20 actors who were almost in cast in Marvel movies

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 08: Director, writer, producer John Krasinski and Emily Blunt attend the World Premiere of "A Quiet Place Part II" presented by Paramount Pictures, at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on March 08, 2020 in New York, New York. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) /

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Sam Rockwell as Iron Man

We have another alternative to Iron Man. It seems like a lot of different actors were considered for the role over the years, and even some that weren’t really considered wanted to take the role. For example, Nicolas Cage wanted to play Tony Stark, but it doesn’t sound like he was ever seriously considered.

Jon Favreau did consider Sam Rockwell for the part, however. It turns out that after he met with Robert Downey Jr., he knew that no one else could play the role as well as he could, and we have to say that we agree.

As fans will remember, Rockwell ended up being cast as a villain in Iron Man 2. He played the role of Justin Hammer. He did great in this role, but we can’t see him bringing the charm and likeability to Stark that Downey did. Hammer is a wannabe Tony Stark, and we think Rockwell pulled that off. Downey brings this element to Tony that even when you kind of want to shake him, you still like him and realize Tony means well and cares about saving people.

We are glad that Sam Rockwell still got the chance to be in the MCU, even though losing out on the lead role probably wasn’t fun.

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