Elf director Jon Favreau has signed to develop and direct the film adaptation of Marvel Comics' Iron Man.

The project, originally set up at New Line with Nick Cassavetes directing, has been slow to get off the ground. But the appointment of Favreau, who first came to film fans' notice when he wrote and starred in 1996's Swingers and last sat in the director's chair for Zathura: A Space Adventure, is expected to pick up the pace. He is to develop the script with Arthur Marcum and Matt Holloway.

The Iron Man character was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby in 1963 and is an interesting departure from the usual superhero template in that he does not have inherent superpowers but is an ordinary man - well, in so far as a billionaire industrialist, military contractor and international playboy can be ordinary - in a superpowered suit. A production start date is yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, Marvel Studios is moving ahead on a string of superhero adaptations such as Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury, and Ant Man, to be directed by Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright.

And despite the underwhelming performance of Ang Lee's 2003 adaptation of Hulk, there seems to be life in the green-eyed monster yet.

Studio chiefs have employed Zak Penn, a leading superhero screenwriter whose credits list X-Men: The Last Stand and Elektra, to write a new version provisionally titled Incredible Hulk.