JON FAVREAU - IRON MAN
The toughest part of doing a movie like ' Iron Man' isn't casting the film, building the superhero's suit or convincing the studio to donate another 50 million dollars towards the escalating effects budget. No, it's keeping those mad comic-book loving fans on the Internet happy. Director Jon Favreau - who is also an actor and has appeared in films such as 'Swingers', 'Made', 'The Break Up' and makes a brief appearance as the hero's driver in 'Iron Man' - was determined to keep in good with the film's fans. Fortunately, it wasn't unfamiliar terrain for him.
By Clint Morris
"I'm one of them, one of the community - they know that," says the director of the multi-million dollar superhero film. "I read everything. It's a great way to listen in at the big water cooler and see what people are thinking. It's been a tremendous asset in my career, and it's been very helpful in bringing 'Iron Man' to the big screen." Favreau says it's not crucial to have the Internet on your side, as long as you are responsive to what is going on. "You have to take into consideration what the popular opinion is. I get a lot of feedback from the people I work with, and work for, but I also keep my ear to the ground on the Internet."
Favreau has learnt to use the Internet to his advantage and even created a MySpace page where he talks to fans about the movie, and has done so since it started production. "I did it so I could address things about the movie - even if it was just letting them know that some things [they'd heard] weren't the case. There's a great frustration when you don't have a voice in that community, because the information could snowball out of control and rumours can be hard to quash. If you have a presence, and a voice, and you have a forum in which you can communicate with the fans, it's a terrific thing," says Favreau.
Unlike Superman and Batman, Favreau says Marvel's Iron Man is one inked hero that most people didn't know about. "The people that did saw him as a B-level superhero, sort of a poor man's Spiderman. Though he's one of the big names in the Marvel Universe, and the Comic Con crowd and Internet crowd are very familiar with him, [Iron Man] never filtered out into the mainstream," explains the director. "Over the past year, I've been dealing with the crowd that are familiar with the character, letting them know the character is in good hands." And in doing so, Iron Man has trickled into mainstream consciousness. "That's their [the fans'] doing," says a thankful Favreau. "I owe them a great deal of gratitude. It's great that they've been so vocal, because now more and more people are aware of the character - and the movie."
Favreau came on board with 'Iron Man' in May 2006. At that time, Marvel had just retained the rights to the character from New Line Cinema, who had long planned to make a feature based on the property - with Nick Cassavettes ('The Notebook') attached at one point to direct - but didn't see it through. From the day Favreau, who had previously directed the films 'Elf' and 'Zathura', was hired to work on the movie, he was told he had a clean slate and that nothing from the New Line incarnation would remain. "Part of the deal, when Marvel was able to get the rights back to certain characters, was that they had to start anew. So I was never shown any scripts, nor was I privy to any plot information from the previous incarnation."
Robert Downey Jr. had been suggested a few times for the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man, an alcoholic billionaire who builds himself an iron suit in order to fight crime. "I originally didn't think he was right," says the director of the Oscar Nominated actor whose off-screen performances have overshadowed his on-screen work on past occasions. "I met with him though, and he really responded to playing this part. And Tony Stark was one of the few characters Downey could actually play age-wise, because a lot of the other characters are much younger. So, it did begin to occur to me that he was perfect. It also became evident that he was in great shape, great health... and many years had passed since his lower points...it became more and more possible that he might be Tony Stark."
Favreau hopes the casting of Downey Jr. as Iron Man brings people to the cinema that wouldn't otherwise have wanted to see a superhero movie. "I think it's already happening. People are suddenly aware of who Iron Man is," he says. "Further more, a great cast was assembled, I think, because Robert Downey Jr. was involved. You know, when we first put the offers out to the actors, we didn't have a script really. It was a big leap of faith for these actors to jump on board a film in a genre that doesn't consistently produce good films. Often they'll do well, but there are only a handful of them that are good - that aren't just visual effects."
'Iron Man' is in cinemas now.
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