‘Iron Man’: Jackie Chan Wants The Role

Jackie Chan says he wants to play the role of Iron Man.

In the middle of rumors that Robert Downey Jr. might not play his superhero role after Iron Man 3, other actors appear to be stepping up and making their bids. The most noticeable of them is Jackie Chan, star of Rumble in the Bronx, Will Smith’s remake of The Karate Kid, and Rush Hour.

Yes, the idea of an obvious Oriental playing the role of Tony Stark seems odd to say the least, but Timothy Dalton was James Bond … twice. Some actors just seem wrong for the part, but they might surprise us. After all, wasn’t the Mandarin originally Oriental?

The fact of the matter is, Jackie Chan wants to be in roles where he doesn’t just do the martial arts fighting scenes all the time. More importantly, he wants film audiences to take him more seriously.

Jackie Chan mentioned at the Cannes Film Festival, “I really want to play Iron Man but I don’t think the audiences want to see me as Iron Man. Anyway, nobody pays me big money to make this kind of movie. I love Iron Man and this kind of movie, but no one hires me. Fools!”

The Rush Hour star expanded on this by saying he doesn’t just want minor roles, hence the reason he turned down the chance to be in Expendables 2. Jackie Chan said:

“I haven’t signed anything yet or even seen a script to [Expendables 3]. But they’ve approached me and if the role is big enough I will take it. They offered me a part on Expendables 2 but the role was too small and I want my role to be special. I want a big part. Preferably fighting baddies alongside Sylvester Stallone.”

Neither of them is getting any younger, and Jackie Chan admits to sometimes using stunt doubles, but if Robert Downey Jr. decides to retire from being Iron Man, and Jackie Chan was offered the part, he would snap it up in a heartbeat.

What do you think of Jackie Chan as Iron Man?