Close Casting Calls: Tom Cruise In Iron Man (2008)

By Erin Free

What Happened?

With Robert Downey Jr. now credited as one of the major reasons for the continued success of Marvel’s big screen ventures after his bravura lead performance in 2008’s Iron Man and its two sequels, his anchoring of two Avengers movies, his cameo in The Incredible Hulk, and now his major supporting role in Captain America: Civil War, it’s hard to believe that this now revered Oscar nominee was far from the first actor considered for the role of Tony Stark. Big names Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio had at various times been in contention to play the billionaire playboy philanthropist – who builds a hi-tech suit of armour and reinvents himself as superhero, Iron Man – but it was an even bigger name who came the closest to strapping on the famous gold and red power suit. Tom Cruise had long been associated with the Iron Man film project, and spoke about it to Brit talk show host, Jonathan Ross, during an appearance on his programme, Film 2004. “Iron Man is a difficult project to tackle,” Cruise said. “He is my favourite superhero. The audience latches on to superhero movies in a big way, so there’s a big demand from the studios. But with Iron Man, because I love the project so much, I want to make the movie bigger and different to what is being made at the moment. You need the biggest talents involved with something like Iron Man, and I am talking about directors like Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron. With any of those guys, you make the movie superior and unique. We are working on the movie.” Though it’s not definitively known what happened with potential producer/star Tom Cruise, the notorious penny-pinchers at Marvel Studios may have balked at his famously exorbitant asking price and need for creative control.

Would It Have Worked? 

Though Robert Downey Jr. really is Tony Stark/Iron Man now, Tom Cruise’s cocky swagger and bold-as-brass screen persona – not to mention his impressive acting chops – would have served the character extremely well. His massive stardom, however, may very well have prevented something like The Avengers and its follow-ups from ever happening.