Jon Favreau NOT Directing Iron Man 3

Fans of the Iron Man movies, get ready for a ride.

It’s being reported that Jon Favreau, Director of the first two Iron Man movies will not be returning to direct the third – a decision he informed Marvel Studios of this week. It’s unclear if the decision was financial or creative. Unnamed sources are saying that Favreau was frustrated with Marvel wanting to cram so many different characters from the Marvel U into his Iron Man movies, but nothing about this being the reason has been confirmed. But Vulture did offer up this tidbit supporting it:

In a recent interview with MTV News, Favreau explained that based on his conversations with Marvel Studios executives, he had no clarity as to what a third Iron Man film would even be about. “In theory, Iron Man 3 is going to be a sequel or continuation of Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Avengers,” said Favreau at the time, “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.”

Eric Goldman over at IGN notes:

However, Vulture says Favreau may have simply been too expensive for Marvel at this point, as they and their parent company, Disney, look to find ways to cut costs – noting that Favreau is said to have made $10 million for Iron Man 2 and would almost certainly get another sizable raise for Iron Man 3 to as much as $15 million, along with receiving 15 percent of the film’s gross after it recouped costs.

Honestly, either reason could be the case, but whatever the reasoning may be, Marvel is on the hunt to find a new director for Iron Man 3.

So, readers, what do you guys think of this news? Do you think Marvel was maybe trying to micromanage the project too much? Could they just not afford Favreau? Who would you like to see replace him? Sound off in the comments below!

Interesting Side-Note: Robert Downey, Jr.’s contract with the Iron Man movies gives him director approval rights.