How Star Wars Saved The Iron Man Movie & The Entire MCU

Were it not for a behind-the-scenes book about "Star Wars," we may have never seen the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. At least, that's what "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau says in "The Art of Iron Man," a book chronicling the making of the 2008 blockbuster.

In it, Favreau opens up about the nerves he felt while finishing the movie, saying, "There was a moment in post-production when everything seemed very tenuous and bleak. We hadn't settled into a satisfying cut, and the effects weren't yet landing right. It is an awful period in the process when, after years of hard work, you are struck with the lingering fear that, in spite of unflagging dedication and meticulous planning, the whole thing might go pear-shaped."

But that's when Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige stepped in to offer a boost of confidence by way of the then-recently published "The Making of Star Wars," which details the many troubles George Lucas faced throughout the production of "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope." It was just what Favreau needed to restore his confidence in his own project. "It documented interviews and photos done behind the scenes long before the film was ever a hit. When all seemed to be going very wrong. But it didn't," he wrote.

Jon Favreau definitely had his work cut out for him with "Iron Man." After declaring bankruptcy in 1996, Marvel sold off the film rights to its most popular and profitable properties — including Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. So Marvel Studios had no choice but to turn to lesser-known heroes when crafting its cinematic universe. While Tony Stark had existed for decades on the pages of comic books, to the average moviegoer, he was an unknown quantity. And with Robert Downey Jr.'s famously troubled past, there was no telling how audiences would respond to him as a hero. Combined with the fact that the moment in "Iron Man" that shaped the future of the MCU was improvised, Favreau had cause to be nervous.

But those concerns were quickly and emphatically proven wrong, and the cinematic universe that Favreau planted the seeds for is now the highest-grossing franchise in box office history. A lot was riding on the success of "Iron Man," and the director was seemingly keenly aware of this. Now that Favreau has gone on to create "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" for Disney+, however, it seems only appropriate that it was a "Star Wars" book that helped him in crafting the early MCU.