Tom Cruise Opens Up About His Past Rumored Iron Man Casting

Robert Downey Jr. has become synonymous with the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man thanks to his iconic tenure in the MCU that lasted for 11 years concluding with the epic death of the character by the end of Avengers: Endgame. At this point, fans can't imagine any other actor playing the role besides him.

There have been claims for the past several years that prior to Downey Jr.'s casting in the role, Tom Cruise almost played the character at one point and rumors came before the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that he will finally play the role through another variant of the hero.

To settle the rumors straight, ComicBook.com recently asked Cruise himself whether he was actually in contention to play Iron Man in the past and if he is interested to star in a comic book movie at some point in the future.

"Not close, not close. I love Robert Downey Jr. and I can't imagine anyone else doing that role. And I think it's perfect for him," he responded before addressing his potential involvement in a comic book movie.

"And look, I look at a movie and think, 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."

It sounds like the rumors might not be true at all and Cruise wasn't really close to playing the role back when he was briefly involved in the project. In retrospect, it is more difficult to think any other actor (even a mega movie star like Cruise) play the role of Tony Stark and Marvel certainly made the right choice with Downey Jr.

At the same time, you can't help but think what it would have looked like if Cruise ended up taking the role and all we can really think of is that it will be vastly different from what Downey Jr. did. Right now, there are deepfake videos around the web that address the hypothetical question.

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