Dear Marvel: Iron Man 3 Needs To Be Demon In A Bottle
Dear Marvel Studios (especially producer Kevin Feige and director Jon Favreau),
I just wrote my 100 Words or Less Iron Man 2 review. It wasn’t pretty. I gave it 2.5 stars and I was in a pretty good mood at the time. If you are lucky, when one of our other staffers does the full review you might even con them into a 3- or 3.5-star review. I wasn’t bored during the film. But I’d watch a Robert Downey Jr. home improvement show, especially with guests like Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlet Johnansson — and I hate fucking home improvement shows. I enjoyed the movie in spite of the script, definitely not because of it. The script was just silly. (spoiler alert)
Justin Hammer leaves just two douchebag security guards to keep Whiplash in check while the rest of his compound is oblivious? Nice try. How about Whiplash knowing Tony Stark was going to be racing when nobody in his crew even knew? Had to squeeze that big “cum in your pants” trailer scene in there, didn’t ya? What about Rhodey kicking Iron Man’s ass the first time he gets in War Machine (even if Tony was drunk)? What about Tony Stark purposefully pissing his pants, er, iron pants in front of a bunch of hot chicks at a party? How un-Stark. The dialogue? To quote the movie, it was so ridiculous it gave me “Hammer-roids.”
I don’t have anything against Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux. I liked him in American Psycho and Mulholland Drive. Tropic Thunder was pretty damn funny (again carried by Downey Jr., just like Iron Man 2). But maybe you should have evaluated just how good his words were without Downey Jr. behind them before handing him the keys to your red and gold sports car? Besides, if anything, I thought you hooked the new fans with the fun, light first Iron Man and needed to actually go darker the second time around. I’m not the only one who thought that either. That is obviously not Theroux’s vision, and never will be his vision. He’s an action-comedy writer, or is at this point in his career at least.
The die-hard fans have been clamoring for Demon in a Bottle. After two box-office smashes, the new, more casual fans will come on board for a darker third installment in the series. Downey Jr. is arguably the biggest box office star in the world now — he can make that happen. But, no, Theroux doesn’t think anybody wants that (via MTV’s Splash Page).
“It’s just a great, gritty storyline. It doesn’t transfer to film. We didn’t want to be the ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ version of ‘Iron Man 2.’ Even just a little bit of that can completely dominate the story.”
“We realized that in a comic book you can have one key-frame where it’s a guy, drunk, but in a movie, that’s gotta be a big scene and it’s gotta be addressed,” added Theroux. “A thirteen year old kid does not want to see drunken Tony.”
Here is what Favreau has said (via Newsarama).
“I don’t think we’ll ever do the Leaving Las Vegas version, but it will be dealt with.”
You know what? Iron Man meets Leaving Las Vegas is exactly what I want. I think it is exactly what a lot of people want. You think David S. Goyer and the Nolans are sitting around thinking about 13 year olds as the plot Batman 3 and the new Superman saga? Jesus H.
Bob Layton and David Michelinie’s Demon in a Bottle is the best Iron Man story there is, maybe the best comic book story there is, and it deals with alcoholism. The primary villain in that story is Justin Hammer, who is already being played by one of the finest actors in the business — Sam Rockwell. I don’t think you’d have to pull back the scale any, but even if you did wouldn’t it be worth it to raise the stakes through the roof? Wouldn’t it be worth it to not just challenge The Dark Knight at the box office, but with critics as well? Wouldn’t it be worth it to see Robert Downey Jr. get nominated for Best Actor for an effin’ comic book movie?
Iron Man 3: Demon in a Bottle wouldn’t even wreck The Avengers, as it looks like you are planning to release Iron Man 3 first anyway. Hell, Stark is just an adviser right now because of his “me first” attitude. Maybe nearly losing a substance abuse battle, his company, a war with Hammer, maybe even his life would ground him enough to become a member of the Avengers. The plot would be a perfect segue for a humbled Stark accepting a role as part of the Avengers team. Additionally, the Iron Man franchise doesn’t have Batman’s rogues gallery of villains — Tony Stark’s greatest opponent is Tony Stark.
Favreau and Theroux need to get on board with this idea, or they need to be removed like Terrance Howard was. I think everybody has enjoyed how fun the first two installments have been, but another light actioneer will kill the franchise quicker than that palladium would’ve Tony’s heart. Besides, give Downey Jr. ad Favreau any script and they’ll find the fun. That’s a given. They don’t need a side order of comedy added on.
The Iron Man franchise can still be something special, and it still has one of the all time great comic series to draw upon for inspiration. Things are starting to look a little too Spider-Man 3, but, hey, Spider-Man 3 made you boatloads of money. Maybe you”ll just have Robert Downey Jr. come back, do an emo song and dance, collect your check and kill the series like you did with Spidey. Hey, you can always bring Tony Stark back tween style?
This is the way to go for Iron Man 3. Tony Stark can be more than just a box office Iron Man — he can be a superhero for comic book geeks and critics, too. Iron Man 3: Demon in a Bottle would be a classic movie, not just a classic superhero movie. You just have to have the balls to make it.
Sincerely,
A Die-Hard Iron Man Fan
(I only like Batman better, and if you knew how much I liked the Caped Crusader…)
Personally I think that the second iron man movie was terrable and really did have to do anything with iron man. I thought that the first movie had a lot going for it! I was really hoping that they would of brought the mandarin out in the second movie, but no the had to fuck it up badly with don cheetos and whipass, like really whip ass wasn’t even in the comic that much! Who desided on that one? Why do they kill comic book and video games story lines? Why don’t they sit down and think about that one, the reason why is because the people that read those comics or played the games is mainly because of the storyline that’s in it….who would of thought?!
Personally I liked the second Iron Man movie, despite the obvious plot holes and continuity problems it was still fun – maybe even more so than the first film (the whole thing kinda felt like an introduction). But I definately agree with this article, the dark night has proven that people want to see serious comic movies (oxymoron?) and this story would be a fantastic way to achieve that, Tony Stark is such a likeable but flawed character that if its dealt with right it could be incredibly moving. Also I think it would be good to see the Civil War storyline put on screen, perhapse after the spiderman reboot has kicked off – and Tony Starks alcoholism could easily be tied into that.
I think the biggest point you missed in the article is the honesty that Robert Downey Jr. could bring to the role. He’s battled with substance addiction in real life. He’s hit bottom and he’s clawed back and restored his career. He’s gone through what Tony Stark needs to go through. It just too perfect an opportunity to pass up.
Oh, Jeezuz. Suck it up. You sound like another whiny fanboy. Demon in a Bottle sucked. No one wants that except for fanboys and, since everyone knows fanboys exist only to be spat upon, you’re not going to get it. Grow a pair and do something more worthwhile with your time than complain about other people’s writing. No one’s stopping YOU from writing the script and submitting it, now are they?
Who told you that iron man 3 was coming out before the avengers? Idiot.
No one wants to see a movie dedicated towards alcoholism. That’s stupid. This is why I hare digg articles. You retards always have to say why everything sucks. Iron man 2 was a good movie, you’re just expecting too much.
I really can’t stand people like you
Iron Man 2 had all the plot points of Demon in a Bottle. If you had actually seen the movie or read Demon in a Bottle, you’d know.
What a stupid idea. First off, trying to cram that story arc into one film would be a disaster. Secondly, fuck everyone and their “gritty” bullshit stories. Batman works the way Nolan does it because the character easily lends itself to dark psychological stories. Also, trying to cram all that stuff into one movie would be a disaster for the movie franchise. The substance abuse issue should be established over the whole series of movies and his rehabilition should pretty much be off-stage for the most part. That could be made to work if they really had to, but I don’t think they do.
They’ve got a solid, money-making franchise the way they are making the movies now, why on earth should they change it for a pretty small group of people who loved a nihilistic story-arc from a comic book twenty years ago.
Anyway, “Leaving Las Vegas” was a piece of shit.
The writer of this article is quite the ignorant being who probably didn’t pay attention to anything in Iron Man 2.
His problems with booze, were addressed, his dying problem, addressed.
The movie was a good action ride, which is what it was meant to be.
What the fuck is wrong with you, the movie is meant to entertain, is not a journey to the darkest and deepest parts of the human mind, enjoy the fucking movie.
Have to say that this article seems to have been written by a douche. Get a grip buddy! I am a “fanboy” and I enjoyed IronMan2 and don’t clamour for a demon in the bottle send up. You need to get a grip. Just sayin’…
As much as I would like to see Demon in a bottle as a movie it should not be Iron Man 3. Let Jon Faverau finish telling his story. That’s part of why Spider-Man 3 failed. People were screaming for Venom and Sam Rami didn’t like the character. When fans and the studio pressured him into it we got a lackluster film because Rami didn’t care anymore. Leave Demon in a Bottle for some other director who wants to take a serious approach to the character.
Please. ‘Demon in a Bottle?’ Are you insane? The first rule of any medium is that the rules are DIFFERENT for each medium. What works in books, comic books, and film are completely different. If any of you saw Sin City, you’d see what happens when you think it transfers. It looks, in short, idiotic.
All of the sudden, if you think that you should be doing plots EXACTLY like a comic book, well, that’s insane. What made Watchmen an unwinnable mess to most people is that you had to have read the Watchmen to even get close to understanding the damn thing. It damn near destroyed Sin City by making it a movie in comic form. It was absolutely terrible. The movie going audience who watches superhero movies hasn’t grown up arguing the Inferno series and the betterment of Madelyn Pryor at their local comic shop, no matter how important we think it is.
Novels and comic books can get complex, if you try that on screen, you’re barking up the wrong tree, you’re confusing the audience. There is no reflection on screen, it is all visual, with no text to digest. And no time to pause.
Giving the fans what they want is what got the point where they introduced the flippin’ Phoenix in at the end of X2. That was, right at the end of X2, the signal of the end of the series, I knew X3 was going to suck mercilessly. That’s a writer’s equivalent of plot suicide. You just can’t be that stupid on screen. It’s moves like that which create movies like Independence Day.
You can’t have ‘Demon in a Bottle,’ specifically because it CAN’T WORK ON SCREEN, any more than you take a complicated Tolstoy novel and turn it into a working movie.
Er… didn’t Robert Downey Jr. have a major substance abuse problem? Maybe that’s why they don’t want to go there with him playing the character. Of course, if they had the guts, it could be an incredible performance.
I stopped reading Iron Man when they made Tony an alcoholic. I -hated- that arc, and never bought another IM comic.
Great article and would love to see this as Iron Man 3…
Ugh here’s another TDK style bandwagoner post. Yes TDK was incredible, possibly the best superhero film to date, but that doesn’t mean that every single superhero sequel needs to be dark and gloomy. Spiderman 2 had its gloomy moments but it wasn’t gloomy, ditto for X2. Iron Man 2 was a great film (personally I preferred it to the first, but thats probably because I’m so tired of origin stories), it was funny action packed well acted yadda yadda yadda, but best of all it didn’t depress the viewer which meant you could have fun. Also it wasn’t aimed at 12 and 13 year olds. Favereau is handling the alcoholism so much better than you seem to think. Instead of slapping the audience with a quick alcoholism story, he’s building to it slowly showing how he became an alcoholic over the course of time (you know how you get addicted in real life, when you don’t even realize it). I can understand if you didn’t like the movie for whatever reason but please stop jumping on the depressing sequel bandwagon simply because TDK did it, when you take these integral elements of a film and add them slap dash to another it turns into a gimmick, ie; Avatar 3D slapped on to Clash of the Titans. That is what the demon in a bottle story would be, TDK’s serious story turned into a marketing gimmick in a slapdash fair. Frankly being an Iron Man fan I’m glad that the Favereau and troupe are trying something different than regular superhero fare.
P.S. Downey’s performance was mediocre and overrated in Tropic Thunder, probably the weakest in the film, still can’t believe that got nominated at the Oscars over his Zodiac fare.
I don’t know…he may sound kind of like a li’l bitch, but a lot of you sound like li’l bitches, too — especially the morons that are claiming that it doesn’t matter if the movie sucks, it’s a money-generating franchise, so there.
Well, you could go shoot the local convenience store owner, steal his money, and get away with it — it doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea…then again, the money…
Idiots. And I’m an idiot for sharing a room with you.
PS I love the old ‘if you’re so smart, why don’t YOU go write a script’ argument. Brilliant. I’ll go do that right now, and if it’s just a little bit better then IM2, it will surely be made. I think I will call it, oh…Iron Man 3. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
No please. Dark heroes are fairly easy and common – the late 80′s and early 90′s are full of that crap. I think we got enough of Tony’s problems in Iron Man 2 that we don’t need to rehash what was an important story from the NINTEEN-!@#$’ing-SEVENTIES. At this point I think we’re past that being anywhere near original. I enjoy the Iron Man movies not because they are without plot holes or annoyances, but because they are fun and the character is relate-able. I don’t think most dudes want to be Bruce Wayne but I bet Tony Stark is about as close to a dream life as you could hope for.
If you make a movie only for comic book dorks, only they will see it. Besides, Demon in a Bottle would be too depressing. Iron Man 2 was a fun comic book movie. I wouldn’t have gone to see a drama about alcoholism.
Um, no. Iron Man and Batman present a significant balance. Iron Man’s finds it’s demographic in those wanting to just watch a fun movie. It does that well and it also adds in good dialouge and a story worth watching. Maybe it isn’t as deep as Dark Knight but that’s not what it’s set out to be. Trying to take on a Dark Knight-esque format would castrate what makes the Iron Man movies so much fun.
If I want a serious movie, I watch the Nolan flicks, if I want something fun and kick ass I watch Iron Man. I think that’s how “most” people are or at least the general audience. For you to assume that that a majority of people want a “Demon in a Bottle” adaptation is just idiotic.
I don’t have an issue with the movies tackling tony as an alcoholic, but for that to be what the movie’s about will ultimately crush the movie.
As for whiplash knowing that Tony was going to be driving, totally off base. He only knew that he was going to be there. And to cover him being on the track, he had to have a cover for being there. Think, dumb ass. Iron Man 2 was an amazing movie, and you caan count me among the people that don’t want a demon in a bottle movie. It would be a 180 from the transition from iron man to iron man 2 and would destroy the franchise.
You may be right that this movie could be better, but let these guys make their own films – calling for them to be removed unless they make the movie you want to see is pretty hilarious.
Favreau and his terrific cast & crew made this franchise, and part of what made the first Iron Man so enjoyable is its unique stylistic approach. Clearly the Dark Knight is better, but just because this film’s not quite as good, you want Favreau to start making Nolan films? Let Nolan make those, and let Favreau make his – maybe these aren’t quite as good yet, but they’re pretty damn entertaining (and better than many of Nolan’s others). So rather than demanding they copy him, you should hope they use their own creative approach to make something wholly original.
Besides, a battle with alcoholism sounds like a snooze. The Dark Knight wasn’t dark because Bruce Wayne battled his demons – it was because the batshit crazy, terrifically-acted, and totally external Joker was blowing the city apart. Internal struggle superhero films sound pretty awful anyway: Wonder Woman battles anorexia… Aquaman gets caught trolling public restrooms… Bruce Wayne goes on a diet… The Avatars fight at Pandora Christmas dinner when an torrid affair is revealed…
I think the Extremis Storyline is a much better choice in terms of complexity and plot depth. The themes explored were not as obvious as alcohol addiction. With so many rehab shows on TV the whole issue is well known and for me somewhat “played out”.
An interesting theme from the Extremis storyline is the issue of genetic and technological modification of the human body. Starks ego pushed this concept morally and physically which made for interesting reading.
Batman is the Dark Knight. Iron Man is not the Dark Knight. Nor is Superman. Nor is Spiderman. Nor is the Hulk.
I enjoyed the Watchmen and Superman Returns. Yes! Superman Returns. I enjoyed an adult comic book movie. And by adult, I don’t mean the stuff that gets an “R” rating. I mean adult characters with adult issues. Iron Man 3 will not be made into a serious exploration of Tony Stark’s character. It will involve flying robo-suits and explosions. If they can make it entertaining and not to stupid, I will probably enjoy it. And no, I did not see Transformers II. I got my fix of giant robots beating the crap out of each other from the first one. I don’t need to see bigger giant robots with balls beating the crap out of each other.
Tony Stark’s alcoholism will be treated as it has been in the prior movies. It gets him into trouble and makes him wet his iron pants in front of hot chicks. No need for character growth outside the 70 to 90 minutes of each film. And not much of that within those minutes. That’s the character, take it or leave it.
I don’t doubt that there’s a lot of potential to pursue Stark’s alcoholism in greater depth, and I don’t doubt that that could make for a very compelling film, but I just don’t think The Demon in a Bottle storyline would be in-keeping with the tone of the first two films. I’m glad that there has been some reference to Tony’s drinking problem in the films we’ve seen so far, but it wouldn’t to suitable for a main plot point. So far the tone of the franchise has been fun and pretty lighthearted. Presumably the third film will retain this tone and that being the case, I’d rather they didn’t explore the issue of alcoholism, since an issue like that can’t really be treated with a great deal of levity.
this is about as dark as iron man should get. It is going to start to get ridiculas when all super heor movies are going to be “dark and gritty” it worked with batman but it wont with iron man. Rourke and Rockwell were simply amazing in there roles and personally that movie was a 5 out of 5. Oh but no lets take your suggestion lets through out all the cast and make a new gritter one how bout jason statham as tony stark and eva mendez as pepper pots hey maybe stark can bring her to the race track and fuck her oh wait thats been done befor how bout vin diesel takes over favreau’s character. Oh cant forget Michael Clarke Duncan as war machine and matt damon as justin hammer
People like the author are under the assumption that comic book movies should be academy award winning pieces, not comic book movies.
This guy fails to realize that if these movies catered to the true fans who follow the comics, then the movie literally wouldn’t be worth making.
[...] the third film to be a storyline best known as “Demon in a Bottle”. Blogs have been calling for it but I can’t help but think that they’re not quite sure what they’re asking for. Wikipedia [...]
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