When Robert Downey Jr Was Outrightly Rejected By Marvel For Iron Man(Photo Credit: Still From Iron Man)
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Iron Man is one of the most successful ventures of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise enjoys a massive fan following and today, we bring you an interesting throwback to the time when Marvel was totally against casting Robert Downey Jr. for the role. Yes, you heard that right. Can you believe anyone else playing this iconic role besides Robert? Nah. Scroll below to read the scoop.
The first instalment of the franchise was directed by actor and director Jon Favreau. Casting Robert wasn’t easy for Jon, not because he was any less talented but given RDJ’s history with drugs and alcohol, it was difficult for the director to convince the production house.
Back in the day, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Jon revealed how Marvel straight away refused to cast Robert Downey Jr. in their movies and got a response saying, “under no circumstances are we prepared to hire him for any price.”
Jon Favreau continued and said, “I fought, I tried, I did what I could, it’s a pity and a shame, but unfortunately it’s going to stop here.” Revealing Downey’s reaction, “With your permission, I’m going to hold out hope.”
Later in 2007, Jon told USA Today, “We didn’t want to just go with a safe choice. The best and worst moments of Robert’s life have been in the public eye.”
The director continued and added, “He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That’s Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic-book character who is having trouble in high school, or can’t get the girl. Plus, he’s simply one of the best actors around.”
In yet another interview with 100.3 Jack FM in 2014, Jon Favreau said, “Everybody knew he was talented… Certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realised 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.”
For the unversed, Iron Man did a business of 585 million dollars worldwide. Well, we guess casting Robert Downey Jr was the best decision that Marvel made.
