Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man Might Have Never Existed Without One Marvel Movie Starring a Batman Actor
Robert Downey Jr.’s 2008 Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau was the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The project, which was under development at Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema during the 1990s only made it to the big screen after Marvel Studios acquired the rights in 2005.
Iron Man is one of the favorite Marvel characters and the movie received applauds from the critics and the audience after it premiered in May and grossed over $585 million at the box office. The actor was highly appreciated for his acting and in 2022 the movie was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and was described as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. But did you know that the Iron Man movie has a Batman movie connection?
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man’s connection with Batman actor Ben Affleck
In the recently published book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, it has been reported that fan favorite movie 2008’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. would not have been possible without Batman actor Ben Affleck’s Daredevil which came out in 2003.
Ben Affleck’s Daredevil received mixed reviews from the critics and the audience and the ultimate rejection of the fans towards the movie led the executive producer David Maisel to rethink about building a superhero movie world. David Maisel is known to be an ardent Marvel Comics fan and had figured out that Marvel Comics was not getting a big enough box office share of the superhero movies.
The executive producer had reportedly according to the book via Slash Films figured out that having the entire cinematic stable of Marvel Comic book characters under one roof i.e., Marvel Entertainment would be beneficial for the studios.
Maisel had advised Avi Arad to cancel their license to New Line Cinema for the character Iron Man. He said,
“Your character is in limbo and somebody else controls it. When you make a movie deal for a license, you’re freezing animation, you’e freezing a lot of other things. You’re handing over your babies to somebody, and nothing happens.”
The executive producer, David Maisel was eventually hired by Marvel Studios for the position of CEO and later Vice-Chairman, and after financials were reworked, they started to develop Iron Man and eventually, it was released in 2008.
Also read: Iron Man Named His AI Jarvis in Honor of His True Father Figure Who Did What Howard Stark Couldn’t
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is the only character to have two solo movies before The Avengers
There is no doubt that Iron Man is one of the most loved characters and the iconic one in the MCU but did you know that he is the only superhero who had two solo movies before The Avengers was released in 2012? The other members including Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye either got one solo movie or were introduced in their co-actors movie.
In the book The Art of Marvel’s The Avengers; Downey explained why his character received two movies via ScreenRant,
“If you look at the evolution of Tony Stark in the two Iron Man films, he is growing toward being able to do something like The Avengers. The first film is his origin, and he has an epiphany and redemption of sorts. The second film is about making space for others in his insular world and dealing with certain legacy issues.”
It’s very ironic that The Infinity Saga not only starts with Tony Stark but also ends with him delivering his iconic, ‘I’m Iron Man’, line.
Also read: 4 MCU Actors Who Almost Played a Different Marvel Superhero
