Marvel Entertainment announced

today that “Iron Man 2” is scheduled for release on April 20, 2010 — a fast, but not unprecedented (see “Spider-Man” one and two) turaround for a movie of this scope. It’s a fairly safe assumption they have options for Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau to return for the sequel. In an earnings report this morning, the studio confirmed it will not have a release for 2009, but has also set the self-financed “Thor” for July 10, 2010. “Because Marvel believes that the summer is the optimal time to launch a new property, the company will not release a self produced film in 2009,” the company said.