Where to watch Iron Man (2008)

Trivia & production notes

• Tom Cruise expressed interest in both producing and starring in Iron Man in 1998, but later declined the role because he wasn't comfortable with it.
• Quentin Tarantino was approached to write and direct Iron Man in October 1999, though the project ultimately went elsewhere.
• Fox sold the Iron Man rights to New Line Cinema in December 1999 because the studio had too many Marvel projects in development and felt unable to make them all.
• About 30 writers passed on early Iron Man scripts, citing the character's relative obscurity and Marvel's status as a solo producer rather than an established studio.
• Nicolas Cage and Clive Owen were both considered for Tony Stark before Robert Downey Jr. was cast; Owen was the studio's top choice but declined.
• Director Jon Favreau lost 70 pounds after being hired to direct Iron Man in April 2006 to celebrate getting the job.
• Favreau pushed back against Marvel executives' doubts about casting Downey by leaking the news to the press, and positive public reaction helped convince them to hire him.
• Robert Downey Jr. earned $500,000 for playing Tony Stark in Iron Man.
• Favreau and Downey toured SpaceX with Elon Musk while preparing for filming, with Downey later suggesting Musk and Tony Stark would likely have partied or gone on adventures together.
• The filmmakers changed Tony Stark's origin from the Vietnam War to Afghanistan because Favreau did not want to make a period piece.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Iron Man (2008 film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.