“
Tom Cruise: It’s been widely reported that way back in the early ’00s, Tom Cruise’s name was firmly attached to play everybody’s favorite tin-man, and even produce the feature. But he apparently lost interest in the project due to the script not being up to his standards: I don’t know. It just … they came to me at a certain point and … when I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work.
Cruise ended up starring in Lions For Lambs.
Nicolas Cage: From nearly playing Superman to almost playing Iron Man, Nic Cage is one guy who never ceases to surprise. He was interested in playing Stark as far back as ’97, but, fortunately some may say, it didn’t come to fruition and Cage moved on to play another Marvel character in Ghost Rider.
Tim Olyphant: Olyphant’s name was also attached during the early stages of the project, and he apparently read for the role. To no avail. The star went on to perform in Hitman, and can be seen in the hit series Justified.
Leonardo DiCaprio:I think it’s safe to say that nearly every actor was considered for Marvel’s first self-funded movie, so Leonardo DiCaprio should come as no great surprise. While I’m not sure why this didn’t come to pass, DiCaprio went on to make Body of Lies in 2008.
Clive Owen: One of Britain’s finest performers, Owen was considered for the role by Iron Man’s director Jon Favreau, but Owen went on to appear in the insanely excellent Shoot-Em-Up instead. How’s that for recompense?
This one comes as a mad surprise, as ol’ Wolverine himself was rumored to be the next sure thing for Iron Man. But, of course, that didn’t happen and he went on to star in three movies the following year, including Australia and Deception.
Sam Rockwell: Apart from Tom Cruise, no one really got any closer to slipping on Stark’s shoes than Rockwell. He was invited to read for the role, showed his qualities, but then it slipped from his grasp and into the pocket of the legend himself, Robert Downey Jr. But, at the end, it wasn’t all heartache and near-misses, Favreau was so impressed with Rockwell, he eventually went on to cast him in Iron Man 2, as Stark’s nemesis Justin Hammer.
What an insane list of casting “could have beens.” Imagine Nic Cage as Iron Man! I would’ve loved to have seen that. Though I surely doubt DiCaprio would’ve ever really come aboard. He’s more of an anti-franchise, indie sensibility kinda guy.
But if it wasn’t for the insistence of Jon Favreau, Iron Man 1&2’s director, RDJ wouldn’t have had his stunning and well deserved renaissance. Think about that for a minute…”
B\I can’t say any of them would have been my choice for Tony Stark or Iron Man, but be sure to head over to MoviePilot to vote for your own choice if the role hadn’t gone to RDJ!
Source: MoviePilot.com
