>Inventor Tony Stark (Tom Cruise) is the estranged son of weapons manufacturer Howard Stark. >Tony left Howard’s company, Stark Industries, because he refused to weaponize his greatest creation, the Repulsor technology. >Tony’s ex-girlfriend, CIA agent Bethany Cabe (Famke Janssen), informs him that someone is supplying criminal organization Rising Dawn with weapons based on his designs. >Tony finds out that Howard’s business partner Justin Hammer is Rising Dawn’s benefactor, but is severely wounded in a car explosion before alerting the authorities. >Tony’s best friend and Stark Industries’ chief of security James Rhodes (Jamie Foxx) extracts him to a secret workshop where they build the Iron Man armor together so Tony can stop Rising Tide. >Bethany learns that Hammer was framed and the true mastermind is Howard, who is planning to assassinate the President of the United States in order to seize control of the country. >Iron Man saves the President, but is captured by Howard, who reverse-engineers the Iron Man armor before Tony is rescued by Bethany and Rhodes. >On Howard's orders, Rising Dawn attacks Washington, D.C. with Repulsor-based weapons, and Iron Man leads the military in battle against them. >Meanwhile, Bethany is kidnapped by Howard, now piloting the War Machine armor. >Tony disables Rising Dawn’s weapons with a secret kill switch that he had programmed into his designs, then leaves to rescue Bethany. >Howard kills Bethany, leading to a vicious fight that ends with Tony defeating him, but sparing his life. >Howard tries to kill Tony nevertheless, but his suit malfunctions and explodes. >Tony becomes CEO of Stark Industries and turns it into a humanitarian enterprise dedicated to righting Howard's wrongs. >Aided by Rhodes, Tony sets out to keep protecting the world as Iron Man.
THE NOTEBOOK's Nick Cassevetes was slated to direct.
Either this would change Iron Man forever, or this would’ve been on a CBM list of the worst cape movies
Xavier Watson
>He might be more closely associated with another Marvel antihero in The Punisher, but at one point in time, Dolph Lundgren came dangerously close to playing Venom. Back in 1997, New Line Cinema had the rights to both Venom and Carnage and was planning to put the villainous characters together in a new movie. With the rights to Spider-Man residing elsewhere, however, they would have to do it without the world’s most famous web-slinger. According to Comicbook.com, David S. Goyer (who went on to pen the scripts for Blade, Batman Begins and Man of Steel) was hired to produce a draft script for a Venom movie. The script did away with any ties to Spider-Man, explaining that Venom’s spider insignia was down to the fact they had just come from a planet inhabited by giant spiders. It also saw Venom pitted as an anti-hero of sorts, going up against Carnage.Though details of the defunct project are scarce, media reports at the time suggested Dolph Lundgren was in the frame to play Eddie Brock, the unfortunate journalist who ends up bonding with the alien symbiote Venom.
Could it have worked? Unlike Grace and Hardy, Lundgren actually has the right look for Eddie. Pic-related is from the period he was in talks with New Line.
>Marvel gave their Properties as collateral if Iron Man failed at the box office. >If the movie flopped,Marvel would have to sell their characters to third parties,this lost would cause a domino effect that would make Marvel go bankrupt. >for all the shit the MCU gets it's a miracle that a movie with barely no script made so much success. Watched?FUCK YEAH ABSOLUTELY. but I prefer the one we got.
Austin Barnes
>We were robbed of Cruise sprinting in full Iron Man armor
Lundgren LOOKS like Eddie, spectacularly so, but he could never really act like Eddie. Eddie Brock was a young and delusional guy (He became Venom some time in his 20s). Lundgren in '97 would've been nearly 40 and by that point he was typecast as pragmatic and stoic characters. Could've had a movie centered around Lundgren!Punisher Franking criminals with the Venom symbiote tho'.
It's Cruise's eyes. Something zero-chill about them.
Evan Hernandez
I mean we're establishing Multiverse in FFH, just bring him in as an alternate universe Stark
Jeremiah Adams
Nigga Iron Man's success has nothing to do with Transformers or the iphone shut the fuck up.
Leo Scott
Cruise always plays edgelords.
He probably said captain america or nothing, and got nothing.
Benjamin Ross
didn't he require his face to be visible at all times?
Aaron Phillips
Only in China and the third world.
Joseph Diaz
I like it. It sounds like a proper TechnoThriller and the following Trilogy would’ve been much better than what we got.
Aaron Bailey
The studio did.
Cooper Martinez
>who is planning to assassinate the President of the United States in order to seize control of the country. Pretty sure that isn't how that works. Or did I miss the rule of President John Wilkes Booth?
Honestly, I think anything other than what we got with Iron Man 1 would have fizzled the MCU out in phase one. And IM1 was a nutty film that sounded like it was mostly ad libbed and seemed to be everything right at the right place and right time in some golden coincidence. I also don’t think Cruise has the same charisma and ad libbing skill as Downey. That said, i’d love to see the little guy in the MCU. Who should he play?
Bentley Ramirez
He's got a technologically superior army and the Vice-President was in his pocket.
Lucas Thompson
>And IM1 was a nutty film that sounded like it was mostly ad libbed and seemed to be everything right at the right place and right time in some golden coincidence. There wasn't even a stable, working script for IM1. Most of the time the actors didn't know what they were filming for the day and from what I've heard Jeff Bridges said they played off of what RDJ did.
Chase Hall
Tom Cruise usually just plays Tom Cruise so it would have to be a role the general public isn't familiar with. Wonderman? Probably better to make him one of the Elders of the Universe like Goldblum. That way he can go nuts like he did in Tropic Thunder and no one will care about "muh comic book" version.
Would have watched, wouldn't even be mad at some changes at the time because having an Iron Man movie would already be a big deal (like it was), also at least doesn't sound influenced by Ultimate universe. Didn't like the Howard twist and the girlfriend dying, feels like late MCU. What we got was better, though Tom Cruise looks like he could've been a great Tony.
Nolan Smith
>Tom Cruise as The Gardener >actual makeup to make him comic book-authentic >no one can even tell it's him interesting
Evan Jones
i think it did but I went to see it because I was somewhat familiar with Iron Man and it was also a new Marvel superhero movie
Chase Anderson
Damn right it could.
Robert King
It kinda' did, bro.
Also the War on Terror.
Hudson Nelson
Link to the script?
Easton Ward
Sounds terrible. And why make Tony’s dad evil?
Jason Turner
cruise was pretty close to being tony. granov even started drawing tony like cruise in ellis' extremis reboot
Thought about it, but Cyclops would look too short (again) and maybe too old.
He had no legacy.
Zachary Phillips
Yeah, pretty sure the comics did that first. The movies saved him.
Brayden Brown
I doubt it would have been very successful. IM1 success and ability to kickstart a multi-billion franchise was due to a lot of things, great suit designs and effects, solid soundtrack, was considered a fresh take on the cape genre etc, but RDJ is indisputable the main reason for why MCU Tony became such a popular character and the face of the franchise as a whole.
The fact that RDJ's mannerisms and overall personality became such a big part of the character as well makes it hard to imagine someone as Cruise in the role. He's just dull, uncharismatic and boring when he isn't cast as an absolute lunatic, He can do good stunts, that does not make him a particularly interesting actor to watch.
And oh, we’re so much better for it all... I loved Iron Manlet the Quipmaster who breaks down every 5 minutes!
Parker Rodriguez
Iron Man used to be my favorite Marvel hero before the RDJ chronicles began. Turned me off from the whole MCU pretty early on.
Brandon Diaz
Same here. I just cannot see Stark as a macho-man genius now. I see him as a weeping manlet with a caterpillar on top of his lips. He’s lost all of his manliness and is like some metrosexual faggot. Fucking Banner is manlier in my eyes now. Hell, Pym is GigaChad compared to Stark.
Bentley Cox
Your not-muh tears don't change the fact that RDJ 's portrayal made the character massively popular with mainstream audiences.
Robert Taylor
If Im1 had flopped, we would have no GOTG, Thanos, Ant.man. Marvel would have gone bankrupt. So yes, I think we're much better for it.
Ryan Ramirez
Cruise is also a manlet, he's even shorter than RDJ.
Jordan Butler
Who gives a fuck what normalfags think you dipshit? Oh no, we would’ve missed on generic, cookie-cutter MCUshit. The horror! How would my life be now if I hadn’t seen GotG in theaters?!
Joshua Miller
Who gives a fuck what some crying comic book neckbeard thinks dipshit? Certainly not movie studios.
Juan Ward
Nice strawman. These are fucking summer action blockbuster movies. Obvious no ones life is going to be changed by watching them. I personally enjoyed GOTG. I'm happy it was made.
Eli Turner
They have the same height. That autist who takes pics with all Celebs and measures their heights has it on his website. At least Cruise is cooler, exudes coolness and makes you believe he’d be Iron Man. RDJ is like a Sillicon Valley quiplord turned middle aged dad.
Isaac Fisher
This is Yea Forums if you hadn’t noticed. More power to you. But I don’t like the way things turned out.
Julian Nguyen
>exudes coolness Nigga what? Cruise is a crazy.
Dylan Perez
Cruise definitely has the insecure sociopath hiding behind a charming exterior part of Tony down, no question.
Ethan Sanchez
>THE NOTEBOOK's Nick Cassevetes was slated to direct.
the freakin' son of John Cassevetes would've made Iron Man
that's wild
Evan Hill
>dude, like, Scientology and like, didja see that Oprah shit bruh?! Exactly. Vanilla Sky was Cruise playing a Pretty-Boy Playboy. He’s done that, he’s done the charmer, the agent, everything. The dude is hardcore and can do more than just yup. RDJ just has a soft face and body language. Cruise is more “manly” even though he’s a manlet himself. He’s got a “crazier” face. Not that I’m saying that he’d be my fan cast for Stark, but I’d have preferred him to RDJ. Someone like Collin Farrel or Depp would’ve been better back in the day.
Robert Sullivan
Cruise is just so dull. The only movie where I enjoyed his acting was in Magnolia. IM sequels aren't all that good and make Tony too stupid/childish, but RDJ was perfect in the first installment.
Carson Green
>we would have no Thanos All of the... three minutes we really had of Thanos, total?
>Collin Farrel Now that one I just don't see.
Eli Reed
Iron Man 1 was good tho
Jacob Mitchell
Dunno, Farrel can play the sleazeball, the crazy guy, the melancholic fuck up and the tough macho, grows a mean beard and just has the “look”. Doesn’t matter. 616 Stark has been tainted now. I literally cannot read a single book with him these days. He just comes off as... sad. Not like an action hero, but something lesser. Dunno, the MCU really ruined him for me.
Adam Roberts
I dare say 2 was still alright, mostly. Could use less SHIELD tho.
>we could have had kino >instead we got trash It's enough to make a grown man weep.
Gavin Kelly
Why do always want manlets to play Stark?
Connor Price
I don't think he had the charisma of Downey and he wouldn't have made the same box office numbers. As for Downey I could stand him till IM3. After that, both him and his fan base got unbearable. Comics Tony will spend many years being a Downey clone but at least they're using the fun, popular version of the MCU Tony. That's his personality now. You're possibly stuck with it for life.
Xavier Cruz
>he wouldn't have made the same box office numbers.
Nicolas Cage was one of the undisputed box office kings of the 90's, bro.
Cage wasn't a total joke yet in 1997 and was still a regular in Hollywood blockbusters like Con Air and Face/Off, so draw wouldn't have been a problem. You also need to remember that he'd won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Leaving Las Vegas only about a year before, so he was still hot property in the industry.
Cameron Russell
No, I love Cage and would have loved him as Tony. He'd have brought a debonair yet desperate charm to him while being true to comic characterization. But I was thinking of the late 2000s when IM1 came out and Cage wasn't that popular then. The 90s would be a different matter.
Tyler Ross
> same energy so ... that guy in high school who comes out of the closet years later and finds out the only person he was fooling was himself?
Its’s 2019 Tom, you can come out now.
Austin King
>It's 2019
And you're still making Tom Cruise gay jokes.
Jose Parker
Damn, I never knew about this. It would’ve been unironic kino. Such a shame.
Dylan Russell
Has Marvel stated who's going to replace Downey and replace his role as the new powered armor guy of the MCU? Is it Rhodey, Potts or some actor?
Matthew Watson
Downey wants IronHeart in the MCU.
Josiah Howard
Man, this gets worse by the minute...
Andrew Morgan
He now gets a chance to return as an AI. What's so bad about that?
Thomas Ward
I thought Downey wanted out from MCU. That's the reason why he was killed off in Endgame, right?
Camden Wright
Iron Manlet sucks and Iron Negress sucks even more.
Jace Jones
Evans wanted out, not Downey.
>empireonline.com/movies/features/avengers-endgame-26-spoilers-explained-directors-writers/ >“Marvel as a whole said, 'We think it might be a time [for Tony to die], but if you have a good reason not to do it, feel free – we'll do whatever',” says Markus. “But it really did seem like, particularly with what Tony experiences after the five year break – that he has gotten married, had a kid, and is living a very healthy, peaceful life for once, and he's had five full years of no surprises – that there wasn't anywhere left that he needed to go. This was a guy who had made his full journey, all the way to the end, had experienced a full rehabilitation of his character from being the douchebag in the back of the Humvee at the beginning of the first Iron Man. To have him make the sacrifice that Steve Rogers would have made had he had the opportunity at that moment, just felt really right."
>would I have watched Tom Cruise- I'm already at the cinema.
Camden Parker
I meant sad as in pitiful, not tortured.
Camden Torres
Not the person you're responding to but I don't think that's a bad thing though. He was pitiful back then during "Demon in a Bottle" times too.
Jaxon Cruz
Yeah, but that was a low point, that’s the thing. Stark’s supposed to be a Chad. American CEOs are 6’0”+. RDJ’s version came off as a try hard partyboy sleaze, not a hardcore genius CEO adventurer.
Elijah James
I doubt mainstream audiences would have given him a second look if he were a Banner clone, just multiple times richer.
Oliver Ramirez
They have the same autistic?
Aiden Morales
Travolta, Malkovich, and Connery also would have pulled in fuck tons of money. It wasn’t all Cage.
Tyler Cox
He was the undisputed box office king of June 1997 (when Face off and Con Air both came out), but not the 90s overall
Joseph Robinson
Damn user, characters aren’t separated in Quiplords and Sad Cunts. Banner has mental issues. Stark used to be a man’s man with some hidden insecurities. RDJ’s Stark, at least Post-2, is nowhere near that.
Easton Bailey
Dunno user. I've often read Stark as a sad cunt. MCU Tony was insecure all the way til he fucking died - the one thing all Tonys secretly yearn for. .
Cooper Jackson
Yeah but Stark wasn’t like that. He has insecurities, yes, but puts on a macho-man type of face, which is not necessarily false, he just has reservations and questions about himself. MCU Stark covered only half of that. He wasn’t as jokey and he wasn’t just a guy in a suit; he had aaaaabbbbsss of steeeeeeel.
Anthony Butler
I get you, I've not liked him in the MCU since IM3. But it's not all the actors fault. They could have kept him as focused and serious as he was in IM1 and IM2 despite the showmanship. But they were more intent on playing up the quipping, suffering and team dynamics after he starred in The Avengers (ptsd from the portal).
Cameron Robinson
Sure, but I just never envisioned Stark in the vein of someone like RDJ. I was thinking someone around 6ft, with a more melancholic, but confident, look. More bulky and built. Generally more of an 80s gruff type. At the very least someone like Kurt Russel as Plissken or Wyatt Earp. That cool, suave Clint Eastwood look, y’know?
Aiden Ramirez
I got you. I always pictured David Gandy if he acted. Or Clive Owen, imagine "Closer". Not sure if he'd have pulled off a smooth American accent but he could have sounded clipped, boarding-school and MIT posh.
Yup, I mentioned Clive Owen a bit above. But that’s what I’m talking about. Him, Timothy Olyphant who was in the running. That type of person. RDJ fit someone like say, Hank Pym better.
Alexander Baker
>6ft Why does the actors rl height matter though? Not as if they allowed MCU Tony to be an actual manlet like RDJ.
I did enjoy Iron Man. I'm not sure how much of that was just because of the film and how much of that was a lack of MCU fatigue and hype over my favorite superhero getting a movie. If I remember they also went for a sort of humbling throughout the movie and he was almost leaning into his original personality by the end of it, but now it's all just MCU RDJ snark enveloping the character across all media.
Cooper Jackson
He was pretty fucking jacked in IM1 and 2. But yeah, RDJ Tony is def a more 'effeminate' smaller looking Tony, even with his lifts.
I think they made a very deliberate choice in not choosing a big bulky 80's gruff actor to play the role. That type of leading man just wasn't all that popular with kids and women anymore when IM1 was in production.
Everything in general is bigger the taller you are, it's why short guys in elevator shoes look off. Ignore his last sentence if that floats your boat
Grayson Allen
Jamie Foxx as WM sounds kino as fuck.
Hudson Edwards
Nah, they just chose a more effeminate guy since he was the armored genius and thus they figured they’d inject some variety into the team since Cap and Thor were the jacked ones. At least that’s what I think. But still, that didn’t translate too well, imho. Yeah, silly me for wanting characters to look the way they were drawn and written...
Mason Bell
Would have been awkward.. I love Cage, but he is not a handsome man, no matter how much the dialogue in his movies try to make him out as one.
MCU Tony ends up being a bit of a fag due to RDJ's flamboyancy bleeding into his portrayal, but it is believable to me that women would jump at the chance to suck his dick despite his shitty personality.
RDJ was a pretty boy ala DiCaprio and aged well. But Cage was masculine. He’s not “pretty”, but he’s got a kind of raw manliness. But really, Olyphant should’ve taken the job.
So him in Justified was just 1872 then. I see and like it. Who'd you cast as Steve?
Matthew Bell
>That type of leading man just wasn't all that popular with kids and women anymore when IM1 was in production. It probably just wasn't that popular anymore with Hollywood.
Gabriel Harris
>Steve Don’t know, don’t care, and if you’re a Stonyfag, fuck off. I’d have liked Ewan McGregor for Hank Pym though. Kate Beckinsale or Jennifer Connery for Wasp. Clive Owen for a more active Nick Fury.
Ethan Phillips
he's a shit actor
Dylan Ortiz
There won't be an MCU without Downey. Cruise was too high maintenance even back in the 90s.
Liam Adams
Hold op. So you would consider Cage's scary hawk-nosed mug to be more fitting for the role because you perceive him as more 'manly' looking than Downey?
I fail to see what makes RDJ "effeminate" psychically, apart from mb his massive eyelashes and manlet size.
Colton Torres
None of the other picks had an ounce of acting ability to sell "Tony Stark" and a believable Iron man like Downey did. They might have made a forgettable and quippy summer movie. He succeeded where even a big name like Ed Norton failed. The level of gravitas needed for Tony - Downey had it in IM1. He might have become boring years later but IM1 was pure CBM artistry and magic in a time when 00s superhero fatigue was setting in.
Juan Taylor
>he hasn’t seen Justified or Deadwood Jesus user. Downey’s just too short and small. But it’s not just him, it’s the MCU writing.
Jeremiah Russell
>IM1 has him building an actual metal suit >IM2 has cruise skydiving multiple times for a mid-air suit up >IM3 has cruise finally in a working iron man suit
Grayson Watson
he's a shit actor
Ian Jones
Tom can't pull facial hair. But yeah, i would have watched it, if only to see the inevitable plane and running scene.
Isaac Foster
>being this delusional I’m not sure if you’re Yea Forumsmblr or zoomer... Wtf user, you just shot down all of Muh arguments! Damn user, you based!
