'Iron Man 3' Footage: Comic-Con Crowd Treated To Impressive Clips, Joking Robert Downey Jr.

An ever-jovial Robert Downey Jr. was on hand Saturday to bring "Iron Man 3" footage and news to a buzzy Comic-Con crowd. As part of Marvel's Hall H panel (which also featured big news in the"Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Ant-Man"departments), the studio debuted clips and discussed Tony Stark's future.

Also revealed/confirmed: Sir Ben Kingsley is starring as "Iron Man 3's" villain, The Mandarin. Kingsley looked absolutely intimidating in a clip shown during the presentation. The footage began with Stark (Downey Jr.) being put in his suit, with pieces flying in from every direction (one lands on his crotch with a rather unfortunate thud).

Jon Favreau then appears as Happy Hogan. "I don't work for you anymore," Hogan quickly reminds Stark. The line is an obvious reference to the fact that Favreau, who directed the first two installments in the "Iron Man" series, is not steering the third film. Stark's response? "That's right, you quit."

Appearing on Marvel's panel were Downey Jr., Favreau, Don Cheadle, "Iron Man 3" director Shane Black and Kevin Feige, Marvel's president of production. "We're halfway through [filming], and if we don't f--k up the rest, it will be great," Black said.

Here's the title treatment (article continues after image):

Downey Jr. entered from the back of the hall and danced his way onstage before introducing the footage. It was noted that his contract with Marvel ends with "Iron Man 3," but he joked that he would find a way to stick around. "He is Tony Stark," Black added, prompting Downey Jr. to say, "I'm an asshole." (Black: "A rich asshole.")

Further footage shown revealed Stark on an operating table, followed by a closeup of a damaged Iron Man helmet. In another clip, helicopters are seen blowing up Stark's California mansion with missiles and every bit of armor in his workroom is blown to bits. Meaning, our hero must start from scratch (though billionaire superhero's scratch is different from regular people's scratch), somewhat reminding us of the predicament a forlorn Bruce Wayne is facing at the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises.

A parting bit of "Avengers" news: After a fan asked if moviegoers would ever see The Hulk again, Feige responded, "At the end of 'Avengers,' Bruce [Banner] jumped in the car with Tony. Then Tony droped him off at the Port Authority and we'll see him again some day."

Spidey relaunches with Tuesday record of $35M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Amazing Spider-Man" has swung into action with $35 million domestically in its first day — a record for a film opening on Tuesday.

The new launch for the Marvel Comics superhero outdid the previous best Tuesday debut of $27.9 million for "Transformers," which also opened the day before the Fourth of July in 2007.

Box-office trackers had projected that "The Amazing Spider-Man" might earn around $120 million in its first six days, through the end of Fourth of July weekend. But its strong start indicates it could do considerably more.

The original "Transformers" went on to do $155.4 million domestically through Fourth of July weekend, which included receipts from Monday night previews before its official Tuesday debut.

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" opened the week before the Fourth of July last year and pulled in $180.7 million in just over six days.

The opening-day results show the resilience of the Spider-Man brand, which set box-office records from 2002 to 2007 with the three films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero.

After a falling out between Raimi and distributor Sony on a fourth film, the franchise started over, with Marc Webb directing and Andrew Garfield slipping into Spider-Man's red-and-blue suit.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" retells the story of how a bite from a radioactive spider endows gangly teen Peter Parker with super strength, agility and senses. The film co-stars Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.

Some critics had argued that it was too soon to reboot the franchise, just five years after Raimi and Maguire's "Spider-Man 3." But good reviews for "The Amazing Spider-Man" and a solid box-office start should put the carping to rest on the film, which also had a strong head-start overseas last week with about $50 million in a handful of international markets.

Debuting on a Tuesday, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is far down the list of best opening days, since most movies premiere on Friday as the weekend kicks off.

Last summer's "Harry Potter" finale had the best single-day start ever with $91.1 million. It's followed by last May's "The Avengers" with $80.8 million on its way to a record $207.4 million opening weekend.

"Spider-Man 3" opened on a Friday in May 2007, taking in $59.8 million on day one and $151.1 million for the weekend, which was a record at the time.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" is the middle chapter in Hollywood's superhero summer, which opened with Disney and Marvel's "The Avengers," whose worldwide receipts have climbed to $1.45 billion. On July 20, DC Comics and Warner Bros. debut "The Dark Knight Rises," the third and final Batman movie from director Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale as the masked vigilante.