Jon Favreau spoke at a big press gathering for the upcoming DVD release of the Iron Man and he was open to share where he may be going with the sequel and maybe even a third film.

The big morsel involves of Jim Rhodes, aka War Machine. Rhodes, played by Terrence Howard, wasn’t a huge part of the first movie, but there are plans to make up for that. Favreau stated that he would love to do the “Demon in a Bottle” storyline, where Tony Stark falls into the deep, dark hole of alcoholism. I’m not familiar with the Iron Man comic, but it looks as if this would be where War Machine stepped in and did his thing. Fans of the comic I’m sure would very much like to see this play out.

Favreau also mentioned that The Mandarin would be used as one of the franchise’s big villains. The problem is that Favreau isn’t quite sure how to integrate him into the story yet, so this looks like it would be part of the third film if it were to come.

I guess the big question is, how long will this franchise stretch on for? They have so much they want to do! Do they tackle the alcoholism/War Machine story in the sequel, then Mandarin in the three, or do they extend even further and do War Machine in a fourth movie? I just don’t know; I’m not a psychic, pulling rodents out of my hat to afford Spam for myself and my blind, one-legged cat, or whatever kids do these days.

On a happier note, this can give fans some good, strong hope for a lot more Iron Man to come along and rock your summer movie slate and possibly even in IMAX and/or 3D.

Also worth note, Justin Theroux, who wrote Tropic Thunder, has joined the writing team for Iron Man 2 after Robert Downey Jr. put in a good word.

[Source: CHUD via MTV]