Marvel’s Ironman: Robert Downey Jr. almost played different character

Robert Downey Jr. auditioned for some other character before trying for Ironman, something no fan had expected

Downey Jr.’s director and co-star pal Jon Favreau has now revealed in a 15th anniversary retrospective of the inaugural MCU title that Downey Jr. also auditioned for the role of Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four (2005).

“I remember you had all met with him already for like Doctor Doom or something on another project,” he recounted with Marvel boss Kevin Feige in the special.

“I think he had come through on maybe Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was.”

The role of the villain eventually went to Julian McMahon.

Favreau gushed about Downey Jr. as “the puzzle piece that made it all work” in Iron Man, and added, “I remember sitting down with the guy, and I was like, ‘He’s got that spark in him in his eye and he’s ready.’ That’s when we were in your office, and we were pointing to his headshot, saying, ‘We got to try to figure this out.'”

“Once it was him, that’s when my life got a lot easier,” added Favreau.

“Because he is the voice of the character. And then one by one, people were just signing on board because now it became something interesting.”

“That tone that you and Robert discovered on that movie, I would say became the template in a way for much of what the MCU became,” Fiege recalled.

“I remember on later movies, we’ll talk about them on the 15th anniversary of those, there were dark days,” added Feige. 

“And I would say to Robert, ‘We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.’ Meaning, we wouldn’t have a studio if it wasn’t for him.”