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Marvel writers hatched up a dramatic storyline for Iron Man, who endured a lot of ups and downs in his bid to stop Thanos from destroying the universe and cement himself as the most loved superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tony Stark’s rise in popularity also transformed Robert Downey Jr.’s public image, who went from a struggling actor in the early 2000s to one of the most sought-after and highest-paid stars in the industry a decade later. However, the way Iron Man was helped by other Avengers in his bid, the actor was also lent a helping hand by some of his colleagues, including Mel Gibson.
Read more:8 Big Mistakes Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man Made in His Glorious MCU Run
How Mel Gibson Helped Robert Downey Jr. Overcome Insurance Issues
As a young actor,Robert Downey Jr.delivered encouraging performances throughout the 80s and 90s and showed the potential to become an A-list star. His brilliant portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in 1992’sChaplinonly emboldened this idea.
The Oscar-nominated talent was also in the news in the late 90s and early 2000s, albeit for the wrong reasons, including being arrested for possession of drugs. In the next few years, Downey Jr. got sober and tried to get back on the Hollywood track, but faced many hurdles.
Everyone knew about his immense talent and yet he wasn’t getting a big shot at the big screen, especially since production companies found it very difficult to get him insured due to his troubled past. Considering how much money is at stake in these projects, companies often prefer to cushion their position by taking out insurance policies. During this time, Downey Jr. also had to drop his usual salary of $2 million by 75% to ensure regular work continued to flow his way.
Mel Gibsonstepped in to help his fellow actor, inviting him to appear in a film he was producing:The Singing Detective. He also vouched for Downey personally to tackle the insurance difficulty. [viaThe Guardian]
After Gibson’s show of support, Downey Jr. started to get more important roles that provided him the opportunity to once again show Hollywood what they were ignoring.
Read more:”That is the fakest English accent”: Not Just Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh’s Atrocious Accent Forced Her to Apologize Despite Being Born in the UK
How Iron Man Director Jon Favreau Helped Robert Downey Jr.
Downey Jr. didn’t waste the chance to rejuvenate his career and showed his talents in movies likeKiss Kiss Bang BangandTropic Thunder. For the latter, he even earned an Oscar nomination.
Still, he wasn’t seen as the favorite for the most high-profile roles at the time, and when Marvel Studios started working on developingIron Man, he wasn’t initially considered for the part of Tony Stark. The film’s director, Jon Favreau had to actually fight and hear no several times before he managed to convince the decision makers to cast Downey Jr. He told 100.3 Jack FM (viaFlickering Myth):
“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 realized 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.”
Favreau’s gamble handsomely paid off and fans absolutely loved the actor as Iron Man in 2008, and the movie that started it all for the MCU made $585.8 million at the box office.
Read more:Not Robert Downey Jr, Another Avengers Star Saved Tom Holland’s MCU Career – Pushed Marvel to Hire Him
Vishal Singh
Articles Published :513
Vishal Singh is a Content Writer at FandomWire. Having spent more than half a decade in the digital media space, Vishal specializes in crafting engaging entertainment- and sports-focused stories. He graduated from university with an honors degree in English Literature.
