Robert Downey Jr to star in Iron Man

New Yorker Robert Downey Jr. will star as the latest Marvel Comics superhero to hit the big screen in the US.

Downey will play the title character in Iron Man, a film directed by Jon Favreau. Filming is scheduled to begin in February, with the movie due in US cinemas in May 2008.

It will be the first feature film produced independently by Marvel Entertainment.

“(Downey’s) versatility sets him apart and makes him an ideal fit to play such a complex character as Iron Man,” said Kevin Feige, president of production for Marvel Studios in Los Angeles.

Iron Man is the story of billionaire industrialist and inventor Tony Stark, who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, he builds a high-tech suit of armour and escapes, vowing to protect the world as a superhero.

Downey most recently starred in Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Philip Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, and can be seen in A Guide to Recognising Your Saints, showing now in the United States.

Iron Man will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.