Iron Man Prior IRON MAN scripts

[The Guard]

So I just finished reading the Gough-Millar-Hayter script for IRON MAN. Definitely a heck of a different concept. Favreau's version was far more faithful (the POW/Iron Monger stuff helps a lot there) and humorous, but this other script was very intelligently written and rather large in scale comparatively. Contrary to the real movie, in this script, Iron Man, who is a bit younger, ends up fighting an entire army of iron terrorist warriors bent on taking over the United States, and dealing with tanks, drone ships, etc. Crazy stuff. James Rhodes is much better written in the other script as well. There is no Pepper Potts, but Agent Cabe is in the story as the love interest/friend. The villain is Tony's father Howard Stark, who ends up becoming War Machine to battle his son, in a scene similar to the one played out on film with Iron Monger. Justin Hammer plays as sort of a secondary villain. The threat plays a lot better overall in the Hayter revised script. It just seems more impactful, and there's a lot of "corporate takeover/industrial espionage" going on. No S.H.I.E.L.D, I'm afraid. There are a lot more "futuristic" elements to the script, futuristic vehicles, inventions, etc.

The characterization is spot on, but the older script's Stark is a tad more serious, and maybe even a little smarter. He has help from a much more intelligent Rhodes in putting together the Iron Man armor. There is no Mark I, not in the same sense the comic books and Favreu film has.

All in all, I still like Favreau's version better, but the script had some really great ideas. The end, in particular, is fantastic, with Tony about to head into a board meeting, and Rhodes revealing the extent of the double-dealing in his company, and Tony nixing the board meeting to go clean up the world.

 

[Chewy]

The villain is Tony's father Howard Stark, who ends up becoming War Machine to battle his son

Was this script written before or after Hulk 03?

 

[The Guard]

After. I'm really not sure where the idea came from, as I don't recall Howard Stark ever being that villanous in the comics. It actually works rather well on paper, and their relationship and issues with each other are developed to a believeable point.

 

[Clark Kent]

After. I'm really not sure where the idea came from, as I don't recall Howard Stark ever being that villanous in the comics. It actually works rather well on paper, and their relationship and issues with each other are developed to a believeable point.

*DELETED*

 

[TheVileOne]

My whole problem with these scripts was Howard Stark as the villain. The thing I liked the most was that when Favreau came onto the project, he said they threw all those drafts out and that Howard Stark would not be the villain.

The whole point was that Howard Star was for all intents an honorable man, while Tony was struggling with that at times.

Howard Stark as a villain is worse than Sandman shooting Uncle Ben. And worse than Otto Octavius being a nice guy before Dr. Octopus.

The younger Stark is probably why the hack and former Iron man producer named Don Murphy wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role when it was still at New Line Cinema.

 

[Figs]

My whole problem with these scripts was Howard Stark as the villain. The thing I liked the most was that when Favreau came onto the project, he said they threw all those drafts out and that Howard Stark would not be the villain.

The whole point was that Howard Star was for all intents an honorable man, while Tony was struggling with that at times.

Howard Stark as a villain is worse than Sandman shooting Uncle Ben. And worse than Otto Octavius being a nice guy before Dr. Octopus.

Same here. Aside from those earlier scripts having grander action scenes...the rest sucks.

I'm so glad Favreau threw all those out.

What the hell is with making Howard Stark the villain??

That seemed like a move they would have pulled if another studio had control over the project...needless changes to the source material just for the hell of it.

 

[TheVileOne]

I think part of it was Nick Cassavettes when he was developing it. The current Cassavettes being the son of the better director and actor John Cassavettes. So he's got some father issues, and I suppose Iron Man would've been his way of addressing it on film. Rumor has it he supposedly really liked the father/son take because of you know.

 

[Clark Kent]

Don Murphy wanted Leonardo DiCaprio

Oh God, just because he played Howard Hughes?

Nick Cassavettes

What an AHole.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

Thank God for Favreau.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Howard Stark as War Machine would've been terrible.

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah, just because of Howard Hughes.

 

[Raiden]

I'm glad Favearu got IM and developed into the film that it is right now. Sounds like the prior script got big action and big explosion, but the rest sucks. And Howard Stark as the villain? Using War Machine against his son? That just sounds so far-fetch.

 

[echostation]

From what I understand of Harry's script review of Tim Mcanlies script before the Millar-Gough one, the action in that was far superior to what we got in this film and in the other scripts

like it's GIGANTIC and it has Shield and Nick Fury is given quite a prominent role along with Justin Hammer... Harry thought it was the best script so far for Iron Man

It's a shame we didn't get to see it in terms of action, him battling multiple tanks, planes and the works...

as much as I love this film... 165 million bucks only got us one tank and two jets which he didn't even really fight... sort of not good

 

[Clark Kent]

Yeah, just because of Howard Hughes.

Jesus ...

 

[Raiden]

From what I understand of Harry's script review of Tim Mcanlies script before the Millar-Gough one, the action in that was far superior to what we got in this film and in the other scripts

like it's GIGANTIC and it has Shield and Nick Fury is given quite a prominent role along with Justin Hammer... Harry thought it was the best script so far for Iron Man

It's a shame we didn't get to see it in terms of action, him battling multiple tanks, planes and the works...

as much as I love this film... 165 million bucks only got us one tank and two jets which he didn't even really fight... sort of not good

You forgot about the fight against Iron Monger at the end. That accounts for alot of special effects you know.

 

[Chris B]

My understanding has always been that the Howard Stark idea was Hayter's idea, and that the actual Gough-Millar draft had the Mandarin as the main villain, presented as an Indonesian terrorist.

But I've always been curious to know more about Tim McCanlies' script. I remember reading the review on AICN years ago, and it sounded interesting at the time.

 

[Figs]

You forgot about the fight against Iron Monger at the end. That accounts for alot of special effects you know.

Not to mention all the testing/creating the suit scenes. Since this was an origin film...the sequel should be more balls to the wall with the action.

 

[The Guard]

No, the rest didn't "suck". The rest was fantastic. Only Howard Stark being the villain wasn't really all that faithful to the base mythology (that and the lack of the POW angle), but even then, it was pulled off quite well.

 

[Raiden]

Seriously, I don't think if they had tried the wall-to-wall action, instead of the nice balance between action, story, and performance we have now, IM would've grosses as much as it is now. Sure, IM fighting tanks, fighters, and his dad inside the WM suit will drive fanboys into a frenzy, but it'd have little substance to offer for casual moviegoers. IM's continued success has alot to do with the fact that it has appeal across the demographics, from people who aren't interested or familiar with IM.

 

[Saint]

I'm mostly intrigued by the grander global implications of Iron Man as a soldier who tackles a different sort of conflict (this is not about action, but merely the sort of threats Iron Man faces being less supervillainous and more political, militaristic, and technological). And, while in the end I didn't have a problem with the amount of humour in Iron Man, I always appreciate more serious material. I'd like the see the Iron man sequel evolve in these directions.

Having loved Iron Man, though, I'm inclined to say I wouldn't trade the film we got for the film described, but I'd have to see/read it in order to make a real judgement. The lack of the POW aspect is a big turn-off, and that you didn't mention anything of Tony's "eye-opening" or how it happened makes me wary, since this is probably the most important part of the film, and was handled well in Iron Man.

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah seriously. This movie pretty universally pleased critics, filmgoers, and fans alike. So its hard to complain about not enough tanks, jets, etc.

It's like complaining about the amount of action in the Spider-man movies.

Also just FYI. A lot of early script drafts tend to have bigger, more ambitious action sequences then what actually get produced. That's why a lot of scripts have to be whittled down some for shooting purposes.

Just saying, this is the nature of the business. If a lot of those first drafts were shot as is, they would cost a hell of a lot more than whatever Iron Man cost.

A documentary about the Alien franchise was made a while back, it aired on cable. One of the producers talked about a script draft for Alien 3 having multiple power loader suits fighting alien queens. He said all that was good, but it would've basically cost like $300 million to produce. Sometimes early script drafts are not cost effective for a studio.

And usually its in the sequel you see more of the action anyway. So part of it is patience.

Spider-man 3 was definitely not short on action at all, but it was still a flawed movie.

 

[flickchick85]

^Agreed.

The movie described by the OP sounds like it would have cost over $200 easily, and Marvel is a fledgling independent studio. They simply couldn't do that kind of thing at this juncture. However, barring TIH being a spectacular bomb, they could probably afford to do it for the sequel.

 

[The Guard]

Tony's eye opening was there, but it was handled a lot more gradually, as he slowly uncovers what's going on inside his company with the weapons, etc. It's not fully realized until the very end of the script.

And it's not so much wall to wall action as it was just larger in scale when there was action. And I'm sure that that's part of the reason it wasn't produced, but it was still really, really cool. Besides, the script wasn't going to be produced by Marvel at that point.

 

[Clark Kent]

IM fighting tanks, fighters, and his dad inside the WM suit will drive fanboys into a frenzy

Well, Iron Man fighting tanks and fighters, sure, but his dad as the villain inside the War Machine suit would have seriously annoyed a lot of the fans, wouldn't it? Regarding your avvy, why did they have to change "Good luck keepin' up." to the corny "Keep the skies clear."?

 

[Raiden]

Tony's eye opening was there, but it was handled a lot more gradually, as he slowly uncovers what's going on inside his company with the weapons, etc. It's not fully realized until the very end of the script.

And it's not so much wall to wall action as it was just larger in scale when there was action. And I'm sure that that's part of the reason it wasn't produced, but it was still really, really cool. Besides, the script wasn't going to be produced by Marvel at that point.

Perhaps with the success of IM, IM2 will be able to afford a large-scale battle sequence like the ones from the old script. However, I think IM will be better served to pay attention to the relationship between the lead characters, because why waste talents like RDJ and Paltrow and just have nothing but big action scenes? A good balance between the two is the key to success.