Jon Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr. on 'Iron Man 3' and 'The Avengers'
Jon Favreau appeared at the Hero Complex Film Festival on Sunday for a Q&A session after a screening of and . As he reminisced about the lighting in a bottle quality of the first film, he was joined on stage by a surprise guest 鈥� Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr.
Taking a break from the New Mexico set of The Avengers, Downey Jr. weighed in on how shooting with the other giants in the Marvel movie universe is going so far. He and Favreau also discussed on Iron Man 3 鈥� and the inevitable challenges that lay ahead of him.
Last year, Favreau rather diplomatically asserted that the reason he opted out of directing was that he had chosen to make for Disney instead. Still, rumors persist that between Favreau and Marvel Studios during the production of Iron Man 2 鈥� and that their bruised relationship was a significant factor in Favreau鈥檚 decision to jump ship.
Even after Black was chosen as his replacement, Favreau indicated that he was still willing to as Tony Stark鈥檚 bodyguard Happy Hogan in Iron Man 3. He re-iterated this again on Sunday, but joked that his involvement is contingent on a particular list of demands (thanks to for the transcript):
Favreau: If The Freak isn鈥檛 in it, I鈥檓 not doing it. If Happy Hogan doesn鈥檛 turn into The Freak, I鈥檓 not doing it. Here鈥檚 what happens to Happy Hogan, he marries Pepper Potts-
Downey Jr: Wait a minute, you want both?
Favreau: I want a love scene with Pepper Potts with my shirt on and I want to transform into The Freak.
All kidding aside, Favreau admits that he鈥檚 tremendously supportive of Black 鈥� and that in addition to playing a supporting role in front of the camera, he might be playing one behind the scenes as well. Downey Jr. revealed that he and Favreau consulted Black for some ideas during pre-production on one of the earlier films 鈥� and now that Black is calling the shots, he鈥檚 determined to keep Favreau in the fold:
The negotiations have begun and so far I鈥檓 in agreement on every point. Well Shane, interestingly enough, there was a point when Jon and I were stuck on an idea [with a previous film]. We were just in an exploratory phase. So I said, 鈥榃e should talk to Shane.鈥� And I was like, 鈥楽hane, we can鈥檛 really pay.鈥� And he was like, 鈥楤ring me some salmon and some blueberries.鈥� And we went to Yoda鈥檚 house in Miracle Mile and it wound up coming in handy, particularly for a couple scenes. So what I can say about this kind of circle of life thing is Shane, as he鈥檚 getting into the process [to direct Iron Man 3] and getting his sea legs and stuff, he goes, 鈥榃hen can we talk to Jon?鈥� So there鈥檚 going to be this kind of conglomerate of efforts.
Favreau is excited to see what Black brings to the franchise, but he also recognizes one of the major challenge that Iron Man 3 faces 鈥� telling a solo Tony Stark story after audiences have seen the character鈥檚 epic team-up with Captain America, The Hulk, and Thor in The Avengers:
"I love the franchise and I鈥檓 a big fan of Shane鈥檚 as well so hopefully I can be helpful because I want to see this thing grow and transform. And actually, when it finally landed on Shane, it was like, 鈥楢ll right, that鈥檚 gonna be something interesting.鈥� Especially because it鈥檚 gonna be so difficult for whoever does that one because although it鈥檚 Iron Man 3, the whole Avengers thing鈥 guess in comics you can say that it鈥檚 an individual storyline and you can break it off into a group. But in movies, it鈥檚 hard not to take into consideration what just happened. What are you gonna say? 鈥楾hey all just lost their cell phones and you can鈥檛 get help?鈥� So it鈥檚 going to take a lot of ingenuity to make it make sense to a mainstream film audience as well as a comic book audience."
Black is co-writing Iron Man 3鈥榮 script and a few of his previous comments suggest that rather than attempt to one-up The Avengers, his film will instead boast a noticeably different tone and approach. The intention is to have Stark face off against 鈥渞eal world villains鈥� in a story that鈥檚 evocative of . So while Favreau makes a good point, it seems like everyone is in agreement that if anyone can pull this off, it鈥檚 Shane Black.
Speaking of The Avengers, Downey Jr. got surprisingly candid about his initial skepticism towards the project 鈥� an attitude that evidently prevailed even as cameras started rolling. He admits that there was a point where he feared that the film was overstuffed and derivative, but that somehow managed to instill order amidst all that chaos:
"Well, I hate everybody. [Audience laughs] I鈥檓 not talking about the cast, I鈥檓 not talking about Joss. What I mean is I tend to look at a scene and say 鈥楾his is absolutely impossible, we can鈥檛 shoot this, it鈥檚 horrible. I can tell you 10 other movies its been in, I refuse.鈥� I usually start off the morning by refusing to do what I鈥檝e signed on to do. So I brought that attitude, happily. I just thought 鈥楬ow are you gonna put all of us clowns together? He鈥檚 wearing a suit, he鈥檚 all jacked up, he鈥檚 so and so and poor Mark Ruffalo, he鈥檚 gonna out do us鈥�. And we鈥檙e about six weeks in and I have to say Joss Whedon is nailing it. He鈥檚 so smart and so good. And it鈥檚 gonna be great. I can鈥檛 believe I just said it, I never could鈥檝e believed this but it鈥檚 gonna be great."
Someone is bound to point out that actors will very rarely criticize a film they鈥檙e still in the middle of making, but Downey Jr.鈥檚 response seemed more genuine than a go-to positive comment. Then again, he once called the second greatest movie he鈥檇 ever made 鈥� so I suppose we鈥檒l just have to wait and see.
Iron Man 3 is already shaping up to be a unique and interesting addition to the series and the fact that Black wants Favreau involved (even if it鈥檚 just in a minor consulting capacity) indicates that he respects the franchise鈥檚 origins and reaffirms that Marvel probably made the right choice bringing him on board.
The Avengers hits theaters May 4, 2012 and Iron Man 3 is currently scheduled for release May 3rd, 2013.
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Chris Schrader blogs at .
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