Downey, Howard welded to Iron Man

Way back in 2006, Sega and Marvel Entertainment revealed that they were collaborating on a tie-in for the forthcoming film Iron Man, based on one of the latter's comics. Besides giving the game plenty of development time, Sega has announced it is taking another step to make sure the multiplatform game doesn't join the notoriously large pile of critically pilloried superhero-movie-based games.

Today, the Japanese publisher announced it has enlisted the likenesses and vocal talents of Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin, Zodiac, the forthcoming Tropic Thunder). It will be the first game role for the Oscar-nominated actor, who plays Tony Stark, the alcoholic genius inventor who moonlights as the titular superhero. Also on board is fellow former Best Actor nominee Terence Howard (Hustle and Flow, Crash), who is slated to voice Stark's confidant, air force pilot Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Currently, Iron Man is slated for a simultaneous May 2 release alongside the film. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game are being developed by Secret Level (Golden Axe: Beast Wars), with Artificial Mind working on the PlayStation 2, PC, Wii, and PlayStation Portable versions of the T for Teen-rated game. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.