Iron Man, this season’s hottest superhero flick, opens in theaters around the US this weekend, but can the movie live up to the hype?

To get the goods on this lesser known comic hero, I called upon SFUniverse’s sultan of superheroes, the swami of summer movies, Mr. Brian Allen, and here’s what he had to say:

“A caricature of Howard Hughes, Tony Stark is a hero in the classic Marvel tradition: supremely flawed. His Iron Man armor is not only the source of his super powers but a life support system that keeps his damaged heart working. Stark also battles alcoholism, the kind of issue not dealt with in most comics during his origin period in the 1960s. It’s alluded to in this movie but reportedly won’t become a big problem until later in the series.

That made Robert Downey Jr., who’s had a round or two with substance abuse himself, the perfect actor to play Tony Stark. He leads an A-list cast including Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark’s love interest Pepper Potts, Jeff Bridges as rival businessman Obadiah Stane, and Terrence Howard as Stark’s ally, James Rhodes.

Jon Favreau, a Daredevil cast member and self-proclaimed comic book geek, is rumored to have done an excellent job with the material. Favreau gets the essence of the character. So his movie likely won’t have strange additions like Ang Lee’s Incredible Hulk being extremely fast and growing in accordance with his rage.

Critics that have seen the film already have heaped a great deal of praise on it, some comparing the aerial fight scenes to the acrobatics in the Spider-Man trilogy. Spidey had some of the best and most authentic comic book style fight scenes ever, so that’s no faint praise. All indications are this one will be a blockbuster for Marvel Comics.”

When it comes to fan fiction, there’s nothing more intriguing than a flawed hero, and it sounds like Iron Man has that down pat. Expect to see stories with plenty of angst, likely darker than the movie itself and a few romantic tales between Stark and Pepper. Between the comics and the live action movie, fan artists have plenty to work with and drawings of Iron Man in action reign supreme. Paramount has even included a fan artwork gallery on the film’s official website if you need some inspiration to get you started.

Have a fannish effort to share? The Iron Man section of FanLib is open and waiting for you.