MCU: 30 Actors Who Could Have Starred In Avengers: Infinity War

15. Nicolas Cage (Iron Man)

Nicolas Cage is no stranger to superhero movies, having nearly played Superman in Tim Burton's aborted Superman Lives project, and eventually portraying Ghost Rider in two (largely panned) movies.

Cage was also interested in playing Tony Stark in the earliest stages of Iron Man being put together, around a decade before shooting actually began. When it seemed like Superman Lives was getting ready to shoot, however, he bailed from the long-stalling Iron Man production.

Would It Have Worked?: Nicolas Cage's box office power was starting to wane by 2008, so while this could've been an epic comeback for him, it's just impossible to picture Cage nailing the sardonic, tortured Tony Stark that Downey brought us.

Would he have been a fun Iron Man? Totally, but it'd be so much more difficult to take the character even halfway seriously.

While the role might've sorted out his infamous tax troubles, fans would also have been deprived of literally dozens of glorious freakout scenes from all the straight-to-VOD thrillers he's made over the last decade.