It's hard to imagine what the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have been without Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk both came out in 2008, but it was the former that was the critical and commercial hit needed to establish the franchise, and a lot of that was down to RDJ.
However, it turns out lots of people had cold feet about casting him due to his past substance abuse, which led to him getting fired from Ally McBeal and made it hard for him to get insurance.
In an Avengers: Endgame featurette on Disney+, Marvel casting director Sarah Finn explained that "Robert Downey Jr at that point in his career wasn't necessarily a 'family-friendly' name" and didn't have everyone's approval to come on-board at first.
Related: Endgame's deleted Katherine Langford scene released on Disney+
"There were concerns about, was he an action hero? Was he a name that would promote a family movie? Jon (Favreau) was in love with the idea of Downey playing the part and we all felt so sure about him on a creative level...
"Because he wasn't instantly a slam-dunk approval, as we were reading other people and looking at it, I suggested we had screen tests and let the best person win."
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Related: Marvel's Robert Downey Jr and DC's Jason Momoa joining forces in very unexpected way
Obviously, the casting paid off, with the actor being up for Oscar consideration for his performance in Endgame.
Interestingly, substance abuse and addiction was an issue explored in Iron Man 2 (but just don't ask RDJ about it in an interview).
Avengers: Endgame is out now on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D, 4K and digital download.
Disney+ Watch the MCU on Disney+
Abrams Books The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry
Marvel Studios Marvel Phase 1-3 complete set Blu-ray
![Avengers: Endgame 4K Includes Bonus Disk [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1565171628-51DyZnkLD7L.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Avengers: Endgame 4K Includes Bonus Disk [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]")
Disney/Marvel Studios Avengers: Endgame 4K Includes Bonus Disk [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]
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Disney/Marvel Studios Avengers: 1-4 Complete Blu-ray Boxset Includes Bonus Disk [2019] [Region Free]
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
