It might be hard to imagine anyone else aside from Robert Downey Jr. as Marvel's Iron Man, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige believes that casting the Weird Science and Back to School could have backfired on Marvel, saying that the decision to turn the actor into Tony Stark could have very well ended up being "the biggest dumpster fire."
Speaking in an interview with a group of students at the New York Film Academy during a question and answer panel (via ComicBook.com), Feige decided to open up about casting Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Tapping the Chaplin star for the very first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed like quite a gamble at the time. Downey Jr. had been struggling with drug addiction back in the 90s, and Marvel couldn't be sure that having the actor take on the role of one of the most important heroes in the MCU would be a safe choice for the yet to be established franchise.
"Literally, the first decision I made and was allowed to make and allowed to try to pursue as president of Marvel Studios was casting Robert Downey Jr. and it felt fun to do that because we knew it'd either be great or the biggest dumpster fire ever. There's very little wiggle room. It ended up being great and I've always said 'No RDJ, no MCU,'" Feige explained.
It wasn't the safest choice, yes, but it was the smartest choice for Marvel. RDJ as Iron Man worked for Marvel. Iron Man helped bring forth the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the actor's played such an important role in the franchise. We can't imagine the MCU without him.
RDJ's last film in the franchise, Avengers: Endgame, is currently streaming on Disney+.
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