Tom Cruise Was Considered To Play Alternate Iron Man In Doctor Strange 2

Benedict Cumberbatch reprised his role as Marvel’s ex-Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s a sequel to Scott Derrickson’s 2016 film that introduced the character, first created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in the 1960s, into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a spoiler-heavy new interview, screenwriter Michael Waldron revealed secrets of ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’

Sometimes fans and creators have similar thoughts. As screenwriter Michael Waldron (Loki, Rick and Morty) reveals in Rolling Stone’s in-depth, spoiler-filled interview about the making of Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Waldron had the same idea before MCU fans started speculating online that Tom Cruise would appear in the film as an alternate-world version of Iron Man.

The author also discussed some of the film’s more contentious scenes, among other things. When asked about Cruise and fan speculation about his appearance in the sequel, Waldron said that he did consider him at one point. The screenwriter went on to say how “cool” having Cruise in the film would have been, but “he was shooting Mission Impossible 7 and 8.”

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.

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He clarified that bringing Cruise in was considered but never materialized “due to availability.” As much as Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Charles Xavier appeared to be a foregone conclusion for Multiverse of Madness, so did Tom Cruise as an alternate version of Iron Man.

Many people mistook Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel, as seen in an early trailer for the film, for Tom Cruise in Iron Man armor. Cruise was in talks to play Tony Stark at the start of the MCU, but the role eventually went to Robert Downey Jr. So this would have been a fun place for the actor to fulfil his Marvel fantasies. However, this did not occur.

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