The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become one of the biggest franchises in the history of Hollywood. The success of the movies based on the Marvel Comics has created a massive income for the company. Even the stars have become household names for their involvement.

The ‘Iron Man’ trilogy has become one of the biggest earners of the MCU. It has also solidified the hero storyline for many other movies that came after.

But imagine a world where Iron Man’s leading man is not Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, instead it is action star Tom Cruise. How would have this affected the MCU and why did the legendary actor turn down the opportunity of a lifetime?

In Screen Rant’s report, Tom Cruise was the first actor considered for the Iron Man role, although reasons behind the ultimate fall out of Cruise from the cast roster is unknown.

The actor only addressed the issue back in 2018; wherein Cruise explained his side of the story. According to the actor, people have been misled by the reports that he was for sure the man who was to play Tony Stark.

Cruise reveals that he was not as close to getting the role as everyone presumed. Ultimately the role landed on Downey Jr.’s lap and the rest is history.

Funny enough, these two actors also were pitted against one another for another legendary role back in 1980.

The said role was for ‘Top Gun’ Lt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Marshall, which Tom Cruise then won over and solidified his Hollywood status.

Screen Rant continues on to describe the changes that could have happened in the MCU if Tom Cruise was chosen to play Tony Stark.

Firstly, the Iron Man movies would be extremely different and they would be less popular. Cruise’s stable personal life somewhat gave him an advantage but Downey Jr.’s life was more interesting.

According to the reports, MCU’s other characters would have been casted differently if Tom Cruise was Iron Man.

The safety-ness of Tom Cruise as a choice could have lead to a disastrous casting call for other MCU movies. It is known that improvisation in the movies is encouraged, and Cruise is not known to improvise.

Downey Jr., being cast for the Iron Man role, paved the way for Marvel to think outside the box, which led them to cast the perfect actors and actresses for the hero roles.