Leading up to the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there was ongoing speculation of what characters would be in the film, and what multiversal version of them it would be. Among the rumors circulating the internet was that Tom Cruise would be playing an Illuminati AU version of Tony Stark, who has been played in the main MCU timeline by Robert Downey Jr. With RDJ having moved on, and Tony’s death being a huge moment in the storyline, it would have been interesting to see the character return in a different form.
Especially, since Cruise was once upon a time on the list to appear as the character. When the trailer dropped, people swore up and down that Iron Man was there, and therefore, Tom Cruise finally was going to be in the MCU. Then, the movie dropped.
Spoilers for Doctor Strange 2
There is no Cruise. There is no Iron Man. Where people saw Iron Man’s beams was likely just more footage of the AU Captain Marvel, Maria Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch. Doctor Strange 2 screenwriter Michael Waldron was asked about it in a spoiler-filled interview with Rolling Stone with reporter Brian Hiatt. “Fans were totally right about Patrick Stewart appearing as an alternate Professor X, but totally wrong about Tom Cruise — who had once been slated to star as Iron Man years before Robert Downey Jr. — showing up as an alternate Iron Man,” the interviewer said. “Did the fans just totally make up the Tom Cruise thing?”
“Yeah, that was totally made up,” Waldron confirmed. “I mean, there’s no cut footage of Tom Cruise! But I love Tom Cruise, and I said to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] at one point, I was like, Could we get Tom Cruise’s Iron Man? I remember reading about that in Ain’t It Cool News back in the day, that Tom Cruise was going to be Iron Man.’
Manifesting did not work in this case. However, Waldron did say that he thought it would be cool, but Cruise was likely too busy shooting Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 to make that happen—especially if there were any COVID-19 restrictions in place. When asked if anyone reached out to Cruise, the writer said, “I don’t believe so. I just don’t think it was ever an option, because of availability.”
There is always hope for the future that maybe they will get a chance to make that casting dream happen. Until then, keeping manifesting.
(via Rolling Stone, image: Paramount Pictures)
