Twelve months worth of superhero movie gossip came to its New Year’s weekend conclusion with perhaps the funniest rumor yet. The geek squad at Blastr reported on an US Weekly story about stylists for Robert Downey Jr. prepping invisible, three-inch shoe lifts in time for his next performance as superhero inventor Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man in IRON MAN 3.
“They’re working on a special pair just for him,” an unidentified source told US. “The lift insole needs to be concealed in a high top shoe or boot. The highest that’s offered the general public is two inches.”
Downey Jr. wrapped his work this past summer as the armored hero Iron Man in The Avengers (sans shoe lifts) but reportedly wants to enhance his 5 feet, 8 inches frame before the early 2012 production start for Iron Man 3 at the massive EUE/Screen Gems studio in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Earlier, Downey Jr. praised writer/director Shane Black, who replaced Jon Favreau as the director on the next Iron Man installment.
Black wrote the action scripts Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2 and The Last Boy Scout, and made his directing debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring Downey.
Then again, maybe Downey Jr. is praising Black simply because he gave him a thumbs-up on the shoe lifts.
Fans, do you believe the Robert Downey Jr. shoe lifts report? This has to qualify as one of 2011’s funniest stories, right?
Iron Man 3 is scheduled for theaters May 2013.