Iron Man 2 introduced the famous Marvel comics villain Justin Hammer in the MCU. Interestingly, a DC villain helped Sam Rockwell in pulling off the character in the 2010 movie. It was Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor who helped Rockwell in preparing for the MCU role. Hackman’s Lex Luthor was among the set of iconic on-screen villains who helped The Green Mile actor to play Hammer.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man kickstarted the MCU in 2008. The grand success of the first movie led the franchise to proceed with a sequel in 2010. Even though the sequel wasn’t as praised as the first movie, it was also a hit. Iron Man 2 pitched Tony Stark against Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer and both Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell gained appreciation for their roles.
How did Gene Hackman inspire Sam Rockwell in Iron Man 2?
Gene Hackman‘s Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman is considered to be one of the best superhero movie antagonists. He delivered an iconic performance in the Christopher Reeve movie. The role has inspired many actors over the years. Sam Rockwell was also one of them as he was inspired by names like Hackman, George C. Scott, and Bill Murray to prepare for the role in Iron Man 2.
According to an interview with CBR, Sam Rockwell used to watch a lot of movies to prepare for his role in the movie. During the time he didn’t know in which way his character was going and sought inspiration from a wide range of different iconic movie villains.
“I watched a lot of different stuff. I watched Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, George C. Scott in ‘The Hustler’, I watched Bill Murray in ‘Kingpin’. I was trying to get a lot of different things to incorporate. I did some research on the guns. I learned how to handle and talk about the guns. That was really all I had to work on.”
Being a very good friend to the writer of the movie Justin Theroux and as director Jon Favreau was his old collaborator, Rockwell accepted the role without even reading the script. It was also revealed that he didn’t know anything about the character of Hammer before working on the film. However, the character in the movie also had some differences from the character in the comics.
Also Read: Sam Rockwell Willing to Return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Sam Rockwell was initially the choice for Tony Stark
The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was one of the most controversial decisions in the MCU. The Iron Man fame had a troubled past and was also involved in legal troubles that didn’t lead his MCU casting to be smooth. Many actors were thought for the role of Tony Stark before RDJ turned into a pop culture icon.
Surprisingly, when the 2008 movie was being made, Sam Rockwell was also one of the initial choices for the role of Tony Stark. Speaking to the AV Club, the Charlie’s Angels actor said:
“At one point, Jon had called me about possibility screen-testing for the part of Tony Stark in Iron Man. And whatever happened, I think I was out of the running. Robert [Downey Jr.] just killed it, you know, and I never heard anything after that. So in a way, I think Jon was basically saying, ‘This is your chance to be Tony Stark. This will be your version of Tony Stark.'”
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man casting is considered one of the best and the actor turned himself into a legend with that role. Although we lost our beloved Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, as superhero fans, we can never lose hope to spot a glimpse of RDJ once again someday in the MCU.
The Iron Man movies can be streamed on Disney+.
