2009 Comic-Con: Robert Downey Jr.

Luke Y Thompson is covering the Con for DHD with an emphasis on Hollywood:

Now Robert Downey Jr is out to present Warner Bros’ SHERLOCK HOLMES. He calls him the first superhero, and the first western martial artist. (I do NOT remember that aspect of the books.) “I think the studios are giving me too much credit, thinking I’m smart enough to play this guy.” Looking at the clips, one might suggest that smartness wasn’t the main reason, as the movie clearly plays up the drug-addict side of Holmes.

Downey calls Guy Ritchie “a badass gentleman Englishman,” and the director is barely mentioned again. He shows what is basically an extended version of the trailer – it is a lot less choppy and looks to (thankfully) be more conventional than the stereotypical Ritchie film. Villain is based on Aleister Crowley – Satanic cult, not unlike the death cult in YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES, perhaps? That 7-ft former WWE wrestler Kurrgan plays an evil henchman.

The construction of Tower Bridge in London looks to be a major setting. The universe of the movie comes from the books, but the plot is original.

Downey says that other versions of Holmes onscreen “misrepresented” the character. ‘We went right back to the source.” I don’t remember Arthur Conan Doyle mentioning perfect abs, though. The movie got going when Downey, post Iron Man, went to Joel Silver and said, “Dude, where’s OUR franchise?”

Downey trained in martial arts. “I could windmill through the lot of you right now!” Yet his Holmes is often beaten by a woman, Rachel McAdams’ Irene Adler. “It’s really embarrassing to get your ass kicked by a girl. Unless you’re a girl. But you’re still getting your ass kicked.”

Asked how much they used the book for inspiration, McAdams, whose character appears in only one short story, says, “I combed the ten pages I was in!”

What was the most challenging for Downey?

“You know how sick I am? I don’t think there’s anything that can be too challenging for me. I have an illness of confidence.”

Ritchie, mostly unmentioned, may still be the wrong guy – but Downey is saying all the right things.