It goes without saying that Robert Downey is the definitive live-action version of Iron Man and it's far from an exaggeration to say that there's no other actor fit to portray the now-legendary Marvel role. However, RDJ almost played a different character in the Marvel film franchise long before the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and according to his good friend and colleague Jon Favreau, we almost didn't see him play the role of Tony Stark in the billion-dollar franchise.
Turns out, RDJ has long been on Marvel's radar and if things went according to plan, we would've seen him wreak havoc instead of saving the universe. The comic book giant recently released The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (via The Direct), a book that chronicles the creation of arguably the biggest film franchise today.
In the said book, the Iron Man director revealed that Downey was actually in talks with the studio to play Doctor Doom. Favreau didn't go into detail about the what-would-have-been casting but it's safe to assume that it was for the first two Fantastic Four films. He said: "Marvel had already met with [Robert Downey Jr.] before, I think, to play Doctor Doom."
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Thankfully, RDJ averted disaster and wasn't cast in the role. Of course, we all know how the mid-2000s Fantastic Four films turned out and if anything, it would've tarnished his career. Interestingly, the said films also featured Chris Evans as Human Torch so could you imagine if RDJ actually landed the Doctor Doom role?
Meanwhile, speaking of Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four reboot is currently in development and is said to close out Phase Four.