Ask Me a Question: Iron Man Three

It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks for genre movies around Hollywood with Entertainment Weekly's inaugural, week long Cape Town Film Festival kicking off tonight followed by the LA Times' Hero Complex soon following.  Cape Town started things off with a hilarious bang in the form of an advance screening of Iron Man Three!

The near capacity Egyptian Theater crowd was treated to some extremely amusing Iron Man cartoons from the 1960's.  Animated Tony Stark and his alter ego take on Mole Man, molten lava and robotic dragon lizards when buildings around town start sinking towards the Earth's core.  Besides the POW and FLOP style subtitles, the shorts were memorable for their typical 1960's chauvinistic treatment of female characters.  Just as James Bond slaps a bum and tells whatever pretty young thing it's time for "man talk", Stark orders around Pepper Potts at every turn to hysterical results.

Moderator Geoff Boucher introduced Marvel Studios Chief Kevin Feige for a quick yet informative discussion.

- At Comic-Con 2006, Marvel trotted out directors Jon Favreau, Louis Leterrier and Edgar Wright to discuss Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and Ant-Man.  Still waiting on that Ant-Man feature!
- Marvel tried to use Mandarin in Iron Man One and Two to no avail.
- Thor II wrapped in January and they're currently editing it above the sound stages where Captain America II is being shot.
- At the end of every film since Iron Man II, about 100 special posters are commissioned and given to department heads and cast.
- Shane Black's penchant for Christmas stories continues into Iron Man Three.  Feige recalls how hot it was shooting in North Carolina in the Summer but the set design and actors fool you into thinking it's cold.
- Shane Black's directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was instrumental to landing Robert Downey Jr the role of Tony Stark.
- Feige figured if they did it right, the name Tony Stark would be as known as Iron Man and the actor behind it would be their Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp.
- Feige's experience with other, disappointing super hero part III's led them to challenge the formula and try something different.
- At some point Daredevil will be back at Marvel but that doesn't mean they're going to make the film any time soon.
- Marvel has mapped out their cinematic universe until 2016, then Phase III begins.
- The SHIELD television show won't effect the rest of the universe.
- Guardians of the Galaxy is an exciting property since it's not as well known with less expectation and more chance to make a mark a la non-existing properties/brands The Matrix and Star War were before.

Boucher and Feige have a nice rapport and discussed more but hey, become a member of the American Cinematheque and come see for yourself.

The movie rolled and it was fucking great.  Extremely funny and exciting.  Don't want to spoil anything else.

Cape Town Night Two features a double feature with Edgar Wright and I'm sure a surprise or two.  I'll be back for Night Three and The Thing with John Carpenter!