Bloated as they may be, Iron Man revenues are apparently still outpaced by the swelling ego of the film's star, the hard-bitten Robert Downey Jr. Or maybe the late-blooming blockbuster hero has just lost his tolerance for press junkets. Either way, reporters are all abuzz over his recent red carpet meltdown. Downey, 43, seemed generally fed up with questions and went on a tirade to one reporter who dared ask him his thoughts on the Iraq war (There are several references to the fighting in the comic book flick, and Downey's Tony Stark character is a defense contractor).

"Downey went crazy. He jumped up and started screaming 'Fuck you!' over and over at the poor journalist" at the film's New York screening, an eyewitness tells Radar. "He started telling him that he'd only taken this movie 'for the big paycheck' and that he should 'shut the fuck up and let me have my blockbuster.'"

Downey's publicist didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

It should be noted that Downey, an Oscar nominee for Chaplin is not completely unaware of his own new clout as an action hero—he's certainly cashed the paychecks that come with it, too. "My ego is saying this is a victory tour," he said to the New York Times' David Carr of his Iron Man publicity rounds. "I'm all for chanting your own name, I'm all for that kind of pride, go with that a little bit, but that's just a firing pin to give you that energy to get through all the stuff."

The energy was running low last week, apparently. Downey declined to answer what he considered mundane questions about the film at the New York premiere, asking a reporter "Do you have any actual questions?" Quipping that "my time is valuable," he then turned heel and walked off. "It was the talk of the screening," said a reveler. "All the reporters were overheard remarking what a dick Robert was." Or maybe he's just facing an action film press junket sober, a superhero feat if there ever was one.