Iron Man 2 trailer has Robert Downey Jr. at his best

The Iron Man 2 trailer for the long-awaited 2010 second installment in the movie series about Marvel Comics legendary techno-hero is out today, and it's incredible.

Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark

First, it features a lot of Robert Downey, Jr. as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark out of the Iron Man suit, first in a Senate hearing forcefully telling Senator Stern (played by Garry Shandling) that he's not giving up the Iron Man suit "to America." "It's my property. You can't have it," he yells to applause. "I did you a favor. I've successfully privatized World peace" Stark bellows as he stands flashing double peace signs in a Nixonian fashion.

Second, Stark is obviously in his element. Free of the burden of keeping his Iron Man identity a secret, he has the Stark Expo, complete with the kind of hardbody blondes Tiger Woods would like, and a lot of fireworks. I'll avoid giving away the trailer in a blow-by-blow here, but the short version indicates an even more personal story than the first movie.

Have a look for yourself: Iron Man 2 trailer.

I'm not sure how well all of these actors - Downey, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson - fit together, but I'm convinced Director Jon Favreau can pull it off just by the way he's tirelessly worked to make this new franchise's many parts - human, special effects, production, and story fit together the first time.

It's as if Paramount said "OK. Great job. You can handle this bigger second one, go do it."

I'll bet he's succeeded.