Nobody could have ever played the role of Iron Man better than Robert Downey Jr. He knows the pulse of the character and fans love him for the same. To an extent where his name has become synonymous to the character. However, supposedly, it wasn't easy for the makers to convince Marvel Studios to get RDJ on board for this role. Casting him as Iron Man was considered to be a big risk as they thought that it may turn out to be the biggest dumpster fire ever.
In a panel discussion at the New York Film Academy, Kevin Feige mentioned about the casting of Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and why it was considered as a risk. He was quoted saying, “I remember speaking to the marketing team at Paramount, because Paramount released [Iron Man], saying that if we did our job, Tony Stark will be as famous as Iron Man; Tony Stark will be as well known and as much of a household name as Iron Man because that’s how interesting the character has to be.”
He further added, "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.’"
As reported by Cineblend, director Jon Favreau also added to this and stated that the burden was on his shoulder to prove that Robert Downey Jr is the best choice for Iron Man. He was quoted saying, "It was my job as a director to show that it was the best choice creatively… and now the Marvel Universe is the biggest franchise in film history. Everybody knew he was talented. Certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realized that the character seemed to line up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. And the story of Iron Man was really the story of Robert’s career."
Well, we are just happy that everything fell in place and Robert Downey Jr slipped into the suit of Iron Man with such ease. (Also Read: Did Avengers: Endgame Star Robert Downey Jr AKA Iron Man Get THIS Co-Star Thrown Out Of MCU?)
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