How IRON MAN 2 ruined Jon Favreau's relationship with Marvel

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by JacksonArcher, Aug 6, 2010.

  1. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    How Iron Man 2 ruined Jon Favreau's relationship with Marvel.

    The link above goes into depth about the creative process for Iron Man 2 and the somewhat disappointing result that was the movie. Apparently according to the source that Cinema Blend has spoken to, Favreau was unhappy with how Iron Man 2 turned out and furthermore was unhappy at the creative process that went into making the film.

    Allegedly, the differences began when Marvel and Favreau had payment disagreements over the director's gig for Iron Man 2. Marvel wanted to pay Favreau less than he had originally wanted. Eventually, Favreau had worked out a deal that secured him the payment he sought, but apparently that has led to Marvel paying their directors less for their subsequent films. As a matter of fact, Favreau was never a contender for The Avengers for that sole reason: They didn't want to pay Favreau the amount they would have had to, even though Favreau wanted the Avengers directing gig, so they sought out cheaper talent like Joss Whedon.

    The differences continued when Favreau felt creative inference on Marvel's end by forcing story elements into the film that would hint at a future Avengers film, such as an extra subplot which basically served as an Avengers infomercial. Characters such as Nick Fury and Black Widow were shoe-horned in to service this subplot, and apparently Favreau feels this subplot did more to disservice the film than actually help it.

    Purportedly even Robert Downey Jr. acknowledges the problems that occurred in the film, and while he's contractually obligated to do Iron Man 3, the source reveals that will likely be his last Marvel movie (after The Avengers). The source also claims that because of the differences between Marvel and Favreau and how Favreau feels Iron Man 2 was lackluster and disappointing as a result of that inference, it is likely that Favreau will not return for Iron Man 3, or so the source claims.

    Now, all of this could be pure conjecture, so take this all with a grain of salt, but if you read the article, and you understand the timeline of events that occurred leading up to Iron Man 2 (including the inferior film that it was), and you can see how these things can add up and begin to make sense. Iron Man 2 wasn't a bad film by any means, but I definitely agree that the shoe-horned in Avengers elements hurt the story and made it a weaker film as a result.

    What do you guys think? With Marvel trying to interconnect all of their films into one whole cohesive universe, are they damaging some of their solo efforts in the process? Was Iron Man 2 a weaker film as a consequence of Marvel's efforts to push for an eventual Avengers film?
     
  2. Basically... Marvel is treating their movies like their comic books, thus giving them the same creative problems their comics have.

    Most comic fans just care how "cooool!" it is to see Nick Fury or Captain America's shield than whether they really help the movie or not. The movie did nothing to explain who the F Sam Jackson really was or who these Avengers people were or what they have to do with anything really. It all just exists to feed the next franchise.

    Thank god Christopher Nolan won't have to deal with this sort of thing for Batman 3 (...we hope)!
     
  3. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    So, if I understand correctly, Marvel is the more the ass here the Favreau, right? Because I've always been a fan of Favreau's work and I thought Iron Man (the original) was a great movie and 2 was a huge disapointment as it did seem like it was trying to do about four different plot threads at once there.
     
  4. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't wish to point fingers, especially since this is only one side of a likely multiple-sided story, but if you follow Marvel's history dealing with clients then it makes a lot of sense. The falling out with Terrence Howard, payment disputes with Mickey Rourke, and then of course what just happened recently with Edward Norton.

    It begins to make sense. Especially since Favreau almost didn't direct Iron Man 2 after the disagreements they had over payment.

    As for the story problems with Iron Man 2, I think had Marvel not pushed for some of the Avengers elements like they did and allowed Favreau to make his own film like he did with the first film then Iron Man 2 could have been considerably stronger.
     
  5. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In addition, what do you expect out of a rookie movie studio? They're only what, 3 movies in? Almost seems like they think they know more then they actually do about how to run a successful movie studio and with the huge success of Iron Man right out of the gate got to their heads. And now seems like they're burning bridges with some top hollywood actors along the way.
     
  6. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    The Avengers elements weighed this movie down greatly which I think hurt the struggles Stark was having with his inner-demons and the infection from the reactor. The drunk/birthday scene was just embarassing which I'm not sure who to blame for that (Faverau, Downey, the studio, etc.) but the whole movie just seemed jumbled up and like it was more setting things up than telling a story.
     
  7. Agenda

    Agenda Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I'm a big a Marvel geek as they come, but I think this Avengers crossover business is asinine. Why not just make four strong franchises to introduce the characters? If they want them all to interact at a later date, they can easily take care of it in one movie.
     
  8. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'll point fingers at Marvel and Kevin Feige, no problem. Seems like par for the course for the way they're handling the movies. Cue Brett Ratner for Iron Man 3!!!

    I wonder if Downey publicly said all this, how willing they'd be to fire him and replace him with another actor. :lol:

    Maybe Warner can give Favreau the directing gig of one of their DC movies, starring Edward Norton and Terrence Howard.
     
  9. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Hmm...aren't there supposed to be a number of different Green Lanterns?
     
  10. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Seems like it's par for the course regarding Marvel...who seem to be getting cocky and full of themselves due to the success of their films. Their most recent highly publicized blunder involving Ed Norton not withstanding it seems they feel they can just insert whoever they want when a talent isn't happy or a salary issue is brought up. Sam Jackson too should be included in this. They've a whole slew of people they've had problems with. This doesn't surprise me and is clearly starting to set a trend with them that is sooner or later going to come back and bite them in the arse with their films. Imagine...all of this work to bring their movie universe together only to see it fall apart and shatter after wards because they've become too arrogant and can't attract big name talent any more.
     
  11. Worfmonger

    Worfmonger Commander Red Shirt

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    I think I'd giggle hysterically for hours if Downey stood up and called bullshit... and he could. It's not like he'll have trouble finding work.

    Peace

    Worfmonger
     
  12. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

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    Hasn't stopped them from getting great casts for their upcoming films.

    Seriously, there are tons of actors in Hollywood, and new names are being made all the time.
     
  13. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

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    Ouch! Forgotten already? You were just down ther
    Ultimately, I think Iron Man 2's problems had more to do with lightweight villains. While Whiplash was a mean lookin' mofo, he pretty quickly had his ass handed too him in both fight scenes.

    I think the Avengers elements weren't handled too badly. Yes, they felt more like promos for the next movie than a legitimate part of this one. But overall, I didn't find them too intrusive. I thought Black Widow could have used a bit more development actually. As for Nick Fury's role, I suppose I would have to know more about how those plotpoints would have progressed without him. He did provide a necessary stepping stone from A to C.

    The only part I didn't like was when the Avengers provided some sort of temporary stop-gap for Tony Stark's blood poisoning. I felt that really sapped the urgency out of that plotline.
     
  14. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, all kinds of them, spread throughout the universe. But there are only four human Green Lanterns: Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Raynor. Howard could play John Stewart, but Norton's too old for Raynor and isn't the right type to play Gardner.

    EDIT: Ugh, I totally forgot about Alan Scott. :alienblush:
     
  15. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    There are ton of actors yes and directors but the high end ones might not want to come work for Marvel Studios if they know they're going to be dicked around when it comes to negotiating salary.
     
  16. Agenda

    Agenda Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    That was a stupid move. Wouldn't it have been much more interesting if he was literally dying while trying to create the new element in time?
     
  17. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    First Raimi and now this. Can't they let the directors just tell their story? Look at Nolan. WB doesn't tell him what to do or at least they keep it on the down low
     
  18. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    So maybe some people here aren't too upset that Sony and Fox have some Marvel properties under their umbrella after all. ;)
     
  19. Timby

    Timby o yea just like that Administrator

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    That write-up certainly doesn't go "in-depth" -- it's 621 words, comes from a single, anonymous source, and contains as much editorializing as it does content. Calling it an "article" is a bit of a misnomer. :p

    That said, this doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know -- it was reported ages ago that Favreau had contentious negotiations for his Iron Man 2 contract, we knew that production was frenzied because the release date was locked in before any work had begun on the film. The only nuggets of new information here are that Downey didn't care for the movie, and Favreau may not have been happy with having to insert so much Fury / Avengers material, but I didn't have a problem at all with that stuff. As The Avengers gets closer, the Marvel films are going to have more and more material to set it up -- hence Clark Gregg having such a prominent role in Thor.
     
  20. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    That was my biggest problem with, the wrong villain was used for the sequel. They should have used Mandarin. Magic vs Tech would have been much more interesting to watch, since we already got two suited guys fighting in the first movie.

    Hopefully, Mandarin will finally appear in the next movie. I think it's pretty obvious that Iron Man 3 is going to get made.