Iron Man 3 Gets an Official Date!

Earth's Mightiest Heroes are about to walk hand-in-hand with Earth's Mightiest Corporate Giant as Disney has acquired the rights to 2012's Avengers movie as well as the newly announced Iron Man 3.

In a press release (via ComingSoon) Disney announced they are paying Paramount Pictures $115 million to kill their distribution deal on the two movies, which will only be doled out after Paramount releases Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger next year. While this deal will help Disney synergize its properties with an Odin-like authority, it effectively ends any longterm gains for Paramount and franchise-wise leaves them with Star Trek, Transformers, and Mission: Impossible. Those aren't exactly poverety-row series, but they don't have the potential toy and amusement park appeal of the Marvel pictures.

Meanwhile, there's still Spider-Man & Ghost Rider over at Sony and X-Men, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four at Fox before Disney can truly say they have the entire Marvel roster under their banner. I think I speak for all fans when I say the truly cursed Punisher brand should just be quietly swept under the rug at this point, accepting its status as a three-time loser and official red-headed stepchild of the Marvel Movieverse.

So now that Iron Man 3 is finally a go project with a planned May 3, 2013 release date, it raises a few questions. #1 being, will Jon Favreau return to helm after the royal screw-job he got with Iron Man 2's release date? Marvel forced him to rush out a sequel in under two years, and it showed in the final product. If his Cowboys and Aliens does boffo business I could see Favs walking away from the series that made him so money, but if not he's got a gauranteed winner to go back to... assuming audiences don't have Downey Jr. fatigue by then.