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I really believe this is the best geek news we’ll have all month. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. officially on board Cowboys & Aliens](Cowboys & Aliens (2011) - Movie | Moviefone), The Hollywood Reporter ](Heat Vision)announced that he’s bringing Jon Favreaualong for the ride. Considering the graphic novel was penned by Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, it’s literally a dream team come true.
As if it wasn’t touched by the movie gods enough, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci,they-who-can-write-no-failures, are penning the script, and producer Damon Lindelof came aboard last fall. There’s no way this can fail. Even if the movie was one big trick, and simply 2 hours of Robert Downey Jr. in a cowboy hat reading a phone book, it would succeed. We would just call it arthouse, and praise them all for subverting our expectations!
But there’s no danger of arthouse here,* Cowboys & Aliens* really does promise to be pure fun with this team. The story takes place in 1880s Arizona, where a war is raging between settlers and Native Americans. Their war is interrupted by the arrival of a UFO, which promptly unleashes hell onto the plains of Silver City. The Native Americans and settlers must unite to fight a larger threat, and are led to battle by Zeke Jackson (Downey), a gunslinger and former member of the Union Army. You can read the entire graphic novel online, which should keep you satisfied until Cowboys & Aliens hits theaters in the summer of 2011.