News > First "official" pic of Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark

Via USA Today:

"Iron Man" director Jon Favreau thinks Robert Downey Jr. overcoming his troubled past mirrors the struggles comic character Tony Stark had to overcome to be reborn as Iron Man. '"He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark."' Sounds like a stretch, but if Downey Jr. draws inspiration from his past to bring us a kick-ass performance, all the better.

Also of note is the absence of Iron Man's famous chest plate in the film. As you may be able to see in this picture below, Stark has these dot thingies installed on his chest so he can walk when he's outside the suit. Wasn't the whole basis of the character that he was a cripple outside the suit? Again, we'll have to wait and see.

[updated] Sorry, Iron Man always drank. I was just a sheltered child and my parents told me he was drinking "cola."