Four major superheroes have new movies this year. Superman gets a reboot in June's "Man of Steel," the deadly claws of "The Wolverine" spring back out in July, and Thor will swing his hammer in November's "Thor: The Dark World." But the liveliest of the current superhero franchises arrives Friday, as "Iron Man 3" hits theaters.

Paramount Pictures file

Iron Man feels like a more human, relatable superhero than most of his type.

Thanks in no small part to its star, the can't-take-your-eyes-off-him Robert Downey Jr., the "Iron Man" movie series has soared. With Downey in the suit and smart writing and directing behind the scripts, Iron Man/Tony Stark has transformed from his comic-book portrayal as Captain America's billionaire buddy to the most super of superheroes. Here's why.

He's got problems
Superman and Captain America are so goody-two-shoes you could bring them home to mother, even if she's Mother Teresa. Iron Man, like Downey himself, has a bad-boy rep. In his real identity as Tony Stark, he drank too much, he spent too much, he slept with too many women. He's a little more on the straight-and-narrow now, but he still has crippling anxiety attacks that leave him hyperventilating by the side of the road in a most un-heroic fashion. And he's not above dancing like a dork in his super-secret lab.

Disney

Don Cheadle, aka War Machine/Iron Patriot, is Tony Stark's pal. Unlike Robin, he's no fawning sidekick.

He's got the coolest friends
Col. James Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), is a much more entertaining sidekick than Batman's Robin. In his real life, he's a full-on military man, and in his suit, he's just about as tough as Iron Man. But he and Tony have the greatest just-bros relationship outside of Joey and Chandler. ("It's not the '80s, nobody says 'hacks' anymore," Tony chides him in the new film.) And we also love Tony's pal Happy (Jon Favreau), who's head of security for a global corporation but still has no idea how to work an iPad.

He's not ashamed of his suit
Captain America has his super-soldier serum, the Incredible Hulk his dose of gamma radiation. Iron Man is a smart and buff billionaire, but he wouldn't be a superhero without the powerful suit he himself invented. And who cares? Batman's just a regular billionaire too, with a really cool arsenal of Bat-gadgets. Tony's never hidden the fact that he needs his suit -- in fact, he almost revels in it, displaying his different outfits in his mansion and even giving them names.

Sometimes his stuff fails
Does it ever. Like a smartphone, sometimes Iron Man's suit is crying out for a charge at the most inconvenient moments. Other times, Tony tries to call the pieces of the suit to him, and gets smacked in the face for his troubles. In the third film, it even zips to his aid while he's sleeping, which really freaks out Pepper.

Disney

Gwyneth Paltrow is neither a babe nor a wimp as Pepper Potts.

His girlfriend is neither a wimp nor a babe
Whatever you think of World's Most Beautiful Woman Gwyneth Paltrow, she does a decent job as Tony's girlfriend, the goofily named Pepper Potts. She doesn't slink around in gowns cut down to there like a Bond girl, and she doesn't cower in the background and wait to get kidnapped either (although it has happened). She and Tony have an easy rapport and you do believe they care about each other. Tony's lost a lot of things through his own stupid fault, and it's clear he doesn't want Pepper to be one of them.

He's up on pop culture
Tony, and his entire film series, doesn't live in the 1940s, like Captain America, or in some grim and somber Gotham, like Batman. He's a part of our world, with all its bad TV and fast food and cheesy products. He wears a Black Sabbath shirt (in sly tribute to their "Iron Man" song).  He references Barrel of Monkeys during a mid-air rescue. In "Iron Man 3," he finds himself donning a Dora the Explorer watch, and learning that his pal Happy is addicted to "Downton Abbey." Tony lives in Malibu, not Made Up Ville.

He knows how to be rich
Tony Stark is a billionaire, and he knows how to be one. He bought himself a space-age stunner of a mansion on the cliffs of Malibu, and he drives fancy speedsters like the all-electric concept car, the Audi R8. He sweeps in to fancy dinners and balls in a tux and occasionally breaks a paparazzi's camera -- just as we like to think we would do if our bank account were a whole lot fatter.

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Think you opened all your holiday cards this year? Here's another -- from Iron Man, or at least the superhero Avenger's real identity, billionaire Tony Stark.

@Iron_Man / Twitter

The card, showing Stark (Robert Downey Jr., in the role he was born to play) standing out in a snowy field, possibly about to catch snowflakes on his tongue, was tweeted out the day after Christmas from the official account set up for Stark.

Movie blog Cinema Blend points out that "Iron Man 3" writer/director Shane Black seems to love Christmas themes. Four of his screenplays, including "Lethal Weapon," were set during that holiday season, and "Iron Man 3" footage shown at Comic Con shows Stark enjoying Run DMC's 1987 single "Christmas in Hollis."

Stark isn't wearing his armor in the snowy shot because, according to the trailer, it's become non-functional.

"Iron Man 3" opens May 3, and features Stark battling well-known comic-book villain The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). Gwyneth Paltrow returns as love interest Pepper Potts and Don Cheadle is back as Stark's best friend Col. James Rhodes, aka War Machine.

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Marvel

Rebecca Hall in "Iron Man 3."

Tony Stark's latest leading lady looks in need of rescue. New pictures of "Iron Man 3" are in the wild Friday via Marvel.com, and one of them gives fanboys their first look at Rebecca Hall's character, Dr. Maya Hansen.

Hall, best known for her role in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," looks to have gotten banged up in this pic, as she lies on the ground with a gash on her forehead.

Per Marvel lore, Hansen is a scientist and ex-lover of Robert Downey Jr.'s brilliant industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. It is Hansen who helps develop the Extremis virus, a nanotechnology serum that links Tony's mind and body to his metal suit as part of the military's long-held ambition to create a super-soldier.

Foreshadowing the difficult challenge that lies ahead for our heavy-metal hero, another photo shows Iron Man's mask with a big crack in it.

Marvel

The Iron Man helmet, damaged, in "Iron Man 3."

No doubt his mettle will be tested plenty in the form of arch-foe Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley -- though Tony will luckily once again receive a much-needed helping hand from good buddy Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle), otherwise known as War Machine, another pic of whom also surfaced in this latest batch.

"Iron Man 3," directed by Shane Black, hits theaters on May 3, 2013. 

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Walt Disney Pictures

The new "Iron Man 3" poster.

You've heard the casting reports, glimpsed some plot spoilers, winced at on-set mishaps and seen the concept art. Now, feast your eyes on the trailer to "Iron Man 3," Robert Downey Jr.'s highly anticipated threequel to the smash superhero franchise.

And boy, does he have his work cut out for him this time, as he squares off against super-terrorist Mandarin, played with menacing aplomb by Ben Kinglsey.

Ready for some ass-kickin'? Right this way, please.

Here's everything you need to know about 'Iron Man 3'

Prepare to speak Mandarin: Kingsley makes his grand appearance as the super-villain while sporting some pretty nifty threads, to boot! (We're digging that cowl -- matches the scowl.) "Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher," he snarls in a voice-over. "Lesson No. 1: heroes -- there is no such thing." He certainly makes good on that promise by promptly blowing up Tony Stark's sleek cliff-side pad.

Iron Man threesome! Ladylove Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) certainly gets cozy in bed with Tony. But wait -- what's going on here?! And who's the other dude in the Iron Man suit? Pepper herself looks equally shocked upon seeing their strange bedfellow as she's violently rustled out of her slumber by a very unwelcome guest as Tony lies next to her.

Get a load of 'Iron Man 3's' teaser art: Is Tony Stark now a mutant?!

The doc is in: Welcome to your first look at Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, a renowned geneticist who, according to comic-book lore, invents a powerful serum that grants superhuman abilities to its subjects. Killian's presence in the movie has reinforced fanboys' theories that the film's plot would indeed be based on the comic book's famous Extremis storyline, and--judging from this nanosecond glimpse of Pearce -- we'd say the actor certainly delivers some steely-cool villainy.

Don Cheadle returns as War Machine: Tony's fellow armored ally is back. Good thing, because Iron's Man's gonna need it: When Mandarin unleashes his assault on Tony's pad, we see a bevy of Iron Man suits go kablooey as everything erupts into a spectacular explosion of metal. Cue the operatic music!

'Iron Man 3' gets another baddie -- who is he?

A changed (Iron) Man: Tony seems to have undergone a transformation, and it's more than just an upgrade to his suit. "Nothing's been the same since New York," he says, alluding to last summer's The Avengers. "You experience things, and then they're over." Indeed, at one point Tony command parts of his armor to magically fly across the room and snap onto his hand. All these whopping changes -- and mayhem! -- leave our our cocky billionaire hero humbled, as we seen him desperately dragging his Iron Man suit in the snow at the end of the trailer. Is he headed for a superhero freeze-out? Find out when the movie hits theaters on May 3, 2013.

Check out other movies hitting theaters soon

Matt Sayles / AP

Robert Downey Jr. is the most valuable movie star in Hollywood, combining box-office success in both action films and comedies with wide critical acclaim, audience likeability and studio-head bankability, according to Vulture's latest study. The “Iron Man” star’s Hollywood supremacy is the result of a recent, rather in-depth statistical study. While it may sound complicated, we're here to break it down for you.

Vulture, with the help of The Guardian’s statistician Harry Enten, set eight categories with which to quantify a star’s Hollywood value. This includes studio value (five top studio heads were asked who they’d cast with a sure-fire script in hand), which was given the lion’s share of importance in the calculations, but the study also factored in box-office numbers, Oscar wins and nominations, critics’ score based on Metacritic and appeareances on magazine covers.

Downey Jr., who has risen from substance abuse and prison time to become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, has chosen his roles wisely. He staged his comeback by showing off mounds of charisma in 2008’s “Iron Man,” then cleverly followed the successful superhero film with his genuinely enjoyable performances in “Tropic Thunder,” “Due Date” and his pair of “Sherlock Holmes” movies. Since his dark days, he’s graced the covers of 12 major magazines (including GQ, Rolling Stone and Men’s Vogue), proving that moviegoers are genuinely interested in his personal life and success story.  

While Downey Jr. takes the top spot, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington and Brad Pitt round out the top five. (The highest ranking woman is Angelina Jolie, who comes in at No. 8 on Vulture’s list.) But it’s Will Smith who reigns supreme as the most likeable actor in Hollywood, according to Vulture’s audience polls, and he’s also the most consistent international moneymaker.

There are a few oddities in the rankings though. The relatively new Jennifer Lawrence is only 21 years old, but she managed to snag the No. 16 spot thanks to her brilliant mix of critically acclaimed films and box-office hits. “Winter’s Bone” earned her an Oscar nomination. “X-Men: First Class” and “The Hunger Games” put her in good graces with studio heads, affirmed her presence as a major box-office draw, and gave her two blockbuster series’ to bank on for years to come.

On the other side of the surprise spectrum is Ryan Reynolds. Even though he created a blockbuster romantic comedy alongside Sandra Bullock in 2009’s “The Proposal” and was People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2010, he still hangs out at No. 75, below even the 66-year-old Sylvester Stallone. The 35-year-old can thank his last two films -- the superhero box-office disaster “Green Lantern” and critical failure “The Change-Up” -- for this abysmal position. (Perhaps his A-list status was prematurely given.)

While Downey Jr. may not be the most respected actor in Hollywood (that’s Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep territory), the most likeable or even the most bankable, he’s still No. 1 when stats are crunched and polls are taken. The numbers don’t lie.

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Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan

Mario Anzuoni / Reuters file

Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan

Marvel’s "The Avengers" is a global box-office sensation, but among studio executives, it’s being hailed as much as a triumph of smart dealmaking. After all, the famously frugal Marvel managed to corral six hot stars into one film without breaking the bank. But Robert Downey Jr., 47, seems to be the lone exception to Marvel’s strict cost controls.

PHOTOS: "Avengers" premiere: Red carpet arrivals

According to multiple knowledgeable sources, Iron Man/Tony Stark is set for a highflying payday of about $50 million once box-office bonuses and backend compensation are factored in. (Two sources claim the number could go higher than $50 million once the ultimate box-office haul of "Avengers" is known, but another cautions that it could be years before the final number is known.) While on par with the upper echelon of franchise movie stars, that number blows away his superhero co-stars, all of whom will make a small fraction of Downey’s total, even as "Avengers" has a shot at topping the final "Harry Potter" film’s $1.32 billion global haul.

Why the difference? When Marvel’s "Iron Man" grossed a surprising $585 million worldwide in 2008, Downey’s reps at CAA and the Hansen Jacobson law firm renegotiated a deal to include what multiple sources say is a slice of Marvel’s revenue from future movies in which he plays Iron Man (one source puts it in the 5 percent to 7 percent range; another source disputes the percentage. Marvel and Downey’s reps declined comment).

As Marvel launched other hero pics that would lead up to "Avengers," the studio struck hard bargains. Two sources say Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo all signed on for small upfront fees and ultimately will make about $2 million to $3 million on "Avengers" with bonuses. Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, who signed deals to pop up in several Marvel movies, are said to be making about twice that for "Avengers" with bonuses.

"Avengers" has become a global Goliath, passing the $1 billion milestone in just 19 days. If it passes the $1.32 billion of 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "Avengers" would become the third-highest-grossing film of all time, behind only James Cameron's double-whammy of "Avatar" ($2.8 billion) and "Titanic" ($2.2 billion, including grosses from the recent re-release). The Marvel film is distributed by Disney, which purchased the independent studio in 2009 for $4.3 billion.  

While Downey’s pay might seem high, it's not unheard of for stars with backend to collect super-rich paydays when their films become global smashes. Johnny Depp is said to have made at least $250 million from the four "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, and Forbes reported that director Michael Bay took home $80 million from the first "Transformers." (He likely made more than that for the sequels.)

At those rates, Downey almost seems cheap.

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Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America make up two members of the super team in "The Avengers."

REVIEW: The All-Star Game of modern superhero extravaganzas, "The Avengers" is humongous -- the film Marvel and its legions of fans have been waiting for. It's hard to imagine that anyone with an appetite for the trademark's patented brand of fantasy, effects, mayhem and strangely dressed he-men will be disappointed; not only does this eye-popping 3-D display of visual effects fireworks feature an enormously high proportion of action scenes, but director Joss Whedon has adroitly balanced the celebrity circus to give every single one of the superstar characters his or her due. Worldwide box-office returns will be, in a word, Marvelous.

During the past several years, Marvel has, with accelerated speed, expanded its cinematic repertoire of over-muscled, generally double-identitied heroes not otherwise encumbered by exclusive contracts with other studios -- most notably The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America -- to arrive at the point where this summit meeting of superhuman good guys could be assembled. (A prominent relative, Spider-Man, has his own reboot coming up this summer.)

VIDEO: 'The Avengers' premiere red carpet interviews

After this, the characters will go their separate ways -- "Iron Man 3" starts shooting next month, with second chapters of "Thor" and "Captain America" set to roll within the year -- before gathering again before too many movie summers pass. With the bundle this one will make, the pressure will be on make it happen sooner rather than later.

As creatively variable and predictably formulaic as the Marvel films have been, this one will not only make the core geek audience feel like it's died and gone to Asgard but has so much going for it that many nonfans will be disarmed and charmed. This is effects-driven, mass-appeal summer fare par excellence, that sought-after rare bird that hits all the quadrants, as marketing mavens like to say. As enormous as the production is, though, the appeal of the ensemble cast makes a crucial difference; you get enough but not too much of each of them, and they all get multiple scenes to themselves to shine.

PHOTOS: 'Avengers' premiere: Red carpet arrivals

To boil down the particulars of this latest attempt to bring ruin to all we hold dear, sinister Thor villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston, looking like Richard E. Grant's effete younger brother) has gained possession of the tesseract, an all-powerful substance contained in an opaque cube that not only provides unlimited sustainable energy but a portal to outer space. "I am burdened with glorious purpose," Loki purrs while taunting eye-patched S.H.I.E.L.D. master Samuel L. Jackson (finally with something to do in a Marvel film) with the promised arrival of his army of outer-space warriors.

Down but not out, the good guys begin assembling on board one of the cooler modes of transport seen anywhere in a while, a giant (and beautifully rendered) aircraft carrier that can rise out of the water to become an invisible space ship -- hence, a helicarrier -- and serve as a first-rate staging area for operations against Loki. Among those arriving on board are Bruce Banner, otherwise known as The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, the third actor, after Eric Bana and Edward Norton, to give the green giant a big-screen go); Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), a sultry, scarlet-haired assassin first seen turning the tables on nasty interrogators despite being strapped to a chair; Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki's long-locked brother and bearer of the universe's mightiest hammer; and Mr. Old School himself, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Chris Evans), a World War II hero who's not quite up to speed on all the latest super-technology but carries an impenetrable shield. For his part, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, joins incipient girlfriend Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) for a brief tete-a-tete before deigning to lend his special expertise to the cause.

Although they really should be saving their energy for the battle against Loki and his minions, the Avengers team can't resist getting into it with each other from time to time. One could say that this is just gratuitous time-killing, but it could as persuasively be argued that watching The Hulk duke it out with Thor for bragging rights as to who's tougher is what such a film is all about; at least there's nothing perfunctory about it, as there is when superheroes routinely dispatch aliens and enemies who exist just to get blown away. The friction between Iron Man and Captain America, for example, is all about style and attitude; the former is far too irreverent and glib for the latter, for whom patriotism and coming to the rescue are not laughing matters.

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With only one feature directorial credit to his name, the middling 2005 sci-fier "Serenity," Whedon of Buffy fame would not have been the first name on most people's lists to tame a potentially unwieldy project. But from a logistical point of view alone, he imposes a grip on the material that feels like that of a benevolent general, marshaling myriad technical resources (including an excellent use of 3-D) while, even more impressively, juggling eight major characters, giving them all cool and important things to do.

Never, though, does the film stall to dwell on individual characters just to give them screen time; the heroes are almost always doing something that relates to the challenge at hand. Even when the impudent Loki is held prisoner in seemingly inescapable circumstances, there is still forward movement, which crests and then crashes with tsunami force near Grand Central Station in Manhattan; uncountable numbers of alien warriors arrive from the skies, accompanied by strikingly designed metal leviathans that undulate like skeletal monsters of the deep as they cruise over New York seeking targets.

In this titanic battle, which occupies most of the film's final half-hour, all the Marvel heroes' talents are put to the test. In addition to Iron Man making a quick trip to outer space to deal with an incoming missile, special agent Clint Barton, or Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), is so good with a high-tech bow and arrow that you imagine they'll have to dragoon Katniss Everdeen into the sequel as a guest star just to see who's better. For his part, Jackson's Nick Fury has his hands full restraining army generals from nuking the Big Apple in order to off the aliens.

PHOTOS: 'The Avengers': Comics vs. Film

It's clamorous, the save-the-world story is one everyone's seen time and again, and the characters have been around for more than half a century in 500 comic book issues. But Whedon and his cohorts have managed to stir all the personalities and ingredients together so that the resulting dish, however familiar, is irresistibly tasty again. A quick coda reveals, to well-versed fans at least, who the new adversary in the next installment will be, underlining a reality as absolute as the turning of Earth: Especially after this, Marvel movies will go on and on and on.

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Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey.

Robert Downey Jr. is a proud papa again.

A rep confirmed that the actor's wife Susan gave birth to son Exton Elias Downey on Tuesday morning. The baby boy weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces and is 20 inches long.

"Everyone is healthy and they couldn’t be happier," People magazine quotes a friend of the couple as saying. It's the first child for Susan Downey, 38.

The "Sherlock Holmes" star, 46, has a son, 18-year-old Indio, from his previous marriage.

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