Sam Rockwell was almost Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr is Iron Man, right? So right. But back when RDJ was officially a risk, a few other names were on Jon Favreau's list. One of them? Iron Man 2 villain Justin Hammer aka Sam Rockwell.

It's a movie industry tradition to wonder what could have been when it comes to casting iconic roles - it's well known that Tom Selleck and his moustache were almost Indiana Jones, and that Kurt Russell auditioned for Han Solo. Of course, a dozen different actors try out for almost every role, so it's nearly always moot, but hey, us movie writers bore easily.

In an interview with the LA Times, Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau revealed that Robert Downey Jr wasn't always a lock for Tony Stark, and that one name on the shortlist was Sam Rockwell - a man he ultimately cast as the antagonist in the sequel.

Sounds like shit-stirring to me. Fight, fight, fight! While I couldn't possibly disagree that Robert Downey Jr totally owns the role, the thought of crazy little Sam Rockwell in that exo-suit gets me all kind of excited. I'm giggling, you just can't tell through my typing.

As a member of the official Sam Rockwell Fan Club (we prefer the term 'Rockwellards'), I find it baffling that he's never really top-lined a major movie, and worse, the movies he does choose almost always get driven into the ground by the studios.

Need further reasoning? Consider it done.