Yesterday, Iron Man director Jon Favreau blogged on MySpace that even though his movie has made a half-billion dollars at the worldwide box office, Marvel Studios hasn't called him in weeks. Making the situation even more uncomfortable is the fact that he's not yet signed on to helm the film's sequel, with an already-announced April 2010 release date fast approaching. Now, IESB reports that the reason the studio's been out of touch is because Favreau asked for a "moderate bump" in pay for Iron Man 2, and Marvel chief David Maisel balked.

According to IESB's source, Favreau is only seeking "the regular standard director's fee" (approximately 900 million times your salary), but Maisel isn't convinced that he's integral to IM2's success. Obviously we're pretty sure that his involvement was integral to the first movie's being awesome, and we'd hate to see him not get the job. Is this all just studio posturing, or would Maisel really hire someone else? Who could possibly be as qualified and as cheap as the director of Elf, anyway? Can nerd outrage on the blogosphere fix this awful mess? If only it were that simple!

IESB Breaking News: Will Jon Favreau Direct Iron Man 2?! [IESB]

Earlier: Jon Favreau Waiting by Telephone, Getting Pretty Nervous About ‘Iron Man 2’