10 Times Hollywood Pissed Off Fanboys (And Then Proved Them Wrong)
5. When Marvel Cast Robert Downey Jr. As Iron Man
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. in the role of Tony Stark nowadays, though the actor was far from a welcome choice at the time he was cast. Tom Cruise had coveted the role for a long time, and Marvel fanboys had expected someone of his pedigree to be given the part, not an actor who was known for his substance abuse issues more than anything else.
The fans weren't the only ones to have doubts about RDJ back then, with Marvel themselves dead set against the idea of him leading the franchise when it was first proposed by Jon Favreau. The director of the first two Iron Man movies admitted that the studio said no a number of times before he was able to convince them that the formerly troubled actor was perfect for the role:
"Certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realised that the character seemed to line-up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. And the story of Iron Man was really the story of Robert’s career.”
Favreau proved both the fanboys and the doubters at the studio wrong, with the Iron Man movies going on to make in excess of $2 billion and Downey Jr. becoming the new face of Marvel.
The huge success that his stand alone films enjoyed paved the way for the MCU as we know it today, and even the staunchest opponents to his appointment have had no choice but to hold their hands up and admit that they were wrong.