Iron Man
May 2

If your protagonist is literally a hunk of metal, the least you can do is inject him with some personality. And no one brings personality like Robert Downey Jr., an inspired choice for wealthy arms-designer-turned-conflicted-superhero Tony Stark. (Should we expect anything less from Jon Favreau, the Swingers vet who also directed Elf and managed to make it watchable?) That the comic-book Iron Man struggled with substance abuse only makes bad-boy Downey an even more appropriate choice. Gwyneth Paltrow does Lois Lane duties as Virginia “Pepper” Potts, and a bald Jeff Bridges plays billionaire villain Obadiah Stane. (Downey may be made of iron, but Bridges has the chrome dome.)

GEEK SPEAK
Robert Kimmons, co-owner of Brainstorm Movies, Comics and Gaming (1648 W North Ave, 773-384-8721)

Stockpiling Iron Man comics since 1967, Kimmons once owned all 346 books in the first Iron Man series (not to mention 100-plus comics in subsequent series) prior to opening Brainstorm. More than 30 years later, Kimmons has sold much of his collection to help start up his store, a place he calls a “geek safe zone.” He stays up-to-date with the mechanical überman by reading all of the current Iron Man stuff that comes into Brainstorm.

Reasons to be hopeful “It looks like [the director] got it right on target with the origins of character, the depictions of character, [and] Robert Downey Jr. looks like Tony Stark [from the original comic book]. I think this is going to be the next big superhero franchise.”

Possible pitfalls “I don’t see any. From what I can tell, Robert Downey Jr. seems very comfortable in the role, which is going to help people connect with the character.”

Fascinating Iron Man fact? “One time he seduced a teammate from the Avengers without telling her he was Iron Man. Of course, he was a raging drunk at the time. Then Captain America showed up and beat the crap out of him.”

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