Robert Downey Jr. has been known around the world as Tony Star aka Iron Man. Portraying the role of Iron Man in the 2008 film, Downey Jr. made a comeback unprecedented in Hollywood and kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we know today.
But before Avengers: Infinity War threw all of the MCU against Thanos, a scene in Iron Man did a lot of damage to the MCU. Setting off fireworks for the explosion scene at the end of Iron Man cost Marvel Studios $180,000 and the attention of the LAPD!
When Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man Cost The MCU Dearly
Back in 2008, Marvel Studios did not need to spend an extra amount of money on special effects for Iron Man. Marvel Studios (being Marvel Studios) went overboard with the amount of effects used in the film and it cost them quite some headlines and spotlight.
During the final sequence of Iron Man when Robert Downey Jr. fights off against Jeff Bridges’ Iron Monger, he takes Obadiah Stane high into the atmosphere where it’s cold. When the Iron Mongers’ armor starts to freeze, he plummets to his death in the arc reactor and the whole building explodes. To depict the realism of the explosion, Marvel Studios set off fireworks but it got messy.
As per a Reddit post, the scene where Stark tricks Stane into icing his armor was written minutes before the WGA strike of 2007. The explosion scene at the end was shown by setting off fireworks which caused nearby lights to fry from the explosion and cost Marvel Studios $180,000. While frying all the nearby lights, this act also drew the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department but a major controversy was avoided.
The Mandarin Was Also Going To Be A Part of Iron Man
Related: Even Iron Man Robert Downey Jr Needed Hawkeye Star Jeremy Renner’s Help in Real Life
Iron Man 3 featured Ben Kingsley in the character of The Mandarin aka Trevor Slattery. Portraying the role of a great villain, the character of The Mandarin was originally going to be a secret villain in the third act of the 2008 film Iron Man.
But before the release of that film, Spider-Man 3 and X-Men 3 were already criticized for having too many villains which may have resulted in the average success of these movies. Hence the character of The Mandarin was removed from Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and they waited for him till 2013.
