Robert Downey Jr. Once Addressed the Criticisms for ‘Iron Man 2’
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man 2 was a slightly bigger hit than his first Iron Man film at the box office. But critically, the sequel didn’t fair as well. The feedback for Iron Man 2 might not just have been something that Downey listened to, but agreed with as well.
Robert Downey Jr. felt he and Jon Favreau were able to ‘make do’ with ‘Iron Man 2’
Downey and Iron Man director Jon Favreau hoped to duplicate the 2008 Marvel blockbuster’s success. The feature was a pleasant surprise for critics and fans alike when it first hit theaters, ushering in a new age of superhero films. But in many ways, Downey felt doing a sequel to the first could’ve been more challenging. In a 2009 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Downey shared what steps he and Favreau took to differentiate the sequel from its predecessor.
“My take – Jon was in agreement, and Marvel supported us – was that once you tell an origins story pretty well, that’s usually where things start to get dull, and one or two or three things start to happen over and over again. So, we made Tony Stark’s challenges very much outside the usual realm of activity. As much as anything else, it’s much more of a side job for him the second time around,” Downey said.
Iron Man 2 made more money than the original. According to The Numbers, the sequel earned $621 million at the box-office, becoming one of Downey’s highest-grossing films. It was a significant step-up from the $585 million the first film made. Still, the majority of critics agreed that the second film wasn’t as good as an effort as its first. Iron Man 2 received a rating of 72% based on critic reviews, which was a huge step down from Iron Man’s score of 94%.
In a resurfaced interview with Entertainment Weekly, Downey offered a theory as to why Iron Man 2 didn’t meet expectations.
“Jon and I were still kind of recovering from our lives changing so much [with the success of the first Iron Man] and then next thing we were back in the saddle again. We made do,” Downey said.
Robert Downey Jr. hinted he might’ve been unhappy with ‘Iron Man 2’ production
Downey might’ve seen warning signs from Iron Man 2 in the midst of shooting the Marvel feature. Speaking to Men’s Journal (via Comic Book Movie), Downey mentioned a film that he didn’t have the greatest time doing. So much so that he even referred to it as a punishment.
“There are times when you know you’re pushing it and you don’t have a great vibe about where things are going creatively. You have to be collarbone deep in molasses for four months and just go, ‘I have no solace in my work whatsoever, and its 12 hours a day of cosmic punishment,” Downey said.
He wouldn’t name the film, but the interview pressed on, using the process of elimination in an attempt to find out which movie it was. The interviewer narrowed the suspects down to Iron Man 2 and Shaggy Dog, a film about a boy who’s magically turned into a dog. However, Downey claimed that he couldn’t have had a more pleasant experience doing the former.
“Shaggy Dog was a very, very important movie for me. It was a very enjoyable experience,” he said.
But when Iron Man 2 was mentioned, the Oppenheimer star didn’t exactly deny the suspicion.
“This is still art for commerce, at best,” Downey said in response to the suggestion. “I consider myself to be a pain-in-the-ass artist who’s self aware enough to still be tolerable. While I have a little bit of juice, I try not to rub it in anyone’s face, because it’s just disgusting. And I use the term ‘artist’ loosely.”
