Jon Favreau reveals iconic Iron Man banter was taken from unexpected place

Iron Man director Jon Favreau revealed the iconic banter between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts was taken from real life.

It’s no secret that 2008’s Iron Man is considered one of the greatest superhero films ever as it kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.

While the movie definitely succeeded thanks to its unique premise, it was really the actors behind the comic book characters that drew audiences in, especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts.

The pair’s journey from boss/assistant to friends to lovers was fantastic to watch as their natural chemistry and witty banter kept fans rooting for them.

And it seems like that iconic banter the duo is known for stemmed from real life conversations between Downey and Paltrow as Iron Man director Jon Favreau recently revealed he took snippets from their real conversations and put it into the movie.

“I was a very good student where I would take notes as they would talk, and whether it was improvising or even just talking about the scene, I would write stuff down that they would say,” Favreau told People Magazine.

The director recounted a moment when Paltrow actually corrected both him and Downey during rehearsal and that moment instantly was put into the film.

“We were reading the script and it said, ‘This looks like Jackson Pollock’s spring period.’ [Then Paltrow said,] ‘No, it’s actually The The Springs is the part of the Hamptons where Jackson Pollock lived and worked, not spring, not the season.’ ”

“So I wrote down every word, and she’s correcting him in the movie when he says, ‘the spring period,” Favreau explained, “So it just adds to their sort of nippy banter. I find it thoroughly compelling and entertaining to watch the two of them on screen together because they had this banter that has an edge to it. “

Favreau went on to express how much he loved how well Downey and Paltrow “complemented” one another thanks to their “mutual respect and admiration” of one another.

Downey and Paltrow continued their witty banter as the billionaire/superhero couple until 2019’s Avengers: Endgame where Stark died at the hands of the Infinity Gauntlet.