Robert Downey Jr On "The Dark Knight": "Fuck DC Comics"

Robert Downey Jr gave a lengthy interview, promoting his hilarious turn in "Tropic Thunder," to moviehole.net. Later in the interview, via a discussion of "iron Man's" success, the topic of "The Dark Knight" came up, and Downey didn't mince words .

Here's what he said:

"Iron Man 2" is a topic of conversation, as he and Favreau are currently collaborating on a story for the much anticipated sequel. "Now Justin Theraux who wrote 'Tropic Thunder', is writing it and Jon and I are working on the story with him. It's pretty great and I think it's going to be cool. I think it's going to appropriately well thought out so that we don't forget what got us the response that we appreciated so much, which is, we didn't say, 'Great, now that this is like this, now we're going to twist it and do this with it.' It's now; I'm not saying we're going to do bits. I think more of the same; it is a very rich feel, because it was a very simple movie, if you ask me. It was an origin story."

Which apparently was not the case with the other big summer movie "The Dark Knight". "My whole thing is that that I saw 'The Dark Knight'. I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight'. Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f--king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F-ck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

Well clearly Downey isn't about to do anything for DC Comics anytime soon. "You know, you're never too old to burn your bridges because I believe I have offended everyone," he says, laughingly. "I think I've got a couple more. 'I'll burn that bridge when I come to it' is my favourite phrase I've ever coined."

Whole interview here

Comments

[barrista]

DC may be two dimensional, but their two dimensions absolutely dwarf anything Marvel comes out with.

[iLogos]

Well...

Look how long it took them tocome out with a really good movie. The first batman was pretty good, but pretty much everything else in the franchise was a wash... a popular wash, but a wash.

Christian Bale as Batman revived the franchise, but you compare the first Batman movies with the three X-Men movies and Marvel wins hands down, as does Spiderman.

The Dark Knight is possibly the best comic book movie released to date, certainly the best from an original DC or Marvel IP.

[sharpstyx]

Yeah i agree, the dark knight was pretty convoluted as far as storylines go. That being said, its a movie made from a comic book about a fictional billionaire superhero set in gotham city. I really wasnt expecting some deep meaning or some profound message i was expecting to see a movie based on a COMIC BOOK. what i got however was a pleasant suprise in that Heath ledgers joker was one of the best perfomances ive seen on the big screen in a long time. Im not a movie critic, but i am a consumer and i know what i like to see in a movie. kinda like rd jr. in tropic thunder. I went in expecting a ben stiller movie i.e. one long jerk off joke. What i saw was rd jr playing a very convincing black man. Now if i missed the fundamental message of both movies, i couldnt care less i was extremely entertained by both movies.. Which is what i was after in the first place. My mission wasnt to gain enlightenment, it was to have fun and i did. 17.50 well spent. Wouldve been a bargain at 2x the price.

[stepintothelight]

"What i saw was rd jr playing a very convincing black man. "

I can't even begin to list the ignorance and insult behind this statement!!!

[sharpstyx]

Ignorance of what? Insulting to who? Its a movie with actors acting. hence the term "actor" .

[STParker]

On the balance I enjoyed the Dark Knight, but it was SEVERELY flawed. Batman Begins was an AWESOME movie, but the dark knight was far too self-serious. Still liked it, but marvel comic movies have been thus far superior with the exception of Batman Begins.

[ShanniC]

I am inclined to agree with Robert because I for one thought the ending to TDK sucked! Why -did- Batman have to become the bad guy in the end. Talk about lame plot devices. I think that Iron Man 2 will be just as good. Although, I will concede Heath Ledgers turn as a the Joker is the stuff of legend.

[blueskybigstar]

Except for the Martian Manhunter, DC comics are two dimensional. Always have been.

[unclesmedley]

I so totally wanna hang out with blueskybig­star...

[3fingerbrown]

Ha! Downey ruffling the feathers of humorless "Dark Knight" geeks! Beautiful! Three pages of outraged comments by fully grown adults weighing the relative merits of Batman and Iron Man would be sad if it weren't so funny. I thought this argument was settled by millions of pre-adolescent boys in the early '70s: D.C. sucks.

[barrista]

Aww old man "3fingerbrown" getting a kick out of the internets.

[Hardbull]

Too bad. What a pointless comment. It would have been nice to see him work with Chris Nolan some day.

[LittleTart]

Do you really think these men are so thin skinned a comment as benign as this one will keep Chris Nolan from working with one of his generation's greatest actors? I think not.

[OtayPanky]

Pride goeth...

A cleaned up druggie - no matter how prodigious the talent - is never more than one slip from the bottom of the staircase.

Chill out, bro-bro...­and take the steps.

[sarchasm]

there's nothing like a reformed (insert favorite prodigal).

[OtayPanky]

There's nothing like a dame, either. And I'm not reformed. But I do have a dead druggie brother.

And thanks for sharing.

[kulenski]

I agree with him, F**k DC Comics. Hey, there is a lot is crappy comic in DC makes and batman is kind of gay with robin and what not. the good batman stories were the ones by Frank Miller!

[Pistolopera]

OK I'll name-drop ... Robert is a casual friend of mine (my ONLY huge Hollywood star friend, mind you) and I can attest he is the COOOOLEST SWEEEETEST NICEST person you'd ever wanna meet ... He has been THROUGH THE FIRE, my friends, like no one else in Hollywood, and he has come out the other side an absolutely amazing human being ... his recent RIDICULOUS success is NO ACCIDENT - this is the manifestation of an amazing creative talent coupling with a perfect perspective and finally finding ultimate focus ...THE BEST IS YET 2 COME with RDJr...

[stepintothelight]

Good thing you can type. Must be hard to talk with that package in your mouth!!!

[LeftLeanWing]

Actially. it's not that difficult.­... trust me.

[memphispaul]

Life as viewed through the over used bent stem and bubble of RD,Jr's warped world...

[sxp151]

Iron Man dealt with the world as it is.

Dark Knight dealt with the world as crazy right-wingers like Frank Miller wanted it to be 20 years ago.

Robert Downey Jr. is totally right.

[BigLib]

Even comic book geeks are infested with Bush Derangement Syndrome.

[mondobleu]

Hey Robert, you're a great actor. You were cheated out of an Oscar for "Chaplin" just like Denzel was for
"Malcolm X".
But I gotta tell you that "Dark Knight" was a spectacular film with an Oscar caliber performance by Heath Ledger (one he could've easily overplayed) and I think that if you watch it again with an open mind you'll understand the noirish plot and maybe even appreciate Ledger's commanding portrayal of the "Joker".
Keep up the great work and thanks for all your great performances through the years. M.

[poorotis]

So R. Downey Jr. actually thinks he "coined" the phrase, "I'll burn that bridge when I come to it." ?
I don't think so. Perhaps he doesn't understand what 'coined' (to strike new) means.

[unclesmedley]

pooritis is, like, so totally insightful­...

[CarbonDate]

Sad, bitter little man. Egotist, narcissist; but we knew all of this about Downey, right?

Iron Man sucked if you were more than 13 years old, by the way. Just thought I'd mention that.