Jon Favreau is reportedly returning to direct a sequel to The Jungle Book, the live-action / CGI reimagining of Disney’s classic animated film, which took the top spot at the box office over the weekend. But that’s not the only project that has Favreau sticking around — the director has revealed that he’ll be returning to Marvel to serve as an executive producer on Avengers: Infinity War.

Speaking with Digital Spy, the Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director said that he’s wanted to work on something new with Marvel for a while, but he just needed to find some time in his busy schedule:

I’m going to be executive producing the Avengers films with the Russo brothers, which I’m very excited about, I talk to them about it all the time. I’ve worked both in front of and behind the camera with Marvel and I really love what they’re doing right now. It’s a really exciting time to be over there. I’ve seen a rough cut of Civil War and it’s fantastic. We’re constantly looking for things to do together. And now I’m freed up.

Favreau will produce the epic two-part Infinity War for Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the forthcoming Civil War. With Favreau producing for Marvel, could we see him return to direct another superhero movie sometime soon? His response is uncertain, but fairly optimistic:

The question is, do I want to do something else in the superhero genre? I’ve spent a big chunk of my career working on that already. All new titles are coming out now. I’m actually surprised I don’t feel that way about The Jungle Book already, but with Iron Man, I’d done two back to back. My time was completely monopolised for those years and I wasn’t allowed to explore other things. Part of the fun of having a successful movie is you get a lot of say on what your next project is. Sometimes you want to leave yourself open to other opportunities instead of another four or five years maybe working on that franchise.

That’s an interesting answer, as it was recently reported that Favreau is in talks to helm The Jungle Book 2 for Disney. But with the studio planning an ever-growing slate of live-action remakes of classic properties, it may still be a couple of years before Favreau heads back into the jungle.

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