The charismatic actor who brought Tony Stark to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Robert Downey Jr., once shared his frank opinions on the making of Iron Man 2. The actor, who was listed by Forbes as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor from 2013 to 2015, claimed he thought the Iron Man sequel was a bit risky.

Despite receiving high marks from critics for its action sequences and performances, Jon Favreau’s 2010 film received a lower score than its first film.

After Iron Man became a hit, the studio rushed to make a sequel, which, in the words of critics, resulted in “substituted noise, confusion, multiple villains, irrelevant stunts, and misguided story lines.”
Robert Downey Jr.
Even the Sherlock Holmes actor expressed his concerns about the film.

Iron Man 2 Was Considered ‘Risky’ By Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. has given a number of outstanding performances throughout his acting career. But among the younger generation and Marvel fans worldwide, he is best known as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

Thus, the success of Iron Man seemed to prompt the studio to hastily come up with a sequel.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Prior to the film’s release, Downey Jr. seemed to have had some idea that the film might be a little risky. The actor, 58, said Iron Man 2 was far too artistic for a major genre film in an interview with Collider in 2009:
“Everything has been improved. Everything is ergonomic and the story is incredibly risky and artistic for a big genre movie … The set pieces have to do with things that aren’t your typical bad guy conflict.”
The actor also believed that Tony Stark’s character’s motivations served as the foundation for the narrative, which could be both “complex and hilarious”:
“The relationships are very complex and hilarious. The motivations Tony has and why he turns around and does things has completely to do with his own internal processes and it really is, I think, as much as we tried to in the first one really see behind the façade of this kind of storytelling … We’re kind of trying to tell a story about how a dysfunctional family saves life on Earth as we know it.”
Robert Downey Jr.
Downey Jr. further described the experience of filming as “daunting” because he had never been in a sequel before:
“I’ve never been in a sequel and it’s very daunting, because I feel the expectation of the millions of people who watched it and enjoyed it and told me that it was a little different than your usual genre picture and that they expected us to not screw it up. So I actually have taken ‘Iron Man 2’ probably more seriously than any movie I’ve ever done, which is appropriately ridiculous for Hollywood.”

Robert Downey Jr. Initially Went In For A Different Marvel Role?

As difficult as it may be to believe now, it seems that  Robert Downey Jr. was originally intended to play a very different role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Even though he first met with studio executives to discuss the possibility of playing other comic book characters, the Iron Man actor was always going to be a part of the larger Marvel family.
Kevin Feige
In an interview with Marvel CEO, Kevin Feige in May to celebrate Iron Man’s 15th anniversary, director Jon Favreau disclosed the following:
“I remember that Robert had come in for a general on it – and I remember you had all met with him already for like Doctor Doom or something on another project. I think he had come through like maybe Fantastic Four? So everybody sort of knew who he was, and I remember sitting down with the guy, and I was like ‘Geez he’s just got it – he’s got that spark in him, in his eye and he’s ready.’”
Due to Downey Jr.’s “spark”, the studio decided he was the ideal choice to play Iron Man, giving him the believed role in the 2008 film that served as the MCU’s official debut.
Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in a still from Iron Man 2
The actor’s last appearance was as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which also starred Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Cillian Murphy.

All Iron Man films are streaming on Disney Plus.

Source- Collider