Is Iron Man (the comic book character) better or worse off because of Robert Downey Jr.? Just curious what long-time fans of the character think.

better if u ask me

the comics character has been relatively unchanged because of the movie...the Tony in the movies and the Tony in the comics are at two different stages of their character growth so changing comic Tony to be more like movie Tony would be a major character regression

also there is absolutely no one who could have played Tony Stark better than Robert Downey Jr.

Much, much better.

Can't believe Marvel just realized in order to make much more money from sources other than comics(as well as cement their staple characters as icons) they should make blockbuster films.

The guy was born to play Iron Man

Better. Much better.

Iron Man comics are unbelievably boring to me.

Yes and no. He's done wonders for the marketing of the character, as everyone associates him with Iron Man now, and I liked him. But I still think die hard fans wouldn't really care.

Better

Better, hands down. This so easy question.

Way better. RDJ is perfect as Iron Man.

I think Iron Man is better off now because of Robert Downey Jr. since some fans have said that he breathed life into the character.

I think it'd be hard to argue that he's worse off.

Iron Man prior to the film had pretty much zero recognition in the public conscious and is now recognized and known on par with Batman and Superman.

Iron Man's comic has had higher sales and higher grade talent post the film as a result of a surge in his popularity.

What's not to like?

@joshmightbe said:

The guy was born to play Iron Man

Better - His portrayal of Iron Man in the movies has likely brought attention to the title

Worse - After seeing the movie and reading the comics, and seeing they have almost nothing in common and are underwhelming in comparison, just as quickly went away.

@Brazen_Intellect said:

Better - His portrayal of Iron Man in the movies has likely brought attention to the title

Worse - After seeing the movie and reading the comics, and seeing they have almost nothing in common and are underwhelming in comparison, just as quickly went away.

This is pretty much exactly right.

Tony Stark in the comics is a straight up d-bag for the most part. MCU Tony Stark is a lovable narcissist with an endearingly snarky wit.

@Mercy_ said:

@Brazen_Intellect said:

Better - His portrayal of Iron Man in the movies has likely brought attention to the title

Worse - After seeing the movie and reading the comics, and seeing they have almost nothing in common and are underwhelming in comparison, just as quickly went away.

This is pretty much exactly right.

Tony Stark in the comics is a straight up d-bag for the most part. MCU Tony Stark is a lovable narcissist with an endearingly snarky wit.

I am a long time Iron Man fan yet I cannot even bring myself to defend the comic version of him anymore, Marvel has butchered him in the 2000's

@Mercy_ said:

@Brazen_Intellect said:

Better - His portrayal of Iron Man in the movies has likely brought attention to the title

Worse - After seeing the movie and reading the comics, and seeing they have almost nothing in common and are underwhelming in comparison, just as quickly went away.

This is pretty much exactly right.

Tony Stark in the comics is a straight up d-bag for the most part. MCU Tony Stark is a lovable narcissist with an endearingly snarky wit.

There is a REASON for that: The script for the first movie was more an outline than specific dialogue. I.e., they'd describe a situation, and what dialogue needed to be said, then let the actors fill in the gaps. Thus, RDJ acted Tony as he does in the movies, and boom, that interpretation of Tony was born. They changed this style for Iron Man 2, sadly.

Honestly i really think that its better.

better, god i miss alchoholic tony, im still praying for a day where some writer takes iron man to incredibly dark depths where he loses everything and starts drinking again as a coping mechanism, kill a supporting character, have him fail to say a city/school/bus for of supermodels/anything and just get stark to rock bottom.

Better. Much better.

Iron Man comics are unbelievably boring to me.

@joshmightbe said:

The guy was born to play Iron Man

Agreed.

Better: Iron Man was brought to the forefront, from a somewhat B-List Marvel character to the A-List. Both Iron Man & RDJ are now household names, and the character's comics have recently experienced a burst of popularity. Also, RDJ's portrayal of the character is endearing lovable, making him the favorite Avenger for the general public - generally.

Worse: RDJ's portrayal of Iron Man is based more on the Ultimate Universe version of the character - where he was a sarcastic and narcissistic but lovable billionaire. The traditional MU's Iron Man is a little more reserved. Apropos, it's probably worth noting that the original Avengers dynamic had Hawkeye as the lovable joker, but with RDJ's portrayal, Iron Man is now the comic relief while Hawkeye has been reduced to a stern-faced soldier...

@Mega_spidey01 said:

@Gambit1024 said:

Better. Much better.

Iron Man comics are unbelievably boring to me.

and lands doing the art for it right now, thats a visual death sentence for most fans

@Veshark said:

Better: Iron Man was brought to the forefront, from a somewhat B-List Marvel character to the A-List. Both Iron Man & RDJ are now household names, and the character's comics have recently experienced a burst of popularity. Also, RDJ's portrayal of the character is endearing lovable, making him the favorite Avenger for the general public - generally.

Worse: RDJ's portrayal of Iron Man is based more on the Ultimate Universe version of the character - where he was a sarcastic and narcissistic but lovable billionaire. The traditional MU's Iron Man is a little more reserved. Apropos, it's probably worth noting that the original Avengers dynamic had Hawkeye as the lovable joker, but with RDJ's portrayal, Iron Man is now the comic relief while Hawkeye has been reduced to a stern-faced soldier...

i gotta say i agree for the most of this, except for the hawkeye angle, the only time you see him actually be himself is the big fight, everywhere else he was either being professional because his superior officer was present, or because he was under mind control.

we didnt get a definnitive portrayal of him in the movie, which sucks, but what're ya gonna do *shrug*

I was never a fan of Iron Man, I mean I had a few storylines of his I liked such as demon in a bottle but for the most part I never could stand him before the movie came out. Not saying he's a bad character in the comics he was just hard to root for before RDJ turned a douche into a likeable but somewhat full of himself guy

@DH69

Duly noted, but even in the final battle he was mostly stoic and professional. But yeah, we didn't get to see much of his personality beyond that, so I guess only Avengers 2 will tell.

All that being said, I think they based Renner's Hawkeye on the Ultimate version as well. Not just the costume, but the whole 'agent of SHIELD' angle too.

Much better!

You just need to see his performances at Comic Con 2012 to answer that. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I think he was made for that role.

In the long run, I think the popularization for Iron Man thanks to RDJ will be a good thing, much like what happened with Adam West and Batman, but for the time being, his mainstream attention could be to blame for the Marvel NOW! Iron Man title sucking so much...I think it's sells on Iron Man-association alone, and is therefore backed up by very little content. Once the hype eventually dies down around him, and the Iron Man label remains at least stable, due to it's past movie success, hopefully Marvel will feel pressured to drop a more solid team on the book to keep the sales up, and a better Iron Man will be had by all. Time will only tell.

@joshmightbe said:

The guy was born to play Iron Man

This is the only way to say it.

"This gentlemen is born to Play Tony Stark!" quoted Stan-Lee

Worse for me, mainly because I hate Iron Man and I hate Robert Downey Jr.

Much better, he's brought increased exposure and plenty of upside to the character.

If you say worse, you crazy. He made Iron Man a household name.

I think it's better.

this.

I would say that Iron Man has by and large been better off with RDJ as his live action alter ego. He fills the role so well that the comic character has not really changed to the actor but the actor has filled the role so well they you just think it was modified just for him. I would say that in say 20 or so years after they finish this generation of movies and come out with new Avenger movies that whoever they get to play Iron Man/ Tony Stark will have perhaps the hardest time given how high RDJ has set the bar.

there is nobody better equipped to play iron man, he even looks a lot like he does in the comics, and his earlier life (no offense meant to mr downey) was a bit like the one tony stark is meant to have had before the whole terrorist thing

why do I know someone will twist what I say into an insult?

i only watch superhero movies for the superheros. never for the actors. unless its hemsworth.

they can change wolverine to another actor and i wouldn't care.

Better.He became way more popular.

Definitely better off, he's become much more popular.

better way better

Iron Man is way better off from pretty much every standpoint. RDJ was perfect for this role. More than any actor to play a superhero IMO. And I think it's pretty much universal that everyone loves the guy as Iron Man.

I, myself, never read any Iron Man comics before the movies. Some would say that makes me a noob. But it's brought me to read and love Iron Man comics as well as I've given so much $$ to marvel in the process that its win-win for everyone. Except elitist fans I guess.

Better. Iron Man is kind of a douche in the comics and that would never adapt well on screen. RDJ's charisma is what really captured the audience, especially his chemistry with Paltrow.

Worse.

In Iron man 1, robert downey jr is very close to tony stark we love from the comics, he's a bit arrogant, but he learns purpose and responsibilities that come with what he's invented. i agree that here Downey proved he was born to play the role. but...

Iron man 2 is extremely unfaithful, because tony is far too arrogant, robert downey jr stops playing tony starks and just hams it up for every scene, the overall plot attempts to justify it on the grounds he's dying but abandons it half way through, even at the end the character is arrogant, there is no character growth.

Avengers - Robert Downey Jr plays it closer to iron man 1, he still arrogant, but again learns responsibilities, he's also very focused and overcomes his ego to be a team player, vastly more faithful to comic.

Iron man 3 - Robert Downey Jr plays 2 tony starks, up to the bit where the house is blown up its a faithful interpretation. after that he's not just arrogant, he an all around jerk, (who thought him mocking the kid for not having a father was faithful, funny or even heroic) towards the end of the film the character devolves into a clown, doing stupid things and making awkard humor for cheap laughs for anyone stupid enough to enjoy it. Very painful for anyone who's read a good ironman story.

The problem in terms of the comics is while matt fraction resisted the give the character Downey Jr Syndrome, other have not, Bendis went from correctly writing stark, to merely aping Robert Downey Jr, Gillen is the worst, i get the impression he's never read any previous ironman comics and just watched the films. of course marvel are happy to do that.

Do i blame Robert Downey Jr for the ruining of iron man? Yes and no, I wish he would tone it down, but i know its the writers and directors of the iron man 2/3 that are to blame for a lot of it

I hope Jon Hamm will replace him and bring some class to the character. also gillen gets kicked off the current book.

In my view, Robert Downey Jr is the perfect Tony Stark. He fits the role perfectly and has helped increase the popularity of Iron-Man amongst audiences who have never even read a comic book. Definitely better.

Better

Since most of you guys say that he's better off, which I agree with, then you guys must be excited that RDJ officially signed on for Avengers 2 and 3? Haha

Worse off.

Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark has been a factor in the Iron Man films being so successful - him leaving would be bad for Iron Man's film series.

No Robert= Sucky Iron Man movies

Same as

No Hugh= Sucky wolverine movies

The writing (and visuals) are much better for IM in the New Avengers than in his own title, which is sad.