One of the things that really amazes me about Iron Man is that Jon Favreau not only managed to get a serious actor in the lead role, but managed to get one who takes Tony Stark just as seriously as he would something else. Robert Downey Jr. knows how people feel about comic book characters like Iron Man, and know how important it is to treat that with respect.

Now Downey Jr. is aiming that same respect towards the planned Avengers movie, which Iron Man will be a part of. Why? “If we don’t get it right it’s really, really going to suck,” Downey told MTV’s Splash Page. “It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters.”

That last part is particularly difficult to consider, because of the approach Favreau and Downey took towards Iron Man. They placed their hero squarely in the world of reality, whereas Downey recognizes an Avengers movie opens the door for things more fantastical - after all, this is a team that has featured a Norse God, the Hulk, and a thawed Captain America (after having been frozen in time for several decades). Those certainly aren’t things you’d expect from the world of the first Iron Man, yet Downey Jr. has signed on to be part of the team, and recognizes it might conflict with what his own movies have established for his character.

You know what the right solution to this problem would be? Let Favreau handle the Avengers movie. Seriously - the guy has shown that he has just as much skill with Marvel’s creations as Sam Raimi, so why not let him handle the team up? Go ahead and sign him up now, and he can coordinate with the directors of some of the other characters that will feed into The Avengers.

Of course, Marvel could go with some other director, but the franchise would also take a turn for the worse. As Downey says, if they don’t get it right, it’ll really suck. Why not trust someone who has already proven they can handle this sort of thing?