New 'Iron Man' Photo and Fan Film

Paramount has released a new photo from the upcoming flick Iron Man (click on the image for a larger version), which is similar to other photos we've seen except this one features Robert Downey Jr. (as Tony Stark) with a bit more mechanical nonsense strapped to his body. There's no doubt that this is a very big film for Paramount, for Marvel, and for director Jon Favreau. Not only are they attempting to kick-start a brand new comic franchise, but they'll be doing so right at the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. Last year saw the underwhelming Spider-Man 3 is this slot, so hopefully Iron Man will turn out a lot better. So far the trailers rock, and any movie that stars Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges has an immediate head start up the awesomeness ladder.

Additionally, and I completely forget where I read this (so I apologize to the site that broke this news), but rumor has it Downey Jr. is also set to make a cameo, as Tony Stark, in this summer's The Incredible Hulk. How cool would that be? It's obvious Marvel is hella serious about an eventual Avengers flick, and if all these rumors are true (including Sam Jackson in Iron Man as Nick Fury), then Marvel is definitely going about things the right way.

That said, Screenrant is also hosting a pretty cool fan-made Iron Man video that's described as "a non commercial fan film inspired by the famous Marvel Comic character and directed by David Guivant with the help of a few friends and with practically no budget." The fan film includes characters like Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, The Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, Nick Fury and The Mandarin. It moves fast, and it's a little confusing, but it's still pretty impressive considering the limited resources the filmmaker had. Head on over to Screenrant to check it out.