After the immensely successful opening weekend box office performance of Iron Man, Marvel Studios has announced plans to release a sequel in April 2010.

The Marvel Studios head of production, Kevin Feige, said Downey will return to play the title character. He credited the actor for much of the film’s success, according to Reuters.

The next Marvel film scheduled for release is The Incredible Hulk, based on the same angry green superhero that inspired a popular TV series and the awkward and commercially unsuccessful 2003 Ang Lee film Hulk. The previews for The Incredible Hulk, now showing in theaters, suggest that it is very much better than Lee’s effort.

The studio will follow the Iron Man sequel in June 2010 with Thor, an adaptation of a Marvel comic-book series about a hero based on the mythical Nordic god of the same name.

Marvel’s plan is to follow that film with The First Avenger: Captain America in May 2011 and The Avengers (based on a Marvel team that has included Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America) in July 2011, according to Reuters.