Robert Downey Jr. – possibly the coolest man on the planet right now – spoke briefly to MTV about Marvel’s bold and ambitious plans for their Avengers movie, which will bring together Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Nick Fury and, of course, Iron Man in a mega-adventure due to hit cinemas in 2011. And by doing so, he seems to have dropped one hell of an interesting clue about one of the characters involved.
“The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is [director] Jon [Favreau] was very certain that Iron Man should be set in a very realistic world,” said Downey, before adding, intriguingly, “Nothing that happened in Iron Man is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants it warrants much further discussion.”
Now, Downey’s mention of Valhalla is an obvious reference to Thor, the Norse God of Thunder who likes to hang out in Valhalla on his days off. Kenneth Branagh's directing that movie, for a 2010 release. Jolly green giants… well, that’s the Hulk, who is rumoured to be the catalyst that brings the Avengers together.
But it’s the other reference that has set internet tongues a-wagging, with some speculating that ‘supersized super soldiers’ is a clue that suggests that Captain America, who we’ll first see in World War II flick The First Avenger: Captain America, will be somehow bigger. But we say pish-posh: it could also be a reference to Hank Pym, the scientist who becomes Ant-Man (to which Edgar Wright is still attached), as he can also become bigger. Or could Tim Roth’s The Abomination feature as a bad guy? After all, he is a supersized super soldier.
We’ll find out soon enough. Just under three years to go. And even though that seems a long way away, Downey – who will reprise his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man for the movie and Iron Man 2 & 3 - is already aware of the immense pressure building on this ultra-ambitious project.
“It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters,” he said. “If we don’t get it right it’s really, really going to suck,” said Downey. And, to be fair, he has a point. But somehow, we have a feeling than when the Avengers eventually assemble, it could be something pretty special.