‘Iron Man 3,’ the third installment of Robert Downey Jr’s popular Iron Man franchise is already in pre-production, according to Firstshowing.net. The film, in conjunction with other Marvel productions, will all culminate (hopefully) in an ‘Avengers 2,’ despite the first ‘Avengers’ film to have a premiere date for May 2012.

The ‘Avengers’ films, based off of the Marvel comics, will also feature Robert Downey Jr in his Iron Man character.

Speaking of ‘Iron Man 3’, Feige said it would be the first "in the second phase of the ‘Avengers’ initiative,” meaning that other films need to be released, including Downey’s ‘Iron Man 3,’ to properly set up the ‘Avengers’ sequel.
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At the New York Comic Con this past week, studio head Kevin Feige spoke of the future of the Marvel films. He hinted that, keeping in tradition with other Marvel films, that there could be a a teaser scene after the credits roll for ‘Avengers’ to introduce ‘Iron Man 3.’

In a separate article on FirstShowing, Robert Downey Jr opened up about the transition of directors for ‘Iron Man 3,’ one that he must be pleased with after the handful of arguments that plagued ‘Iron Man 2,’ a film that is said to have its own “speedbumps.” “It's kind of like we're fighting on the same side and at the same time we're circling each other, so it's all great. It should be great,” said Downey of Black’s direction and the future of ‘Iron Man 3.’

‘Iron Man 3’ has a current release date of May 2013, while ‘Avengers’ will premiere in May 2012.