Iron Man 2 is an upcoming
2010 superhero
film, based on the
Marvel Comics
fictional character
Iron Man. The film is
directed by
Jon Favreau, with
Robert Downey, Jr. reprising the title
role. The film is to be released on April 28 (Belgium, Sweden and
France), April 30 (UK & AU) and May 7 (North America),
2010.
Premise
In an interview with
USA Today,
director Jon Favreau revealed that the sequel is set six months
after the events of Iron Man. Favreau also discussed how their
version of Iron Man's comic book nemesis the
Mandarin "allows us to incorporate the
whole pantheon of villains". He also mentioned that
S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue to have a major
role.
During development, Favreau said the film would explore Stark's
alcoholism, but it would not be "the
Demon in a Bottle
version". Downey said, while promoting the first film, that Stark
(
Robert Downey, Jr.) would
probably develop a drinking problem as he is unable to cope with
his age, the effects of revealing he is Iron Man, as well as Pepper
(
Gwyneth Paltrow) getting a
boyfriend. Before filming began, Downey revealed that while the
film was not an adaptation of the
Demon in a Bottle
storyline from the comic book series, it was more about the
"interim space" between the origin and the
Demon story
arc.
Cast
- Don Cheadle as Lt. Colonel James
"Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine: Cheadle is replacing Terrence Howard from the first film. Howard
said, "There was no explanation, apparently the contracts that we
write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on,
sometimes. Promises aren't kept, and good faith negotiations aren't
always held up." Entertainment
Weekly stated Favreau did not enjoy working with Howard,
often reshooting and cutting his scenes; Howard's publicist said he
had a good experience playing the part, while Marvel chose not to
comment. As Favreau and Theroux chose to minimize the role, Marvel
came to Howard to discuss lowering his salary – Howard was the
first actor hired in Iron Man and earned the largest
salary of the cast. The publication stated they were unsure whether
Howard's representatives left the project first or if Marvel chose
to stop negotiating. Theroux denied the part of the report stating
"the role of War Machine was scaled back and then beefed up".
Cheadle only had a few hours to accept the role and did not even
know what storyline Rhodes would undergo. He commented he is a
comic book fan, but felt there are not enough black superheroes.
- Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer: Rockwell was considered for the
role of Tony Stark in the first film, and he accepted the role of
Hammer without reading the script. He had never heard of the
character before he was contacted about the part, and was unaware
Hammer is an old man in the comics, whereas in the film he will be
significantly closer to Stark's age. He will perform as one of the
film's prime antagonists, possibly the main one.
- Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko / Whiplash: This version of the character also
includes elements of Crimson Dynamo
from the comics. In the film, he will be the son of Russian
scientist Anton Vanko, who, in the comics, is the original Crimson
Dynamo and creator of said armor. Downey offered Rourke the part
during a roundtable discussion with David
Ansen at the 2009 Golden
Globes, and Rourke met with Favreau and Theroux to discuss his
character's role. Rourke almost dropped out of the role due to
Marvel's initial salary offer of $250,000, so the studio chose to
increase the deal. Rourke researched for the part by visiting
Butyrka
prison
. He suggested half of the character's
dialogue be in Russian. Whiplash will act as the primary antagonist
of the film alongside Justin Hammer.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick
Fury: Jackson initially had financial problems with Marvel and
was unsure about reprising the part of Fury, until they reached a
deal that would entail his appearance in nine films as the
character.
Garry Shandling appears as a
senator who wants Stark to give
Iron Man's armor to the government.
Paul Bettany will again voice Stark's
computer,
JARVIS.
Clark Gregg will reprise his role as
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson from the first
film.
Kate Mara will appear as
Bethany Cabe.
Olivia
Munn has also landed an unspecified role in the film.
Stan Lee will appear as talk show host,
Larry King.
Production
Jon Favreau said it was his intent to create a film trilogy for
Iron Man, with Obadiah Stane (
Jeff
Bridges) becoming
Iron Monger during
the sequels. However, Stane became the main villain in
Iron
Man after a meeting between Favreau and various comic book
writers, including
Mark Millar. Millar
argued the
Mandarin, whom Favreau
originally intended to be the main villain, was too fantastical.
Favreau concurred, deciding "I look at Mandarin more like how in
Star Wars you had the
Emperor, but
Darth
Vader is the guy you want to see fight. Then you work your way
to the time when lightning bolts are shooting out of the fingers
and all that stuff could happen. But you can't have what happened
in
Return
of the Jedi happen in
A New Hope. You just
can't do it."
Justin Theroux signed to write the
script in July 2008, which is based on a story written by Jon
Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr. Theroux co-wrote
Tropic Thunder, and Downey recommended
him to Marvel.
Genndy Tartakovsky
storyboarded the film.
Shane Black gave some advice on the script, and
suggested to Favreau and Downey that they model Stark on
J. Robert Oppenheimer, who became
depressed with being "the destroyer of worlds" after working on the
Manhattan Project.
Adi Granov returned to supervise the designs for
Iron Man's armor.
Filming will primarily
take place at Raleigh Studios in
Manhattan Beach,
California
.
Principal photography began
April 6, 2009, at the
Pasadena
Masonic Temple. The
fake working
title was
Rasputin.
And filming also took place at Edwards Air
Force Base
and also at the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix. The
film's principal photography concluded on July 20, 2009.
Video game
A video game based on the film is to be released by
Sega in April 2010, with a new story written by
Invincible Iron Man scribe
Matt Fraction. The game's
Comic Con trailer showed that the
Crimson Dynamo is set to appear as a
villain.
Promotion
At the 2009
San Diego
Comic Con, a five minute teaser trailer for the movie was
shown. Actors portraying Stark Industries recruiters handed out
business cards with an invitation to apply for a job at Stark
Industries. A website for Stark Industries also went online, with
an attached graphic of a "napkin memo" from Tony Stark to Pepper
Potts announcing that Stark Industries no longer made weapons.
Another section featured an online application.
Gameloft will publish the
Iron Man
2 mobile game.
A trailer is tied to
Robert Downey
Jr.'s other blockbuster
Sherlock Holmes.
References
- This week's cover: 'Iron Man 2' with exclusive
photos! | PopWatch Blog | EW.com
- Phillips, Emily (July 22, 2009). " Brand New Iron Man 2 Shots". Empire.
Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
-
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/comics/a162651/stan-lee-cast-in-iron-man-2.html
- http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/100/1005877p1.html
- [1]
- Stark Industries
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