Robert Downey Jr. tells us how Tony Stark is like Charlie Chaplin (for him, anyway)

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man: Give him a hand.

"Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2."

Lots of stars. Lots of action. Lots of box office.

But they had their differences. "Iron Man" introduced us to Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark with a great mix of action, drama and humor. "Iron Man 2" gave us, well, a lot of explosions.

As Downey told Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times about the two films:

"The first one changed everything for me and with the second 'Iron Man' there were certain aspects that were dissatisfying and disappointing to me but at least they lit me right.... (The first one) was a meditation on responsibility and an exploration of how a small group of people can take a two-dimensional idea and, if the winds are right, create something that makes people say, 'That was my favorite movie of the year.' To me, Tony Stark's story is a karma story and a technology story. I love a good action movie — a Steve McQueen or Tom Cruise or Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson in the right spot, and you smile and say, 'That's what this kind of movie is all about.' There were two times in my life I prepared for something manically, it was this and 'Chaplin.' I became the expert on this guy."