Watching Michael Phelps and his wide-eyed stare prior to Saturday’s 400 individual medley, I couldn’t help but dig into my memory of movie quotes.

“If you could make God bleed, people will cease to believe in him.” It’s a rather chilling line from the movie “Iron Man 2,” courtesy of the flick’s resident bad dude Mickey Rourke.

Phelps — swimming’s own iron man — who had barely qualified for the event, entered the pool and was left behind by teammate and 2012 Olympic Games superstar Ryan Lochte’s blistering performance. Phelps finished fourth, and then proceeded to give the most exasperating interview of his brilliant career to NBC Sports reporter Andrea Kremer afterward, fumbling over words, stumbling around sentences. It was an interview he had never given before, the first one that didn’t end with him strutting to the medal stand for more of that Olympic glory.

The loss is a hard way for Phelps to open the games. Some of his teammates publicly questioned his work ethic prior to London. There’s also the fact Lochte has taken over the world perch in many of the events Phelps used to dominate.

So the question — is Phelps finished? Did his Olympic competitors find a way to make God bleed?

There’s two weeks of more swimming to answer that question. During Sunday’s 400 freestyle relay, Phelps looked back to old form, until Lochte ran out of gas and was caught by the French, who turned the tables on the United States with a come-from-behind victory on the last relay.

Given Phelps’ competitive nature, and his gumption to use outside motivation from the press whenever necessary, I would wait until the gym bags are packed in London before declaring the king dead. He’s still the big shark in the water — just don’t let him know there is blood in it.