After Jon Favreau stepped down as the director of the Iron Man franchise, Robert Downey Jr. suggested Shane Black’s name, who previously directed the actor in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the film that sort of revived Downey Jr.’s career. Before his directing career, Black rose to fame for his writing work for Lethal Weapon, which also made him a highly paid screenwriter. But the real concern was Iron Man 3’s script.
Besides, writer Drew Pearce was developing the concepts for the third Iron Man movie. After the sudden cancelation of Marvel’s Runaways in 2010, Pearce’s first child, Noah, was born, forcing him to stay back in London. The writer was dependent on the earnings he made for his screenplay drafts.
The Writer Was Sleep Deprived When He Wrote Iron Man 3
According to the book MCU: The Reigns of Marvel Studios, each morning at 3:30 am, Drew Pearce attended his son’s feeding, using that time to come up with concepts for the next Iron Man film. Juggling between the duties of his newborn and his work, Pearce still managed to work on the script.
Pearce said (via MCU: The Reigns of Marvel Studios):
“I don’t know if it was because of the extraordinary lack of sleep or the hormones of having a new kid and desperately wanting to provide and tell stories, but I wrote this story for Iron Man 3.”
Pearce contacted Marvel producer Jodi Hildebrand, who agreed that it wasn’t right for a writer to work unpaid on a character whose rights belonged to another company. Pearce added, “She quite rightly said,’ That’s f*cking bananas. I legally probably can’t even accept it! ”
Hollywood studios usually avoid seeing ideas for their IP that they did not request. This is done to prevent any potential legal hurdles. However, Pearce still sent across his detailed plan for the film, believing that since she hadn’t asked for it, there shouldn’t be any issues.
Drew Pearce’s Tactics Worked In His Favor
While Pearce’s reasoning didn’t completely align with the legal procedure, his approach worked for him. In January 2011, he was contacted by Marvel, informing him that Kevin Feige was in London to oversee the recording sessions for the Thor’s score.
The previous conversations the writer had with Feige were mostly around the potential Marvel One-Shots, which would focus on small stories that happened between the studio’s major films. So, Pearce assumed that Feige would be talking about the same topic yet again.
However, Pearce was quick to notice that the document loaded on Feige’s iPad was Pearce’s detailed plan for the Iron Man franchise. While it might make for a great backstory for the film, the fact that the writer was sleep-deprived while writing the script could be one reason why the film did not resonate with the audience as one would’ve expected.
