Shane Black Also Writing Iron Man 3 Afterall?

It wasn't too long ago that Marvel Studios announced that Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) would be directing Iron Man 3. Replacing Jon Favreau and it was expected he would also handle writing duties. So when Drew Pearce was brought in by the studio to write it seemed odd as Black is known as a very successful screenwriter. CinemaBlend is now reporting that Shane is in fact co-writing with Drew.

It's great news as Shane is one of the greatest action genre writers. Creating the Lethal Weapon franchise to writing scripts for The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Last Action Hero and his directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. He's also working on adaptations of Doc Savage and Death Note.

I recently re-watched Iron Man 2 and one of my biggest issues were the film's action set pieces in Monaco and Stark Mansion. They were big let downs and it wasn't until the very end that we got something fun and visual with the droids, War Machine and Black Widow. Hopefully Black can give us a solid Iron Man adventure and not just a Tony Stark focused soap opera.

Marvel has yet to reveal the plot or villains of the film but they have stated it won't be bloated like Iron Man 2 with all the character cameos and setting up other films. This very well could mean we won't see a big S.H.I.E.L.D presence along with fellow Avengers not making cameos. It's being toted as in the vain of a Tom Clancy novel which gives the impression that The Ten Rings will likely be involved. The Mandarin and Whitney Frost (Madame Masque) have been teased with Emily Blunt being rumored for a role in the film. I would expect there could be casting announcements made at this year's Comic-Con as the release date is set for May 3rd 2013.