If Marvel knows how to do anything its print money. The Iron Man franchise, as disappointing as it may have gotten, is box office gold. So it stands to reason that the studio would want to cash in on the series as long as it can. While Robert Downey Jr has not been signed on for Iron Man 4, rumor has it that he might be replaced. But instead of a new actor stepping in to play Tony Stark, we could be seeing his brother Arno dawn the Iron suit. Meanwhile,Marvel is releasing an all new short featuring Ben Kingsley. Could this mean that we might see the return of the Mandarin in the next movie.
It was recently announced that a tie-in to Iron Man 3 will be featured on the Thor 2: The Dark World Blu-Ray DVD. The short film titled, All Hail the King, will star Ben Kingsley reprising his role from Iron Man 3.
Iron Man 3 screenwriter Drew Pearce recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the new project:
"Imagine a real terrorist organization whose beliefs were long held and religious for thousands of years, and imagine a drunk, British actor coming along and essentially telling the world that he’s the face of your organization. I think they would be right to be quite angry."
Pearce went on to explain that the new short should segway into a new Iron Man film:
“I think short movies in general, whether they’re Marvel ones or not, you kind of want them to feel like they’re opening you up to a bigger world. Yeah, I definitely think there are--the non-spoiler way for me to say it--by the end of the short, there are definitely a lot of exciting other places that are brought up in it that could then go in the Marvel universe. You know, whether that’s an Iron Man movie or another one going into Phase Two or Three."
Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr might not be back as Tony Stark. There might not even be a Tony Stark. In the comics Arno Stark, Tony’s long lost brother, was recently introduced. Could the new stark star in the new film?
