Director Jon Favreau says that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark will not appear again until The Avengers movie is made.

Next summer will feature the releases of the next group of comic book movies attached to the Avengers- Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, so folks are interested to see if Stark will make a cameo. As we saw in The Incredible Hulk (with Edward Norton), Stark tries to recruit the green giant, but Favreau has stated we won’t be seeing Stark for a bit.

“I’m not sure where The Avengers goes. There is no shooting draft written yet. It’s going to be a big undertaking for Marvel to actually incorporate what happened in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Hulk.

 All that has to inform one unified vision in The Avengers. It’s a very exciting prospect. And certainly, Tony Stark is not going to be involved in any of the movies until that one,” said Favreau in an interview with radio station KROQ.

If you’re unfamiliar with The Avengers, allow me to lay a little nerd intelligence on you.  The Avengers comics were first released in 1963 and featured the characters Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, and The Hulk (Captain America joined their ranks in issue four).  The team has had a rotating door of superheroes join the battle (including Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel, Falcon, Black Widow, and Hawkeye), but the main theme is the group handles bad guys that no superhero can handle alone.  The battle cry is “Avengers Assemble!”

Iron Man (and now Iron Man 2) was the first Avengers movie to hit the market, followed by The Incredible Hulk (I’m not counting the older CGI version that was made previous).

For a special glimpse into one of the movies coming out next year, be sure to stay after Iron Man 2 for the extra scene!

Thor will be released May 6, 2011 and is directed by Kenneth Branagh, Captain America: The First Avenger will be released July 22, 2011 starring Chris Evans and The Avengers will be out May 4, 2012 directed by Joss Whedon.