The Superhero genre keeps marching on. It appears that the newest hero that will be making the jump to the big screen is Iron Man. The Big Wigs over at New Line have apparently bought in to the screenplay penned by David Hayter and want production to get rolling by early 2005. That’s a pretty aggressive time table considering they don’t have a director yet. The good folks at Cinescape give us this:
…the search is on for a director, and that Hayter’s take on the material is “Tom Clancy-esque in tone and involves the conflict between Tony Stark and his father Howard over Stark Industries.
Ok, that all sounds good, but here’s my concern. I never really thought the Iron Man character to be all that interesting… or original. On the plus side this is a Marvel property, and in my opinion, pretty much all the Marvel films have been good to great (yes, that includes Punisher, Daredevil and Hulk). But I don’t know. The Superhero movie is running out of film-worthy characters. Perhaps for now they should just focus on existing franchises before the market gets over saturated with new characters. Time will tell.
Jim Rhodes should definitely make an appearance in the first Iron Man movie, but War Machine should not be there.
You don’t need to put too much into the first movie, especially if its an ‘origin’ movie. You definitely have to focus on the origin because that is what makes the character.
As for teams, who is to say that the X-Men/Hulk/Daredevil/Punisher/Spiderman couldn’t make a cameo appearance. It is a Marvel Universe anyway.
yes tom sellack would be a perfect for the part i agree
who would be a great jim rhode???
yes showing him in vietnam is good and the accident and then venturing to the mountain to learn metal shaping and the bad guy trying to steal the blue prints and suit then jim coming to the recuse followed by great looks of the inside design of the armour andbattles to show the weapons but not to many could stand against him and with war machine too wow bring on the bad guys line them up the metal team would knock them down
most of these post are crazy
iron man had a heart condition and the suit was his way to survive plus he learned to use magical metal bending to complete his armour
sure in later comic he wnt to the bottle but who wouldnt after all that happen to him
but a good movie would be the already powerful ironman and war machine together to work as a team against dr. doom now thats a movie
I’m glad someone mentioned Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes took over the Iron Man armor (a few times, on request and because he believed Tony to be dead–that was when he donned the Iron Man armor that was nicknamed, and then officially named War Machine).
Original history had Stark in Vietnam as a weapons designer. A booby trap sent shrapnel into his chest and he was captured by a local warlord. Another scientist was also a prisoner and the two became close. The piece of shrapnel was slowly working its way towards Tony’s heart threatening to kill him. They created a chest plate that used magnetic force to keep the shrapnel from getting closer. They continued on building an entire suit that Tony used to escape, and was picked up by a Huey pilot named Jim Rhodes who he happened to run into. Made it home, fought for all that is good, just, etc, etc. Throw in plenty of screwed up relationships (friends and women) and the now-infamous alcoholism and a number of other issues, and you have a very abbreviated Iron Man backstory. VERY abbreviated! :)
Over the years he went from needing the suit, to just using it for good, then again needing it when a bullet paralyzed him, then again he was just using it as a hero and back and forth with all the spin-offs and universe changes. Most re-writes have Tony NEEDING the armor to survive at first and then choosing to keep on using it after he had been “fixed”.
Original Iron Man was a grey suit that looked (to me) like a Michelin Man with the grooves filled in (bulky, cumbersom), then turned into the same look but gold, then evolved to a couple other colors–both red/gold and red/silver among them. Since then it’s had more changes than I can count, Jim piloting it, remote piloted by Tony while he was paralyzed (he sat at home using “virtual reality”), an artificial intelligence piloting, and more that I can’t remember.
I’d look forward to a movie, but it would be hard to do justice to a previously complicated character whose origin alone could take the time given for an average movie. I guess they could make Rhodey the main character and just have flash backs to Tony, thus skipping the true origin, but I think people would crap over that. They’ll probably do the Industrial sabotage/attack that injures him and forces him to put on a prototype armor suit for the life-support capabilities. Then uses it to get his revenge/find out who attacked him, and on the way will sort of realize “hey, I can help people with this thing too…” and sort of fall into being a hero rather than donning it to do good deeds. Kinda like Ironfan said.
As for actors…hmmm…none that anyone has said would do it–where did some of those come from?!? Oh well. As long as it’s done right I don’t care WHO plays what part…some new up and comer might do a better job than a Hollywood “Rewrite the roll to fit me” Star.
um okay warmachine has a name james rhodes
and no way in hell should ryan reynolds play tony stark
and they could make a great ironman movie where the story will not be like spiderman, fantastic four, or daredevil was, because in fact tony stark was just building a suit to sell until he was captured and forced to build a suit of mass destruction and he relized a suit of mass destruction cant just be in the hands of anyone. and thats what the movie should be about. if they doit right.
Just to clear things up a bit…
Original Iron Man = Tony Stark = red & gold armor = white guy
Tony Stark’s friend = War Machine = black armor = black guy
I just hope they get someone taller than Tom Cruise (but just as talented, if not more) for the role…
Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.
Tony Stark was originally white. Man-O-War was the guy who became IronMan am I correct?
I also have heard numerous times from several places that Ryan Reynolds will be playing Stark/Ironman. He was Van Wilder and also in Blade: Trinity as Hannibal.
I think they should get that one actor from anchorman to play as tony stark or that one dodgeball guy. Since they kinda look like him
I have always thought Ironman would be a great movie. I would have to go with Tom Selleck to play Tony Stark. He looks just Like the comic book character.
Hello, Iron Man was not a black man originally, He was Tony Stark inventor Millionare!……At one point he gave up being Iron Man and his best friend took over the role!…..This movie if done correctly will be one awesome film. If they can stay original not like Spidey with webs coming out of his hands! (although the Spidey movies were fantastic!)There are so many heros that could be made into movies or remakes ie; Captain America for one, lets just hope they keep coming?
Brandon Frasier?? Sean William Scott? Hello yourself! Is not Tony Stark a black man? I mean, come on! Black super hero = black actor.. but maybe that´s just what I think. I look forward to the movie!
Iron Man would make a great superhero to make a movie on. His humanity makes him an ideal model, and also his history makes him intriguing. I hope they start off at the begining in Vietnam to create a realistic beginning. Many people would be able to relate to alcoholism, but people who don’t would be more forgiving (hopefully) if they knew about his experience in ‘Nam, but i hope the movie doesn’t dwell to deeply on that fact if they do at all.
Iron Man is indeed one of the only Marvel heroes with whom the general public can relate to; he has no extraodrinary or superhuman powers and is a hero purely of his own merit (He built his suits for those that aren’t aware). It doesn’t take an in depth-knowledge of the character to appreciate Iron Man for being that and it is possible to see that the alcoholism could play a part in allowing some fans to relate with the character of Tony Stark, but in the end Iron Man is supposed to do battle with evil. It would be highly unlikely and perhaps even inappropriate to model a Marvel character on his fight against alcoholism (Although this would be an interesting angle to add extra depth) as this is not what makes Tony Stark Iron Man, it is his sense of honour and duty that makes him realise he must become Iron Man.
This film sounds alright. I’ll watch it.
The Destroyer is a collection of 60 plus books that were the inspiration behind the movie Remo Williams. The movie was a letdown for me; since I’ve read 5 or 6 of the books and enjoyed the writing style and the interaction between The Destroyer and Chiun, his master. We’re not likely to see Remo Williams II… because of the poor script of the original.
I pray that they come up with a script for Iron Man that creates interest in Iron Man as well as giving him a chance at appearing in a sequel.
I’ve read through the first 275 issues of the comic – (missing about 10 of them) – and while Tony is a millionaire playboy, he’s messed up. He’s got physical health problems (starting off with the bullet near the heart which required he wear his original suit’s chest plate all the time.) He’s had problems with his spinal nerves and paralyses – and alcoholism.
He’s got mental ailments – depression, worry, angst – and even gives up as Iron Man for quite a few issues, letting his best friend save the world as Iron Man in his absence.
Even as a rich, handsome guy – he seems to be as bad or worse at picking the right lady as the rest of us single males. In his case, they either end up deciding to marry some normal man, 2. turn out to be the evil enemies of the story, or 3. get killed by the enemies of the story. He’s got incredibly bad luck when it comes to women.
He’s not perfect.. he’s not in perfect health (although maybe he got his ailments repaired since I quit reading..) he doesn’t always make the right decision, but through inspiration, creativity, knowledge of his suit’s abilities, determination and courage, he manages to find a way to come out on top. Tony Stark is flawed, but inspires us by showing us that you can overcome your flaws and succeed.
Each story tried to show us that the person inside the armor was human – wrestling their own deamons, and when they failed at a task, finding a way to overcome that failure.
May the script writers be fans that are up to the challenge of bringing such a complex character – and may they use scenes from the Playboy Clubs that Tony enjoyed.. (reference to the cute bunny outfits).
Only 10 more months to find out..
Iron man would win against Superman easy he would just build an armour containing green krptonite and woop his ass. About the Iron man movie see it if you want if you don’t then all of you just stop putting post up and go visit other sites.
Oh Riley… tell me you’re kidding.
Superman vs. Ironman… you think there is any doubt who would win? Is there any doubt that the battle wouldn’t even last 10 seconds?
Ironman is prety cool… but this is SUPERMAN we’re talking about.
It think they should like make some more movies on superman and like in one they should make ironman and superman do a hugh battle and see who wins.
hi riley
If people dont know that much about iron man then they should put his cartoon back on the air like 3 weeks before they make his movie then people will know all about iron man and if they dont like him well then dont watch the movie and dont conplain. If people where really into marvel then they would know how cool he really is.
Most people dont even no that much about iron man because hes one of the oldest super heros made, that deosnt mean hes boring that means you probly dont no that much about him, well before you bad mouth him read his comics watch his cartoons etc.
When you do you will realize hes way more interesting than people think,and i think a movie of him would be awsome.Infact they should make like 5 movies about him.
i think they should make an iron man movie because he’s one of the best super heros there ever will be. and he’s way better than super man and he’s got like what 4 movies so if he gets movies certainly ironman should to.
ok i am really sorry but no matter what any of you people say this movie is going to kick ass- superhero movies are the best escape from reality going right now, not every movie has to be radically different or oscar worthy to be good- besides after making motion picture for 100 years or so, that is impossible now anyways! can’t anyone just sit back and enjoy a good superhero kicking some a** instead of trying to make some grand analysis about it- i can’t wait! keep the superheroes coming!!!!!!
I think that Brandon Frasier would definately be a better candidate than Timothy Dalton. HELLO! Does anyone remeber Timothy’s 007 days….Talk about screwing a GREAT character up.
Another thought for Iron Man is Sean William Scott, he would fit the bill to a T. Especially if the alcohol was thrown in there
I agree with Screen Rant. I can’t believe that someone thinks that Iron Man is not interesting or original.
But where I differ is, The Alcoholism aspect of the series was pivotal!!! It definateley gave MORE character to an already bad ass persona!
Iron Man is probably the only “Superhero” that could actually someday exist. I’ve been reading and collecting Iron Man comics and toys since the late sixties. I hope they would do a story along the “Heroes Reborn” storyline. How about Timothy Dalton as Tony Stark, Jet Li as the Mandarin and Lindsy Lohan as Pepper Pots.
I am fine with them making a movie with Iron Man. I mean, movies do so well when it becomes a grand struggle between the father and the son, you know like Hulk…Oh wait, that sucked.
Not that interesting?
He’s basically a suave cross between James Bond and Howard Hughes. Iron Man was my favorite comic book when I was a kid and I’m praying that they don’t screw this up. One thing I’m worried about is that I believe they’re really going to play up the “Tony Stark is a alcoholic” angle.
Vic
Stop this, you will only get your hopes up. They will never make that movie. Its going to be big CGI Iron Man fighting like Van Helsing and you all know it
I think you guys are right, there is a following of the “basic formula” for the comic genre, much the same as there is for the video game genre. Check out this previous posting.
Surely the studios can take a chance and take a small piece of imagination and go for something different.
I loved Unbreakable for that. Brilliant take on the whole Superhero genre, injecting “reality” into the story.
Come on studios, take a chance and go for something different, don’t keep churning the same formula out for new comic story after new comic story and destroying the chances of any of the decent movie versions of ever making a franchise.
Okay…I’m ranting now.
I agree. These superhero “origins” stories have become very tired and predictable. The funny thing is, the original Batman flick wasn’t an origin story — yet it desperately needed to be one.
As for Iron Man, I like the idea of making “being an ‘iron man'” themetically analogous to fighting alcoholism. Make the movie not about a superhero who runs around in an iron man suit fighting criminals, but a spoiled alcoholic rich guy who has to better himself. The iron man suit could just be a prototype soldier armor which Stark has to put on to battle against some other military weapon. Also, the iron man suit itself should be dangerous to use for the wearer — it can fray one’s brain if used too much, so it itself could become another “addiction” for Stark to overcome.
Iron Man is pretty much a blank slate for the general movie going public.
Other than the typical geek crowd’s knowledge, Iron Man is about as unknown as Daredevil was.
The only problem I see with more super hero fare is the fact that all of the general plot lines are pretty much the same: Establish basic origin of “hero” character. Establish hero’s “villain”. Create a fight or conflict. Extremely basic resolution.
That comes from the basic storytelling of the Golden and Silver Ages and I think it translates badly to film. Well, if not badly, then you can’t get away with it more than a couple of times and it has been done to death already.
I think the X-Men films work better since at least the team aspect differs from the solo hero films.
Perhaps if they went off on a tangent and made this really about a very rich talented man with an alcohol problem and made the mech/tech side secondary it could work. There’s a lot of metaphor in the name “Iron Man” that could provide decent storytelling.
Alas, Hollywood doesn’t like that kind of film so it will probably be nothing more then guy-in-suit battles.