Despite Rejecting Iron Man, Tom Cruise “would love to” Work With $165M MCU Star
Tom Cruise is recognized as one of the most successful and well-liked performers in the business who, through his remarkable acting abilities and passion for action, has won over a devoted fan base. Although reviewers and audiences gave his most recent film, Mission Impossible 7 high marks, Barbenheimer’s marketing hype caused Mission Impossible 7 to do poorly at the box office.
However, Tom Cruise fans have stated that they enjoyed the film and cannot wait for the sequel, which is scheduled to arrive on June 28, 2024. The actor, who has always been eager to take on hard parts, declined to play Iron Man in the MCU, which eventually went to Robert Downey Jr., but Cruise has his eyes set on working with someone from the MCU. Let’s find out who that person is.
Tom Cruise on turning down the role of Iron Man
Tom Cruise, who has played Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise, has revealed that he was initially offered the role of Tony Stark a.k.a., Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who was eventually played by actor Robert Downey Jr.
In an interview as quoted by Movie Web, Tom Cruise said,
“[Marvel Studios] came to me at a certain time and, when I do something, I want to do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s going to be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was going to work. I needed to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, it just didn’t go down that road that way.”
In another interview as quoted by Movie Web, Cruise felt that Downey Jr. had played the character so well that it seemed as if it was written for him. “I love Robert Downey Jr. I can’t imagine anyone else in that role and I think it’s perfect for him.”
Fans agreed with Cruise’s comment on how the part fits perfectly for Downey Jr. and on asking what would interest him in playing a superhero on-screen, Cruise said it’s the story that is going to interest him adding that he also wonders if the audience would like to see him that specific role, what is something that he could learn from it.
Also read: Despite Working for Disney, Iron Man Star Robert Downey Jr. Was Publicly Arrested at Disneyland
Tom Cruise willing to work with Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is one of the most talented actresses in the industry who, according to Forbes’ calculations, in 2019 was the world’s highest-paid actress. In an interview at the premiere of her recent movie Asteroid City in New York, she had mentioned to THR that she would like to work with Tom Cruise in the future, to which Cruise had gracefully replied.
While promoting his movie Mission Impossible 7 in Rome, and speaking to ET, the actor said,
“I’d love to make a movie with her! I have been wanting to make a movie with her. sounds like I’m going to. Look, I’ve watched her career her whole life. She’s enormously talented, very charismatic. It’d be fun. She could do anything. She could do comedy, drama, action, suspense. She’s someone that really draws you in on the screen, on camera. So absolutely, it’s going to happen.”
Somewhere else in the interview, the actor noted that he has always aspired to make movies for the audience, cinema, distributors, and big screen, adding that the cinema experience is something that he loves and MI7 was made exactly for that experience.
According to Hollywood.com, director Joe Carnahan, who was supposed to direct Mission Impossible III decided to quit the movie 15 months after working on it because of creative differences with studio bosses. J.J. Abrams took over to direct the movie, which, according to the former, was different from his vision.
He said,
“I’m not even going to shy away from that. I knew the film we made was going to be better because I thought it was important. And the movie we were making was about the private military and what’s going on in Africa.”
He went on to reveal that the cast he had planned for the movie, which included Kenneth Branagh playing a guy who’s based on Timothy McVeigh along with Carrie-Anne Moss, and Scarlett Johansson, which he says, is the biggest heartbreak for him, because he saw how amazing they would have been.
Joe Carnahan explained, “If you would have seen Carrie-Anne Moss move with a handgun after a month and a half, it would have blown your mind. And we had flat-out the two best mask reveals in the franchise history. Like those mask pulls dealt with major plot stuff. They weren’t just these cartoony things.”
Unfortunately, the project never picked up and ScarJo and Tom Cruise never got the chance to work together, but hopefully soon.
Source: Movie Web, Hollywood.com, ET, THR
