3 Actors Who Almost Played Iron Man Before Robert Downey Jr, & 1 Eventually Became a Marvel Superhero

A lot has already been said about this, but it’s true: it’s hard to imagine Iron Man without Robert Downey Jr., even though he’s now returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom. But before the whole world fell in love with him in the role, back when the movie was still in development and facing several challenges, his casting was far from a sure thing. The film, which wasn’t released until 2008, actually began its journey in 1990, going through many script rewrites, studio changes, and financial issues along the way. That’s when the buzz started, and multiple actors either showed interest or were considered for the role. However, there are 3 of them who are particularly worth mentioning.

Each of them was part of Tony Stark’s journey to the big screen at different stages of development, and looking at each case, it makes you wonder what they could have done with the character. Would Iron Man have made history the way it did with Downey? Would sequels have been made? Would the original even have been successful?

3) Nicolas Cage

Before Iron Man even came close to hitting theaters, Nicolas Cage already had a history of memorable characters like Cameron Poe in Con Air, Castor Troy in Face/Off, Ben Sanderson in Living Las Vegas, and Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock. So it was easy to understand why he expressed interest in playing Stark on the big screen in 1997, when 20th Century Fox was still trying to get the project off the ground. And that’s important to point out here to understand why the actor never actually got there — the project spent years in development, with even Stan Lee and Quentin Tarantino getting involved at one point. Cage had only expressed initial interest, so much so that there is no evidence he ever even made it to a meeting for the casting.

However, there were so many changes before Iron Man finally reached the moment where it could actually enter pre-production that a version with the actor had already become somewhat irrelevant by then. But the coolest part of all this is that Cage had already been drawn to comic book stories and superheroes (he was even involved with Tim Burton’s project to adapt Superman). Fortunately, all that interest didn’t go to waste, and a connection to Marvel would eventually happen in 2007 with Ghost Rider (and this year with Spider-Noir). Before Ryan Gosling was considered for the new version, Cage had left his mark on the role. But looking at all of this, it’s still fun to imagine what he would have done if he had actually become Stark, and what the first version of Johnny Blaze would have looked like.

2) Tom Cruise

This is a more significant case, since Tom Cruise wasn’t just a name that appeared on a list of possible options for the role, but was also involved with Iron Man when the project was still stuck in the limbo of ’90s comic book adaptations. He showed a lot of interest in starring in and producing the movie in 1998, and Stan Lee eventually met with him. Having him as Stark actually made quite a bit of sense, since Cruise was already one of the biggest stars in the world, had plenty of experience with action, and could sell the character’s confident and arrogant energy without needing much help (Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, and Mission: Impossible were basically the perfect combo to prove that).

But then, what happened? Cruise didn’t give up on the role, but just like with Cage, nothing about the project itself ever really got off the ground, and as a result, the actor lost confidence that a movie made the way he wanted would actually happen. He had even made a deal, but Marvel was going through financial difficulties, Fox had several films based on the franchise’s characters in development, and Iron Man still had nothing set in stone. Shortly after that, Fox sold the rights to New Line Cinema. The actor remained attached to the possibility of playing Stark for a few more years, even expressing interest as late as 2004 (and in 2005, he was still the actor in mind according to Miles Millar, one of the writers working on the project at the time). But creative problems came up, the rights eventually returned to Marvel, and in the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, it was said that Cruise’s asking price was simply too high for an untested superhero property.

1) Clive Owen

In 2006, Iron Man finally entered pre-production, and that obviously meant they could start working on the casting for Stark. And out of this list, Clive Owen is perhaps the most important “almost”, because Marvel Studios really wanted him for the role above any other option, to the point that he actually received an offer. At the time, he had already built a highly respected career with movies like Closer, The Bourne Identity, King Arthur, Children of Men, and Sin City, on top of having a sophisticated and confident presence that fit perfectly with the idea of a billionaire who spends most of his time trying to convince everyone (and himself) that he’s in control. In 2023, Kevin Feige even mentioned that the casting process was focused on finding someone with “heart, strength and charisma.”

However, Owen didn’t take it because he wasn’t interested. The reason? No one really knows for sure, but it makes sense to think that the idea of not taking the risk may have played a role. These were different times, and at that moment, this was the studio’s first movie, with a huge amount of financial risk being placed on it. According to Feige, this episode even became a sort of lesson in how your first choice isn’t necessarily the right choice. It was only after that they started considering Downey, once director Jon Favreau met with him and became convinced (and the rest is history). Owen could have made a very good Stark, but Downey brought something nobody was expecting: a character who was funny, irritating, vulnerable, and charismatic practically all at once.