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So now that The Dark Knight has become the second-highest grossing movie of all-time (not to mention the biggest-grossing superhero picture ever), does the screenwriter of Iron Man 2 feel any pressure to make the world that Tony Stark lives in any, uh, darker? "There's no temptation whatsoever," Justin Theroux spilled to New York Magazine. "You know, I tremulously went and watched The Dark Knight myself, but it's a totally different movie, like, you know that Tom Cruise movie where he played the race-car driver? What was that movie called … anyway. It's like comparing that movie to Talladega Nights — it's two totally different animals. We have a leading man who can sort of relish being a cad, and that's a fun character to write for. We feel like we're in the clear."

While promoting their new movie, Robert Downey Jr. revealed that he was the dude that got Tropic Thunder screenwriter Justin Theroux the job of writing Iron Man 2. Downey is also primed and pumped to get back into the red-and-gold Stark suit, saying ""I'm stoked...I'm into it. I'm excited to do another Iron Man right."

Theroux has immersed himself into the mythology of the character, pouring through four decades of Iron Man comics in search of the right ingredients to craft the sequel's storyline. ""I've just stopped marinating in all the Iron Man lore that I didn't know, and I'm sort of firing up the chainsaw and ready to attack it," Theroux told E! Online. "You're writing for Robert Downey Jr., so, at the end of the day, that's an enormous amount of fun."

Actor-turned-screenwriter Justin Theroux has landed the task of writing the screenplay for Iron Man 2. Perhaps it was the buzz that Theroux's screenplay for Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller's upcoming satire of how Hollywood makes blockbuster movies, that gave Paramount the confidence to say that he's the right man to come up with the script for the armored avenger's second adventure.

Additionally, Variety reports that Paramount is in negotiations to bring back Jon Favreau as the sequel's director.

According to film industry blogger Nikki Finke a new offer has been made to Jon Favreau to bring him back for Iron Man 2. "I learned this morning that Marvel Studios boss David Maisel very recently put out an offer to Jon Favreau to direct the sequel and that the offer is 'definitely' richer than what the helmer received for the original," Finke said on her site. "Even so, the negotiation has just begun."

If the latest rumor is to be believed a dark cloud may have fallen over the development of Iron Man 2. According to IESB the negotiations between Jon Favreau and Marvel Studios to bring back the director for Iron Man 2 aren't going well at all because "the chairman of Marvel Studios David Maisel who has been in charge of negotiating new terms with Favreau is being cheap and not willing to pay a fair directors' fee," a source tells the website. IESB has two moles that shared intel claiming that Favreau was expecting a "moderate bump" in his rate for directing the sequel but Marvel brass figures that "Iron Man 2 will be a success regardless of Favreau's involvement and feels the studio does not need to pay Jon a higher fee for his services."

IESB contacted Marvel Studios to see if they would comment on the story and the company said that they remain in negotiations with Favreau.

It's been over a month since Marvel Studios made certain its intentions to have a sequel to Iron Man in theaters by the end of April 2010...but with the clock now counting down the days inbetween now and then, there has been no announcement of who is writing the sequel's screenplay or if Jon Favreau is going to come back to direct number two. With speculation starting to run amok, Favreau got asked by a reader on the director's MySpace forum what's going on between himself and Marvel. He supplied this answer:

"It’s been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.

"I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the BB/DK, X/X2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one."

The speculation is only going to grow the longer that this uncertainty goes on.

Four days after Iron Man blasted into theaters and made a whopping $104 million dollars in its opening weekend, Marvel Studios announced today (and to no one's real surprise) that it is going to make a sequel right away. The company has staked out an April 30, 2010 release date for Iron Man 2.

While no deal presently exists for Iron Man director Jon Favreau to call the shots for the sequel many assume that Marvel would make him their go-to guy for round two. Sequel options for two more films exist for Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow so it's expected that they will reprise their roles as Tony Stark, James Rhodes and Pepper Potts, with Howard's character expected to don the silver and black armor of War Machine in the second movie. While we now know when we can expect to see old shellhead back on the big screen there's presently no storyline being developed for IM2...in fact, there's not even a writer hired yet.