Deadline is reporting that Shane Black is indeed in final negotiations to direct the third Iron Man picture which has a May 2012 release date.

Shane Black is a favorite choice of ours because of his work as a tight screenwriter of films like Lethal Weapon and as a fantastic director, particularly his last Robert Downey Jr. team up, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

A curious note in the Deadline story: Black isn’t, at this point, writing the screenplay. That piece of the negotiation is up in the air, but any director worth his salt will change up the script to suit the material and vision regardless. And Shane Black’s strengths start with his story structure and screenwriting. It would be foolish to hire him for directing and not bring to bear the true nature of his talent.

Take it from us, this is great news for Marvel fans.