CAST EM': Iron Man 3

Production is about to start on Iron Man 3 as Robert Downey Jr. is already sporting Tony Stark facial hair during international premieres of Sherlock Holmes 2. The third installment has been talked up by Robert as possibly the best in the series. Stating the script is one of the best he's ever read. At the helm is Shane Black who could be attributed to helping Robert land the Iron Man role in the first place. As Black's film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a career comeback for Downey and showed studios he was ready to work. Shane along with co-writer Drew Pearce have groundout a solid script according to the actor. It would make sense since Black is best known for creating the Lethal Weapon franchise, which is still considered the gem of the action genre.

While casting and character announcements haven't been made. Yet they soon will as the production date starts looming. I feel like I should give my two cents before the slew of casting rumors begin to flood in.

MY CASTING THOUGHTS

EVA GREEN AS MADAME MASQUE: We've been hearing rumors that Emily Blunt has been wanted for this role but I feel Eva is better suited. The French actress has had some success with Casino Royale and the underrated Kingdom of Heaven. It would be interesting to see her enter the fray of comic book films. She recently worked on Tim Burton's Dark Shadows and has been a regular on the series Camelot. Her latest film Perfect Sense was stunning which again shocks me why Hollywood isn't hiring this lady for bigger films. Green is able to pull off femme fatale convincingly which would be needed for the role. One thing that is seriously missing in the genre are strong female villains.

NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU AS GHOST: Ghost is one of the most interesting villains in Iron Man's very limited rogues gallery. The corporate thief has quickly become a fan favorite with his involvement with the Thunderbolts. Even the character's creator hoped he would end up in the films. If Marvel wants to ground the third film this villain would help to achieve that goal. Also, while he does use advanced technology he isn't just another carbon copy of Iron Man.

Nikolaj seems like a great actor to play the character as he's both charismatic and villainous. The Danish actor burst onto the scene last year as Jamie Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones. He also had a great performance in the Norwegian thriller Headhunters which is expected to be released here in North America in 2012. Marvel has already proven they love Thrones by hiring Alan Taylor for Thor 2 and pursuing Brian Kirk for the same job previously.

ISABEL LUCAS AS MOCKINGBIRD: Marvel Studios has a longstanding history of introducing supporting Marvel characters in their films. In the first film we got Agent Coluson and a cameo from Nick Fury. The second installment gave us Black Widow and War Machine. While I think they should minimize new additions I think Mockingbird would be an excellent one. The SHIELD agent is a longstanding member of the West Coast Avengers and is known as the partner of Hawkeye. There have been rumblings that Sharon Carter and even Carol Danvers could be in The Avengers so a character like Mockingbird might be better suited for an Iron Man 3 intro. If they are indeed moving forward with both the SHIELD and Hawkeye spin-offs she would likely be a character that would need to be included.

Australian actress Isabel Lucas is best known for her extensive work on the Aussie soap Home And Away. The staple show has been a stomping ground for Australian actors to get noticed. Most notable cast members included Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts, Guy Pearce, Isla Fisher, Chris Hemsworth and Simon Baker. She recently played Athena in Immortals which was an action heavy role. Isabel will also get tough in the remake of Red Dawn alongside Thor himself Chris Hemsworth which comes out on November 2nd. It would be nice to see an actress hired with both an action and dramatic background behind her.

Shane Black Talks Villains & Casting For Iron Man 3

Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Lethal Weapon) the director and co-writer of Iron Man 3 was speaking at the Long Beach Comic-Con (via ComicBookResources). He gave up brief details on the third installment which included one villain that won't be included along with who will be returning.

Mandarin is a villain Black doesn't want to see included as he's "a racist caricature". Which might be a shock to Jon Faverau who originally wanted to use him. Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are expected to reprise their supporting roles. He also stated the film won't be focused on The Avengers or Easter eggs.

Warner Bros. Looking To Hire Writer For Sherlock Holmes 3

It looks like Warner Bros. is hot on their Sherlock Holmes franchise as Deadline reports that they're moving forward with the third installment. The second film Game Of Shadows hasn't even hit theaters but the studio is looking to hire Drew Pearce to pen Sherlock Holmes 3. Pearce recently co-wrote the Iron Man 3 script with director Shane Black. Also, writing The Runaways script for Marvel Studios.

It seems like a good way to push forward a solid trilogy before the heat wears off and director Guy Ritchie looses interest. Ritchie's many other film projects [The Real RockNRolla, Lobo, Dirty Dozen, Sgt. Rock] have been put on hold because of the Holmes series. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have previously stated they'd both be on board for a trilogy. It's currently unknown if either Noomi Rapace or Rachel McAdams would be returning for the next installment.

Natalie Portman & Stellan Skarsgård Confirmed For Avengers

It looks like there will be more cross-pollinating in the Marvel universe. BadTaste has word from Chris Hemsworth that Natalie Portman will be returning as Jane Foster in The Avengers. It was also recently mentioned by Stellan Skarsgård himself that he would be reprising his role of Professor Erik Selvig in the film as well. They join an already impressive cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders.

This news makes me wonder if Pepper Potts and Rhodey/War Machine will eventually show up in the film as well. As both Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow have given the impression neither had been approached and will stay in the Iron Man films.

Michelle Monaghan Would Join Iron Man 3 If Offered Role

Collider's Frosty was able to sit down with Michelle Monaghan during press for Source Code. He brought up her wonderful performance in Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang opposite Robert Downey Jr. and asked if she'd be up for joining Iron Man 3. While Michelle says she talked with Shane about the film which focused more his own excitement. She left the door open saying if she was offered a role she'd take it but won't pursue.

Considering her friendship with both Shane and Robert it's likely her name could be thrown into the mix if there is enough interest from fans and Kevin Feige. Yet, Michelle might have had a bad experience with superhero films as she was in talks to play Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine but ultimately didn't get the part. If I had to guess which role she'd be suited for would be either Whitney Frost (Madame Masque) or Jessica Drews (Spider-Woman). There had been speculation that Emily Blunt was up for a role in third film. As Emily has previously stated she never wanted to sign on for a multiple picture deal. Seeing Blunt playing a villain wouldn't be shocking. I'd personally love to see both of them in the third film and Gwyneth Paltrow take a backseat as the love interest.

When Will We See Guy Ritchie's The Real RockNRolla?

 The article on the site that gets the most traffic and comments is the one focusing on Guy Ritchie's The Real RockNRolla. It's been promised ever since the original theatrical release of RockNRolla and it was even teased in the credits. Since then Guy Ritchie has been focused on many other projects. I'm going to run down what those movies are and the prospects of when we could expect Ritchie to start production on the RockNRolla sequel.

When it comes to Ritchie's current project he is shooting Sherlock Holmes 2 with Robert Downey Jr. The now established franchise is giving Guy more commercial success than he's ever had before. I expect like with other dedicated Warner Bros. directors (Nolan, Snyder) he will be rewarded with financing for his original projects. The only setback is that he might want to round out a Holmes trilogy before jumping into anything else. I wouldn't be shocked to see Sherlock Holmes 3 his next film.

Guy's previously attached projects could also become a hold up on The Real RockNRolla. He's been in talks with producer Joel Silver to helm both Lobo and Sgt. Rock which are based on the DC comics.
The studio had filmed test shots for Lobo with Jeffery Dean Morgan (Watchmen) and possibly Clancy Brown (Highlander, Starship Troopers). Sgt. Rock is also in development hell and is being re-tool from being set during WWII to the future. I'm not sure if the productions stopped because of Holmes 2 or the fact the characters were taken from Silver by DC Entertainment.


Ritchie has also been attached to direct remakes of the Dirty Dozen and Excalibur for the studio. From what I understand Dozen got the axe because of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. I'm sure it will eventually happen but needs time between the Tarantino film.

Excalibur was once part of Bryan Singer's long list of projects in the works. He's been focused on Jack The Giant Killer which made opt out on directing X-Men First Class. Giving Matthew Vaughn the chance to finally show us his version of the X-Men universe. It would be interesting to see Ritchie take on the world of fantasy.


Another dreaded obstacle could be Ritchie signing onto new projects. Mark Millar teased that Ritchie along with Sam Raimi had been interested in making a movie based on his comic Nemesis. The project now has Tony Scott in the director's chair setup at 20th Century Fox. It's not surprising to see his name involved with Millar's projects since Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn is a friend and producer of Guy's films. Vaughn helped produce Lock Stock, Snatch and Swept Away. Millar is now teasing that his new comic Superior will become a film. Superior is a mix of iconic comic book mythology taking influences from Superman, Thor and Shazam!. The comic writer says the director would be announced in January. There is a possibility Guy Ritchie very well could be this name.

A very doubtful but still possible project could be Iron Man 3. It's unlikely because of Guy's current relationship with both DC and Warner Bros. Yet Robert Downey Jr. has director approval and could choose someone he's worked with before.

There could also be other unnamed projects which come up and he signs on. My expectations is that while The Real RockNRolla script is more than likely completed Guy could focus more on his high profile projects first. I wouldn't assume to see it go into production until 2012-2013 at the earliest. While there is enough of a demand from fans of the original he is sort of moving forward with different types of films. You can't blame him for wanting to expand his genres and can respect wanting to try different things.

Jon Favreau Says Iron Man 3 Is Sequel To Other Marvel Films

We know in the Marvel time-line that Iron Man 2 is set just before the events of The Incredible Hulk then comes Thor, Captain America and Avengers. Jon Favreau admits to MTV that Iron Man 3 will be sequel to ll those films essentially expanding the world setup in Avengers.

 The Marvel film universe is expansive where all the characters owned by Marvel/Disney can interact and share villains. I assume this means we could see other "meta-humans" involved in the third film like Cap, Hulk or Thor.



"In theory, 'Iron Man 3' is going to be a sequel or continuation of 'Thor,' 'Hulk,' 'Captain America' and 'Avengers,'" he said. "This whole world... I have no idea what it is. I don't think they do either, from conversations I've had with those guys." 


MY THOUGHTS:

The only other tidbits of information we know is that Favreau is keen on using the Mandarin which would include the Ten Rings as the film's villains. Hopefully this means we could see Mandarin developing his own suits like Fing Fang Foom. Having a villainous group similar to Hydra for Iron Man could be great for the series. An established group of villains would be better than scrambling like they did with Justin Hammer and Whiplash.

If they were to include one other villain I'd love to see Ghost. He's an interesting character that could be very visually stunning if done properly. Plus it doesn't hurt that the character's suit is super-stealthy which could help him gather Stark's blueprints for the Iron Man technology and new power source.


Emily Blunt, who was originally in line to play Black Widow might have a role in the film. It would be expected she'd play either Whitey Frost or Scarlet Witch. Favreau was going to cast Scarlett Johansson in the Witch role before Blunt left the film. I wouldn't be surprised to see the two switch roles. I'm not sure if Witch is under the control of Fox considering her extensive appearances in Avengers and West Coast Avengers comics.


While I like the idea of seeing Cap and Thor in an Iron Man film they don't really need to be in it. I expect we'll end up seeing the Iron Legion which could be Stark's own personal branch of SHIELD/Avengers. Rhodey put together a group of trusted Stark employees and friends to pilot old Iron Man suits. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pepper's Rescue along with Bethany Cabe representing the female side of the group.

Sam Raimi & Robert Downey Jr. Confirmed For Oz

Deadline reports that Disney has struck a deal with Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) to direct Oz The Great & Powerful. The prequel which would focus on the adventures of the Wizard has Robert Downey Jr. attached to star.