On Wednesday, Iron Man director Jon Favreau was the center of attention as he answered questions about Iron Man and Iron Man 2 at the Los Angeles Times. You can still read the entire transcript at the LA Times website, but Super Hero Hype! was kind enough to pull out Favreau’s answers to the questions that covered the sequel:

We’re playing with who the villain should be and what we should incorporate from the comic book. And how it will lead into the Avengers.

I’m working with Justin a writer. He’s writing the first draft of the script. I’m working with a story board artist. As well as designing the costumes for good guys and bad guys.

I think its important for all filmmakers working for Marvel to collaborate so there is a consistency in the films, so yes they should keep in touch. I had not been in touch really with Louis during”Hulk” and I think that would have been helpful. I hope to be in contact with directors in the future.

No Dresden, but Marty and Elayne would make good supervillians.

Mandarin is still an important figure in the Iron Man universe. We have an interesting take on him that allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains. The whole 10 Rings thing in IM 1 was a good tease for it.

The sequel is shaping up to incorporate Tony’s vision for the future. What happens after he says “I am Iron Man?”

I focus mostly on story and character. I put a great value on emotion, humor and natural dialogue. The effects are fun to explore in original ways, but without a strong story, they mean nothing.

An earlier answer that scrambled: Now that marvel is making its own movies, every movie has to fit into the Marvel universe. the Avengers incorporates not just Iron Man, but Thor, possibly the Hulk and traditionally Captain America as well. As it is, it’s scheduled Thor will come out the same summer as “Iron Man2” and Captain America will come out a few months before Avengers. All the films have to come together to create a consistent universe.That’s very important to everyone involved.

Robert brought him to life “for real.” I found a guy that embodied enough of the qualities of Tony Stark to imbue him with an emotional reality. Fergus and Ostby and Markum and Holloway added much to the equation as writers as well.

Happy Hogan can no longer be a wall flower. I must marry Pepper someday. And let’s not rule out the Freak! I have tremendous leverage to make such demands! Stay tuned.

Shield is imortant to the franchise, and what is Shield without Fury?

The only other comic character I would do is Groo.

The “connection” you ask about relates directly to the Mythic “rise of the hero” or hero’s journey. The character must grow or change over the course of the film. If not, the movie goes emotionally flat and relies on tittilation.

We need War Machine. Agreed. Shoulder cannons and all.

Stark has issues with booze. That’s part of who he is. I don’t think we’ll ever do the Leaving Las Vegas version, but it will be dealt with.

The date is daunting. We are making much faster progress than the first time around and have much less to design and fewer casting issues. I am confident that 2010 is achievable if we continue working together as we have for tha past few months. It has to be great, though. It has to be great.

My seven year old son said Iron Man was the second best movie of the year. #1 was Panda.

The new Fraction books are pretty great. We flew him out to LA to discuss story. He’s a great comic writer. Also, love Adi’s art. He will work on the movie’s designs.

There’s always room for improv on my sets. I set up multiple cameras and let them rip.

I think we need some version of “classic villains” in these movies. Many don’t hold up well to time and to the big screen, but their essence should inspire the characters.

Female villain… Now there’s an interesting notion.

Tough to actually shoot in IMAX when you have a CG hero much of the time. The effects becaome very expensive and may not look as good in the higher resolution. Worked very well for DK, though.

Iron Man is indeed a celebrity. He announced who he was and we have now officially departed from the standard secret ID superhero. Tony was already famous before the announcement. What would really happen if this went down? Fun to explore.