some pretty interesting stuff. Timothy Olyphant and RDJ were the finalists for Tony Stark. RDJ was the only person Feige was interested in. Had to have him, but RDJ needed liability insurance to do the movie since he'd had his issues. Feige couldn't convince the brass to agree. Finally he asked both actors to do a screen test, and RDJ just blew everyone out of the water with his preparation and professionalism. RDJ's driver/friend said he'd prepped and prepped for it. Once RDJ signed on, Paltrow and Bridges wanted in too.

Mark Ruffalo was originally cast as Hulk, and Letterier really wanted him, but financers wanted a bigger name, and kept pushing for Edward Norton. Norton finally got the part, and Letterier said it changed the whole film and was not happy about it.

Up until a few weeks before shooting Iron Man, the plan was to have The Mandarin be the villain, but the team couldn't crack the script. They were planning on having the Mandarin own the building next to Stark Enterprises and tunneling underneath it to steal Stark's tech, but it seemed too stupid. Finally, Favreau suggested Obadiah Stane being the villain and stealing the tech, and things clicked after that.