More Marvel: 'Iron Man 3' Plot Rumor, And Joss Whedon Promises 'The Avengers' Release Cut Is His Director's Cut

We've already had a bit of Marvel news this morning thanks to the announcement of a six-film Marvel marathon that culminates with a midnight screening of The Avengers.

But there's more. After the break, rumors are starting to fly on the Iron Man 3 plot, and The Avengers director Joss Whedon says that the release version of his movie, which he eventually cut from three hours down to 135 miniutes, will be the only version of the movie.

First up, Iron Man 3. Consider this potentially spoilerish, but Latino Review says that the plot of Iron Man 3 is driven directly by events in The Avengers, which is no surprise. But reportedly "an idea planted in Tony Stark's head by Captain America in The Avengers" is represented by the use of nanobots in the third Iron Man movie.

This suggests that Shane Black's Iron Man 3 draws from the Warren Ellis-penned Iron Man: Extremis storyline, which features a terrorist villain who becomes super-powered thanks to an injection of nanobots. Tony Stark applies that tech to himself and ends up almost literally becoming Iron Man, as the nanobots in his system form part of the Iron Man suit and allow him to control his tech as if it was part of his body.

It will be some time before we get any confirmation of this, and in the meantime take it as rumor. But it is an interesting approach, and makes sense given what we've seen in the existing films.

Now on to the release cut of The Avengers. Joss Whedon told Collider that there won't be a special DVD cut of the movie.

No [there won't be a director's cut on the DVD]. I... believe very strongly in putting the director's cut into the theaters. I believe that the director's cut is the best movie for the studio and the best version of the movie for the audience.

He explained where the movie currently stands:

My first cut was three hours long and it's now down to 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I'm extremely proud of that. I had always intended to go over two, under two and a half. There was no way a movie with this many great actors and this much epic scope was gonna clock in under two and not feel a little anemic, somebody wasn't gonna get their moment if that happened. But at the same time, I get very angry that romantic comedies run over two hours long, it's like 'Guys, that's not okay.' More isn't more. I don't want anything in the movie that shouldn't be.

There's more in Collider's interview about the process of cutting the film, but it really comes down to what we've heard all good filmmakers say in the past, which is that at a certain point in the editing process the time comes to divorce the filmmaker's personal likes and dislikes from what really works for the film. Sounds like Whedon has adhered to that approach, and hopefully it will pay off for us.