MCU Commentary Rewatch: Iron Man
Today I’m posting up my 2021 MCU Commentary rewatch. I chose to watch the films in release order, rather than my preferred chronology order.
I also stayed “pure” with these, not including Ang Lee’s HULK or the GHOST RIDER films, which are all technically canon. INCREDIBLE HULK is in no problem.
First up, 2008’s IRON MAN.
(Cover art by Matt Ferguson, for the Blu Ray release. https://www.cakesandcomics.com/)
Amusingly enough, IRON MAN has no commentary track on either my Blu-ray or dvd release. But I may have to watch it anyway to get into the proper mode for INCREDIBLE HULK, which may also involve bourbon.
However, there was an unoffical live commentary delivered by RDJ and Jon Favreau at a live event, link in the comments. So I’m back on track!
http://www.mediafire.com/…/Iron_Man_Live…/file
Things I learned from the commentary track:
1. The movie was originally supposed to end with the post-credits scene, but one of the editors moved it back. The studio thought it was insane, and fought Favreau on it. (The studio won out on the next movie in the series, and placed the stinger scene in INCREDIBLE HULK >before< the credits.)
The existence of the scene leaked almost immediately, and Marvel was so upset that the premiere showing had it removed entirely.
It went out with the “real” cut. When they (Marvel) made an extra 10 Million dollars on repeat viewings, all dissenting viewpoints were silenced.
2. During the live watch commentary track, the audience was as yet unaware that a sequel was greenlit. The response was thunderous.
3. I more or less knew this, but RDJ was Favreau’s first and only choice for the part. But he was uninsurable, and most producers wanted nothing to do with him because of past misdeeds.
So Favreau had to call him up and let him know. RDJ understood, but said “Please allow me the option to hold out hope for an impossible thing.”
Favreau fired the last shot in his quiver, and forced the studio execs to let RDJ do a scene reading. He absolutely nailed it, and no other actor who read for the part even came close.
23 movies (with 11 more in the pipe) and 12 television series (+12 more in production) later, it seems like he was a good fit for the part…