Iron Man | Behind-The-Scenes (2008) After years of development hell, In November 2005, Marvel Studios worked to start development from scratch, and announced Iron Man as their first independent feature. Jon Favreau was hired to direct the film in April 2006. The director found the opportunity to create a politically ambitious “ultimate spy movie” in Iron Man, citing inspiration from Tom Clancy, James Bond, and RoboCop, and compared his approach to an independent film—“if Robert Altman had direct