Marvel considered Robert Downey Jr. for Doctor Doom, but he saved the MCU instead

In the great tradition of Marvel’s What if?consider this: instead of being the 2008 headliner Iron ManMarvel Studios’ first self-financed ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ film, Robert Downey Jr. his place in comics history by taking on the role of Doctor Doom in 2005’s Fantastic four. According to Jon Favreau, it could have happened.

In a new retrospective celebrating the 15th anniversary of Iron Man, Favreau – who not only directed the movie but also played Happy Hogan alongside Downey Jr. and in the MCU – sat down with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to look back at the movie that kick-started the unstoppable entertainment machine. Favreau’s penchant for mixing comedy and drama, and the “leeway” he gave Downey Jr. when he ad-libbing the screenplay was not just a way to be “very consistent with Stan Lee’s tone,” as the director puts it, but the way Marvel broke out of the early 2000s Marvel movies and the grim tone of The dark knightwhich would arrive later that year. Iron Man was not just a movie, it was a primordial soup.

“That tone you and Robert discovered in that movie became the template for what the MCU became,” admits Feige, with a look on his face that suggests it could have all gone very wrong. Casting Downey Jr. created his empire. “On later films […] there were dark days,” the producer continued, “and I would say to Robert, ‘We wouldn’t be in this mess without you.’ That means we wouldn’t have a studio if he hadn’t been there.”

And as Favreau reminds Feige, it was possible that Downey Jr. was ineligible for the role as Marvel, then captained by Feige’s mentor Avi Arad, hooked him up to another vehicle. The only reason why Downey Jr. came in for a general reading for the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man is because Marvel had already tested him for the role of Victor von Doom in Tim Story’s 2005 Fantastic foura role that eventually went to Pinch/foldby Julian McMahon. The piece of trivia kind of blows Feige back in his seat – Fantastic four maybe not a movie he likes to remember. But it’s the butterfly effect moment that shaped the whole MCU.

Favreau hammers home a simple fact throughout the 15-minute chat: once he put his Tony Stark in Robert Downey Jr. everything else fell into place. Every decision was easier. Every actor glowed through. Every set piece, dramatic beat and joke was spot on. It was a perfect casting. Feige does not shy away from driving his victory lap.

“That’s probably one of the biggest decisions in Hollywood history,” says Feige.