THE MCU.
Iron Man (2008)
>Several directors turned down the movie because they believed it'd flop before Jon Favreau was hired. Louis Leterrier was also interested, and subsequently directed THE INCREDIBLE HULK.
>Sam Rockwell and Clive Owen auditioned for Tony Stark before Robert Downey Jr. was cast.
>Rachel McAdams was approached for Pepper Potts before Gwyneth Paltrow was cast.
>Early drafts featured the Mandarin as a corrupt Chinese businessman who led the 10 Rings and created the Crimson Dynamo armor to fight Iron Man, before Jon Favreau decided to build up to the character.
>Early drafts featured Obadiah Stane only as Stark's estranged mentor, and his descent into villainy would be explored over several movies.
>In early drafts, Stark would fight Stane in the prototype Mark IV armor, which includes a shoulder-mounted gattling gun and would later become the War Machine armor.
>In early drafts, Stark would throw Stane into a vat of acid rather than have him caught in an explosion. When the armor is retrieved, Stane's body is gone, indicating he might have survived.
>The movie was filmed mostly without a script, with actors ad-libbing most of their lines based on a production guideline. Production was so chaotic that both the cast and the producers expected the movie to be a disaster until test-screenings reported surprisingly positive audience reception.