By: John M Jerva

Mel Gibson played him in 1999’s revenge thriller Payback and Jason Statham took a shot at it in the underrated 2013 adaptation but now Iron Man himself is taking a stab at Parker. Based on a series of books, Parker is an elite thief who is the best at what he does and has his own style when it comes to tackling a mission.

According to Deadline, Robert Downey Jr. is poised and ready to tackle the character of Parker in a series of film and TV projects for Amazon. The first film will be the adaptation of the novel Play Dirty which was adapted by Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black and producer Joel Silver and we are set to see Downey in a whole new light after playing Iron Man/Tony Stark for over ten years in the MCU.

According to Deadline: Downey Jr. is set to star as Parker, a professional thief who approaches his job with a straightforward, no-nonsense work ethic. He’s a craftsman. He’s brutal, brilliant. He’s also deadly. He’s whatever it takes to get the money and get away clean. Shane Black (The Nice Guys) adapted the screenplay for Play Dirty with Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi and is set to direct. Silver will produce alongside Downey Jr. and Downey for Team Downey, and Marc Toberoff, with Ezra Emanuel co-producing. The film reunites Downey Jr., Downey, Black and Silver almost two decades following the release of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, their Warner Bros. cult classic, which was in the same hardboiled vein as as the Parker books.

Parker is one of my favorite Statham movies and is severely underrated. It also contains one of his best fights ever on screen which included Daniel Bernhardt. Gibson’s film is also a rare gem that never got all the recognition it deserves so I’ll be very curious to see what swagger and gravitas Downey brings to the role. Hopefully Downey will go all in and bring a substantially brutal persona to the role. The versatile actor usually does go big so this shouldn’t be any exception.

Keep it locked and loaded right here for more to follow on Parker and Downey Jr. as we are your destination for everything action in 2022 and beyond!

Source: Deadline

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