Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau Celebrate 15th Anniversary of “Iron Man” in New Video

A new video shared by Marvel sees Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Iron Man director Jon Favreau sitting down to discuss the making of the film 15 years after is kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

  • In the video, Feige and Favreau discuss the birth of Marvel studios, after the popularity of films like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films and the early entries in the X-Men franchise.
  • Favreau admits Iron Man was not his favorite character prior to the making of the film and that he gravitated more towards characters like the Hulk and Spider-Man.
  • They also talk about “the Marvel formula,” which blends action and comedy and Favreau explains that Feige would look for them to get a cheer from the audience after big action moments but the director didn’t know how to do that. What he did know, was how to get a laugh.
  • Feige also tells a story about how he, Favreau, Robert Downey Jr. and others went around to various theaters on opening night to introduce the film. He says years later, that eventual Black Panther director Ryan Coogler told him he was in one of those theaters.
  • Favreau also brings up that prior to ever getting the role as Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr. had been in contact with Kevin Feige and the creative team on Fantastic Four for the role of Doctor Doom.
  • Finally, the pair also discusses the first ever MCU post-credits scene, which of course introduced Nick Fury and a much bigger universe.
  • They explain that the idea to put that scene after the credits was to get Marvel fans excited without alienating their more casual audience.
  • Watch the conversation between Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau below:

Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."