Downey, Favreau talk Iron Man

By Ryan 'The Rican with the Irish name' McLelland on June 1, 2007

Iron Man looks to already be the movie to beat when it launches on to the big screen May 2, 2008.  The film stars the perfectly cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and equally impressive casting that includes Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodey, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger.  If four Oscar nominees (including one winner) doesn't satisfy you than sensational actor/director Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura, and Swingers) should wet your appetite a bit more.

Even if none of that tickles your fancy then have you seen the Iron Man armor?  Cause IT IS COOL!

MTV News was on-set to see how Robert Downey, Jr. can convert himself into a billionaire drunken playboy and how that man puts on a robotic suit of armor to save the day.

"I've always been a big fan of comics — only Marvel comics actually, strangely," revealed Downey. "I always felt like Tony Stark was one of the great characters.  (He's) a bit conflicted about the ramifications of weapons and what it means (to build them) in today's temperature and political climate.  And then he does something unusual."

"We picked Robert because of his acting ability — and when you put this on, it really shines through," Favreau says on his lead actor.  "The part that attracts me to Iron Man is he's not really a superhero.  He's just an inventor and a normal mortal who wasn't bit by a radioactive bug or shot with gamma rays or anything. He's a guy who invents a suit, and he uses his mind to create the persona of the superhero he plays."

While the comic book Iron Man can slip in and out of his suit, the real suit doesn't work as easy with three men having to help Downey put the suit on.  "Robert is very good with the suit," notes Favreau.  "(Iron Man) flies, he can shoot repulsor beams out of the palms of his hands and out of his chest. He has a lot of little gadgets that are rigged up into the armor, using other Stark technologies that are used on weapons systems for aircraft."

While it is known that Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stone in the film and that Stone is the Iron Monger in the comics, it is still unknown if Bridges is Iron Man's nemesis in the film.  "What is he up against? His biggest enemy?" asks Favreau. "I don't want to ruin the movie, but it's himself. It's true."

As for how filming is going Favreau notes, ""We're right in the middle of (filming), so we're right in the thick of things.  A lot of the cooler stuff on these films happens much later. We have (special-effects studio Industrial Light and Magic) working on the film, doing a lot of the CGI work, and I'm only seeing animatics of that."

Click the picture above (or here) to read more from Downey and Favreau have to say about the film.

Source:MTV