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Wich2 wrote:

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Bingo, Grant! And my argument is:

Instead of going for the Single or Double of -

"Well sure, (Michael Keaton/Tom Cruise/Robert Downey/etc.) looks wrong - but he does his best!"

Why not at least aim for the out-of-the-park Homerun of -

"Wow, (Arthur Wontner/Chris Reeve/Lynda Carter) not only does their best - they also look perfect!"

Too much work, I guess; or too unhiply square...

-Craig

In the case of Robert Downey, Jr., I cut him some slack as he does have some facial resemblance with a beard and goatee to the traditional rendering of Tony Stark. Also, Tony Stark relies more on his armor and technological skills than, for example, Bruce Wayne, to do what he does, not on hand to hand combat or gymnastics. So having someone more wiry than weightlifter stands as a bit more acceptable for Stark. (One nit for many people about Christian Bale's version of Bruce Wayne has to do with them ignoring his study of criminology and science. By contrast, in the first Keaton film, his knowledge of chemistry enabled him to solve the binary poison code before the authorities.)

Also, they had long established Tony Stark as a captain of industry regularly involved with his company, again in contrast to Bruce Wayne. The whole Lucius Fox thing did not start till the 1970's; before then, the whole wealth thing just represented a convention that went back as far as the pulps (e.g. Richard Wentworth, the Spider), a plot device to allow the protagonist not to have to worry about answering to a 9-5 job and having the funding to buy weapons and paraphenalia, which someone without metahuman powers would need. (I would have to check with John Wells, but I think that before the 1970's they largely treated Wayne as living off of a trust fund.) With Stark though, he actively involved himself with his company from the beginning. So, having someone who resembles more of a business administrator play Stark works well.

That said, if they had wanted to emphasize Tony Stark cocktail event goer, then Timoty Dalton in 1987 would have fit well, except for the accent. (I thought Robert Hayes did pretty well in the 1990's Iron Man animated series.)