Kevin Feige confirms that before Robert Downey Jr. got tapped for the lead in Iron Man, the actor almost played an iconic Fantastic Four villain. While the MCU has come a long way, it all began with the first Iron Man movie almost two decades ago, which kicked off the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the MCU could have gone in a very different direction had Downey Jr. not landed the iconic Marvel role.
In a recent special featurette from Marvel Studios, celebrating Iron Man's 15th anniversary, Feige and director Jon Favreau came together to chat about the MCU's first chapter. During their discussion, Favreau brought up the rumblings of Downey Jr. having supposedly auditioned to play Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four years before being cast as Iron Man. Feige ended up confirming that the MCU veteran had, in fact, tried out for the Fantastic Four film in the mid-2000s.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT I remember you had all met with [Downey] already for like Doctor Doom or something on another project. I think he had come through on maybe Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was.How The MCU Would Have Been Different If Robert Downey Jr. Played Doctor Doom Instead Of Iron Man While it would have been interesting to see what Downey Jr.
But when Downey Jr. brought Tony to life in the film that would help shape the MCU into what it is today, he was one of the movie's biggest draws and points of praise. Without Downey Jr. and what he added to Iron Man, the MCU could have been perceived very differently. After all, it was Downey Jr. who went on to have one of the biggest legacies in the MCU before Iron Man's death in Avengers: Endgame.
The bigger question that remains unanswered is whether or not Downey Jr. will reprise the role of Iron Man at any point in the MCU. With Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars being the center stones of The Multiverse Saga, it would be intriguing to see the actor play Iron Man's variants from other universes. Hopefully, fans will get to see Downey Jr. again as Iron Man in some capacity down the line.