Terrence Howard is better known for his gritty dramatic work in the likes of "Crash" and "Hustle & Flow." It might seem like doing "Iron Man" is a total shift into the fantasy world for him, but he says it is not.

"Not when you're working with Robert Downey Jr," said Howard. "There ain't no fantasy there. He's talking about getting ready for some action. You know what I love about him and Jon Favreau is you cannot predict who they are and what they're thinking. And then you add Jeff Bridges to the mix. I still think he's on that film he did with Kevin Spacey, you know. He's from another planet because he's present and then he's ahead of you at the same time and you're trying to converse with him. And then we've got Gwyneth Paltrow so there's nothing fantastical about it. It's like, 'You said you wanted to be an actor?' Every single one of these people has been nominated for or won an Academy Award. 'So now let's see what you're made of.'"

But back to Downey, he's already known to be a wild one. "I took this role and I wanted to work with Robert Downey because he has a spontaneity and a fearlessness that I get close to, but I'm still very conservative and reserved in the choices I make. He doesn't care. He just does it. He believes in jumping out of the air craft at 25,000 feet in the air and just going 'woooooooo' all the way down. I want to learn that."

Perhaps fans of the comic book already know this, but it sounds like Howard gets to play a dual role too. "I play a guy named James Rhodes who becomes War Machine. I'm a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force and I'm liaison between Starks Enterprises and the military in the Department of Acquisitions."

Despite rumors that there have been costume fittings, Howard has only seen the characters' street clothes, but even those were impressive. "We didn't do the costumes yet. I didn't see them do any of Tony Stark's costumes. But the outfits that these people had on were amazing. They looked beautiful in them."