When the Multiverse was revealed to be the main crux of the “Doctor Strange” sequel, the internet was barraged with a wave of rumored cameos with some that did happen (don’t worry we won’t spoil them) and a lot of others that didn’t. One of the bigger rumors getting circulated was that action star Tom Cruise could be playing a variant of Iron Man, harkening back to reports of the actor almost landing the role before Robert Downey Jr. was ultimately cast. As that cameo didn’t happen, fans held out hope that Cruise had shot a cameo but it was cut out of the film during the editing process. Well, that theory is being rather strongly refuted by one of the film’s creatives.
“Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” screenwriter Michael Waldron (“Loki“) spoke with RollingStone and revealed the real story behind that viral Cruise/Iron Man rumor. Also, don’t expect a deleted scene with the actor to see the light of day because he was never even approached by the studio.
READ MORE: Multiverse Maestro Michael Waldron On ‘Loki’ & ‘Doctor Strange 2’ [Interview]
“Yeah, that was totally made up. 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.”
“Yeah, exactly. As it was being talked about online, I was like, Yeah, that’d be cool,” Waldron added.
When asked if Marvel had actually approached Cruise about a cameo, Waldron said, “I don’t believe so. I just don’t think it was ever an option, because of availability.” Waldron alludes to Cruise being too busy shooting the next two “Mission: Impossible” sequels.
So, there you go, Cruise’s Iron Man was an idea floated internally at Marvel but nobody really pursued it.
“Doctor Strange 2” is currently in theaters as Waldron is also involved with “Loki” season two and is currently writing an untitled “Star Wars” film at Lucasfilm that is being produced by Kevin Feige. It’ll be fun to see what other opportunities are explored in the future as Marvel continues to flesh out the Multiverse in other Phase Four projects.