The rumor river is flowing again, this time giving us word that Tim Robbins will play Tony Stark’s father Howard Stark in the comic book movie sequel Iron Man 2. The character was portrayed briefly during the slide-show presentation at the beginning of the first film by Gerard Sanders, but director John Favreau wanted:
…to get a good actor because he didn’t think the guy who played Howard in the last film could carry such an important scene.
It’s no surprise after the changing of Rhodey from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle not too long ago that Favreau would want a better quality actor to portray such an important character. After all this is Tony Stark’s father, the man who helped shape him into the man we know.
Since the flashback scene will presumably take place when Tony Stark is a young boy (as that’s when his father died) we have no problem with Robbins being believable as Downey Jr’s father. Thinking of it in that way I actually think Robbins could play the fatherly role very well, he’s certainly proven his worth previously with the likes of The Shawshank Redemption and Jacob’s Ladder.
As an added rumor bonus it’s floating around that the characters of Hawkeye and Black Widow will not only be in the film but will also have a significant presence as opposed to just cameos. I’m not a dyed in the wool Iron Man comic book fan so I have no frame of reference as to how these two will fit into the Iron Man 2 movie storyline. Any people who are in the know, please be sure to enlighten me. 
However these are just rumors (presumably, anyway) at the moment and therefore they should be taken with a big grain of salt. If they do turn out to be true, though, what are your thoughts on these decisions, particularly the Robbins one?
Source: Latino Review
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45 Comments
Geez I hope not, I absolutely hate Tim Robbins… I hope nobody gives him any more acting jobs and he simply fades into the realm of the has-beens…
I think Robbins is a very versitile actor. I believe he would add to IM2 success.
As to Hawkeye and Black Widow, having too many superheroes or villians hasn’t been done well as yet (with the exception of X-Men, X-Men 2). These are only 2 extra heroes, so it could be done very well and since Favreau is directing, I have confidence IM2 will be a success (if the rumors turn out to be true).
lol, Suppousedly this author does not agree with you Ken J
I suppose not, but we don’t HAVE to all agree right? Anyway, he’s not a bad actor in his older films, but I haven’t liked any of the roles he picks, not even back when I thought he was a good actor. Shawshank Redemption was probably his best I think, but even that, I don’t really associate with a movie that sympathizes with criminals. And his situation was just way too coincidental to believe.
But anyway, I’m mainly talking about him in real life, not his acting. The guy is all like “no war, make peace” yet he’s lashing out at people, cursing people out, threatening to kill people, I mean, what a hypocrite. Remember when he called that reporter and threatened to kill him? I mean seriously, I really lost respect for him after that point. Not that I had a whole lot of it before then…
I don’t dislike Robbins enough to avoid his movies, as I do with Sean Penn. I just can’t get past his off camera publicity. I don’t like the guy and I can’t watch him in a movie – Oscar contender or not.
Vic
For those who don’t know, nudges Ross, Hawkeye and Black Widow are not unlikely villains when you first meet them in the comics. Hawkeye is hired by Black Widow, who is a Russian spy. But they become close associates to Tony Stark and they later on join the Avengers team.
I believe Hawkeye was trained by Captain America at some point, because it referenced in Fallen Son series.
“I don’t dislike Robbins enough to avoid his movies, as I do with Sean Penn. I just can’t get past his off camera publicity. I don’t like the guy and I can’t watch him in a movie – Oscar contender or not.”
Thats a perfect way to say something about someone you dont like, not going and saying stuff like “hes a moron” or “shes a moron but shes hot” those types of comments can be left out.
@Oscar!
Rationalize away, but “I don’t like the guy” is different from “you sound like a moron.”
As far as I can tell (and feel free to correct me) Ken J didn’t insult anyone directly in his comments.
Vic
Not on this one, but on the Maggie Q post.
Ah, ok – I see what you’re referring to. But he wasn’t insulting you or anyone here on the site. I kind of see your point but my issue is with commenters attacking each other, it’s not about insulting actors (although I don’t agree with that either).
Vic
Hey, yea- Hawkeye was one odf the superheroes in the 90’s Iron Man cartoon, he had losts of superheroes with him, including War machine. the were not called anything, like avengers, they where just superheroes that helped Iron man in this awfull cartoon, that feautred a 3d iron man transforming scene. Was black widow there to? not to sure, she might have been…
sorry bout that Vic, i shouldnt have said anything anyways. I really hope they can fit all these cool characters in together. I agree with alot of people on Thor being the hardest to fit in, but with the right story and realism it can work out great
I really wished they could have done this with DC movies, im glad Marvel is trying to make this work. Even in comics its very exciting seeing heroes from other comics appear on the one your reading, i expect to get the same kind of glee while watching Marvel films 
Oh no, Oscar doesn’t like me. What will I do now??
I think Sean Penn is an idiot too…
OK, I said that just to mess with you man, don’t have an aneurism, please.
@Oscar
No problem, bud.
@Ken J
LOL, can you dial it back just a TINY bit?
Vic
On the topic of Hawkeye and Black Widow being in Iron Man 2, they were actually introduced in the original Iron Man comics as villains of Shellhead. Black Widow was a Russian spy sent to steal Iron Man’s secrets (the dirty commie!) and Hawkeye was a gifted archer that she tricked into working for her, using his trick arrows to fight the Golden Avenger in a bunch of the 60-70s stories.
Eventually, Hawkeye reformed, eventually leading the West Coast Avengers team and Black Widow was a big supporting character of the Iron Man books in the early 2000s when they started up Volume 3, working as an ally/potential love interest for Stark there.
Black Widow’s now the love interest/ally of Captain America in his book (I refuse to call him New Cap or Winter Soldier or any of that crap, Steve all but personally handed Bucky the shield).
I try to seperate actors personal lives with their acting roles – that’s why I still maintain that Tom Cruise is indeed a fantastic actor (when he takes the right roles) despite his real life antics. Same with Brad Pitt – a lot of people seem to rubbish him because “he’s so famous!” but actually he’s a tremendous actor.
I don’t think it’s fair to judge an actor’s acting skills on what they get up to off camera. A good actor is a good actor no matter what they’re like in real life. IMO, of course.
Hawkeye and Black Widow? Hell yes! Just another reason in a long list of reasons to watch Iron Man 2.
@Michael N
Cheers for the re-cap. Saves me wandering around wiki for the next 2 hours!
Btw guys thanks for the feedback about the Hawkeye and Black Widow characters – there’s some really knowledgable fans out there!
Keep up the good work^_^
@ Ken J, no it might not be love lol but i dont hate you
So far(some through rumors, and some through the actual director) its gonna be Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and a little flashback with possibly Captain America in it. WOW!!!!
@ Ken J, I couldnt find any chill pills, so i took one of those Flinstones vitamins, those are some tasty vitamins
Doesn’t Tony Stark marry the Black Widow in the ultimates comic?
I have no problem with Robbins in what (hopefully) is a smaller role. I would PREFER Sellek, of course.
As for Widow and Hawkeye. I think we’re getting a little crazy with the supporting people. We got Rhodey and he SHOULD take a large part of the movie that isn’t RDJr-focused. Then there was talk that Happ & Pepper would have a little more storyline for themselves. NOW we are talking about adding flashbacks and 2 more characters!?! This movie will have to be 4 hours long to feel like a solid beginning-middle-end story and not just a hodge-podge of superpowers with little story behind them (see X-Men movies, Heroes at its worst, Spider-Man 3, the older Batman sequals, etc).
We love Iron Man (the movie) because it focused on ONE story that encompassed everything – let’s not water the sequal down by shoe-horning all these people into it. I want a lot of Iron Man and a little of War Machine and some baddies. THat’s it!!
Tim Robbins would make a good Howard Stark..He’s a great actor is a little underrated as an actor I think..
@ Ken J
WHat’s wrong with no war make peace..sonner or later cooler heads have to prevail .. war is bad Ken ..peace is good…
i would LOVE a 4 hour Iron Man II
That will never happen though 
@fmuff
Tom Selleck? Yes, I think he would make a better Stark father; well, he looks more the part, anyway. I still think Robbins is a better actor but Selleck is good too.
@greenknight
LOL, of course it is – only problem is that you have to get the guy who’s attacking you to see that point of view.
Vic
@fmuff
X-men2, BladeII and The Dark Knight had several secondary character storylines and IMO were very good films. The problem with Spiderman 3 and X-men United and some many others were that the stories were either not good or told incomplete. Just my IHMO.
I honestly am glad (if the rumor is true) that Black Widow and Hawkeye are written into the film. I have faith in RDJ and Jon F. ability to take care of this film, and if both new characters are introduced in Ironman 2 then that would save time from introducing them in the Avengers.
Also my picks for Black Widow would be the following:
1.Kate Beckinsale
2.Milla Jovovich
3.Angelina Jolie
4.Hilary Swank
5.Jennifer Garner
6.Kristanna Loken
My pick for Hawkeye are the following:
1.Mark Wahlberg
2.Thomas Jane
3.Matt Damon(would make a better DD)
4.Matthew McConaughey(would perfer as Cap)
5.Viggo Mortensen
I’d love to see Viggo Mortensen in a marvel flick. Thor?
As for the news items, I don’t like them adding Robbins. They don’t need a name or big salary paid to a name to sell the movie. On top of that, I’d actually prefer an unknown or more unrecognizable face to play the role of Mr. Stark as that would make the story more real to me as opposed to a star-studded fun fest. After that War of the World performance, I don’t think this is a good idea. I personally disagree with Favreau’s logic on that one.
Now for part 2:
I love Hawkeye. But I don’t think there’s room in this film to give him and Black Widow story time since we already know War Machine will be a big player. Also, we REALLY don’t need more additions to the Avengers team if we want to give the big characters (iron man, hulk, thor, captain america) their fair share of screen time and story placement. There’s also going to be Wasp and Ant-Man in that group too I think so it’s going to get messy.
What I hear about things like Robbins or more characters added, I start get get fearful and have these awful nightmares about X3 and Spidey 3.
In my opinion, the movie should HEAVILY focus on Iron Man fighting a real villain (hugely lacking in IM), with a bunch of time given to War Machine. We don’t need a team up flick here.
IF they are going to be in this movie, it better be done right. The worst thing ever would be for IM2 to be a big disappointment.
Ah, but if they are the villains of this story to become good at the end – that would change things quite a bit.
On the other hand, After ALL 3 Spidey films, I’m getting bored of villains not being very villainy in the end.
Um, well greenknight, I’m not even going to mention the word naive in there, but would like to point out that maybe cooler heads would realize what my point is. My point is that he’s publically trying to be this “cooler head” and talking about how peace is good and all that jazz, then off-camera he has a short temper and cursing people out, threatening to kill people etc. etc. Thus, my use of the word “hypocrite.”
Now let’s everybody hold hands and sing kumbaya. All the people in the world needs is a good hug for them to stop wanting to blow innocent people up. They never got hugged as a child, nor did their mommies give them a lollipop when they were good. So that’s why they blow people up.
Ok, I’ll shut up… 
HE’S PERFECT!!!
Well you did mention the word naive dude!!Not naive at all but I do know that your opinions on a lot of things seem bullish and outdated..
It’s not group hug therapy it’s called being the better person..Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and the countless other people who everyday advocate compassion instead of hate and war…If Robbins is a hot head then that maybe why people have trouble having his message shoved down their throats…It is hypocritical but that wasn’t my point..my point was that it is always better to try and do the right thing than to try and have a public persona that is different than how you really are as a person…99% of the people in the film/TV/music industry are that way because they lack any integrity at all….there will always be violence in the world it’s just up to us as individuals to decide whether we make the world a better place or just get what you figure is yours and the hell with everybody else..I’ll try the former..(enter sarcasm)Besides there are no innocent people being killed in Iraq anyways right or is that just justifeied collateral damage..
Innocent people on both sides by the way…
Find somebody else to hold hands with but I will sing kumbaya with you bro…;)
Cheers
Um, what do you mean that wasn’t your point? Isn’t it MY point you were arguing against? Well, my point was that he is a hypocrite, and so are most of the idiots you hear spouting all of this BS you see in the media.
And no, my point of view is not outdated. We all would like peace through peace, but unfortunately we don’t live in a fairy tale world. People who hate peace and want to do anything they can to disrupt it, such as our current terrorist problem, don’t listen to people like Ghandi or Mother Theresa. I was in the Army and all of my male friends except for one have been or still is in the military. Trust me, I’d rather not have to put my life on the line. But anyone not naive would realize that you can’t negotiate with terrorists. This isn’t just rhetoric, it’s an unfortunate fact.
You don’t think there was violence and innocent lives lost for America to win its independence? You think our founding fathers could have simply asked the British government nicely? Does that work for anybody?
You’re an idealist, unfortunately that mindset doesn’t bring anything new to the table, everybody has the ideal situation in mind. People don’t want to blow other people up, criminals don’t want to kill people for no reason, people don’t steal from their own mothers to feed their drug habits. Yah, we would all love that. Realistic people have these ideals as well, but on top of that, we also have a concept of how things REALLY are.
So call me what you want, the fact still remains, Tim Robbins is a hypocrite along with most of these other hollywood celebrities that try to cram their rhetoric down our throats when they don’t themselves follow them.
And when someone like Ghandi or Mother Theresa manages to stop terrorists from blowing people up at their weddings and crap like that, let me know.
DO you even know anything about Ghandi?
Have you read anything about him…non-violence was his credo and he lived it..He died for it and his presence has made the world a better place…
I wouldn’t say people who blow themselves up at weddings is crap either? Innocent people still die..Is that crap Ken?
I’d rather be an idealist(although I am not) and looking for the good in people instead of the bad…and I know what to do if the bad people try and mess with me or my family( call 911
)…fanatics can’t be negotiated with I know that but it is not the fanatics that are going to make this world a better place either..They allow us a glimpse of how low we as a species can go and how we should strive as reasonable people to not be a part of that.. Violence begets violence and violence and retaliation leads to escalation..so I don’t think violence is the way ..then again there are no easy answers..I tried the vengence route to get back at people who tried to drown my brother and it left me feeling worse about myself as a person because I went to their level.. not immediately after because I did take pleasure in hurting those guys but day by day I came to feel less and less pleasure and more shame and guilt because I should have been the better person and let the appropriate people deal with them legally..Like I said already not an idealist just someone who tried it my way and it didn’t work WHat I wanted was retribution and what I got was vengence. Take it from me violence is not the solution..besides the law doesn’t take too kindly to acts of vengence..I could have reacted differently to future situations and been more aggressive but I know that’s a road I don’t want to take anymore..can I walk it? sure…DO I want to? NO.. been there done that
And by-the-way…Mother Theresa and Ghandi have stopped people from blowing up innocents at weddings and crap like that..That’s why they still inspire because their message was a light for the rest of us to emulate…
I’ll keep my rhetoric to myself when it comes to you, please do the same dude…This is an arguement neither of us is going to win…Yin and Yang..
Kumbaya
Um… wha??? Were you somehow implying that I was somehow sympathizing or justifying saying that innocent people DON’T die when homicide bombers blow themselves up at weddings?? Why did you feel the need to say that they “still” die? I think that was the whole point of what I was saying…
Anyway, it doesn’t even look like you even understand what I’m saying, so don’t even worry about it. You have your opinions, I can care less, i’m just talking about what kind of hypocrite tim Robbins is, don’t know why you’re dragging the late Mother Theresa or Ghandi into this. If you really think terrorists actually listened and have killed fewer people because of them because they are such logical and reasonable people, then fine, think whatever you like. I really don’t care.
Point is: Tim Robbins = hypocrite
I think he’s a moron off-camera like 80% of these hollywood elites that really should just do what they’re paid to do and act in the movies and keep their mouths shut about politics because most of these idiots don’t have a clue what goes on in the real world behind their private jets and limousines…
“And when someone like Ghandi or Mother Theresa manages to stop terrorists from blowing people up at their weddings and crap like that, let me know.”
Your words..my point was that this type of tragedy should not be called crap..loss of life is not crap it’s tragic..but like I said Yin and Yang..If I’m missing your real point I’m sure you’ll let me know..
“don’t know why you’re dragging the late Mother Theresa or Ghandi into this”
They are the highest examples of how non-violent people can change the world for the better..that was my point…Not Tim Robbins
“Realistic people have these ideals as well, but on top of that, we also have a concept of how things REALLY are.”
Are you saying that we should abandon our ideals because the world is not really idealistic..Haul them out when we want people to think we are good people..Well no it isn’t perfect but to say you have these ideals and then say you know how the world really is means to me(IMO) that integrity is an issue..If you have these ideals you stick to them regardless..I’ve learned from my past violence solves nothing..
If you read my post way back I have already conceded that if Robbins doesn’t practice what he preaches then he is a hypocrite but my point is that I’d rather advocate peace than wait around for the bad people to come and get me and shelve my ideals..
“You have your opinions, I can care less”
Well it’s obvious you do care or you wouldn’t respond..
Your original post was that he says make peace not war but then he’s not such a nice guy privately..thereby a hypocrite. Like I said that point I have already conceded..
My original point is that it is better to try and achieve peace and not make war..that’s all..If that’s idealistic (IYO) then I am a naive, bleeding heart, kumbaya singing idealist who needs a hug and a lollipop from Mom..
Just an opinion ..
Kumbaya Ken Kumbaya
OMG, for the last freakin time, my point is that Tim Robbins is a moron, period. Why all the ranting? Somebody’s got a chip on his shoulder…
And i’m sorry I didn’t realize calling something crap was a positive thing now. Have a crappy day.
@greenknight & Ken J
OK, listen guys – you both need to throttle back. NEITHER of you is going to convince the other of anything so just agree to disagree and from here on out I would avoid talking about non-movie topics because:
A. It gets a bit heated.
B. It turns other people off.
I’m a Conservative and my sister is a Liberal and we get along great… there are just certain topics we know to avoid.
Either that or I’m going to start moderating more strictly.
Best regards,
Vic
Ken, Green Knight, comment on what I said about Robbins and the potential two new character additions – I’m looking for some opinions
Yah man, I agree, it was a mistake for me to mention any more than my main point, which is simply about Tim Robbins. Didn’t know it was going to initiate such a personal reaction.
But yah man, I’ve been done on the topic. I am not planning on going any further into it, so don’t worry.
The only point that I’m going to make from now on is simply that I don’t like Tim Robbins, I won’t even elaborate on why anymore, lol.
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