When heroes clash, always bet on the guy with the big metal suit. Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” was mowed down by Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man 2” at the North American box-office over the weekend; with an estimated $37.1 million gross, Scott’s lugubrious epic came in a distant second to the Marvel super-sequel, which earned $53 million in its second weekend.

“Robin Hood” did decent business internationally — about $74 million — so it won’t be considered a total failure. But it really should be. When everyone agrees that the production design and period costumes are the best thing about a movie called “Robin Hood”, something is seriously askew in the world.

Think about that for a little while, as you ready yourself for the “House” season finale tonight. Apparently they shot the whole thing with a Canon still camera. Interesting.