Oscar nominated actor Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) joined his fellow Iron Man actors (and fellow Oscar nominee) Robert Downey Jr and Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as well as director Jon Favreau at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con to preview footage from the much-anticipated film. Judging by the reaction of those in attendance, fans are happy with the way this comic book-inspired creation remains loyal to the source material.

Terrence Howard Interview

What did you find to be the most challenging aspect of playing a superhero?
“The most challenging thing is to find something super in you. To find something where you take a stand on something and then make a compromise, because that’s what a superhero is. He’s not just the man that stands up; he’s gone beyond the call of duty, beyond the call of humanity and say, ‘You know what? I’m going to be a man today. I’m going to be a real live man. I’m going to sacrifice everything I have. I’m weak in nature, I’ve got the same problems as everybody at this table and to stand up and say, ‘I’m going to be more than that, that’s the best part of it.”

How does it feel to be playing the first black superhero?
“I feel like Sidney Poitier and Jackie Robinson. I got to do what they pushed the envelope on for so many years and be held responsible at the same time for how that character is conducted because then perhaps in the future, they’ll greenlight other characters, or other ethnicities will have a chance doing that, based upon how this is accepted.

I never thought about it like that. I didn’t recognize that.”

Did you get a chance to step into the armor sometime?
“I mean you’ve got to remember, the reason that Marvel wanted to be independent on this project right here was so that they would not have the constraints of a studio that was real concerned with marketing than being concerned with the historical authenticity of the film. That’s what’s more important, to be true creatively and then because this is a very smart audience now. 30 years ago, an audience, if they didn’t like something, they could have their voice heard through three or four critics. Now, each person can get on and say I don’t recommend this movie because they forgot this and they forgot that. I mean, we’re so much more accountable and we realize that the audience is so much more intelligent than marketing research shows.”

Can you talk about the fact that they are introducing other characters in this movie?
“Because they’re more concerned with the future, with the future aspects of it. It’s like, yeah, you can go and throw a bunch of preservatives in a piece of food and sell a million pieces of it, but then two years from now when the scientific research comes out, nobody’s going to buy it anymore. But if you stay true and start grassroots and touch on the imagination of this intelligent audience, then you’ve got lifetime buyers. And that means great for me because that means I get to go and be in The Avengers! Because I put on the suit and go on The Avengers. I get to be War Machine. I get paid, man!”

Did you have any scenes with Hilary Swank or Samuel L Jackson?
“Umm, you know…”

What can you say about putting on the armor?
You’ve got to remember, in the comic book, James Rhodes puts on that suit and as a result of the neuronet pattern that Tony Stark had, and has designed the suit according to the frequency of his brain, it changes Rhodes’ thinking pattern. Whether Rhodes becomes smarter or not is left to be told, but Rhodes changed from being a traditionalist to now a rebellious man. So I can’t say yes. And I’m definitely not saying no.”

What’s your interaction with Tony?
“Well, I’m a liaison between the acquisitions office of the United States Air Force and Stark Industries. So on a day to day basis, Tony brings all of his new technologies - or possible technologies - to me first and then I say this has viability within the Unites States military. Whether we’re going to move it down into the Navy, whether it be a Marine application or whether it will actually… We also work with Boeing so most of this stays with the Air Force, but we also have us going to MIT together.”

Did you do any special training with the military?
“Just went up with the Air Force, spent a lot of time. I got to fly jets! You don’t just go up in there and sit in there. The best thing about these jets, let me tell you, you have nothing to hold onto in there except this joy stick. The only time they give you the joy stick is the person up front will shake it and when he shakes it, you know that he wants you to take it. You’re gong 400 miles an hour in a jet with a wing man here, and they’re telling you to roll it. I got to do that. So we went to the flight simulators for a week and then finally I flew 3-4 times with the United States Air Force in T-38’s and F-16’s, an F-15. I’m bad now. I can land a plane, you know?”

How was working with Robert Downey Jr?
“There’s a bit of magic that he has to him. There’s a fearlessness, but a vulnerability at the same time. So for me, I learned that nothing looks more unnatural than an attempt to look natural. And you can just be the character, and it’s okay to be uncomfortable at times because that’s what we are. I learned how to be a real actor working with him. I learned how to be spontaneous. I learned how to stand up for the authenticity of the script and the story. Because there were times when we had a great script, but we had surpassed what was written on the page and the things that we did previously, and they had already had the plan set up. You’re looking at $2 million days, $3 million days and we would go and sit down and rewrite the whole character, rewrite that script of the day. [We’d] spend five hours - we wouldn’t get our first shot off for 5-6 hours - because someone had integrity. Robert has the most integrity I’ve ever seen in an actor. The most.”

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