Robert Downey Jr. will always be Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Few actors could play the role with such a complex layering of arrogance, charisma, and empathy. However, now that Tony Stark is dead, does that mean Iron Man will be forever missing from the MCU? According an industry insider, the answer is “no.”
Daniel Richtman recently reported on his Patreon site (requires subscription) that Marvel Studios is considering including multiple cameos of alternate universe Marvel characters in the upcoming Doctor Strange movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The movie, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, is a sequel to both Doctor Strange and Avengers: Endgame. It apparently is also a crossover to the upcoming Disney+ Marvel series WandaVision and Loki.
The kicker, according to Richtman, is that Tom Cruise is under consideration for the role of an alternate universe Iron Man:
“I have they are considering a bunch of interesting cameos for Strange to play different versions of character we know. One example I heard of they are considering is Tom Cruise as Tony Stark from another Earth.”
This makes sense on a few levels. The first is Cruise was originally in consideration for the playing Tony Stark in the MCU before Downey landed the role. The second is we can’t think of another actor besides Cruise that could play the arrogant, charismatic, and empathetic role as well as Downey. Last, Cruise is an action hero but hasn’t appeared in the MCU or any superhero movie for that matter.
REPLACING ROBERT DOWNEY JR? NO WAY!
Marvel has been good about not replacing actors for primary characters like in the DC Universe (We’re looking at you Batman.) So before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, Marvel is not going to replace Downey with Cruise as Iron Man. In this case, it is a very specific cameo of an Iron Man from an alternate universe. This sort of thing has been done time and again in Marvel movies and comics.
If the insider rumor is true, it will be interesting to see what other actors they bring on to play alternate universe versions of beloved MCU characters. If they don’t use John Krasinski as an alternate Captain America, that will be a lost opportunity.
BTW, did you see that the new Batman movie is getting a spin-off series on HBO Max?
