Tom Cruise Puts Those Rumours That He Almost Played Iron Man To Rest: "Not Close"
But we still think The Cruiser would've made an excellent Tony Stark.
Tom Cruise never came "close" to playing Iron Man.
The 60-year-old actor has long been subjected to rumours he was in the running to play Tony Stark and his superhero alter ego.
When asked about the speculation by Brandon Davis, the host of the podcast Phase Zero, Cruise said, "Not close."
He added, "I love Robert Downey Jr and I can't imagine anyone else doing that role, and I think it's perfect for him."
Last year, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness screenwriter Michael Waldron admitted he had been so inspired by the lore that he pitched the idea of getting the Top Gun actor to play a Tony Stark variant in the Sam Rami movie.
At one point, the internet was buzzing with speculation that Cruise would pop up in a cameo.
Speaking to The Rolling Stone, Waldron said: "Yeah, that was totally made up. 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.
"As it was being talked about online, I was like, 'Yeah, that'd be cool!' "
But Waldron confirmed he didn't think anyone had got in touch with Cruise's team "because of availability".
Back in 2005 (pre-Marvel Studios, pre-MCU), the Mission: Impossible actor admitted he had been approached for the role but didn't feel it was "gonna work" in the way he would have wanted it to.
He told IGN then: "They came to me at a certain point and, when I do something, I wanna do it right.
"If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it's gonna be something special.
"And as it was lining up, it just didn't feel to me like it was gonna work.
"I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, and it just didn't go down that road that way."
Watch Cruise' response to Phase Zero here:
— BANG SHOWBIZ
Photos: TPG News/Click Photos
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