Iron Man Rumors Flow
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Director Jon Favreau may have an Oscar-nominated actor in mind for his forthcoming Iron Man movie. The Aint-it-Cool.com website claims that the filmmaker has offered a role to Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash).The role is not that of Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, but rather that of Stark's friend, pilot Jim Rhodes. In the comics, Rhodes donned the Iron Man armor himself when Stark succumbed to alcoholism, and later became the character known as War Machine.
In related news, Favreau has posted some replies to fan inquiries at his Iron Man Movie Group blog at MySpace.com. Favreau addressed fan concerns over his intention to use the Mandarin as the film's villain.
"We live in a different society than when the Mandarin was originally conceived. We in no way want to perpetuate any ridiculous stereotypes. The aspect of the Mandarin that is appealing to us is his mysterious and formidable nature," Favreau explained. "He is the most powerful and definitive of the Iron Man villains. He also allows us to weave in other fan pleasing 'personalities' as he is a mastermind and not simply a brutish thug. The Mandarin presents the best opportunity to write a complex and colorful character."
Favreau added, "I happen to think that any portrayal of this villain similar to the early books would be comical at best and offensive at worst. Neither result is what we are going for. I hope to update the paradigm and create a character who is a villain because of what he does, not where he's from or what he looks like."
Iron Man will begin filming in early 2007 for a May 2, 2008 release.
posted by Evil @ 12:11 PM,
