Will Iron Man 3 Get A New Director?

Remember yesterday how we talked about fear?  I'm afraid of Iron Man 3 going the route of X-Men 3.  Today we're seeing a rumor that Jon Favreau will not in fact direct the third (and most likely final) installment of Iron Man.  We have several reports saying Favreau passed on the deal for a variety of reasons, ranging for salary disputes to script issues.

This comes as a bit of a shock.  Marvel already announced the release date for Iron Man 3, and Favreau recently talked about what the movie might contain as part of the bigger Marvel universe.  Why exactly did this happen?  One report suggests that Favreau's increasing success as a director means a bigger price tag, and that he would have needed more money.  We also don't know how attached he is to the idea of connecting the movies together, or if he just wants to do another project.  Until we hear something from either party, it's hard to validate this kind of news.

And yeah, this is potentially very bad news.  Although Iron Man 2 had its share of flaws, I was really hoping to see Favreau take the best of each movie and make a perfect final product.  Everyone assumed the director would be coming back for the last film, and it's hard to imagine who could possibly carry on that legacy.

So if the news is true, Marvel is going to need a new director.  I guess we have to figure out who could be right for the job.  I wonder if Christopher Nolan has some free time after Batman...