Latest ‘Iron Man 3’ news: Robert Downey Jr praises director, James Badge Dale says it’s a ‘dark comedy’
Robert Downey Jr. attended a sit-down chat at the 24 hour Cinefamily Telethon this weekend, which was streamed live. The two-time Oscar-nominated actor discussed his next outing as billionaire Tony Stark/ Marvel’s Armored Avenger in “Iron Man 3.”
Downey Jr. began by praising director Shane Black, who takes over for Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films.
Wang Xuequi has been cast as Dr. Wu, seen here in a recent still released by Marvel Studios
“I adore him. I’ve been a fan of Shane Black since I saw Lethal Weapon. When we were doing the first Iron Man, Jon Favreau and I used to call up Shane Black. We had two lifeline calls; one was to [Star Trek Into Darkness director] J.J. Abrams, which was about the third act [of Iron Man]. And for the other call, we went to Shane’s house. We couldn’t afford him, so in exchange for helping us with a few key scenes, he asked for a piece of Salmon and fresh blueberries.”
The duo worked together on “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and the “Avengers” star discussed how Black contributed to the earlier works.
“For instance, in the Iron Man scene where Tony Stark comes back from captivity and calls a press conference, and then asked everybody to sit down, the speech Stark gives all came from Shane Black. So to get him to do Iron Man 3, it has just been this awesome experience and one of my favorite working experiences. Iron Man 3 is going to be a very, very bold genre film, from the storytelling.”
Downey Jr.discussed how Faveau will return as Happy Hogun in this film and praised Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin.
“Happy has an amazing arc in this movie. In fact, probably the best two bits of acting in the movie, so far from what I can tell…which sucks because I’m in every frame, are Favreau as Happy Hogun…I can’t give away much, but it’s ridiculous. And also Sir Ben Kingsley [as the Mandarin]. Kingsley is amazing. And a lot of that had to do with the way that Shane crafted the role for Sir Ben. I think that people are gonna be not [totally] surprised, but they’re gonna be just reinvested in what a brilliant actor Kinglsey is.”
Meanwhile, making this month’s Glow Magazine issue, James Badge Dale discussed the number of big movies he has forthcoming, from “The Lone Ranger” to “Iron Man 3.”
Describing his role as one of the villains in the Marvel sequel the actor explained:
“I had a great time. I went from riding a horse in the desert for The Lone Ranger, tossed my dogs in a car and went to Iron Man 3 with guys in robot suits. IM3 is really a dark comedy with a little bit of farce. The trick is to be able to have the audience relate to you. Director Shane Black gave me a long leash. We had a great time. Robert Downey Jr. loves the process of acting and loves to be creative with a director and his fellow actors.” About his other future projects, “I’m close to a deal with a film in Austin, Texas. If it works out I’ll throw the dogs in the car and head down. Just hope there are no horses involved. I still have horse smell in my jeans from The Lone Ranger. I’m a city boy with a metro card. I prefer the subway.”
“Iron Man 3” arrives on May 3, 2013 and “The Lone Ranger” comes to theaters two months later on July 3, 2013.
This is the Japanese trailer which features some different shots etc…
