As Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters, one fun exercise is to ponder what Marvel’s colossal MCU enveloping blockbuster would be like if the MCU’s first star was someone radically different. Legend had it that Tom Cruise and his jumbo-sized smile came close to going underneath Tony Stark’s armor in Iron Mano. In a new interview, Cruise clarified how near we came.
Chatting with ComicBook.com as part of Mission: Impossible — Fallout promo, Cruise shared that he wasn’t as close to playing Iron Man as Marvel lore would suggest. Not that he had an unkind word for the person who did take on the role.
“Not close,” Cruise explained. “Not close, and I love Robert Downey Jr. I can’t imagine anyone else in that role, and I think it’s perfect for him.”
As for a superhero role that might be perfect for Cruise, the stunt enthusiast said that he’s not opposed to doing the comic book thing if the project’s right.
“I don’t rule anything out,” he said. “It’s, ‘What’s the story? Does it interest me? Do I feel this is where the audience would like to see me in? What can I learn?’ And ‘What can I contribute?’ That’s how I choose my movies.”
That’s a sensible strategy. Mind you, there are a few flicks in Cruise’s filmography that I salivate over imagining a detailed explanation of how they answered his demanding set of questions.
(Via ComicBook.com)