Shane Black talks about IRON MAN 3

This weekend at Long Beach Comic Con director Shane Black showed up and gave a little information on Iron Man 3 which he will direct from a script written by Drew Pierce. It was recently announced that the film would be shooting in North Carlolina this time around. He didn't go into a lot of detail about the story, but here are a few details that he did reveal. Lok them over and tell us what you think!

• Black told the audience that he requested that director Jon Favreau return as Happy Hogan in the film. “I love him as an actor,” said Black as the audience cheered.
• When audience members suggested the Mandarin, Black dismissed it as a racist caricature. The director then said he was not going to divulge any detail about who the villain would be, stating that it was more satisfying to see the movie without knowing everything beforehand.
• Black said that in Iron Man ” he hoped to make bold choices and planned to set up multiple payoffs and reversals. He suddenly quizzed the audience on what a reversal was, and one audience member said it was an event or bit of information that shifted your perception.
• He revealed that outside of a few references, Iron Man 3 would not involve the Avengers and would focus squarely on Tony Stark. "We really want to make it Tony’s movie,”
• An audience member jokingly asked if Iron Man 3 takes place at Christmas, like so many of Black’s other films. to which Black replied... “I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Black as the audience laughed.
• The director also confirmed that Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle would return as Pepper Potts and Rhoades, respectively.
• A female audience member asked if the rumor that Black Widow was returning to the film was true. “I’ll check the script and see if that’s in there,” said Black as the audience laughed.
• An audience member asked Black whether he preferred practical effects or digital ones and Black said that at this point CG often looks more real than the practical effects, explaining that Iron Man’s real armor looks faker onscreen than the CGI version.
• “We decided that the villain was going to be the Melter – no, I’m kidding,” added Black as the audience laughed. The director continued, “That’s the problem, isn’t it? Iron Man never really had good villains.” When audience members suggested the Mandarin, Black dismissed it as a racist caricature.
• An audience member wanted to then know if there was a particular “Iron Man” run that will influence Iron Man 3. Black replied, “I like the storyline where he was rich and there was a villain and then he wins,” said Black as the audience laughed. He added that he went back and read a lot of Iron Man comics as research for the film but, “I cannot speak about the particulars of Iron Man.”