Some things are just cosmic. What if Robert Downey Jr never played Tony Stark/Iron Man because he was already committed to playing Lex Luthor?
Director McG revealed to The Playlist his vision for the Superman reboot that never was. Superman: Flyby was scripted by a younger J.J. Abrams.
“We had Robert Downey Jr. locked up to be Lex Luthor,” he says, “which I think would have been extraordinary. Ironically, we liked Henry Cavill a lot, but we hadn’t cast him yet. J.J. wrote the script, and we got that to a really good place in the end. But I’m to blame [for the film not happening].”
Scarlett Johansson and Selma Blair were reportedly in talks for Lois Lane. Johansson went on to play Black Widow in Iron Man and The Avengers.
Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns starring Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey became the next reboot instead. Singer didn’t direct X-Men 3 for that film.
Downey Jr went on to play another rich genius in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Marvel’s The Avengers and Iron Man 3.
Zach Snyder’s The Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill -minus Lex Luthor – opens July 2013.
Did things work out for the best? Or do you wish McG’s Superman with Robert Downey Jr. as Luthor had flown? And it’s impossible to imagine but who could have played Tony Stark?
Thanks to Total Film for the story.