Titan Publishing will be releasing
Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years Collector's Edition in hardback next week, November 13th (
CLICK HERE to order via Amazon.com). Titan has shared with us an exclusive excerpt from the book to celebrate next week's release!
In th excerpt, entitled "The Saga Begins," the stars of
Iron Man, the movie that started it all, reflects on ten years of Marvel Studios memories. They discuss Gwyneth Paltrow joining the cast of
Iron Man, life and traveling together, broken knees, and proving that Tony Stark has a heart.
The Saga Begins
What was it like working together on Iron Man?
Robert Downey Jr.: Paltrow?
Gwyneth Paltrow: Well, these two guys, out of all the people that I’ve had the good fortune to work with, the triumvirate that we’ve formed together is very special. There’s true love and real friendship over a decade.
Jon Favreau: We traveled around the world together. Gwyneth was my first Sherpa through Rome. And I brought my family there since then. We have really good memories. We were in Paris together with our spouses on the first trip around the world.
RDJ: We were in a shot-out bungalow at Hughes Aircraft off Jefferson when Jon found out that Paltrow had agreed to play Pepper Potts, and we both got really choked up for some reason because Jon said, “I know the movie’s going to work now.”
GP: Thank you!
JF: It’s true.
GP: Did you really say that?
JF: If he says I did, he’s got a better memory than I do.
GP: That’s really nice.
JF: I remember we were really happy to have you on board.
JF: We were talking about it yesterday over dinner, Robert and I. Gwyneth is a little more…
RDJ: Stoic.
JF: She’s more stoic about it, I think.
What have these ten years meant to you?
JF: It’s nice to look at how the legacy is living on in these other movies under other filmmakers and other actors. I’m grateful that Marvel Studios have done a good job keeping it going.
GP: I feel like we’ve also lived a lot of life together. We’ve had babies and divorces and weddings and joys.
RDJ: Gwyneth told my wife to have a bunch of kids. And now we got all these kids because people listen to her.
JF: I remember when Apple [Gwyneth’s daughter] was there for the first screen-test. Gwyneth was wearing a wig and getting dressed up in all these outfits. It was not fun. Apple walked in, and she lit up. That was the first time I really saw Gwyneth come through on camera.
GP: Well, remember how bad my wig looked?
JF: Yes.
RDJ: And we’ve been chasing that ever since!
GP: Wouldn’t you have been in a bad mood if your wig looked like that on your screen-test?
JF: I wore a wig in Iron Man for some reason too. I wanted to wear a wig!
RDJ: I’ve avoided wigs. We don’t want me in a wig. If we get to that point, we should’ve hung up our jerseys already.
Was there a particularly memorable moment for you on set?
GP: I have tons.
RDJ: Give us one.
GP: I remember on one of the movies, I broke my knee.
JF: Yes, I remember that.
GP: And Jon was like, “Okay, Blondie, let’s just keep it moving!”
RDJ: That’d be 2. It was on Iron Man 2.
JF: No, it was on 1.
RDJ: On the first one, of course... someone’s got to break a knee.
GP: We were all having dinner at this pizza place on a Saturday night. I was sitting next to Jon’s wife, and my knee swelled up. She said that I had to go to see the doctor. Jon had to say he was sorry for not believing that I hurt my knee!
JF: Then you got X-ray’d. The doctors couldn’t believe that you were able to walk!
RDJ: I remember doing this scene where I had a prosthetic body, and Gwyneth was reaching inside my chest. The whole scene was about Tony trusting Pepper. We rehearsed it a lot.
JF: That was a great one. I felt like I was coaching an improv team because I would throw in suggestions. “Okay, make it like you’re playing Operation.” GP: Bzz! Ahhh!
JF: “Every time she reaches into your chest make like it hurts you!” And we started putting goop in there with all that slime. That was one of my favorite scenes of the whole movie.
RDJ: That’s right. Proof that Tony Stark has a heart. We figured stuff out and then shot it. Ten years of team spirit. One, two, three… Go team! Yeah! Hoo-ha!
Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years Collector's Edition in hardback will be available November 13th (
CLICK HERE to order via Amazon.com), just in time if you've got holiday shopping to do for Marvel fans on your list!
What did you think of the excerpt? Share your thoughts on this, as well as Marvel's first 10 years, in the comment area below!