Robert Downey Jr.’s Stubborness Saved His Career While Marvel Was Hesitating to Put the Future of the Franchise in “the hands of an addict”
Robert Downey Jr. who recently appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, is very popularly known as Tony Stark a.k.a., Iron Man from Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is without a doubt not only one of the most versatile but also one of the most admired actors in the industry who is often praised for his top-tier work ethic.
Downey Jr.’s challenges with substance abuse and legal trouble in the past are not news for today but the fact that he managed to overcome all of those challenges to be where he is today is commendable. Did you know Marvel Studios were not keen to cast the actor in not only his life-changing role but the franchise’s too? Let’s find out.
Robert Downey Jr.’s challenges with substance abuse made Marvel reluctant to cast him as Iron Man
Actor Robert Downey Jr. who is often regarded as one of the most versatile actors in the industry with appreciation from his fellow co-stars for his top-tier work ethic appeared in movies including Natural Born Killers and Restoration in 1994 & 1995 respectively but at the same time, his top-notch performances were over-shadowed by his substance abuse and legal troubles.
In a Vanity Fair cover story via ET, Marvel Studios’ boss Kevin Feige shared that the studio executives were not really on board with hiring Downey Jr. because of his troubled past and did not wish to let him helm the franchise with years of movies ahead. He said,
“It purely came down to the Marvel board being nervous at putting all of their chips in their future films on somebody who famously had those legal troubles in the past. I wasn’t very good – and I am still not great at taking no for an answer. But I also don’t pound my chest to try to get my way.”
Feige continued,
“I try to figure out ways to make it clear to other people why we should head in a direction. And that’s when the idea of screen test came up. My board thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of an addict. I helped them understand how great he was for the role. We all had confidence that he was clean and would stay clean.”
It is no secret that director-actor and friend Jon Favreau had advocated for Downey at the studios that had finally convinced them to let the actor appear for the screen test and so he did and the rest is what we say is history. The actor not only appeared as Iron Man in 2008 but his movie also initiated the beginning of the MCU.
Also read: Chris Pratt’s Unique Box Office Record Would Even Put MCU’s Godfather Robert Downey Jr to Shame
Robert Downey Jr. WILL NOT reprise his role as Iron Man
During his conversation with the publication via People, Kevin Feige addressed the rumors of the actor reprising his role as Iron Man and said,
“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
The actor’s character had a heartbreaking and tearful exit from the franchise in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and director Joe Russo noted,
“Everybody had moved on emotionally after saying tearful goodbyes on the last of shooting. We promised Downey Jr., it would be the last time we made him do it ever.”
It was recently revealed that the actor had to reshoot the last scene of the movie where he says the line, “And I’m Iron Man”, making it iconic as it was the last line he said in his first movie as well. Anthony Russo noted that it was very difficult for the actor to return to pick up his final line as Stark as it was shot a couple hundred feet from his original audition that got him his life-changing role.
