10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Iron Man
9. Tom Cruise Almost Starred In The Movie
When the first Iron Man movie concluded with Tony Stark saying "I am Iron Man", it was as much true for the character as it was for the actor. Robert Downey, Jr simply is Iron Man now and it's impossible to imagine anyone else delivering that combo of lovable snark and glib snugness. However, he almost wasn't.
The Iron Man movie had a long and troubled development. Universal acquired the film rights in 1990 and it bounced around writers, actors and directors (even Quentin Tarantino at one point) for the better part of a decade. For a while in the early 00's though, the star who seemed firmly attached to the role was Tom Cruise.
Now Tom Cruise is a fine actor, but it's mind-boggling to think about how his manic energy would have clashed with the role and how we would have been robbed of Tony Stark's "likeable a**hole" personality, especially knowing that RDJ fits the character like an armoured gauntlet.
Luckily for us, Tom Cruise lost interest in the project over its long development cycle and we got the Iron Man we know and love.
Other actors considered for the role include Nicholas Cage, Clive Owen, Timothy Olyphant, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman and even Sam Rockwell, who ended up playing Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2.