Robert Downey Jr. gain more than 20 pounds of muscle in five months to look like he "had the power to forge iron". "Iron Man" was globally released between April 30 and May 3, 2008, grossing over $585 million worldwide and receiving rave reviews which cited Downey's performance as a highlight of the film. By October 2008, Downey had agreed to appear as Iron Man in two "Iron Man" sequels, as part of the Iron Man franchise, as well as "The Avengers", featuring the superhero team that Stark joins, based on Marvel's comic book series "The Avengers". He first reprised the role in
The Last Hit Man The Last Hit Man The Last Hit Man is a 2008 direct-to-video crime thriller film directed by Christopher Warre Smets. It tells the story of an aging contract killer who finds himself in crisis between his daughter and his job after an assignment gone awry. After he botches a hit, an aging hitman (Joe Mantegna) discovers that he's dying and decides to hide the truth from his daughter, who's also his business partner and getaway driver. When a younger hit man is sent to clean up the mess, he ends up impacting their lives in more ways than initially intended.