Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the creators behind "Smallville" and "Wednesday," recently revealed they penned an "Iron Man" script for Marvel Studios before Robert Downey Jr. donned the suit, with Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise as their top choice for the lead.
During an interview with host Josh Horowitz, the duo recounted their experience developing "Iron Man" for Marvel. Gough stated that after they completed the script for "Spider-Man 2," then-Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad approached them, seeing "Iron Man" as "another jewel in the crown."
He recalled not even being familiar with the character at the time, with Arad briefly describing him as: "He's a billionaire who sells weapons, has a drinking problem, and after an accident, tries to make things better."
Gough and Millar spent about a year writing multiple drafts of the script, holding numerous meetings with Kevin Feige and Arad. However, Robert Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema, which held the "Iron Man" rights at the time, expressed doubts about the character's ability to fly, even comparing him to Superman. Gough admitted that after the meeting, everyone realized "this movie probably wouldn't happen here."
Millar confirmed that Tom Cruise was the top choice at the time and was quite interested in taking on his first superhero role. Despite this, the duo also believed that given the visual effects standards and production attitudes of that era, this version could have easily become another mediocre comic book adaptation.
Of course, rumors of Cruise playing Iron Man persist to this day, with speculation that he might appear as an antagonistic version of Tony Stark from Earth-838 in a future "Avengers" installment. It's also rumored that Marvel had hoped for him to cameo in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but plans ultimately fell through due to the pandemic.