Iron Man may sit at #3 in our fan-rankings of Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies, but it’s still the groundbreaking milestone that kicked off the entire MCU. Today have yet another bad account of being part of MCU Phase 1: Iron Man star Jeff Bridges, who recently shared his difficult experience making the movie.
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Bridges was talking to Variety about how difficult it can be getting into character as an actor, and he shared the following story:
“It turned out that many times — 10, 12, 15 times — we would show up for the days work, not knowing what we were gonna shoot,” Bridges said. “All the guys in the studio are sitting there tapping their foot, looking at their watch, and we’re sitting in my trailer trying to figure out my lines.”
He added that the experience made him embrace his inner Lebowski a little bit more, stating, “I made a little adjustment in my head. That adjustment was – Jeff, just relax, you are in a $200 million student film, have fun, just relax.”
Ouch. Marvel fans may take issue with their beloved Iron Man being referred to as a “$200 million student film,” but even though Bridges is exaggerating with his words, the spirit of those words isn’t entirely off the mark.
By now, many fans know the story of how much “winging it” Marvel Studios had to do in order to get their first Phase of films off the ground, with virtually every director that started off the MCU (Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, Joe Johnston) jumping ship over creative differences. Iron Man was a movie that always seemed particularly improvised, with a lot of it being Robert Downey Jr. alone onscreen, self-generating the chemistry and carrying the whole film on his shoulders. Bridges villain character, Obidiah Stane, is particularly short-changed, and MCU fans still rank the film’s boss battle as one of the worst.
Somewhere in the middle of Phase 2, Marvel Studios found its footing in terms of logistics and planning for its films. The connected threads are managed with greater efficiency, and the creative vision for the films seems a lot more solidified when heading into production. Still, even a recent success like Doctor Strange required a lot of collaborative revision and shaping – like with all blockbuster tentpoles, really.
MORE MARVEL: Major MCU Villains Ranked / Villains We Want in Spider-Man: Homecoming / Spider-Man: Homecoming Poster Tease / Inhumans premiere Info / New Doctor Strange Concept Art
Doctor Strange is in theaters now, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5, 2017. Next up is Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 7, 2017, with Thor: Ragnarok landing on November 3, 2017. Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, followed by the eagerly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp hits on July 6, 2018, with Captain Marvel finally hitting theaters on March 8, 2019.
