Only One Star Could Replace Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark — and Keep Iron Man a Blockbuster

Before Robert Downey Jr. locked in the role (and the vibe) of Tony Stark, there was a very real timeline where Tom Cruise flew the suit. No, seriously. It almost happened, people were writing with him in mind, and yes, he has talked about why it didn’t go forward. Then years later, Marvel kicked around the idea of a Cruise variant cameo. And now we’re in the era of Downey posting cryptic Doom/Iron Man art on Instagram like it’s an advent calendar. Let’s unpack the whole thing.

So how close did Tom Cruise get?

Closer than most. Back in the pre-MCU Wild West, Marvel circled a bunch of names for Tony Stark. Cruise was the one who stayed on the board the longest, to the point where a version of the story was literally written with him in mind.

• Other names in the mix back then: Nicolas Cage, Jim Caviezel, Timothy Olyphant, Sam Rockwell, and Clive Owen.
• Writer Jeff Vintar and Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee developed a take designed for Cruise as a tech-billionaire Tony Stark.
• Cruise, in 2005, told IGN why he didn’t sign on.

"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."

There were also rumors that Cruise was aggressively chasing the part and nearly had it. He later shot that down on the Phase Zero podcast (via People):

"Not close. I love Robert Downey Jr., and I can't imagine anyone else doing that role, and I think it's perfect for him."

Would Cruise have worked as Iron Man?

On paper, sure. By 2008 he was already Tom Cruise: the Top Gun/Mission: Impossible action machine. He would have crushed the physical side and sold the whole billionaire-playboy-saves-the-world thing with that trademark movie star forcefield. The question is the Tony Stark attitude. Downey’s edge wasn’t just snark; it was that messy, funny vulnerability bleeding through the quips. Cruise’s more recent action roles (Mission: Impossible, Jack Reacher) tend to be bulletproof. But he’s absolutely got the vulnerable gear when he wants it: Born on the Fourth of July, Rain Man, The Color of Money, Magnolia, Taps, Jerry Maguire. If he’d tapped into that older, bruised-ego mode, we probably get a very different, still massive version of Iron Man. Different isn’t bad; it just wouldn’t have been Downey’s exact flavor.

If Cruise had led the MCU, what changes?

This is where it gets messy, because we’re talking hypothetical franchise chemistry. The role would have landed during a period when Cruise was getting plenty of headlines for his off-screen life. Playing Tony Stark could have been a redemption arc, similar to how the role re-centered Downey’s career. But a lot of fans have wondered if Cruise’s enormous star wattage would have reshaped the ensemble dynamics. With Downey, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth found equal footing in The Avengers. With Cruise, the gravitational pull might have tilted harder toward Iron Man.

Zoom out to big storylines like Civil War: part of what made that movie work is that audiences really did split between Team Tony and Team Cap. If Cruise is Iron Man, a chunk of the crowd probably sides with him by default. That ripple could have carried into Infinity War and Endgame in ways that change the balance. There’s also the practical question: would Cruise have stuck around for a decade-plus unless the films were consistently Stark-centric? And would he have wanted a stronger creative hand in the series, potentially clashing with Marvel’s factory-line approach? Fans debated all of that too.

One more thing people point out: Downey and Tony Stark became synonymous. Some doubt Cruise would have fused with the character in the same way. For Cruise, Iron Man might have been a fun one-off. For Downey, it was the lifeline that rebuilt his career in front of the world.

The variant cameo that almost happened

Cut to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Screenwriter Michael Waldron told Rolling Stone he asked Kevin Feige if they could get Cruise as an alt-universe Iron Man.

"I love Tom Cruise, and I said to Kevin at one point, I was like, 'Could we get Tom Cruise's Iron Man?'"

Marvel never reached out, according to Waldron, because Cruise wasn’t available. Scheduling killed the bit before it got off the ground.

And now Downey is... Doctor Doom? Iron Man again? Both?

After Downey stepped away from Tony Stark, there was a window where fans held onto the idea that Cruise could cameo as a variant sometime down the line. Then the rumor mill kicked into overdrive that Downey is returning as Doctor Doom. Nothing official from Marvel on that, but Downey poured gas on the speculation this holiday season with a couple of Instagram posts.

On Thanksgiving, he shared an illustration of Iron Man and Doctor Doom tugging a wishbone. Fans immediately started connecting dots to a rumored Avengers: Doomsday. Some read it as a tease that Doom and Iron Man are linked; others jumped to the wilder take that Downey could play both characters in the same movie. Then on Christmas, he posted two ornaments: one Doom mask, one Iron Man mask, captioned "SILVER & GOLD..."

After that, various insiders claimed Downey would suit up as Iron Man again. One of them, James Mack, replied to a fan that it was "obviously" happening in Doomsday. That same chatter also insists Doom and Iron Man may not be connected on-screen at all. Translation: even if Downey shows up as Doom, the door stays open for Tony Stark variants or some kind of symbolic Stark return.

Bottom line

Cruise as Iron Man was closer than a lot of people realize, and the alternate-history MCU that springs from that is fascinating to think about. Still, it’s hard to argue with how perfectly the part synced with Downey’s whole deal. And if his recent teases are any indication, we might be heading into the weirdest, most star-powered version of the MCU multiverse yet.

All Iron Man movies are streaming now on Disney+.