Marvel boss Kevin Feige admits casting Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark was the 'biggest risk': 'He wasn't a marquee star'

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said that casting Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man was the 'biggest risk' and that the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn't be what it is today without him.

Robert Downey Jr was famously coming off of a career lull marred by personal troubles when director Jon Favreau pushed for him to be cast as Iron Man in the MCU's inaugural film. He subsequently emerged as one of the highest-paid actors in the world, and now lives in semi-retirement.

In an interview with CinemaBlend, Feige said, "I was lucky enough to be involved in early Spider-Man films and X-Men films. But we wanted to do an Iron Man movie. And I do think, still, the biggest risk -- which seems outrageous to say now -- was casting Robert Downey Jr. It was both the biggest risk and the most important thing in the founding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without Robert, we wouldn't be sitting here today. I really believe that."

He added, "He was an amazing actor. Everybody knew he was amazing actor. But he hadn't been an action star. He wasn't a marquee star, necessarily. And we quickly realised the risk, I've said this before, was not casting him. And Jon Favreau really had that vision for that movie and for Robert in that role. That decision, and the success of that decision, I think empowered us with further risks and further choices."

Jon Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man movies, previously said, according to CinemaBlend, “It was my job as a director to show that it was the best choice creatively… and now the Marvel Universe is the biggest franchise in film history. Everybody knew he was talented. Certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realised that the character seemed to line up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. And the story of Iron Man was really the story of Robert’s career.”

Robert Downey Jr bid farewell to the MCU in 2019, with Avengers: Endgame. He has since appeared in just one movie, the critical and commercial flop Dolittle. He did, however, produce the hit Netflix series Sweet Tooth.