Believe it or not, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was only 21 when he saw the first Iron Man in theaters back in 2008. And while that young fan is now one of the most successful directors in the world, he still remembers where he was when the MCU started, and he got to tell Jon Favreau all about those memories in a special roundtable discussion of Marvel directors that will be included with Avengers: Infinity War‘s digital home release. And we have your exclusive first look at that conversation right here.
Marvel had Coogler, Favreau, Joss Whedon, Peyton Reed, James Gunn, Taika Waititi, and the Russo Brothers sit down to talk about leading some of the biggest movies in the MCU ahead of the Mad Titan’s Infinity Stone hunt for a digital home release-only bonus feature for Infinity War. In this clip from the conversation, Coogler tells Favreau his memories of being a young film student seeing Iron Man on the big screen. Incredibly enough, Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. just so happened to have made a surprise appearance at the theater where Coogler was watching.
Now that the MCU has turned into a worldwide phenomenon where every movie is a huge hit, it doesn’t seem remarkable that Iron Man—still one of the best films in the franchise—was such a huge success. Yet that was far from a guarantee when it was released. Tony Stark wasn’t well-known with non-comic book readers, and Robert Downey Jr. had gone through a number of personal and legal issues previously. It was sort of like how some thought Black Panther wouldn’t play well with an international audience. You know, before it went on to become one of the 10 highest-grossest movies worldwide in history.
Not bad for a decade of movies.
Avengers: Infinity War‘s digital home release, which is the only place you can find the rest of this director round table, is available on July 31, and the Blu-Ray hits stores on August 14.
How do you think Iron Man influenced the rest of the MCU, including Black Panther? Tell us your own stories in the comments below about seeing Tony Stark for the first time.
Featured Image: Marvel
