Why The MCU Never Adapted Iron Man’s Dark Marvel Story ‘Demon in a Bottle’

While there’s no doubt that the now Oscar-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. could’ve tackled a side of Stark that never really made it to screens, it was the decision of the studio that the demon stayed in the bottle for the live-action iteration. Stark’s alcoholism was among the many tweaked details of “Iron Man 2.” While there is a scene that sees Tony intoxicated, it never became more than that because the studio got involved out of fears that Stark’s alcoholism would impact sales of toys and merchandise.
Most importantly of all, there was concern about the plot point impacting the film’s lead. Susan Downey, Robert Downey Jr.’s wife, was reportedly disapproving of integrating the comic book arc into the film and potentially impacting her husband’s health, as he himself had a well-known history of substance abuse. As a result, the idea was scrapped, with the film’s writer, Justin Theroux, admitting to UGO (via MTV), “It’s just a great, gritty storyline. It doesn’t transfer to film. We didn’t want to be the ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ version of ‘Iron Man 2.’ Even just a little bit of that can completely dominate the story.” Thankfully, cutting the well-known comic book thread from the film doesn’t impact the Marvel sequel or any of Stark’s future story. He is Iron Man until the end, and we love him dearly for it.
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