The undoubted star of Marvel Studios and the Marvel cinematic universe is Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. Marvel’s first film Iron Man, could have gone in a much different direction and the course of movies would be in another place right now. By all accounts, the script was incomplete during shooting, leaving much of the film to be improvised, both during production and post-production. That is where director Jon Favreau and Downey’s talent carried the piece to become more engaging and fun then the sum of its parts.
This month Marvel has had their most surprising blockbuster since 2008 with Guardians of the Galaxy, which is blowing critics and audiences away. Much like the their first picture, their latest combines comedy, far-out concepts, action, and pathos, to give audiences a rare experience at the movies. Downey Jr. was impressed by the latest offering and had this to say to the Toronto Sun:
“Galaxy in some ways is the best Marvel movie ever,” Downey says with admiration. “And it’s odd for someone with — on occasion — an ego the size of mine to actually say that!”
While Downey Jr. has always been congratulatory towards his Marvel co-workers in the past, he has never given this high praise to any single Marvel franchise. He goes on to elaborate on his reasoning behind his praise:
“We’re talking about how the Iron Mans and the Thors and the Captain Americas and the Avengers movies have afforded Marvel the opportunity to essentially take what was a third-tier, minor, kind of upstart bit of potential from one of their comic books series and say: ‘Look!’ ”
Downey sounds almost like a proud parent because he has seen it all grow from the seed he and others planted in Iron Man. Multiple individual franchises were created which combine to make mega-franchises. This success has given Marvel the latitude to really dig into their library and the evidence of their new-found confidence is in the slate of films coming our way, such as The Inhumans.
Downey’s contract is up with Marvel after the next two installments of The Avengers are complete. It would be a fanboy’s dream if he could extend his deal for one more movie before the third Avengers. It doesn’t seem that another Iron Man solo adventure is in the immediate plans, but what if he guest starred in the next Guardians adventure?
Marvel has been laying the seeds for it in the comics for a couple of years now. Can you imagine the interaction between the sarcastic Tony Stark and the literal mind of Drax? Or how about Stark and Peter Quill’s Chris Pratt surrounded by a room full of angry Ravagers and they have to use their wits to talk their way out of it? How about the “romance” in the comics between Stark and Gamora? It also could open up the possibility of dialogue between Thanos and Stark, Earth’s ambassador (considering he was the one to single-handedly save the planet from his attack in The Avengers.) Not likely, but Downey’s enthusiasm does get the imagination going. The possibilities for Marvel right now are truly endless.
Which film was better, Iron Man or Guardians of the Galaxy? What do you think of a team-up between the two? Let us know on our boards, and !
Source: Toronto Sun, ScreenRant