The role of IRON MAN fell to Robert Downey Jr. and Timothy Olyphant

Fifteen years ago, the movie Iron man hit theaters. With Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role, and a post-credits scene that opened the door for upcoming films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born. RDJ became the head of the Avengers, a charismatic leader who seemed like he could only be played by him, but you might be interested to know that came down to Downey and one other actor.

President of Marvel Studios during the Iron man pre-production was David Maisel, who had full faith in Downey as an actor, but struggled to get approval to cast him in the lead role. Maisel previously told The New Yorker that the studio wasn’t convinced Downey was able to stay clean, after spending years as a drug addict. But Maisel, future president of the MCU, Kevin Feigewho was president of production at the time, and director Jon Favreau they got their first pick with RDJ and beat out the competition, Timotheus Oliphantthat was running.

Olyphant, known for starring in Justified, Dead wood, Santa Clarita dietAND Daisy Jones and the sixhe is a great actor. He has a great range and is always fun. But he doesn’t have the charisma of Robert Downey Jr. I really believe Tony Stark when RDJ is in the role, and I don’t think anyone would have played him that well.

Via: /Movies