From IESB:

Jon Favreau is set to direct Marvel Studios' live-action feature " Iron Man," which will now be distributed by Paramount.

News is part of a wider announcement from Marvel outlining a barrage of directing and writing deals for a slate of films it is developing with aims to independently finance out of a $525 million fund from Merrill Lynch.

All the pics but one, " The Incredible Hulk," will be distribbed by Par under an existing service agreement.

* " Iron Man," Marvel' s top priority, also has nabbed writing duo Arthur Marcum and Matt Hollaway (" Convoy" ).

New Line gave rights back to Marvel last year after several years of unsuccessful development. (Daily Variety , Nov. 3)

* Marvel disclosed it is pursuing a second " Hulk" pic, despite the so-so performance of Ang Lee' s 2003 film. Zak Penn, who has collaborated with Marvel on several features, including the upcoming " X-Men: The Last Stand," will pen the script for what' s being called " Incredible Hulk."

Universal, which handled the first " Hulk," would distribute the follow-up.

Follow-up is expected to have a smaller budget and be less erudite. " There' s something very primal about the Hulk that we didn' t get in movie one," said Marvel Studios chair Avi Arad.

* Scribe David Self (" Thirteen Days," " Road to Perdition" ) has been tapped to pen the long-awaited feature version of " Captain America."
* Edgar Wright (" Shaun of the Dead," " Hot Fuzz" ) will direct and co-write with Joe Cornish the feature film " Ant Man." Always seen as a bit of a ridiculous super-hero -- his power is to control ants -- duo plan to give the big-screen " Ant-Man" a comedic twist.

Wright will also co-produce with Nira Park, his partner at Big Talk Prods.

* Marvel has tapped scribe Andrew Marlowe (" Air Force One," " Hollow Man" ) to pen the script for " Nick Fury," based on Marvel' s military super spy.
* Fresh off writing Warner Bros. " Poseidon," Mark Protosevich will pen Marvel' s " Thor."

Arad said the intent is to use the $525 million Merrill Lynch debt facility to finance " Iron Man" and the " Hulk," even though those titles were not among the 10 listed when the deal with Merrill Lynch was struck last spring.

If those pics are produced, Marvel would have to either raise more money or put aside other projects in development to make room.

Budgets on Marvel pics are expected to be between $50 million and $165 million.

Marvel hasn' t committed to put any of its pics into production yet, though it' s hoping to release the first one by 2008. " Iron Man" and " Incredible Hulk" are furthest along and thus most likely to hit that date.

Marvel has seven other super heroes and teams in development without talent yet attached.

" These are all giant titles. Obviously, there' s a lot of work to be done," Arad said.

After " Iron Man" and " Hulk," Marvel' s next priority is " Captain America," which Arad said he hopes to release in 2009.

Well then there ya go.

I never really liked captain america.

Me either, he is boring, but I would like to see the incredible hulk, if they do it right lots of smashing stuff, looking big and strong. I liked the comic style editing (i guess) in the original, like how it was in panels. the first hour was " excuse me while I sleep" bad. after though seeing the hulk in action was nice, the story was just crap,

Comic book heroes are being eshewed out at (relative) breakneck speed. I just wish they would be more conscious of the movies' quality, because I do NOT want another Daredevil or Elektra.

On another note, I always found the big S, Superman, quite boring. He is nigh invincible, and has few problems. His emotional development is quite stiff. That is why I was relatively surprised with the quality of Smallville. Mind you, I do not think it is the best thing since sliced bread, but that was an impressive show about the pre-S. Hmm, it is still going on, right? Need me to rent season 4. Then 5. There is a 5, right? Maybe 6? I digress, I should be talking Marvel here.

Did not like Punisher.
Nor Hulk.
Nor Daredevil.
Nor Elektra.

I can say that I like the X-Men flicks so far. Just a hickup here and there.

Still, I just don' t care too much about superheroes other than Batman and Spiderman... and maybe Iron Man. I' d rather watch Hokuto no Ken - Raoh Gaiden. (not exact title)

I liked x-men but thats back in the days when evolution cane out that was ok aswell but lost interest. I always hated spiderman and batman just found them boring.

Overall, comic book heroes just do not have the same appeal as they once had for me. Things tend to be relatively predictable. Batman I liked because he was always the borderline crazy type, and Spidey because he is an average kid Joe turned superhero... but I liked Spidey the most during the animated tv show of the 80' s. It was kickass for its day.

I never really liked X-Men too much. The tale bounds here and there depending on who the writers decide to write for that very month. It eventually becomes quite the dilluted product. Still, the movies do a nice job.

I' d rather watch FLCL.

Overall, Marvel' s properties on the big screen are a mixed bag. The more beloved by the readers, the more they are treated carefully, and the better they turn out. That being said, I could care less for Daredevil, Elektra, and the Punisher... I take that back. I was peeved they could not do Punisher properly.

If Captain America actually turns out to be interesting, they have no excuse for making the Punisher into garbage.

Overall, comic book heroes just do not have the same appeal as they once had for me. Things tend to be relatively predictable. Batman I liked because he was always the borderline crazy type, and Spidey because he is an average kid Joe turned superhero... but I liked Spidey the most during the animated tv show of the 80' s. It was kickass for its day.

You know what it is...it' s because then everything was original, fresh and just seemed so new.. and had a bit of a vintage tang to it..plus the stories were really good in some of them, you still have some really original comics out there but as soon as they go main stream it seems like they loose the plot and get crappy.

Iron Man was one of my favorites, back in the day (along with Spiderman)! Now they just need to release Powerman and Iron Fist, and I' d be all set!

I think that some of these remakes might be a little excessive at this point.

Nothing will ever compare to Sin City or the X-Men franchise.