/comedy writers creating the Lethal Weapon franchise along with some amazing one-shots with The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Not to mention his directing debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which revived Robert Downey Jr.'s acting career.

Black revealed some story elements Stark won't fight another superpowered villain in a suit. As Marvel wasn't happy with how Iron Man 2 turned out and are trying to make it more grounded. Real world villains will be fought and Tom Clancy was sited as inspiration. It sounds like we could end up seeing The Ten Rings or A.I.M. being the baddies in the next film but I wouldn't rule out the Mandarin.