That’s right, the dude who’s managed a long and respectable acting career despite a simlarly long and respectable rap sheet is going to play Iron Man in Jon Favreau’s upcoming flick.

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) — Robert Downey, Jr. is suiting up to star in “Iron Man,” a superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character.

Jon Favreau is directing the Paramount Pictures release. Filming is slated to begin in February in Los Angeles.

Downey will portray Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Using his intelligence and ingenuity, Stark instead builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. Upon his return to the U.S., he uncovers a plot with global implications and must don his armor and protect the world.

As usual, I’m skeptical about how this is going to turn out…but considering Downey’s a real, honest-to-god actor, and Favreau has some directing chops, it looks like “Iron Man” might be shaping up.

General, Movie/TV, In The Theaters