Marvel Studios is known for keeping its plot secrets safe until the film’s release. And the newest Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was no different. With the opening of the multiverse and its negative impact on the MCU timeline at the center, much was expected in the superhero movie, including several characters traveling through universes. One of those expectations was the Superior Iron Man and the rumors that actor Tom Cruise would play the part.
Now that star Benedict Cumberbatch-Elizabeth Olsen is out, we’ve cleared our doubts.
Spoilers ahead
Much like Spider-Man: No Way Home, which opened doors to the web-slinging superhero’s three iterations (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland), fans expected several variations of Doctor Strange to come (Defender Strange, Sinister Strange, Zombie Strange and Strange Supreme). Patrick Stewart also returned as Charles Xavier or Professor X from the X-Men movies, along with the Illuminati consisting of Mordo Supreme, Black Bolt, Captain Marvel, Captain Carter, and Reed Richards.
Prior to its release, there were also high hopes for Superior Iron Man. That’s due to the appearance of a mysterious character in the film’s trailers who travels like a beam of light in a confrontation with Wanda. Fans were quick to call him Tom Cruise‘s Superior Iron Man.
Fans speculated that this particular shot was of Tom Cruise as Superior Iron Man, in the movie’s trailer. (Photo: Marvel Studios)
But now that we know it was Lashana Lynch as Captain Marvel, not Tom’s Iron Man, screenwriter Michael Waldron took to the fan theories and rumors. He told Rolling Stone: “Yeah, that was totally made up. I mean, there’s no Tom Cruise footage! But I love Tom Cruise, and I said to Kevin (President of Marvel Studios) Kevin (Feige) at one point I thought, can we get Tom Cruise’s Iron Man? I remember reading about that in Ain’t It Cool News, that Tom Cruise was going to be Iron Man.”
For the inexperienced, Tom Cruise was in the running to play Tony Stark during the casting of Iron Man (2008). This was even before Robert Downey Jr. was set to zero. So if Tom had actually donned the Iron suit, it would have been an emotional setback for fans from the early days of Marvel. According to the comics Superior Iron Man is an evil version of the Iron Man we saw RDJ donning.
Michael Waldron went on to reveal that Tom Cruise was indeed being considered, but things fell out of place due to “the actor’s availability”. He said it would have been “cool” to have Tom in Doctor Strange 2, but “he shot Mission Impossible 7 and 8”. According to Rolling Stone, Michael said that “Bringing Cruise in was considered but ultimately never happened due to availability”.
With America Chavez entering MCU and getting the alternate version of Iron Man in future Marvel movies, it doesn’t seem like a distant dream now. America Chavez, written by actor Xochitl Gomez, is a teenage superhero who can travel between different dimensions on a whim by opening doorways.
