Countless rumors did the rounds prior to the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with online scoopers reporting that everyone from Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider were being lined up for cameos.
One of the more persistent rumors claimed that Tom Cruise was set to appear as an Iron Man Variant, and while that (obviously) never came to pass, it sounds like the idea of bringing the Mission: Impossible megastar in was briefly tossed around.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, screenwriter Michael Waldron was asked about the reports, and said that while the rumor that Cruise had been cast as The Superior Iron Man was "totally made up," he did ask Kevin Feige if it might be possible.
"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."
Waldron went on to clarify that, as far as he's aware, nobody actually reached out to Cruise since it was never an option "because of availability."
So, it seems there may have been something to this particular rumor after all, and it makes us wonder if anything was shot with other actors that didn't appear in the finished film. It's difficult to imagine Marvel Studios bringing in a big-name star for a couple of scenes and then cutting them from the movie, but you never know.
Hopefully, we'll learn more over the next few weeks, and we'll keep our fingers crossed for a couple of surprising deleted scenes on the Blu-ray.
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