Tom Cruise’s Iron Man may have been pure speculation, but it’s hard to deny the impact his involvement would’ve had on Doctor Strange 2’s llluminati.
Despite rumors, Tom Cruise didn’t appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as an alternate Tony Stark, which made the movie’s Illuminati reveal disappointing. Many of the rumors about Cruise’s involvement in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange sequel appear to have emerged from fan speculation and fan-made trailers. It’s never been clear whether or not the casting of Tom Cruise as Iron Man was ever a serious consideration by Marvel Studios beyond their original offer in 2008. Three years after his heroic sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man still feels intrinsically linked to Robert Downey Jr. Only a Hollywood star of Tom Cruise’s caliber could have come close to making an Iron Man cameo worthwhile so soon after the character’s powerful death.
The rumors suggested that Tom Cruise’s Iron Man would have been a member of Doctor Strange 2‘s Illuminati, a group of superheroes that act more like a diplomatic counsel than the superpowered army of the Avengers. Doctor Strange is brought before the Illuminati when his actions to protect America Chavez run the risk of having the same devastating result as his Earth-838 equivalent. While the Illuminati of Doctor Strange 2 lacks Tom Cruise, it does introduce John Krasinski as the Fantastic 4’s Reed Richards and inducts Patrick Stewart’s iconic Professor X into the MCU. Disappointingly, the other members of the Illuminati are all characters that MCU audiences have met before, albeit with subtle differences.
Aside from Reed Richards and Professor X, the other members of the Illuminati are familiar characters from the wider MCU. The Captain Britain version of Peggy Carter from What If…?, Carol Danvers’ best friend Maria replaces her as Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange’s former foe Mordo is the new Sorceror Supreme. Meanwhile, Black Bolt makes a return to the MCU for the first time since the Inhumans TV show was canceled in 2018. It’s an eclectic mixture of MCU heroes, that barely reflects the line-up of the original Illuminati from the comics. However, this was not the only disappointing thing about the Illuminati’s reveal in Doctor Strange 2, which could have been enhanced by the involvement of Tom Cruise’s Iron Man.
Why Doctor Strange 2’s Illuminati Was Disappointing
There’s a much deeper issue with Doctor Strange 2‘s Illuminati that taps into a wider problem with the MCU’s multiverse. It was already established in both 2021’s Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home that different actors could play alternate versions of the same hero. While Tom Hiddleston played variations of the trickster god in Loki, he also teamed up with versions played by DeObia Oparei, Richard E Grant, Jack Veal, and a CGI alligator. The casting of the Loki variants tapped into the limitless potential that’s promised by the concept of the multiverse. If Loki could be played by both Richard E Grant and Tom Hiddleston, then it would be no issue for Tom Cruise to play an alternate Iron Man. This was only emphasized when Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland teamed up to take on Spider-Man’s many foes in No Way Home.
Patrick Stewart’s Professor X fulfills a similar role to the return of Maguire and Garfield, bringing the previous X-Men movies in line with the wider MCU multiverse. However, the return of various familiar faces like Lashana Lynch and Hayley Atwell suggested a more finite number of potential characters and actors, limiting the potential of the multiverse. It remains to be seen if John Kraskinski’s Mr. Fantastic will join the cast of the upcoming Fantastic 4 movie, but the fact that every other member of the Illuminati has prior Marvel movie credits suggests it’s a foregone conclusion. While Krasinski is clearly great casting, becoming Reed Richards full-time would only emphasize just how narrow Marvel Studios’ view of the multiverse appears to be. It’s disappointing that the Illuminati is so rigidly in line with existing MCU characters when there was a real opportunity to have fun with the concept of the multiverse through one-shot big-name cameos like Daniel Craig or Tom Cruise.
Would Tom Cruise’s Iron Man Have Made The Illuminati Better?
As the star of box-office smash Top Gun: Maverick and the next two Mission: Impossible movies, Tom Cruise likely isn’t concerned about missing Doctor Strange 2. However, the fervent response to the rumors on social media suggests that there’s a real desire to see Cruise play Tony Stark. Given the star’s commitments and the level of control he’s used to in the movies he makes, it’s unlikely that Cruise would gel with the rigid structure of the MCU machine. However, a brief cameo as Iron Man would certainly have added more weight to the scenes with the Illuminati.
Firstly, it would have expanded the concept of the multiverse, suggesting that anything was truly possible. A one-time appearance by Tom Cruise as Iron Man would be a fun glimpse into the MCU that audiences could have had if Cruise had said yes to Marvel back in 2008. It would also have heightened the stakes of the Illuminati’s battle with Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2. Wanda wastes no time in brutally killing each member of the Illuminati, memorably turning Mr. Fantastic into Play-Doh spaghetti and exploding Black Bolt’s head. However, imagine the impact if the Scarlet Witch had killed Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise, in character as Iron Man. Given Cruise’s apparent immortality and love of death-defying stunts, his death at the hands of Wanda would have emphasized just how powerful and dangerous she had become. It’s therefore hugely disappointing that Tom Cruise never appeared as Iron Man in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as it reduced the impact of the Illuminati, and narrowed the focus of Marvel’s deceptively infinite multiverse.
Source: screenrant
