By Srikanto Mandal 3 November, 2023
Tom Cruise was interested in playing Tony Stark in the MCU, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige found his asking fee to be too expensive.
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Cruise's asking fee was more than even a profitable studio like 20th Century Fox was willing to risk on an untested superhero property in 2008.
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The writer of last year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness wanted to include a multiversal variant of Iron Man played by Tom Cruise, but it didn't end up happening.
Robert Downey Jr. ended up playing Iron Man and assumed the role from 2008's Iron Man to 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
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Downey Jr.'s performance as Iron Man was a huge success for the MCU and is still considered to be one of the best superhero performances of all time.
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Some fans have speculated that Cruise's Iron Man could have been a darker and more gritty version of the character.
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Others have said that Cruise's Iron Man would have been too similar to his other action hero roles.
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Ultimately, we'll never know what could have been if Tom Cruise had played Iron Man in the MCU.
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But one thing is for sure: Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect actor to bring Tony Stark to life.
The MCU is now one of the most successful film franchises of all time, and Iron Man is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time.
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