Smallville and Wednesday creators Al Gough and Miles Millar have revealed that they worked on an Iron Man script for Marvel Studios years before Robert Downey Jr. suited up as the Armored Avenger in Jon Favreau's 2008 movie.
Talking to Josh Horowitz, the filmmakers reflected on their time working on the version of Iron Man that Marvel Studios was developing in the mid-2000s. They also confirmed that this was the iteration that Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise was circling.
"[Marvel Studios founder] Avi Arad had come to us after [we wrote the story on] Spider-Man 2," Gough explained, prompting Millar to add, "After Spider-Man 2, they say, 'guys, we've got another crown jewel – which is Iron Man."
Noting that they visited Marvel Studios' modest offices in Arad's Toy Biz company, Gough said, "To be honest with you, I hadn't heard of Iron Man. Avi said, 'Perfect. Here's what he is: he's a billionaire who sells weapons, he's got an alcohol problem. There was an accident, now he's trying to make it work, make it better."
He continued, "So, we did a draft, several drafts. We worked on that for probably a year. We went in with Kevin [Feige] and Avi, and I guess [New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye] had read it. It's an interesting thing with generations trying to still connect with what a superhero is."
"He got all tied up that Iron Man could fly, because Superman could fly," Gough said of the New Line boss who held the rights to Iron Man at the time. "We all sort of walked out of the meeting like, 'We don't think this is going to happen here.'"
Millar then confirmed that Cruise was the top choice to play Tony Stark, noting that the actor was seriously mulling over his first superhero role. "They wanted Tom Cruise, and I think Cruise was interested."
It's always interesting to think about what might have been, but it's hard to shake the feeling that this would have ended up being another of those mediocre mid-2000s comic book movies, given where VFX were at the time and some obvious reluctance on Shaye's part.
Rumours persist that Cruise could suit up as Iron Man in one of the next Avengers movies, with the prevailing theory being that he'll be revealed as Earth 838's villainous Tony Stark (who created the Ultron sentries that apprehended Doctor Strange). There was chatter about Marvel Studios wanting the actor to shoot a Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cameo, with the pandemic supposedly derailing those plans.
You can hear more from Gough and Millar in the player below.