10 Mind-Blowing Iron Man Facts
8. It Took 17 Years To Get The First Iron Man Film Off The Ground
Work on an Iron Man movie began way back in 1990, when Universal Studios snapped up the rights to the character and handed him to indie director Stuart Gordon, along with a shoestring budget.
This version of the movie didn't come together - and that's a good thing because it could well have set Tony Stark's street cred back by decades - and the rights to the property bounced from pillar to post, with 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema holding them at one point. During this time, huge names including Joss Whedon, Quentin Tarantino and Nicolas Cage were linked with the project.
After New Line failed to get an Iron Man film off the ground within two years, the license reverted back to Marvel and the comic book giant decided to develop the movie itself, making it the company's first self-financed venture.
It's hard to imagine anyone in Hollywood turning down the chance to work with Marvel now, but around thirty writers passed up the opportunity to pen Iron Man due to the relative obscurity of the character back then, as well as Marvel's lack of big-screen pedigree.
After the dream team comprising Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr and writers Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway had worked their magic with the character, all of that changed overnight.
Iron Man became the second highest-grossing movie of 2008 behind The Dark Knight, and kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the process.