Marvel Met With Robert Downey Jr. About Playing Doctor Doom Before He Landed IRON MAN Role
Robert Downey Jr. kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008 with his portrayal of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, a role he was seemingly born to play, and one that lasted over a decade, through to the end of The Infinity Saga. But while fans can now say that this is his most recognizable and profitable role that took up the most time in his life and career, it was almost not the case.
In the recently released book, The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau revealed that when casting Downey to take on the role, "Marvel had already met with [Downey Jr.] before, I think, to play Doctor Doom." It’s not to say that he couldn’t have been reinvented as Iron Man, taking into consideration that Chris Evans played Johnny Storm in that same Fantastic Four, then went on to play Captain America in the MCU. But it would have been kind of weird to take two of those cast members and recast them, especially if Downey had taken on the role of the villain in the previous movie.
MCU President Kevin Feige spoke about casting RDJ during an appearance at the New York Film Academy in 2019, saying:
"Literally, the first decision I made and was allowed to make and allowed to try to pursue as president of Marvel Studios was casting Robert Downey Jr. and it felt fun to do that because we knew it'd either be great or the biggest dumpster fire ever. There's very little wiggle room. It ended up being great and I've always said 'No RDJ, no MCU.'"
It all certainly fell into place and became a fantastic 11 years of story telling. Here’s to 11 more, and beyond!
via: ComicBook