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Robert Downey Jr. rocketed to superstardom as Tony Stark in Iron Man, turning a genius billionaire with a snazzy suit into the ultimate face of the MCU. His portrayal earned him a household name in the Hollywood industry, as it should be since he gave life to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Downey starred in 2008’s Iron Man, which also marked the first film of MCU, and became a box office success. His performance established the million-dollar franchise, making Iron Man a beloved figure in popular culture. While Downey earned massive success from his role, he wasn’t the first choice to play the character.
Although Downey’s Iron Man retired from Marvel in Avengers: Endgame, he wasn’t the first actor who the President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, wanted to cast for the superhero role. In a throwback graduation ceremony at the University of South California, Feige opened up about some of his decisions of casting Downey as Iron Man. He admitted that he and his team were looking for someone with “the perfect mix of heart and strength and charisma” to play Iron Man. Feige added, “When we were casting the role of Iron Man, we looked at so many different actors. We had to find the perfect mix of heart strength and charisma. Being our first Marvel film out of the gate, the stakes could not have been higher. The success of the film and the future of our entire studio rested on the shoulders of this one person.”
He continued explaining that he felt Clive Owen might be the perfect choice for Tony Stark. However, the latter was not interested in playing the role. Feige revealed, “And it was not an easy task, but together with my team and our casting directors and our director, Jon Favreau, we culled down our list, we pinpointed the right guy, and we extended an offer to our top choice – an actor who checked all of those boxes and who we were confident would be a huge hit. And his name, of course, was Clive Owen. He passed. He was not interested.”
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Furthermore, Feige admitted that casting Downey was the best decision and their first movie was a smashing hit, making it one of the highest-grossing movies in 2008. The president quipped that not always getting what you initially desired can yield even better results. He admitted that sometimes missing out on your first choice can be fortuitous if it leads you to a better, more suitable option. He said, “In our case, of course, that choice was Robert Downey Jr. and the first movie we ever made as a studio ended up being one of the best-reviewed and highest-grossing movies of the year.”
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