Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It’s the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie was directed by Jon Favreau, with a screenplay by the writing teams of Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and fascinating facts about Iron Man.

1. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, alongside Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub and Gwyneth Paltrow.

2. In Iron Man, Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer, buildings a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man.

3. The movie was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $585 million and garnering critical acclaim.

4. The American Film Institute selected Iron Man as one of the ten best movies of the year.

5. The movie was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

6. Paul Bettany has never seen the movie, and is unfamiliar with the plot. He said J.A.R.V.I.S. was the easiest job ever, and it was almost like a robbery, since he only worked for two hours, got paid a lot of money, then went on vacation with his wife.

7. Agent Phil Coulson, played by Clark Gregg, was originally a much smaller part. In fact, the character at first was only called “Agent,” and as filming went on, and it became apparent with Clark Gregg’s chemistry with all the other cast members, they added more and more scenes.

8. To avoid spoilers about the final press conference, the extras were told that it was a dream sequence.

9. Iron Man is Marvel Studios’ first self-financed movie.

10. Tony Stark’s computer system is called J.A.R.V.I.S., which stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. This is a tribute to Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark’s butler. He was changed to an artificial intelligence to avoid comparisons to Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth.

11. The montage of Tony Stark’s life story was created by Editor Kyle Cooper, and contains real-life photos of a young Robert Downey Jr., and his father, Robert Downey Sr.

12. To prepare for his role as Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape.

13. Jon Favreau shot the movie in California, because he felt that too many superhero movies were set on the East Coast, especially New York City.

14. The roadster, on which Tony Stark was working, is owned by Director Jon Favreau.

15. According to Paul Bettany, he didn’t know on which movie he was working. He merely did the job as a favor for Jon Favreau, with whom he worked in Wimbledon.

16. It took roughly 450 separate pieces to make the Iron Man suit.

17. Iron Man is the last movie that Special Effects Expert Stan Winston completed before his death.

18. Four hundred extras were meant to be filmed standing at Tony Stark’s press conference, but Robert Downey Jr. suggested they ought to sit down, as that would be more realistic and comfortable.

19. Jeff Bridges said that he felt really uncomfortable not having a script or rehearsals, since he’s normally very prepared. However, realizing that it was like he was in a, “$200 million dollar student film,” took the pressure off of him, and made it fun.

20. An early draft of the script had the Mandarin appear in the movie, re-imagined as an Indonesian terrorist.

21. Gwyneth Paltrow only needed to travel 15 minutes to get to the studio. She claimed that this is a part of the reason she took the role, as she could be home with her two children during the entire shoot.

22. Jon Favreau celebrated getting the job as director by going on a diet, and losing 70 pounds.

23. When Pepper discovers Tony removing the damaged Iron Man armor, Captain America‘s shield is on a workbench. This same scene was shown in many trailers, but the image of the shield was edited out.

24. It took approximately 17 years to get the movie into development. Originally, Universal Pictures was to produce the movie in April, 1990. They later sold the rights to 20th Century Fox. Later, Fox sold the rights to New Line Cinema. Finally, Marvel Studios decided to handle their own creation.

25. In the comics, Tony Stark participated, and became Iron Man, in the Vietnam War. Later, this was changed to the Gulf War. In this movie, the character’s origin was changed to Afghanistan, as Jon Favreau didn’t wish to make the movie a period piece, but instead, give it a realistic contemporary look.

26. In the comics, Obadiah Stane ran his won company, Stane International, and was actually a business rival to Tony Stark, rather than being part of Stark Enterprises.

27. The production met with about 30 different writers, and they all passed, as most of them felt that Iron Man was a relatively obscure character in the Marvel universe. They were also a bit nervous about working for an untried studio better known for producing comic books. Even the re-writes led to many refusals.

28. Gwyneth Paltrow based her performance on 1940s heroines, who she claimed were sexy, witty, and innocent all at once.

29. During pre-production, Robert Downey Jr. set up an office next to Jon Favreau’s office, to discuss his role with him, and to be more involved in the movie’s screenwriting.

30. Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Tony Stark.