Just like the Marvel movie universe took several films to build up to The Avengers, Marvel animation has had several iterations before the current Disney XD series “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.” Except for “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” Adrian Pasdar has been Tony Stark/Iron Man for “Iron Man,” “Ultimate Spider-Man” and now “Avengers Assemble.” His voice work goes back even further. We got to chat with TV’s Iron Man about his super hero cred, and the latest animated version of The Avengers.
CraveOnline: How did this Iron Man gig start for you?
Adrian Pasdar: I was in Ireland doing a movie. [Jeph] Loeb called me up and said, “I’d love you to do this.” We had a previous relationship from “Heroes.” I said, “Hey, man. I’m in.” Having no idea what we were getting into. Actually, it was the anime first and then it rolled into this. The bell curve has been big. I learned a lot because I walked into a room of highly trained professionals. I learned a lot from these guys. I’m with good guys.
How different is Tony Stark from Nathan Petrelli?
Well, everybody’s different, every character. It comes from the writing. I am actually the smallest part of the creation of Tony Stark. The voice is the smallest part. The rest of it, the writing and the animation are the two biggest components. Unfortunately, I’m perceived as a huge part of it but I’m just a conduit.
The animation job started for you after the live-action movies with Robert Downey Jr. Was that a big hurdle to overcome?
Not really. I think from the outside it would seem to be one, but once you’re tasked with bringing it to life, you’re just trying to do the best you can and all the other preconceived notions you have fall apart. You don’t really think, “Well, gosh, I don’t want to do this like Robert” or “This better not sound too much like the film.” All that goes away. You’re not in any danger of that. Downey [will] tell you the same thing. I’m he laid out and thought of stuff and then once you put the suit on, it becomes what it is. Your perspective on life becomes who you are in the suit. It’s not so much I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that. It becomes organic if you’re honest with yourself.
Did you get to see Iron Man 3 before “Avengers Assemble” started?
No, I think we had already started before it came out.
You did a Hawkeye voice even before Iron Man.
Mm-hmm, I did Hawkeye, I did Captain America, I did Hugo Strange. I think I danced with a couple different characters for a little while before landing with Tony.
Did you know it felt right with Tony?
You know, I think yeah, for me. It just feels like I got a lot of where the humor was coming from, and there’s a lot of that in this. There’s the interaction and the playfulness I think that we find as the series goes on, I’m a fan of. So I’m happy to be doing this guy.
How much of Stark’s wild side will we get to see on this show, that’s aimed at kids?
Not that much. Yeah, you’re not going to see the billionaire philanthropist playboy part. Really, with the exception of Laura [Bailey], there are no other women around. There’s only Black Widow and that’s it.
Because they’re doing the recording together, are you interacting with the other Avengers even more than you did your costars on “Heroes,” since they were so separate?
Oh yeah, you’re right. That’s an excellent point. I didn’t even think about that. We would check in with each other on “Heroes” periodically to see how things were going because sometimes our filming schedules were so disparate. This, we were together all the time. I get to hear everything and they get to hear me. We’re all together when we work. There are a few isolated instances where we’re in a booth and they’ve already recorded, because I’m in New York or whatever. But for the most part we’re together. So it’s a very fluid process.
How much has your cool factor increased with your kids since you’ve become Iron Man?
A little bit. At first they were like, “That’s not Iron Man. That’s you. Dad, that’s your voice.” I’m like, “Well, yeah. That’s my voice but…” Now they’re starting to come around. They particularly like the games. We did a LEGO one that’s coming out in September. I did an Iron Man game for the Iron Man 3 movie for iPhone and Android and all that. They like playing those games on their phones and devices, so it’s fun for them to have Dad be Tony Stark.
The banter between the Avengers is the thing we love about The Avengers. When there are different writers on each episode, can you notice a difference that this is this writer and this is that writer?
It takes a little while but yeah, you do. You get to understand. They all work together. Man of Action is a few writers there, so there’s a lot of fingerprints on every script before it gets to us. You can tell, yeah, you can tell but overall there’s a tone that they’ve struck and they’re pretty consistent with who he is.
When there’s a new villain each week, does that voice actor come into the sessions too and record with you?
Mm-hmm. Dwight Schultz came in. There’s a lot of great actors that come in and do their bit. And it’s fun having a new voice or a new, young, fresh blood on a set because we all work together all the time. It’s nice having a new perspective, a new energy come to the set.
We hear there’s a Dracula episode that focuses on Black Widow. What does Iron Man get to do in it?
I haven’t seen it yet so it’s hard for me to say because it’s all become one big episode. We just get the scripts but it’s like they just continue on and on and on. I know we all kind of fight together in that episode, we get separated, and then we have to get back together. That happens in every episode. I can’t remember specifically what my tasks were in that.
Does Tony stay on the fence about leading the Avengers or does he ever grow into it?
Well, that’s the arc for him. I think eventually he owns it but there’s always a bit of reluctance at having offered his services and having all these people come live in his house, because in the end that’s what they’ve done. They’ve all moved in to the Avengers Tower and it’s like, “Man, these people are messy.” He’s used to living by himself.
The Avenjet is pretty cool though.
Yeah, that’s cool, the Avenjet. It’s always how do you say it? A-VEN-jet or AV-en jet, because written down it looks like AV-en jet. It’s always a running joke on the show.
