“No one realised it at the time, but 2008’s Iron Man was a historic moment in the history of cinema. Had it flopped, that would have probably been the last anyone had heard of Iron Man, while a movie starring The Avengers would have likely remained no more than a dream for fans.
Things worked out a little differently though, and Iron Man earned nearly $600 million worldwide. The Incredible Hulk wasn’t quite as successful, but Marvel realised they had a winner on their hands with Iron Man, and the sequel – which wasn’t quite so well-received – was also a hit. As a result, the stage was set for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to assemble.
Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man turned the Stan Lee creation from a C-List hero into a household name, and Tony Stark has since become the face of the Marvel Universe both in regards to the movies and comics. However, the production didn’t go quite as smoothly as you might expect, and things could have gone very differently for the Armoured Avenger had Marvel not had a lot of luck on their side.
Here, you will find ten things you never knew about Iron Man. From who was really responsible for that after-credits scene to original casting choices, the chaos which comes from working without a script, a cameo you definitely missed, and some surprising plans for a crossover with Spider-Man 2, these will no doubt change how you look at the movie…
1.
When Marvel released Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in 2008, their plan was to build up to The Avengers. That movie was originally set to be released in 2011 and would have been written by Zak Penn. While details about his take on the team have never been revealed, it’s thought that it would have focused on the team taking down The Hulk, and Iron Man’s Jon Favreau was heavily rumoured to be the one who would direct the superhero ensemble.
Despite all of that, Iron Man’s after-credits scene featuring Nick Fury telling Tony Stark about the “Avengers Initiative” was originally conceived as just a fun moment for comic book fans.
Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau enlisted the help of Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis to write this scene, and he put together three pages of dialogue for the surprise exchange between Stark and the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The best bits were then chosen, and the scene was shot in secret with only a skeleton crew. Even so, it still ended up leaking.
While its existence may have now been common knowledge, Marvel did their best to surprise fans by not unveiling the history making credits scene until Iron Man’s premiere.
2.
Iron Man was in various stages of production for a very long time before Marvel managed to finally to get the movie into production, so a number of different versions of the script have been in existence over the years (there’s even one where Tony Stark would have had a talking toaster and been unable to fly). The strangest involved Tony’s father Howard.
In an early draft, Howard was going to be revealed as still being alive. He then would have served as the movie’s main villain… War Machine?! That obviously would have been a major change to the source material, but Iron Man still implemented at least part of this idea.
That was evident from the father/son dynamic between Tony and Obidiah Stane, though his Iron Monger moniker was obviously taken from the comics and War Machine was only hinted at. Marvel did however switch the hero/villain dynamic of an armoured character in Iron Man 3 when the villainous Iron Patriot became a hero when piloted by Rhodey.
3.
Paul Bettany’s J.A.R.V.I.S. has become a fan-favourite part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s despite the fact that Paul Bettany has previously admitted to not even realising that he was in a superhero movie when Jon Favreau asked him to record lines for the A.I.
However, before Marvel decided to make Tony Stark and The Avengers’ loyal butler a computer programme, they did consider keeping him human. However, the writers were too scared to move in that direction because they feared that they would unable to avoid comparisons to the relationship between Batman and his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth.
Despite this, a younger version of Edwin Jarvis has been introduced in Agent Carter. As many fans suspected, Tony would have had a relationship with the butler during his younger years, explaining why he chose to name his loyal A.I. – now The Vision – J.A.R.V.I.S.
Oh, and in case you think there’s a terribly clever explanation for the J.A.R.V.I.S. acronym, it in actual fact just stands for “Just A Rather Very Intelligent System”. That makes sense!
4.
Before Marvel made the unconventional decision to cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, there were a number of actors (all of whom were doing much better than him at the time) who they considered choosing. Nicolas Cage and Timothy Olyphant both auditioned, but the fact that Paramount Pictures were distributing the movie meant that Tom Cruise was seriously considered for the lead role and actually came close to landing it.
Things could have also been drastically different behind the scenes too. Before Jon Favreau was handed the reigns for Iron Man (a decision which baffled many due to the fact that his last movie was Elf), a number of other filmmakers were considered. Those included rather unexciting candidates like Len Wiseman and Nick Cassavetes, but also some far more exciting names like eventual Avengers helmer Joss Whedon and Quentin Tarantino.
The latter would have no doubt brought something very unique to the table, but the selection of Favreau marked a different approach for Marvel to their films. Rather than choosing recognisable names or those with blockbuster experience, they would instead continue to make unexpected choices by looking at those who were ultimately the best choice for the character at hand. This is a strategy which has continued to pay off for them.
5.
Lethal Weapon’s Shane Black is responsible for some of most memorable action movies of the 80s and 90s, and he found great success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he directed Iron Man 3 (the only solo Marvel movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide).
However, long before he helmed that or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Black had a role in creating the world of Iron Man. Kevin Feige has revealed that Downey Jr. would often visit Black to run some of the scenes in Iron Man past him, and much of what Tony Stark talked about at the press conference when he returns from Afghanistan was inspired by those conversations.
That’s far from where the filmmaker’s involvement ended. He took an active role in the construction of the first film and even offered up some early ideas for the sequel which helped to make Tony more relatable and human. When Favreau decided not to return for the third instalment of the Iron Man franchise, Feige didn’t hesitate to turn to Shane Black.
Surprisingly though, he wasn’t initially at the top if their short list. After meeting with him however, Marvel apparently realised that he was the only man who was perfect for the job.
6.
Iron Man 3 might just be the most controversial Marvel Studios movie to date. That’s down to how The Mandarin was handled, and the majority of fans weren’t remotely happy about him being revealed as a drug addled English actor called “Trevor”. A One-Shot short later revealed that there is a real Mandarin out there, but it remains to be see when he’ll appear.
However, had things played out a little differently, The Mandarin would have appeared in Iron Man. The iconic villain was actually in the script (and every draft which preceded it) until three months before the movie started shooting, but based on comments from both Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau, they could never get him quite right as they struggled to come up with a believable version of the dated and slightly racist character in the present day.
However, had he appeared in Iron Man, Favreau has said it would have been in a similar way to The Emperor in the Star Wars movies. They would have teased him in Iron Man, and then had The Mandarin unleash his powers somewhere a little further down the line.
7.
The relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts and chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are widely considered highlights of the Iron Man movies.
However, Paltrow wasn’t Jon Favreau’s first choice to take on the role of Iron Man’s secretary/girlfriend/future Stark Industries CEO. He originally wanted Rachel McAdams to take on the role, and Marvel only turned to Paltrow when The Notebook star decided to turn them down. Her career hasn’t suffered (and Paltrow’s arguably hasn’t benefited greatly), but she would have no doubt been better suited to the Rescue side of the character at least.
It’s interesting to wonder how things would have differed if McAdams had taken the role, especially as Paltrow reportedly had problems keeping up with Downey Jr.’s riffing during shooting. Paltrow’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t clear as of right now. She didn’t appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron and there’s no sign of an Iron Man 4, but rumour has it that Pepper may end up reappearing in Captain America: Civil War next year.
8.
Eleven movies later, and Iron Man still frequently comes out at #1 when people rank the Marvel Studios releases from best to worst. However, based on how it was made, it really is a surprise that it ended up being watchable at all, never mind a truly great superhero movie.
The script that the actors were working off during filming only really focused on the story and action set pieces, so much of the movie’s dialogue was either written during shooting or ad libbed. That’s an unconventional approach to making a movie as big as Iron Man, but it obviously worked out well, and it’s a method Marvel has since used for almost all of their releases (in terms of changing things as they go, not shooting without actual dialogue).
Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau reportedly thrived with this approach, but it left Jeff Bridges more than a little stressed. He’s since described the process as making “a $200 million student film”, but admitted he enjoyed the challenge and that it turned out great.
9.
As Iron Man was the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it didn’t feature a huge amount of Easter Eggs or cameos. Jon Favreau did however sneak a friend of his in there.
In the movie, Tony Stark is obviously kidnapped and forced to live in a cave as he builds weapons – and his Iron Man Mark I armour – for the villainous Ten Rings terrorist group.
So focused is the audience on Tony that it’s easy to miss who exactly it was that Iron Man punches in the face and sends flying across the cave. That was none other than Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and he holds the honour of being the first person to be taken down by the newly created Iron Man. He’s credited simply as “Guard”.
Morello arguably earned his cameo too, as he actually contributed guitar parts to the scores of both Iron Man and Iron Man 2, helping to give them both their rather distinctive sounds.
10.
Long before anyone really knew what a “Cinematic Universe” was, some studios still considered attempting to have their heroes meet up with others. A Batman v Superman movie was on the cards for years, while Fox and Sony even plotted to have Wolverine meet Spider-Man at one point. It never worked out though, and Marvel didn’t have a lot of luck when they considered introducing a surprising connection between Iron Man and Spidey.
It wasn’t going to be a major cameo as such, but an early draft of the script featured a mention of the fact that Tony played a role in the creation of Doctor Octopus’ robotic arms.
This happened during such an early stage of production that further details about what this would have involved have never been revealed. It was more than likely scrapped though not only because it might have been a little confusing as regular moviegoers and fans alike scrambled to figure out how the two worlds were connected, but also due to rights issues.
Regardless, with Spider-Man now set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Peter Parker and Iron Man will be meeting on the big screen properly for the first time next year…”
Source: WhatCulture.com
