The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Well, I guess he has
the substance abuse part
down pretty well...

I see that Robert Downey Jr. will be the star of Iron Man, the movie adaptation of the Marvel Comics' superhero. Directing, as we've known for a while, will be Jon Favreau.

Here's the full text from the Hollywood Reporter:

Robert Downey Jr.: I am 'Iron Man'
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Robert Downey, Jr. is suiting up to star in "Iron Man," a superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character.

Jon Favreau is directing the Paramount Pictures release. Filming is slated to begin in February in Los Angeles.

Downey will portray Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Using his intelligence and ingenuity, Stark instead builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. Upon his return to the U.S., he uncovers a plot with global implications and must don his armor and protect the world.

The comic debuted in the 1960s, and Iron Man's origin involved Stark being a prisoner of the Viet Cong. The movie version will be set in today's geopolitical climate.

Budgeted at more than $100 million, it marks the first feature film to be produced independently by Marvel Entertainment, which previously licensed its characters, such as "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," to other studios.

Marvel president of production Kevin Feige said the filmmakers looked for the best actor to embody the character.

"The Marvel characters are not just about how high they jump or how fast they fly, they're about their character flaws," Feige said. "They're about their inner demons. They're about the struggles that they go through between being a man and being a hero."

Downey, who has battled his fair share of inner demons, worked hard to get the role, getting in shape and even growing a goatee like the one Stark sports in the comic books.

"In every casting announcement we've done, people in their mind's eye have their own view of it and let us know about it. We're used to it," Feige said. "The point is, we looked at everybody, and we found the best person for the role. It's as confident a casting move as we've ever done. The proof will be in the pudding, but he is Tony Stark."

Downey returns to theaters on November 10 in the Diane Arbus biopic "Fur" opposite Nicole Kidman.

As of this posting the news is "breaking" enough that even imdb hasn't included the info in their entry for Robert Downey Jr.

I'm trying not to have an immediate reaction one way or another to the casting. Downey is a talented and nuanced actor, just not someone I would have immediately thought of for the role. Prior to this I'd have presumed anyone cast for the role would have been someone who would have been chosen for... an American version of James Bond. Still, I'm not disappointed. The choice is an interesting one with some possibilities.

The most disturbing part is that the write-up implies that they've removed the entire "I must wear this chest-plate or I'll die" angle that's a critical dramatic lynch pin to the character's origin. Hopefully it's just an omission by a reporter who's ignorant of the character. After all, the author went straight for an ancient metal song for the header.