USA Today has our first official look at Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming comic adaptation Iron Man for Paramount Pictures.
Accompanying the pic you see above is an article discussing director Jon Favreau’s choice of Downey for the lead role of Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, a playboy millionaire and recovering alcoholic turned superhero. Favreau tells the paper, “We didn’t want to just go with a safe choice… The best and worst moments of Robert’s life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That’s Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic-book character who is having trouble in high school, or can’t get the girl. Plus, he’s simply one of the best actors around.”
Apparently, at the age of 42, Downey has been lifting weights five days a week and practices martial arts to get in shape to play the hard-bodied Stark, an arms manufacturer who uses his ultimate weapon, a jet-powered, missile-launching suit of armor, to fight evil.
There is plenty more where that came from plus a full-size look at the pic above. So click here or on the teaser pic to check it all out.
