Tom Cruise is the premiere action hero of Hollywood. While he has jumped from buildings and hung from planes, he still hasn’t put on a superhero suit. However, he once had the chance to do so. Cruise was offered the role of Tony Stark/ Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before the role went to Robert Downey Jr. If he had taken the role he would be part of a franchise that has grossed upwards of $28 billion worldwide till now. However, the star is still open to superhero roles, but under a condition.
Tom Cruise
When the MCU was just taking off, Tom Cruise was offered the role of Tony Stark. But he turned the role down. The first Iron Man film grossed $585 million, while the next two in the trilogy raked in $629 million and $1.2 billion respectively. However, the Mission: Impossible star hasn’t written off starring in superhero movies altogether. In an interview with Phase Zero back in 2018 during the CinemaCon promotions for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the star said he hasn’t ruled anything out and all that matters is if the role interests him.
As per the Top Gun star:
“I look at a movie and think, you know, I don’t rule anything out, it’s what’s the story? What’s the character? Does it interest me? Do I feel this is what an audience would like to see me in? What can I learn? What can I contribute? That’s really how I look at things.”
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Robert Downey Jr.
But the actor has nothing but positive things to say about Robert Downey Jr., who ultimately played the role. Cruise said:
“I love Robert Downey Jr. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role and I think it’s perfect for him.”
While it’s interesting to imagine how the MCU would have turned out with Cruise as Tony Stark, it can’t be denied that Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for the role of the millionaire hero. But why did Cruise turn down the film in the first place?
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Why Did Tom Cruise Turn Down Iron Man?
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
In an IGN interview, Tom Cruise admitted that he didn’t take on the role of Iron Man/ Tony Stark because he didn’t feel like he was a good fit for that part. As per the 60-year-old actor:
“[Marvel Studios] came to me at a certain time and, when I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work. I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, it just didn’t go down that road that way.”
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Cruise’s hesitation is understandable. After all, the MCU didn’t even exist back then. It was the first Iron Man movie that lit the spark which birthed an entire universe of superheroes. However, the production team on the first film didn’t exactly have everything planned out either. During an interview with InContention, Jeff Bridges, who played Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in the first Iron Man film, said that there wasn’t even a script for the movie. As per Bridges:
“They had no script, man. They had an outline. We would show up for big scenes every day and we wouldn’t know what we were going to say. We would have to go into our trailer and work on this scene and call up writers on the phone, ‘You got any ideas?’ Meanwhile the crew is tapping their foot on the stage waiting for us to come on.”
It’s hard to imagine Cruise in a setting where everyone is improvising rather than ready to shoot and on top of the production at all times. However, fans of the MCU would still love to see the top action star of Hollywood suit up as a superhero someday.
Source: Phase Zero
