In a move that shocked industry analysts, it was announced today that Jon Favreau was going to be leaving the billion dollar “Iron Man” franchise. This franchise turned Favreau into one of the choice, A-list directors out there, Robert Downey, Jr. into one of the top stars in the world, and Iron Man himself into one of the hottest superheroes in comics. Walking away from it is walking away from guaranteed huge paychecks and matching prestige, especially considering he’s the main man at Marvel Films (who quickly has become one of the biggest names in movies).
Favreau told the LA Times Hero Complex blog:
“Marvel and I both came of age together. The years that we shared were a pivotal experience. Kevin (Feige) has a firm grasp on the many franchises and how they all interweave and I am happy that I had the opportunity to establish the world that these characters can now play in…. ‘Iron Man’ has given me tremendous opportunities and Kevin and I are enjoying a lot of momentum in our careers thanks to the ‘Iron Man’ films. I look forward to seeing what others can do playing in the same world.”
Going forward, Favreau will be moving on to a major undertaking by Disney in which they will be hiring A-list directors (others involved include David Fincher and Guillermo Del Toro) to create live-action adaptations of the imagery found at their theme parks and with their classic characters. While this seems like a bold move for them, we can look at the fact a far less talented director turned a less likely theme park ride than Favreau’s “Magic Kingdom” into a worldwide mega hit (with that being Gore Verbinski’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”).
