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\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Robert Downey Jr.<\/strong><\/a> is one of the first of many truly perfect casting decisions that Marvel<\/strong><\/a> made when building the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he was very nearly not cast as Iron Man. <\/p>\n The Oscar-winning actor kickstarted the MCU with the first Iron Man<\/em> movie in 2008. Now, it\u2019s abundantly clear that he is the \u201cgenius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist\u201d that is Tony Stark. <\/p>\n After entering the franchise, he played the iconic hero in 10 movies. He seemingly exited the role with 2019\u2032s Avengers: Endgame<\/em>, but there are some questions about a potential comeback<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s clear that he was the right choice. At the time, it was seen as a risk to cast him<\/a> due to personal struggles. Marvel wanted to hit it out of the park and begin their franchise with a bang. They weren\u2019t sure that he could do that.<\/p>\n This was before the MCU had become one of the biggest film franchises of all time. However, there was still a lot of interest in playing Tony Stark. In honor of the 16th anniversary of Iron Man<\/em> this week, we did some digging and rounded up eight stars who were tied to the role. <\/p>\n The list includes one actor who outright turned it down and some other very big names that have commented on their experience. <\/p>\n Scroll through the slideshow to see all of the actors who were at some point considered for the role of Iron Man\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Continue Here \u00bb<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n