Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) share a moment in 'Iron Man 2.'

The veritable rock star of recent superheroes that hit the big screen, Iron Man is literally the bad boy of gold titanium alloy, whose heart is as big as it is powered by a miniature ‘arc reactor.’ And what gives him the verve and joie de vivre in running after the bad guys is the man inside the iron suit—the arrogant but exciting genius, Tony Stark.

Returning as the billionaire master of technological inventions in “Iron Man 2,” Robert Downey Jr., with his trademark humor, describes his experience in making the second movie.

“Our process is crazy,” he jokes. “It’s like asking somebody to step inside a washer/dryer with you—you tell them, ‘Look, there’s going to be a lot of tumbling and stuff and yet you’re going to come out looking like you’re in a tuxedo...’ It doesn’t make sense but it works.”

With this sequel to the highly-successful “Iron Man,” which opened to over US$100M in 2008, Downey assures Marvel fans and regular movie fans that there is still much to see.

“If you look at the Marvel Comics, there are so many interesting characters and relationships,” Downey points out. “For instance, we only scratched the surface of Tony’s relationship with Pepper [Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow] in the first film. And Samuel L. Jackson’s character will become more central.”

“Iron Man 2,” which opens locally on April 30, picks up six months after the first film ended, with Tony Stark being pressured by the military to reveal the secrets of the Iron Man. And he is also constantly under the microscope of media attention.

“We set ourselves up for this one by having Tony say he was Iron Man last time,” Downey says. “So you have a story at the end of which you give away the trump card that usually every other franchise doesn’t. And I think we got a lot of brownie points for that because it was somewhat unexpected.”

While the mind-blowing revelation may have lit up the lives of geeks everywhere, the team behind the “Iron Man” franchise knows its implication as well.

“The question is: how do we keep doing the unexpected? And the answer is that we keep going deeper into the reality of what it would be like if you were that guy and that had happened to you,” he begins.

“And I said I would probably really need a drink. I would also probably feel really high on myself and feel like I had it all going on and I would feel invincible but I would also know that pride comes before a fall...”

A new dynamism comes to “Iron Man 2” with its new cast. Adding a threat from an intimidating, violent persona, Mickey Rourke joins this installment as an ex-convict with a grudge, Ivan Vanko.

Downey played a key part in recruiting Rourke but even he was surprised at the actor’s commitment. “He had his concerns and some hesitation but the interesting thing about the guy was no sooner was he cast when he was literally spotted in a Russian prison doing research,” Downey exclaims.

Downey also admits being impressed with new co-stars, Sam Rockwell, who plays arms dealer Justin Hammer; and Scarlett Johansson, who essays the dual roles of Natalie and the Black Widow.

But the key collaboration at the heart of the “Iron Man” franchise is still Downey’s own working relationship with director Jon Favreau.

“Jon and I are kind of insane,” he smiles. “We’re really idiosyncratic [but] we gave each other the freedom to say, ‘You know, I’m upset with you about what’s happening here.’”

"And Jon would be like, ‘Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you angry all of the time?’ We’re like a dysfunctional family that won the lottery! So I almost pity everybody who came on board thinking that they were going to be involved in this big, light thing. We treat it like Shakespeare and yet we don’t memorize our lines – it’s a nightmare.”