Jeff Bridges has shared what it was like making the original Iron Man film. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Bridges talked about when Marvel Studios scrapped the original script on the first day of filming.
Bridges played Obadiah Stane in the film. Originally presented as a mentor to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), it is revealed that he is the one who planned Tony's kidnapping by the Ten Rings, so that he could take over as the head of Stark Industries. He later goes on to create his own suit and becomes Iron Monger. Iron Man was directed by Jon Favreau and released in 2008, and was also the first film to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "It was Marvel's first adventure into making movies," said Bridges. "It was so lucky to have Jon there and [Robert] Downey, because both of them are terrific improvisers, and we spent a couple of weeks working together on the script and rehearsing together, because we didn't like the original script and we thought, 'Oh year, we fixed this, fixed that.'"
"Then came the first day of shooting, and Marvel kind of threw out our script that we had been working on, and said 'No, that's no good. It's got to be this and that," said Bridges. "And so there was a lot of confusion about what our script was, what we were gonna say. We'd spend hours in one of our trailers going over lines and exploring how we were going to do it." Bridges also talked about how he approached the situation. "I made a slight adjustment in my brain that was, 'Jeff, just relax. You're making a $200 million student film. Just relax and have fun." Bridges went on to say that he enjoyed working on the film, especially with Downey and Favreau.
Although Obadiah Stane's story would end at the end of the first Iron Man, Tony Stark's would continue for another 11 years. The same year as Iron Man, Tony appeared at the end of Marvel Studios' next film The Incredible Hulk, to tell General Ross (William Hurt), about a team that was being put together. Downey would continue to reprise the role in Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, all four Avengers films, Captain America: Civil War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Iron Man's story came to an end when he sacrificed his life to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) at the end of 2019's Avengers: Endgame. Tony Stark's legacy also weighed on Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, who had been mentored by Stark for several films. Although Stark is dead in the MCU, alternate versions of the character appeared in the Disney+ animated series What If...?, voiced by Mick Wingert. An alternate version of Stane appeared in the series' sixth episode "What If... Kilmonger Rescued Tony Stark?", voiced by Kiff VandenHeuvel.
The original Iron Man, as well as most films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are currently available to stream on Disney+. In the meantime, check out Bridges' full interview with Vanity Fair below: