Although eyebrows may have been raised when Jon Favreau decided to walk away from the Iron Man franchise to concentrate on films about how magical Disneyland is, there's really no need to worry. Favreau's entire career has been based on a reticence to repeat himself, leapfrogging from low-budget indies like Made to charming comedies like Elf to weird Jumanji rip-offs like Zathura: A Space Adventure to the blockbusters he's primarily known for now.

So if we can be certain of anything about Favreau's newest film Cowboys and Aliens, it's that it'll be new and original and won't contain any elements of any of his previous films, especially Iron Man. Or will it? Let's take a look at the new Cowboys and Aliens trailer just to be sure:

Watch the trailer for Cowboys and Aliens

Watch the trailer for Iron Man

In Cowboys and Aliens, the protagonist likes a drink. However, you mustn't take the alcohol on face value, because its appearance signifies that something very bad is about to happen. This thematic complexity is new to Jon Favreau, who ... hang on, doesn't Robert Downey Jr like a drink in the Iron Man trailer?

And doesn't the appearance of alcohol in that film signify that something bad is about to happen, too? What a bizarre coincidence.

However, it's important that we don't start to think that Cowboys and Aliens is just a hollow retread of Iron Man. After all, look at what happened to Daniel Craig after he started drinking booze – he was detained against his will by a group of menacing strangers. Whereas in Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr was ... no, wait, he was detained against his will by a bunch of strangers too, wasn't he?

Sorry, bad example.

It'd also be a bad example to draw attention to the fact that both Cowboys and Aliens and Iron Man feature glowering supporting turns from screen legends, Harrison Ford and Jeff Bridges respectively.

After all, actors of a certain age are always complaining about the lack of starring roles available to them, so it's often the case that taking a supporting role in a summer blockbuster is the smartest way to keep your profile at an acceptable level. So it's unfair to say that Cowboys and Aliens wants to be Iron Man purely because of the ages of their co-stars.

And it'd also be unfair to highlight to the scene in the Cowboys and Aliens trailer where Daniel Craig stands around semi-lit showing off his physique, because there's obviously an identical scene in the Iron Man trailer, too.

It's a cheap shot – films star actors, and actors enjoy showing off their muscles. I'm sure that, once we move away from these generic comparisons, the two films will become much more distinct.

This is much more like it – now that we've dismissed most of the obvious similarities, we can concentrate on what makes Cowboys and Aliens special. Like the bit where Daniel Craig leaps on to an aeroplane and clings on for dear life. That doesn't happen in any of Jon Favreau's other films, does it? What's that? Iron Man? Seriously?

That's slightly too specific to be a coincidence, surely. Still, let's struggle on. I'm sure that Cowboys and Aliens does more than just shamelessly crib from Iron Man all the time. Maybe we're not looking closely enough.

What? Seriously? In Cowboys and Aliens, Daniel Craig gets to blow things up with a thing on his wrist? On his wrist? Just like Iron Man did in just about every single scene in Iron Man? Just like that thing that pretty much only Iron Man can do?

That's all you could think of? And don't think I haven't noticed the riffy Iron Man-style music that plays underneath the entire trailer, either. Really, what's the point? What's the point in watching this? Why not just cover Daniel Craig in tinfoil and call it Iron Man and Aliens? I despair sometimes, I really do.