As it turns out, the absence of Cruise as Tony Stark revolved entirely around a pay dispute. Before the acquisition of the MCU by Disney, the franchise did not have a benefactor willing to provide the money needed to hire an A-list star like Cruise. This led to Downey Jr.
Why did Tom Cruise refuse to play Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Tom Cruise was of the belief that Ironman as a movie was not going to make it big - this is according to Tom himself. And it is true, Ironman is popular, but only to comic readers.
Tom Cruise was once considered for the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man; however, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige says the actor's asking fee was too high. Approximately ten years prior to the release of 2008's Iron Man, Cruise expressed interest in playing Iron Man in a Marvel project.
Why does Robert Downey Jr not want to be Iron Man anymore?
“It purely came down to the Marvel board being nervous at putting all of their chips in their future films on somebody who famously had those legal troubles in the past,” Feige said of Downey's arrests. “I wasn't very good — and I'm still not great — at taking no for an answer.
Several other actors, including Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, and Hugh Jackman, were considered for the role of Iron Man.
Other potential candidates for Iron Man included Timothy Olyphant, Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sam Rockwell, Johnny Depp, Jon Hamm, and Rob Lowe.
Who was the first choice for the role of Iron Man?
Kevin Feige continued and shared that they felt that Clive Owen would be the perfect choice for the role of Tony Stark/ Iron Man. However, Owen was not interested in playing the role of The Armored Avenger, and that led Feige and his team to cast Robert Downey Jr. in 2006.
Summary. Rhodey, aka War Machine, is confirmed as the ideal replacement for Iron Man in the upcoming Armor Wars, as his characterization now mirrors Stark's. Rhodey's reveal as a Skrull impostor adds a layer of trauma and parallel to Tony Stark's origin story, making him a compelling successor to Iron Man.
may have recently won his first Oscar for Oppenheimer, but he's not looking to run from his Marvel past. In fact, the actor says he'd “happily” return as Tony Stark/Iron Man. “It's too integral a part of my DNA,” Downey told Esquire in a new interview.
Robert Downey Jr. confirmed that Iron Man 4 is indeed in the works. While negotiations continue for his return, this would mark his 7th appearance in a standalone Marvel movie and his 9th outing as Tony Stark in total.
Because of Downey Jr.'s rocky past, Marvel producers were extremely reluctant to cast him as Iron Man, hence the endless number of stars, such as Tom Cruise, who got offered the role. Cruise turned the offer down because it didn't feel right to him.
It has long been known that Cruise was in the running for Tony Stark upon the original conception of Iron Man's MCU timeline. This even led many to assume Cruise would appear in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as an Iron Man variant.
Casting Captain America was a challenge for Marvel as the character didn't have much recognition and seemed outdated. Jensen Ackles, Ryan Phillippe, Garrett Hedlund, Chace Crawford, and John Krasinski all auditioned for the role. Chris Evans eventually accepted the role after Robert Downey Jr.
The Marvel Studios had considered Tom Cruise to play Iron Man in the 2008 film. When Cruise refused, director Jon Favreau brought in Robert Downey Jr. and the rest is history.
Nolan said he always wanted to work with Downey because of his “generosity” and “charisma.” The director went on to call Downey's role as Iron Man, which birthed the Marvel Cinematic Universe and carried it for a decade, one of the most important casting decisions ever made.
"That seems like a more interesting arc to us to take a character who had an ego because to die for others, you have to defeat the rights of that," said Russo. "It seemed like the more compelling arc to us that it would be Stark who died. So that it would be a richer more complex arc, and that's why we chose him."
Today, @MyTimeToShineH reported that Chris Evans will reprise the role in Avengers: Secret Wars. He may feature in the untitled Avengers 5, but we don't know. The actor is expected to return to the MCU this summer as the Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In 2019, he would appear again as Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame," reported to be the conclusion to the story of the original Avengers team. He also filmed a starring role in "The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle" (2020), and, through his banner Team Downey, was producing a remake of "Perry Mason" for HBO. Content collapsed.
Robert Downey Jr. expressed his excitement about returning to the role that has defined a generation of superhero films. "Tony Stark's story is far from over," Downey said. "Iron Man 4 will explore new dimensions of the character and his legacy through the eyes of Morgan.
Morgan Stark appears in The Invincible Iron Man. Morgan H. Stark appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Avengers: Endgame, portrayed by Lexi Rabe. This version is the daughter of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts who was born in 2018.
MORE: Robert Downey Jr. isn't coming back as Tony Stark, Marvel Studios president says. Tony Stark sacrificed himself to snap away Thanos at the end of 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told Vanity Fair in December, "we would never want to magically undo it in any way."
In the end, it didn't happen, as we could see. “I love Tom Cruise, and I said to Kevin Feige at one point, I was like, 'Could we get Tom Cruise's Iron Man?” he added. “I just don't think it was ever an option, because of availability.” Feige reportedly replied.
Believe it or not, two Hemsworth brothers auditioned to play Thor! The other was Liam Hemsworth. Chris confirmed as much during an interview with Mensxp and proposed that his brother should play a variant of the character in the future. "My little brother (Liam Hemsworth) almost got cast as Thor.
Downey Jr. has been open about his love for the time he played Tony Stark/Iron Man, beginning with 2008's MCU genesis Iron Man and ending with 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
