And they’re off. Filming began yesterday on Iron Man 2, and there’s already been a plethora of news stories and photos hitting the web.

Director Jon Favreau seems to be dedicated to Twittering his way through production, and he began yesterday, saying that his first sequel was just like coming back together with the old band. And that makes sense: it seems that the first scene shot was the first scene of the movie, which is an extended version of the last scene of the first movie, where Tony reveals to the world that he’s Iron Man.

So what’s different in the extended scene? For one thing, Garry Shandling was there. Yes, Larry Sanders. He’s playing either a reporter or a senator – nobody seems to know beyond the fact that he’s in a suit. Also on set was Sam Rockwell. He’s playing bad guy Justin Hammer, so there’s an interesting spin on the press conference: the bad guy was in attendance!

Also on set: Don Cheadle as Rhodey. Some paps got a couple of pictures of him, and his look is a shocking departure from… well, no it’s not. He’s just Don Cheadle in a dress shirt and slacks. With a BlackBerry. Could the BlackBerry be an important plot point? Someone have the crackerjack journalists at MTV News make up a story about this!

It looks like there’s going to be a deluge of stuff about Iron Man 2 in the coming weeks. We promise to only bring you the wheat, leaving behind the chaff. Except on days when content is really slow, and then it’s all chaff, all the time!