Marvel fans have had to wait longer than expected for the MCU to return, so what better time to look back to where it all began?
Back in 2008, Iron Man kickstarted the biggest movie franchise of all time and the character would remain an ever-present across Marvel’s first three Phases, until his heartbreaking demise in Avengers: Endgame.
But here are 11 things you might not know about the Iron Man franchise.
Iron Man had “no script” to begin filming
It had taken Marvel decades to get their film output right (the less said about ’90s efforts The Punisher, Fantastic Four and Captain America, the better) but finally, they were ready to bring Iron Man to the screen.
However, such was the state of the script when production began that the cast ad libbed much of the film’s eventual plot, with Jeff Bridges telling In Contention:
“They had no script, man. They had an outline. We would show up for big scenes every day and we wouldn’t know what we were going to say. We would have to go into our trailer and work on this scene and call up writers on the phone, ‘You got any ideas?’…”
It meant Robert Downey Jr improvised *that* moment
Despite the ad-libbed approach, such was the talent of Downey that he even improvised the movie’s “I am Iron Man” reveal, catching the filmmakers and producer Kevin Feige off-guard.
That reveal also opened Marvel’s eyes to how the fans would react to major reveals in the movies, and just how big a part spoiler culture would play into their early plans for the cinematic universe.
So even back then, there were plans to protect the reveals of movies in the MCU.
The extras who were on the set for the filming of the press conference were told they were filming a dream sequence and that it wasn’t the real ending of the movie. Crafty.
There’s also a strange Easter egg during that scene
Before he goes on stage, Tony Stark looks at a newspaper with a grainy “paparazzi” photo of Iron Man that was reportedly taken during his showdown with Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger.
What you might not know that the photo is actually a real paparazzi shot that someone took during the filming of the sequence – and such was the quality of it as a “leaked” photo, the filmmakers decided to use it for that very purpose.
Goodness, there was a lot going on during that press conference, wasn’t there?
Paul Bettany called his portrayal of JARVIS “robbery”
Let’s be honest, all of us have (sorry, had) fallen in love with Paul Bettany and Vision, beginning in Avengers: Age of Ultron through Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.
But initially, he viewed the role as a “robbery” because of how little he had to do in the original movies when he was just a voice in the original trilogy.
“I feel like a pirate. This is robbery. I walk in, I say some lines on a piece of paper for two hours, and then they give me a bag of money and I leave and I go about my day,” he told Digital Spy in 2012.
“I sort of feel guilty, because at least acting can be exhausting, with long hours, but I do nothing!”
Scarlett Johansson dyed her hair red before she was even cast
It’s hard to imagine now all these years later anyone other than Scarlett Johansson playing Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in the MCU. But when it was first announced the character would be part of Iron Man 2, the role was much sought after.
In fact, Emily Blunt was Jon Favreau’s first choice to play the role, but scheduling conflicts with other films meant she couldn’t take it on, so Marvel had a decision to make.
It had reportedly screen-tested Johansson, Gemma Arterton, Jessica Biel and others, and even though she wasn’t “quite right” at the time, it was Johansson who was given the part.
In fact, such was her determination to get picked she had already decided to dye her hair red in preparation – and it proved to be a wise decision.
A Godfather legend was almost cast as Justin Hammer
One of the main criticisms of Iron Man 2 was that there were too many characters, similar to the criticisms of Burton and Schumacher’s Batman movies and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3.
Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer was one of those characters short-changed, not getting much chance to shine with all the set-up happening around him despite his excellent turn. And he might not have even been in the movie at all.
When the movie was in its initial stages, the idea was to have a more comic-faithful version of Hammer in the film, and they reportedly sought out none other than Al Pacino to play the role.
In the comics, the character is much older but it was felt that the frosty relationship between Stark and Hammer would be better presented with the ages a little closer together.
…while the other villain was very nearly ‘connected’ to Loki
Similar to Justin Hammer, Mickey Rourke’s interpretation of classic villain Whiplash met with a mixed reception.
Rourke, as ever, fully immersed himself in the role, taking time to visit Russian prisons. After meeting one inmate, he became fascinated by his multiple tattoos and their meaning and wanted to incorporate some with his own.
He even managed to smuggle one on his neck of Loki – the god of mischief – without the filmmakers knowing.
With Thor on the horizon, the decision was made to digitally remove it in the editing process so that audiences wouldn’t get confused with the characters’ links and Tom Hiddleston’s performance just a year later.
Iron Man is set in the same universe as Elf
There are lots of fan theories about how the MCU is perhaps even bigger than we realise, but what might surprise many is that Elf, starring Will Ferrell, is seemingly set in the same New York as the MCU.
In Iron Man, Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane brings Tony some pizza after a long day of revelations and connotations to help him wind down whilst he plays the piano.
His choice of pizza outlet: Ray’s, a famous chain in the Big Apple. But the chain is also heavily featured in the 2003 festive movie – heck, even Santa recommends them to Buddy – leading many to assume they are all in the same New York City.
They are all part of New York history, of course, but let’s keep that flame going shall we?
The Nick Fury post-credits scene was kept super secret
There had been many post-credits scenes before – think Skeletor reappearing at the end of Masters of the Universe or the classic “go home” scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – but the MCU has made it into an art-form.
Expectations on them are huge, but when the very first one appeared, it was only meant as “a bit of a lark”, according to Favreau.
Famed Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis wrote three pages of dialogue for Samuel L Jackson’s big reveal and Favreau, Feige and co chose the best bits for the sequence, but to maintain secrecy, only a very small crew was used.
In fact, there were two versions of the sequence, with one mentioning “mutants” and “bug bites” that was ultimately not used.
The Mandarin was basically going to be the trilogy’s Emperor Palpatine
The original plan for the Iron Man trilogy was to have Tony Stark fight multiple villains while one Big Bad lurked in the dark corners, like Star Wars.
Initially, Obadiah Stane would have appeared in part one like his friend/confidante, with his villainous side as Iron Monger in the sequel, and The Mandarin would be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Favreau said: “Mandarin was in drafts right up until the [first] movie got green lit. It was in the first film and then Mandarin, who’s a famous villain, we had references to in the second film.”
But with all the issues with the script for Iron Man – filming without a completed one, for example – and after chatting to various writers, including Mark Millar, Favreau found it difficult to grasp Mandarin in his movies.
Ultimately it was Shane Black who would bring the villain into his Iron Man 3 – with mixed results, it’s safe to say.
Jon Favreau apparently didn’t see eye-to-eye with Marvel over Iron Man 2
With Iron Man soaring high, Marvel Studios started on the way to The Avengers, the first-ever superhero team-up extravaganza, but there was much work to be done.
Iron Man 2 was fast-tracked into development and the producers saw the movie as both a sequel and a teaser for what was to come, but Jon Favreau reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with the studio on this and the film suffered somewhat.
“I explained to Justin Theroux, the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colours, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that,” Rourke claimed.
“Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up the floor… At the end of the day you’ve got some nerd with a pocketful of money calling the shots.
“You know, Favreau didn’t call the shots. I wish he would have.”
While Favreau hasn’t directed another MCU movie since, he has stayed on as an executive producer and reprised the role of Happy Hogan on a number of occasions.
