Editor's Note: Iron Man cleared $50m in its second weekend bringing the worldwide box office total to over $276m in eleven days. What does this mean for you? Sequel city! We've rang up film.com headquarters for two different takes on what the sequels should tackle. Here's the first effort, from our own Cole Drumb. Part two coming your way on Monday. More Iron Man than you could shake a large sized stick at! Enjoy!

The 2008 summer season is officially open. Hollywood mega feature Iron Man has made a mint at the box office and it's rumored that Robert Downey Jr. can be prepped and ready in four months for the sequel. Iron Man II has been tentatively scheduled for release in 2010. There's concern with such a quick turnaround, but the knowledge that team Favreau had planned it as a trilogy, with three-picture arc developments seeded into the first Iron Man, allays much of the worry. We can only hope that studio executives see Iron Man as the initial step towards a quality Marvel Universe writ large on the big screen, rather than a feverish sprint to grab quick bucks by hacking out a subpar sequel in half the time for half the budget.

Looking on the bright side and believing in Favreau as a serious filmmaker, here's what we might expect for the now $100 million-plus domestic Hollywood franchise.

S.H.I.E.L.D.:

In the movie, the acronym stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; in the comics I remember it as being Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division, but no matter ... I'm looking forward to seeing Iron Man doing a fly-by and landing on the deck of the classic S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. The involvement of S.H.I.E.L.D and Nick Fury might be as back-up and as a knowledge base for Tony Stark, similar to James Bond and M. In the long run, as with the comics, we might see Tony Stark take over as director of S.H.I.E.L.D and their global operations.

There are many landmark events in comics history (the death of Gwen Stacy and the death of Jean Grey as examples) and one of which is the downward spiral of Tony Stark and his alcoholism, an issue that Favreau has discussed as a highly probable sequel story arc. I'm sure this arc is one of the reasons Downey Jr. was considered. His very public personal addiction battles will give the coming battle with the bottle serious on-screen weight, and if done right, this could even set up Downey Jr. for future award seasons. Sounds crazy, but it's certainly possible and I'm sure that Favreau knows it. What this leads to in the comic is another great twist hinted at in the movie.

Rhodey as Iron Man:

If I remember my Iron Man lore correctly, while Tony Stark swims around in a fifth of whiskey, someone has to take on the role of Iron Man and it's left up to Rhodey to don the armor. Why was an actor of Terrence Howard's caliber willing to take such a role? Because of the promise of a larger, meatier, role in the coming sequels. I could even believe a possible spin-off feature of his own. Crazy talk again, I know, but I can guarantee you that with the opening weekend tally breaking the $100 million mark, no option is off the table. The convergence of the Marvel Universe on-screen also has to be a primary objective. With that in mind, where can they go?

Iron Man battles The Hulk:

There have been multiple characters that have fought The Hulk. Wolverine has a classic three-way battle between The Hulk and Wendigo (oh, how I would love to see that bloody battle on-screen); Daredevil tried to go toe-to-toe with The Hulk and ended up hospitalized for his trouble; and Iron Man has tried to crack The Hulk's skull on more than one occasion. The Iron-Man-versus-The-Hulk battle is a story arc that is just SCREAMING to be put to film, not to mention it's financially feasible. There would be no actor portraying The Hulk since he's CGI; hence, no extra salary would need to be added to the budget.

So how might this play out? Let's geek-out for a minute, shall we? First up would be Nick Fury reaching out to Iron Man due to the rampaging Hulk. Tracking him would be an issue, but once he's triangulated, Stark, in a Hulk-busting Iron Man suit would be activated. City brawl or woodland brawl, or both, it doesn't matter ... the end result would be The Hulk escaping to lick his wounds and Iron Man nearly beaten into an exploded, fuse-blown toaster oven that requires the aid of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury.

This could be the opening they need for a strong Hulk franchise. Either way, the conflict would pay off for Marvel and the audience. There were rumors before Iron Man premiered that there was to be a crossover between Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. That didn't turn out to be the case, but there's no reason not to consider it for a future tie-in added to the sequels.

Sunturion is one such "villain," a flawed character that would fit nicely within the Iron Man franchise:

Sunturion can do one thing that no other so-called villain can do: drive Iron Man out of the sky and into space. In a sequence that could be mind-blowing, Tony Stark would have to develop a suit that could blast him into orbit, out to a space station and, of course, into battle with a solar powered being. Sunturion is not a well-known character within the Iron Man cannon, but he is a character that shouldn't be overlooked while thinking about the direction of the upcoming sequels.

Within the film Iron Man there were winks to Tony Stark the alcoholic, Rhodey as Iron Man, the involvement of S.H.I.E.L.D, and -- if you stayed through the credits -- you saw that Nick Fury may become a major player and that there is the possibility of putting together The Avengers again. I have to wonder then, is Favreau a geek, really? Honestly? Or has he become a technically adept filmmaker, willing to make a competent geek film by immersing himself into the comics lore? You can be both, certainly: is that the case here?

Does he have boxed comics from his childhood that he still leafs through? I honestly don't know, but I am impressed with his first foray into the Marvel Universe. I hope the sequel is bigger and badder, with double the budget and not just for covering the spiraling costs of the actors. This could be the beginning of a long run of sharply drawn Marvel films, including a massive Avengers movie, and right now, I hope they have Favreau at the helm when it's greenlit.

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