While doing press for “The Soloist,” late last week, Robert Downey Jr. was grilled by reporters — who couldn’t give a shit about a movie about a journalist and his homeless best friend — regarding “Iron Man 2” details. When asked about the much-discussed “Demon In A Bottle” storyline, Downey was dismissive: “As a matter of fact, I think that’s probably best saved,” the star of “Chaplin” and “The Shaggy Dog” says, “ because it’s such its own storyline.” His answer jibes with the thoughts of director Jon Favreau, who last year voiced his desire to steer clear of that story so early within the “IM” saga (or at least to save it for “Iron Man 3”).
Downey elucidated a bit more to Entertainment Tonight, claiming the movie would satisfy filmgoers and action junkies. “The film is almost entirely about character, and yet we still have twice as much action as we did last time, so it’s going to be nuts. Essentially ‘Iron Man 2′ is about looking behind the armor, or the armature, of a superhero. It’s one thing to say you’re Iron Man, it’s another thing to be fully ready to do that.”
Downey also told E!Online that talking about the whole Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle replacement issue is difficult. “The weird thing is it’s hard to discuss it without being disrespectful to both of them. Terrence knows how much I love him, and I’m looking forward to making it work with Don.”
Will Don Cheadle Suit Up As War Machine?
Fans have been clamoring for that famous tale for quite awhile, though there’s the feeling that it has more to do with the story’s latent darkness (a sad commentary on the mindset of most modern comic fans) and the lack of truly great “Iron Man” stories to choose from- the more likely inspiration for the next film seems to be the “Armor Wars” story, with Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer as a rival weapons provider- a theory also strengthened by Downey himself discussing the character of James Rhodes becoming armored hero War Machine.
“With Don Cheadle now playing Rhodie and therefore War Machine… it’s strange…,” he said in passing before going on to his quote about a film with twice the action and character. Will we see Cheadle suit-up in ‘IM 2’?