Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date) (1 Viewer)

[Kachi Khatri]

As many know Cruise could take this role and eat it.

But I'd like to see a fresh new face plastered to this character.

 

[Grant H]

One thing: there probably would have been LOTS of flying with Cruise in the role. Easier than walking with the five or six-inch lifts that would have been built into the suit for him!

But, we'll be saved the inevitable Tom Cruise temper-tantrum scene where he gets disgusted and scatters the suit-parts about the room and kicks them while he yells like a 15-year-old sissy.

I'm most familiar with the Red and Gold suit. Does the Silver and Red suit just put silver in place of gold?

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I'd definitely rather see the red and gold suit!

 

[Don_Limey]

Myself I think James Caviezel would play a good Tony Stark. He has my vote for the role. I would go see it if he is cast right away.

 

[Ray H]

I for one was a supporter of the Tom Cruise as Tony Stark thing since I first heard the rumor 8 years ago.

 

[Adam Portrais]

Yeah, Tony Stark has been drawn with a gotee for years now. As for the slim mustache, a little too 80's porn star/Vincent Price for my taste. One of my favorite artists on Iron Man was Sean Chen. A variation on a classic:



I also like the job Bryan Hitch has done with Iron Man in the Ultimates which is more like a tank that Stark had to climb in and out of and wearing the suit takes a lot out of him. To me this suit (as was the intent behind it's design) looks (at least to me) more "real world". By the way his Tony Stark looks a bit like Cruise.




Now The Ultimates (think revamped Avengers) would make a great movie. The comic is done as if it were a movie, if you can check it out. And just for fun check out their version of Nick Fury. Try to guess who would play him. You get three guesses and the first two don't count.




But anyways, back to Iron Man. As far as the Iron Man costume, it doesn't matter too much who's in it as it will most likely be nearly all CGI (as it should be, let's face it, all that action by a guy in a suit? I see that as being a bit awkward).

But since Cruise isn't going to be playing Stark then I would have to agree that an unknown actor would be best to fill the roll.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

It depends which era of IRON MAN you're more familiar with. For me, it was the 1970's, and Tony Stark didn't look too much like Cruise there from my memory.

 

[Paul_Scott]

90% of the time, i would champion an unknown for a comic book character- but in most cases we are talking about iconic characters- things like Batman, Superman, Spider-man, etc.
Iron Man is not an iconic character, and just like i wouldn't have minded George Clooney as Reed Richards, i think that casting someone like Cruise (who a lot of people consider to be a dictatorial, prima donna hot shot, smug guy) in this part would actually go a ways to already giving the audience a 'key' for the character off the bat.
the character of Stark is not an 'everyman'.
he is a rich 'seems to have it all' celebrity.
and unlike Superman, once he is in costume, you don't see the actor anymore(which creates dramatic problems, but thats another story...and one reason why Raimi has Tobey frequently seen without the mask).

 

[Grant H]

I thought that was to frighten children!

Whoever they get, it needs to be someone who can act THROUGH the mask, and I don't mean like Willem Dafoe in the Power Rangers villain get-up.

Peter Weller still had his mouth to work with, and the filmmakers did occasionally find ways to bring his eyes into it as well, but that's the general direction I'm thinking as far as what kind of presence and ability is needed to be convincing. It's a tall order to fill. Iron Man will have to act convincingly through movement and posturing in the suit coupled with well-done ADR.

I know he has his share of detractors, but Billy Zane may have enough presence to pull it off.

He was all for doing more Phantom movies; unfortunately, it bombed. Of course, I liked it. Had some campy elements (mostly Treat Williams), but I thought he was an excellent super hero. He could certainly give Stark some smarmy, billionaire playboy qualities as well. If the director's ballsy enough to not let him go over-the-top (something few directors seem to be capable of being with Mr. Cruise), Zane could be a good Iron Man.

 

[JoSAN]

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[TheLongshot]

1) He's not attractive, which Tony is supposed to be.

Not attractive? One of the main critisims of him this that he's a pretty boy. Course, I'm not the expert on male good looks, but I'd probably bet that most people would disagree with this statement.

As for his nose, does it really matter, since it is going to be the stuntmen who are going to wear the suit most of the time? I doubt whoever gets the part will be wearing the mask all that much.

Jason

 

[Paul_Scott]

to have a flat face plate (ie no nose) do you realize how far the front of the helmet will extend?
the look of the costume in the comics is completely unrealistic/stylized.
you would never be able to see the persons eyes, for instance.
and the head would look nowhere near as streamlined with the body as comic fans are familiar with- that is unless the rest of the suit is enlarged to an absurd point.

and as for Cruises looks- yeah i never thought he was the epitome of the ideal male myself, and was surprised when girls most people i know would consider to be pretty damn hot, would tell me he was their idea of a attractive/sexy leading man.

 

[Ruz-El]

Wow!

I don't pretend to be Tom Cruises biggest fan or anything, but is there any evidence that he is that much of an ego maniac? Performances in Collateral and Magnolia, to nam e afew would suggest an actor who want's to experiment and try new things. I would think that the way Cruise approaches a role would be a good thing.

Also, I've heard the complaint about the reason why all the superhero's get unmasked in the movies are because the egotistical actors want people to see their pretty mugs. I tend to beleive this as well, because I can't think of a movie about a masked superhero, that didn't get unmasked, but is it really the actors fighting for this, or the studio marketers and actors agents concerned about audience regonition to the stars? I know that for me, seeing the Batman, Spiderman, hell any hero unmasked in a movie drives me nuts, and I hope that any future movies well stop this practice. I also wondered if the heroes get unmasked because the actors can't come to grips with performing with their face covered, and haveing to relay emotion by body movement. A diffecult skill, and might explain why all the unmaskings tend to revolve around the heroe haveing to divulge info to there love interest.

I'm not challenging anyone here, just curious if there is any evidence to the above.

As far as Iron Man goes, I'm interested to see how this works out. That said, I think that the animated direct to video "Ultimates" animation that is supposedly in production has the potential to be the best Iron Man / superhero comic adaptation period.

 

[Sam Favate]

I always thought Timothy Dalton in The Rocketeer looked the most like Tony Stark.

 

[TheLongshot]

I don't pretend to be Tom Cruises biggest fan or anything, but is there any evidence that he is that much of an ego maniac?

Yeah, the Mission: Impossible films. The TV show was always an ensemble piece, and Cruise turned it into an action turd.

Cruise only submerges his ego only on "important" films. I don't think Iron Man would count in his mind.

Jason

 

[Rob Bartlett]

To be fair, Cruise has been wanting to play the character since at least the late nineties, well before the "trend".

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The casting of Tobey McGuire as Peter Parker is exactly the kind of inspired casting that properties like Iron Man need.

Someone who can act and make the audience empathize with the person behind the costume.

 

[Jerome Grate]

I have to admit Tom Cruise would have done it for me, but I have agree with some of the other posts, a new face would create a new ziel for the character. We all know what Cruise is capable of and hence it will be hard to tear away from it when he does. I have to say, I've always been a Michael Keaton fan for Batman and thought he projected the Dark Knight's personality best. Unfortunately each time the actor was changed it changed what kind of person Bruce Wayne/Batman was. A fresh Iron Man would make that change less painful assuming there's a sequel.

 

[Grant H]

No matter what, the eyes will have to be pretty well invisible except in tight close-ups. Even then, there should be some kind of lenses for protection or any kind of cool HUD or night vision they could build into the suit. It only makes sense to keep your most vulnerable point as protected as possible. Large eye-cutouts would look incredibly cheesey; so would bug-eyed clear lenses on the suit. Robocop's visor covers his nose, so there's no reason there needs to be a nose cut-out in the suit. Just imagine a whole facepalate instead of half. It can be done. Robocop's head doesn't look inordinately large in the Robocop suit. I doubt the Iron Man outfit would have to look as bulky as that for the head to look okay. I'm more likely to believe the suit has electronic components built into it if there's actually some space for that anyway.

Maybe they could have the lenses flip down like lids. Think the Sonar suit at the end of Batman Forever.

He could activate and de-activate the lenses as needed. They could even have varying levels of transparencey if desired.

Sometimes in Robocop you could see the actor's eyes even through the intact visor depending on the lighting.

As for that goatee shot, yeah that definitely looks like a porn star in that pic.

 

[JoSAN]

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