The $100 million pounding that “Iron Man” gave the box office last weekend has two immediate consequences. First, Marvel Entertainment immediately announced a sequel for 2010. Duh, right? I mean, if a self-serious snooze like Ang Lee’s “Hulk” isn’t enough to deep-six a superhero franchise (a new “Hulk” movie with Ed Norton is coming out this summer) then how could any sane studio executive resist greenlighting a sequel to a bona fide hit?

Second, the handsome “Iron Man” haul means that star Robert Downey Jr. can officially leave the post-addiction phase of his career and enter the post-addiction-as-newspaper-article-narrative stage of his career. Or, to put it more plainly, we won’t have to read any more newspaper or magazine stories in which the obligatory central thrust is Downey’s struggle with drug abuse. Just like we didn’t have to read any more Hugh Grant/hooker articles after “Notting Hill.” (Full disclosure — I wrote one myself.)

Still, I’m curious to see if the “Iron Man” sequel will address Tony Stark’s alcoholism, like in the comic. Might be kind of hard to skirt the issue of Downey’s past, if it does.

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