Iron Man 2 and 3 in the pipeline, Downey Jr. to star

Did you love the snarky bad-assery that was this summer’s blockbuster Iron Man? Well, good, because there’s there’s a whole lot more Tony Stark in your future. ICV2 is reporting that star Robert Downey Jr. has signed on for two sequels, as well as the upcoming The Avengers. It’s all part of a four picture deal (which was written to include the first film). You are going to have to wait a bit before you get to see Stark take to the skies, however – Iron Man 2 is slated for a May 7th, 2010 release, and The Avengers is coming on July 15th, 2011.

The DVD release of Iron Man is still sitting pretty at #2 – and the film did a buttload of business this summer, as part of the phenomenal revival of super hero flicks. It’s very cool that we’ll soon be seeing crossover in these major franchises (witness – the teaser scenes at the end of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk) – it’s a cool idea, one that’s totally worth waiting a few years to see in action. If only they could pin down Christopher Nolan to direct the third Batman flick – then we’d really be all set.

Read [ICV2]