Timothy Olyphant Lost Out On Playing Marvel’s Best Avenger
Timothy Olyphant has had a remarkable career after starring in his own FX TV series and playing a villain against Bruce Willis, among many other projects. However, there is one role that he lost out on after he auditioned to play Tony Stark/Iron Man in Jon Favreau’s MCU film. The actor recently opened up about the auditioning experience (and his return as Raylon Givens in Justified: City Primeval) while on The Playlist’s podcast Bingeworthy.
Timothy Olyphant auditoned for Tony Stark, a role that went to Robert Downey Jr. and reshaped movies for a generation, but we’ll take Olyphant as Raylan Givens instead.
Even though Timothy Olyphant auditioned for Iron Man, the role of the Avengers superhero ended up going to Robert Downey Jr., who donned the red mechanical suit for 11 years. Though we feel confident that Timothy Olyphant would have still made a great Iron Man, fans probably would have missed the pompous, sarcastic attitude that Robert Downey Jr. brought to the role.
Looking back on the experience, Timothy Olyphant doesn’t have any resentment or lose sleep, wondering what could have been. After all, he still went on to have a wonderful career without making an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—at least not yet. Even though he did not get the role of Iron Man, there was a silver lining to the experience.
During the casting call, Timothy Olyphant got to meet director/actor Jon Favreau, and years later the Iron Man director cast him as Cobb Vanth in the Star Wars hit TV show The Mandalorian. His character arose from being a slave to become The Marshal, a sheriff of Mos Pelgo on the planet Tatooine. His character has also appeared in The Book of Boba Fett.
During the casting call, Timothy Olyphant got to meet director/actor Jon Favreau, and years later the Iron Man director cast him as Cobb Vanth in the Star Wars hit TV show The Mandalorian.
So even though Timothy Olyphant did not land the role of Iron Man, he still got to join the Star Wars franchise thanks to Jon Favreau. The Justified star shared that he respects the director and does not hold any ill will towards him over the missed opportunity. In fact, as he said on the podcast, he thinks that Jon Favreau is “ just a good dude.”
Looking back on the casting process, Timothy Olyphant remembers it fondly and even found the process enjoyable. And after Jon Favreau hired him for The Mandalorian, he doesn’t feel that the director owes him anything.
It may come as a surprise, but Timothy Olyphant and Robert Downey Jr. were not the only actors to audition for the role of Iron Man. In fact, several other big-name actors auditioned for the role, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman, and Sam Rockwell. Obviously, none of them made the cut either.
Besides Timothy Olyphant, other stars that auditioned for Iron Man include Hugh Jackman, and the villain of the sequel, Sam Rockwell.
After the death of Iron Man in Avengers: End Game, Robert Downey Jr. sunset his role as the superhero, saying goodbye to one of his most iconic roles. Though anything is possible in Hollywood, we could see a return of Iron Man in an upcoming Avengers film or in a new, rebooted series where the torch is passed on to someone new. At 55-years-old, Timothy Olyphant may not be the top pick, but there are plenty of other actors who could take on the role.
