Marvel’s Kevin Feige Says Casting Robert Downey Jr. Is “One of the Greatest Decisions in the History of Hollywood”

This month marked the 15th anniversary of the release of Iron Man, which means it has also been 15 years since the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In honor of this special occasion, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige sat down with Iron Man director Jon Favreau to reflect on the first MCU movie and talk about everything from the effects to the casting of Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role. In fact, Feige called the casting of Downey Jr. as Tony Stark one of the best casting decisions in Hollywood history.

“I think that’s probably one of the greatest decisions in the history of Hollywood,” Feige shared. “I remember on later movies…I would say, Robert, we wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you. Meaning we wouldn’t have a studio if it wasn’t for you.”

“I remember sitting down with [Robert] and I was like, he just got it and he’s got that spark in him and his eye and he’s ready,” Favreau recalled. “Once it was him, that’s when my life got a lot easier.” He added that Downey Jr. “had a very [high] standard that he wanted to hit with, not wanting this to feel basic. He wanted it to be special.”

“It wasn’t really until we cast Robert that I fully understood what the take was,” Favreau revealed. “Every decision became a lot easier.” Feige said of Favreau and Downey Jr., “You and Robert are that movie, it’s the balance right between poking fun at it or taking the piss out of a moment, but also, and this is what you both are so good at, taking it seriously.”

Will Robert Downey Jr. Play Iron Man Again?

For now, Robert Downey Jr. is not expected to play Iron Man again, but never say never. 

“What I miss most? Being in the trenches with Kevin Feige throughout; the beginning with Jon Favreau, it’s like a beautiful dream now; the middle, with Shane Black on Iron Man 3, we’d just had Exton and shot it mostly in Wilmington, NC,” Downey shared last year. “It was idyllic and subversive. And The End, when I realized I’d made so many close friends in the MCU cast, and the Russo Brothers helping me embrace Tony’s arc.” 

“I think one of the meta-narratives of Phase Four was about new characters. It was about new people stepping into mantles,” Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania executive producer Stephen Broussard said in a recent chat. “If you look at, like, Cassie [Lang in Quantumania] getting a suit and Kate Bishop [in Hawkeye], new characters being introduced like Jack in Werewolf by Night. After these first 10 years of Marvel storytelling, torches are being passed, like with Robert Downey Jr. no longer being [on the] table and stuff like that. So it was kind of like a new generation stepping to the forefront which, again, has always happened in the comics.”

Iron Man is now streaming on Disney+