Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick”) is not only one of the most successful actors of our time, for many cinema fans the “Mission: Impossible” icon is even the last dazzling superstar in Hollywood. Not only does Cruise always do everything he can to bring the best possible spectacle to the screen. He also knows how to attract the masses to the cinemas with his name. A rarity nowadays.
Would Tom Cruise’s popularity have increased even further if he had played a Marvel superhero like Iron Man? That possibility at least existed in the mid-1990s, when 20th Century Fox was working on an “Iron Man” project. In the recently published book ‘MCU: The Reign Of Marvel Studios’, which is entirely about the background of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you will now also find interesting statements about the Tom Cruise/Iron Man case.
Why Tom Cruise is just too expensive?
In any case, the book by Joana Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards makes it clear that Tom Cruise came many years before Robert Downey Jr. was associated with an ‘Iron Man’. As it says, the actor is said to have been interested in portraying the Avenger member. However, it has not yet been clarified why this ultimately did not happen. Until now.
Kevin Feige reportedly explained to the writers of “The Reign Of Marvel Studios” that Tom Cruise was simply way too expensive: “Cruise’s compensation at the time was more than even a highly profitable studio like Fox was willing to spend on an untested superhero project.”
They definitely wanted to minimize the risk if the planned “Iron Man” did not achieve the desired success. That’s exactly what continued when Marvel Studios finally decided to finally bring the iconic superhero to the big screen. You couldn’t afford an A-league actor (including Johnny Depp, who was also in the running for the role). Ultimately the decision fell between Timothy Olyphant (“Justfied”), Jim Caviezel (“Sound Of Freedom”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”).
Of course, today no one doubts that Kevin Feige and Co. ultimately made the right choice with Robert Downey Jr. Downey Jr. after all, created one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man. Whether we’ll see Tom Cruise as Iron Man (or at all in a comedy blockbuster) is hard to imagine, but not impossible. Even though Cruise’s schedule is probably pretty full, the MCU has always delivered surprises in the past. Especially now, when everything seems possible thanks to the multiverse.