'Iron Man 3' And Mandarin, Jon Favreau Reveals Vision For 3rd Flick

As excited as we are for Shane Black's fresh take on the further adventures of Tony Stark and Co. in "Iron Man 3," there is still a part of us that wonders what Jon Favreau's film might have looked like.

When MTV News caught up with the "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" helmer yesterday during our San Diego Comic-Con live stream, we asked him to share a few words about what might have been.

"Mandarin was in drafts right up until the [first] movie got green lit," Favreau revealed of his plans to include the infamous Asian warlord in his films. "It was in the first film and then Mandarin, who's a famous villain, we had references to in the second film. When I first came to Comic-Con with 'Iron Man,' before we had started filming or cast Robert [Downey Jr.], I had mentioned that 'The Avengers' would be the only logical third film," he said. "I think that's the opportunity here. Now they're doing it, it's exciting, I haven't seen the footage yet but that footage is out there in the trailer, [it's exciting] just to see all of them together on screen."

Favreau went on to say that while he's as excited as anyone to see "Avengers" the looming question is whether mainstream audiences will embrace the film and the universe as quickly as the comic-book fans are likely to do.

"['The Avengers'] changes the whole identity of [Marvel films]," he said. "It's going to have to evolve anyway, you can't keep the stories personal and small if you want to have the whole Marvel Universe, and we'll see if what works in the comic books translates to a film, and if the audiences who aren't fans of the comic books could accept that or if it makes their brains hurt."