Marvel hints at Iron Man 4

Los Angeles - Marvel Studios' President of Production Kevin Feige has hinted there will be an Iron Man 4.

While the producer extraordinaire admits nothing is yet confirmed about a follow up to Iron Man 3, he insists there are "more tales to tell" about the titular character/Tony Stark - who is portrayed by Robert Downey Jr - which could even see a fifth instalment of the superhero franchise.

He said: "Characters like James Bond and Batman, whose stories go on and on and on - I think Tony is one of those characters. Where we go directly after Iron Man 3 ... I'm not looking too far ahead. I'm looking to finish Iron Man 3, getting into The Avengers 2, and then seeing where we go from there. But I do think we have more Tony Stark tales to tell, and we'll take it one movie - or maybe two movies - at a time."

Post-traumatic stress

Kevin revealed Iron Man 3 - a follow-up to 2010's Iron Man sequel - will be like "post-traumatic stress" for Stark following on from his hectic all-action adventures in last year's The Avengers, and he admits Downey Jr "gave his all" in his latest portrayal of the action hero.

He added to MTV: "Robert Downey Jr gave his all to this performance. He left no stone unturned.

"So much of the journey of Iron Man 3 is informed by Tony's experiences in The Avengers. It's almost like post-traumatic stress: he really has retreated after the events of The Avengers into his workshop, where he's building advanced versions of his suits.

"He has [designed] a version of the suit that can latch onto him in individual pieces ... anytime, anywhere. As he starts to realise, it's basically because he doesn't want to be out of the suit: he's seen a lot of things in Avengers and has encountered a lot of powerful people, much more powerful than he is."

Iron Man 3 is scheduled for release on on 3 May 2013 in the US and South Africa.