Favreau was looking to reunite with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr on Cowboys and Aliens before the role was switched to Daniel Craig, but it looks like Cowboys and Aliens won’t be completely devoid of Iron Man stars, as Sam Rockwell has joined on to play Doc.
Rockwell will be playing Doc, a saloon owner who gives up hawking rye whiskey in order to fight aliens. According to Heat Vision, the part of Doc was originally a small one, and was designed for a beefy, heavyset guy. But once Rockwell showed interest in the film and the role, Favreau and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci completely rewrote the part. Now Doc will be a major player in the battle.
I didn’t like Rockwell at all in Iron Man 2, but that was because I didn’t like his character. Rockwell does a fine job with everything he is handed, so I look forward to seeing what we get out of him for Doc.
Aliens and Cowboys is shaping up to be the silent runner that may just surprise people.
The character is not like that in the comic books but he was probably told to play it like that. It would speak badly of Favreau if the actors did whatever they wanted. Not that it doesn’t happen but Rockwell is not Jack Nicholson.
I thought he was fine in IM2. dude was a douche in that film and a wuss, Played just right
Sam Rockwell played a wuss in Iron Man 2, a jokey Justin Hammer . I thought he was going to play a really really dark villain bent on Tony Stark’s downfall. He played it comically instead.