WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: THE MCU

No.81910497 ViewReplyOriginalReport
Iron Man (2008)

>Several directors turned the movie down because they believed it'd flop before Jon Favreau was hired. Louis Leterrier was also interested, and subsequently directed THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

>Sam Rockwell and Clive Owen auditioned for Tony Stark before Robert Downey Jr. was cast.

>Rachel McAdams was offered Pepper Potts, but declined, and Gwyneth Paltrow was cast.

>Early drafts featured the Mandarin as a corrupt Chinese businessman who led the 10 Rings and created the Crimson Dynamo armor to fight Iron Man, before Jon Favreau decided to build up to the character.

>Early drafts featured Obadiah Stane only as Stark's estranged mentor, and his descend into villainy would be explored over several movies.

>In early drafts, Stark would throw Stane into a vat of acid rather than have him caught in the blast of the Arc Reactor's explosion. When the armor is retrieved, Stane's body is gone, indicating he might have survived.

>In early drafts, Stark would fight Stane in the prototype Mark IV armor, which includes a shoulder-mounted gattling gun and would later become the War Machine armor.

>The movie was filmed mostly without a script, with actors ad-libbing most of their lines based on a production guideline. Production was so chaotic that both the cast and the producers believed the movie would be a disaster until test-screenings reported surprisingly positive audience reception.