When news came out that Shane Black was being considered for the director's chair of Iron Man 3 only one thought was running through my head: this better happen. In this business you simply can't put an idea like that out into the ether and then not follow through with a completed deal. Lucky for us, Marvel feels the same way, because it's now official: Shane Black is directing the third Iron Man.

Deadline is reporting that Marvel has entered final negotiations with the director for the superhero sequel, meaning that it would take an absolute catastrophe to screw it up at this point. Black will be replacing Jon Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man films but left to pursue other projects, namely Disney's Magic Kingdom. The film will be only Black's second directorial effort, the first being the cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which he made back in 2005 with star Robert Downey Jr. What remains unknown is if Black, who is primarily known as a writer, having crafted such classics as Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Last Boy Scout, will also be writing the script.

Just so you understand how much I love Shane Black, I wrote a feature back in December making the argument that his films are the best to watch on Christmas. The guy is ridiculously talented and always has been, and it's a tragedy that it's taken this long for him to get another blockbuster project. This is fantastic news.