The Actor Who Almost Played a Different Marvel Character: Robert Downey Jr. and His Fate as Iron Man

Marvel has been one of the biggest pop culture phenomena of this century. He not only managed to position himself as a pillar of the consumer society, but also to reach hearts with the development of many of his characters.

But what not so many know is that one of the most important superheroes in the franchise could have been played by someone else. This, because the actor who ended up impersonating him was initially called to take another role.

The actor who could be another character in Marvel

The individual himself is none other than Robert Downey Jr., at least as revealed by director Jon Favreau, mentioning that the 58-year-old actor was initially considered for a different role in the film.

«I remember that you had already met with [Downey] for the role of Doctor Doom or something like that in another project,” Favreau told Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, in a talk Between both. «I think she had already worked in Fantastic fourSo everyone knew who he was.”

However, Downey Jr. eventually got a taste of Tony Stark and it was like it was destined. In fact, it is such a key fact that it could even have determined the early success or failure of the saga.

“Once it was him, my life was so much easier because he understood the character’s voice,” he said. “And then, one by one, people signed up because now it became something interesting.”

Thus, Feige himself recognized Downey as one of the key reasons why Marvel Studios was able to emerge victorious from periods in which the odds were against him.

“I remember that in later films, there were dark days. She told Robert: We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.. I mean, we wouldn’t have a studio if it wasn’t for him.”

Downey first starred as Iron Man in the 2008 titular film, and went on to reprise the role in nine other MCU movies. Including two direct sequels to Iron Man (released in 2010 and 2013, respectively). The American would close the Stark arc in 2018, with his last appearance in Avengers: Endgame.