Marvel Sets Iron Man 2 for 2010, Thor, Avengers Movie to Follow

To no one’s surprise, “Iron Man” cleaned up at the box office with a worldwide take of $200 million in its first week of release. With that in mind, it’s then no surprise that Marvel has already announced that “Iron Man 2″ will be coming our way very soon — as in, in 2010. Which probably means Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. will be climbing back into the suit very soon to meet the deadline. The question is, who is the villain for the sequel, and will Terrence Howard finally get to suit up as War Machine?

What’s more, Marvel has also announced that the “Thor” movie will be showing up in theaters at the same time as “Iron Man 2″, while the “Avengers” movie (with Favreau directing, one can only hope) will be popping up as early as 2011 — right after a “Captain America” movie?

Here’s The Hollywood Reporter with more news on Marvel’s 3-year slate:

“Thor” is slated for June 4, 2010. Marvel is also planting its feature film stakes for 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer.

The May 6 release of what is now going under the workimg title “The First Avenger: Captain America” will be followed by “The Avengers” in July.

So they ARE going through with a “Captain America” movie. At first glance, it was said that selling a movie about a man with the name “America” in it overseas would be a hardsell, but apparently Marvel doesn’t think so.

I am surprised, though, that they’re planning such a huge 2011 Summer — the Avengers movie itself is going to be huge, but add the Captain America one to it, and well, Marvel is looking like it could kick some serious tail come 2010 and beyond…

Update

USAToday has added specific release dates to some of the movies listed above:

Iron Man 2 - April 30, 2010.
Thor - June 4, 2010.
The First Avenger: Captain America - May 6, 2011.
The Avengers - July 2011.
Ant-Man - No Release Date.