Marvel Studios' former president exposes board's controversial selection for Iron Man

Timothy Olyphant as Iron Man (Image via Marvel)
Timothy Olyphant as Iron Man (Image via Marvel)

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man will always be the face of Marvel Studios. He is arguably the greatest live-action superhero that the MCU has produced. But this franchise could have been completely different if Downey had not been cast as Iron Man.

Multiple names popped up for choices to play Iron Man. Tom Cruise has been famously known to be considered for it. But he confirmed that he wasn’t even close to getting cast for the role. However, another actor who got close was Timothy Olyphant.


How Marvel’s former boss fought to cast Iron Man

Marvel’s former President, David Maisel (image via Marvel)
Marvel’s former President, David Maisel (image via Marvel)

David Maisel is a name that most people aren’t aware of. But before Kevin Feige became the producer at Marvel Studios, it was Maisel who headed Marvel. He was the one who promoted Feige in the first place, and also fought to keep Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.

In a recent sit down with The New Yorker, Maisel revealed that the “MCU wouldn’t exist” if it wasn’t for him.

“Most people right now think Kevin started the studio. They don’t know me at all,” he said.

The MCU was originally Maisel’s brainchild, as he is the former head of Marvel Studios and is the one who reportedly deserves the credit for getting Robert Downey Jr. on board.

Timothy Olyphant could have been Iron Man (Image via Marvel)
Timothy Olyphant could have been Iron Man (Image via Marvel)

It has been reported in the past that many at Marvel Studios wanted Hitman star, Timothy Olyphant to play Tony Stark. Nobody was confident about Downey because of his past drug-related problems and arrests. But it was Maisel, along with Iron Man director Jon Favreau, who convinced everyone about Downey.

Maisel told The New Yorker:

“My board thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of an addict. I helped them understand how great he was for the role. We all had confidence that he was clean and would stay clean.”

It was after this decision from Maisel that Downey went on to create such a rich history for the MCU.


How the MCU came to be

David Maisel and Kevin Feige (Image via Marvel)
David Maisel and Kevin Feige (Image via Marvel)

While people always talk about Kevin Feige and his smarts, the name of Marvel’s former entertainment executive, David Maisel, has sort of been written out of the history of the studio. In his recent interview, Maisel further revealed how the MCU came to be when he was an agent at Endeavor, who longed to run a studio in Summer 2003.

“That’s when I thought, ‘Hey, if I can get a movie I can believe in, and every movie after that one is a sequel or a quasi-sequel — the same characters show up — then it can go on forever,'. Because it’s not 30 new movies. It’s one movie and 29 sequels. What we call a universe,” he said.

He pitched the idea to Marvel Entertainment’s then-CEO, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, and was made the President of Marvel Studios.

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man (Image via Marvel)
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man (Image via Marvel)

Then, he described how he eventually raised $525 million in financing through Merrill Lynch, to fund Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in 2008:

“It was like a free loan. You go to a casino and get to keep the winnings. You don’t have to worry if you lose. The board had really no choice but to approve me making the new Marvel Studios.”

That’s literally how the MCU came to be. Moving on, Kevin Feige did a remarkable job in turning the MCU into the biggest franchise of all time, but it was David Maisel who started it all.

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Edited by Upasya Bhowal
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