Robert Downey Jr. returns as Iron Man

MANILA, Philippines - The intense, funny, always creative world that was the Iron Man 2 film set was an experience that no one involved will ever forget. Not least Robert Downey Jr. the man who brings Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man so vividly to life.

It was a blast, he says. Although at times, Downey Jr. admits that the artistic process on set can seem a little crazy, especially for the newcomers who joined the actor and director Jon Favreau this time around.

“Our process is crazy,” he jokes. “Ask anybody and they’ll say ‘I don’t know how they get these results from that process.’ In a way, it’s like asking somebody to step inside a washer/dryer with you — you tell them, ‘look, there’s going to be a lot of tumbling and stuff and yet you’re going to come out looking like you’re in a tuxedo.’ It doesn’t make sense but it works.”

It certainly does. Iron Man was released to universal critical acclaim and went on to dominate the box-office in 2008 and the sequel — with a stellar cast that includes Gwyneth Paltrow back as Pepper Potts, Samuel L. Jackson (who made a brief appearance as Nick Fury in the first movie) and Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell bringing to life new characters — is one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year.

Excerpts from the interview with Robert:

Are we going to see Iron Man and War Machine go head-to-head in the movie?

“Well, I got that sense from the footage. But it could be a misdirect, couldn’t it?”

What can you tell us about the Tony Stark’s journey this time around?

“I think what’s really going on... If I had to piece together what’s going on in that footage, I would say that at a certain point, probably in act one — or two — Tony is approached by Nick Fury, who is wondering what it’s like for him to not have any backup. And Rhodey/Cheadle’s thing has always been, ‘Try to work with us.’ We see that he’s under pressure from the Senate to essentially turn over the weapon that he designed when he was under contract with them, but the truth is he didn’t design it for a government contract. He designed it to save his own life. So he has an argument there. The funny thing is, in saying what I’m saying right now, I’m going right back to our original vetting sessions six months ago, when we were not just reminding ourselves of the obvious but trying to think if this was really happening, what would be the most interesting, entertaining and honest way to move forward? And that’s kind of what we took the risk of exploring, basically, that Tony goes on a much more perilous journey this time than he did when all he had to do was save his own ass.”

What was it like bringing newcomers Don Cheadle. Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell into the Iron Man fold?

“There’s kind of a certain brother and sisterhood of talent in what’s otherwise kind of a small town. Everybody knows Don, everyone’s seen the incredible work he’s been doing over the years. And I just have this problem where I tend to go up to people if they come and join a project, partially due to the fact that they figured that part of what made it work last time was my director and director involvement, I feel really beholden to say that I guarantee you and I promise you that we will work (hard) off to really pay this character off and to give them what you would expect for coming to join us.”

Iron Man 2 is released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.