John Favreau has been one of the more pro-active film maker's to make use of his blog and have open dialogue between himself and those interested in his project. He's even gone so far as to start an Iron Man MySpace Group where people can submit their casting suggestions and general concerns. It's refreshing to see someone take such a hardcore grassroots approach and be so in touch with his target audience. I'm sure it's not easy listening to fanboys telling you how to make your movie but it's a great way to feel out ideas.
Combine this with his panel appearance at Comic-Con and Iron Man has been making some moves on the production front.
In this interview with Ain't It Cool News, Favreau explains a couple of things including as we reported earlier, Mandarin being in line for the villain. When pressed on his blog about re-inventing the Mandarin he had this to say: "We live in a different society than when the Mandarin was originally conceived. We in no way want to prepetuate any ridiculous stereotypes. The aspect of the Mandarin that is appealing to us is his mysterious and formidible nature. He is the most powerful and definitive of the Iron Man villians. He also allows us to weave in other fan pleasing "personalities" as he is a mastermind and not simply a brutish thug. The Mandarin presents the best opportuntity to write a complex and colorful character. It has always been my feeling that the villian is the most fun character to play, write for, and watch. If we create a great character, a great actor will hopefully follow. These are our goals.
I happen to think that any portrayal of this villian similar to the early books would be comical at best and offensive at worst. Neither result is what we are going for. I hope to update the paradigm and create a character who is a villian because of what he does, not where he's from or what he looks like."
In addition to the Mandarin, the rumour mill now grinds out that James Rhodes A.K.A. "War Machine" may also be a factor in the movie. When AICN mentioned War Machine Fav responded by saying: "...he's not even a bad guy, really. He's kind of his friend, Rhodes, you know? And we definitely want to explore that eventually..." AICN then goes on to say that the part has already been offered to Hustle and Flow star Terrence Howard.
The Rhodes character is a long-time Stark confidant who at one point temporarily took over the Iron Man role as Stark lost his company and lapsed into alcoholism. Upon Stark's return, they built Rhodes new armour and he became War Machine.
And with regard to that rumour, which just won't seem to go away, Favreau had this to say on his blog: "I've never even met Tom Cruise, though I do think he is a great actor. He doesn't seem to fit with what Marvel is looking for at this time, but you never know what will happen. The rumor is false as far as I know..." I think I'd settle for Paul Reubens at this stage if it meant Cruise went away!
Other tidbits include the production design, and the armour specifically: "Yeah, Red and Gold. We're going to start with the Grey and then we're going with the Red and Gold. I think we're going to go circular chest piece and we're definitely inspired by the Adi Granov stuff and he's actually working on the suit design with us."
The movie will apparently be more Stark than Iron Man, and will also see him inherit his millions from the beginning, thus minimizing any required character development prior to his military service. Speaking of which, as it can be a rather sensetive topic: "I think a balance needs to be struck between reality and comic book fantasy. The books were always non-specific while alluding to definitive aspects of our collective cultural subconscious. Stark was visiting a "non-specific Asian/American conflict" in the mid-sixties. This might be the way to go for the movie as well."
Seems like he's given this a lot of thought. I for one can't think of any director I'd prefer to take on this project. He's a fan's director.
