Kevin Feige Says Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man Could've Been a 'Dumpster Fire'
Kevin Feige has said casting Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man/Tony Stark could have turned out to be "the biggest dumpster fire".
The Marvel boss cast the Oscar nominee in the MCU in 2008's Iron Man.
And, speaking to students at the New York Film Academy recently, Feige revealed that it was his decision to cast Robert as Stark because the character had to be "interesting," even though he knew it was a gamble.
Long story short: it paid off.
"I remember speaking to the marketing team at Paramount, because Paramount released that [Iron Man], saying that if we did our job, Tony Stark will be as famous as Iron Man; Tony Stark will be as well known and as much of a household name as Iron Man because that's how interesting the character has to be," Feige said (via ComicBook.com).
"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."
He added: "There's very little wiggle room."
Related: Avengers: Endgame's Robert Downey Jr didn't want to be in Oscar contention
But it (obviously) all worked out in the end, as he said: "It ended up being great and I've always said 'No RDJ, no MCU.'"
Phew!
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