Although the Risky Business actor himself has not spoken out about the possibility of joining the MCU, after turning down the role of Iron Man before Downey, Jr. was cast, new fan art takes the recent rumors to new heights, giving some idea of what Cruise could look like in Iron Man’s iconic armor.
Heard some rumors that Tom cruise may appear as a Tony Stark variant in doctor strange multiverse of madness. – It would be really cool to see other variants of famous mcu characters. – Plus Tom Cruise was actually considered for the role of Iron Man before RDJ. So that’s what’s up.
It is important to remember that even if Iron Man is recast — with Cruise or anyone else now that RDJ has officially moved on to more Sherlock Holmes and other projects — it will not be the same version of the character who has previously appeared in the MCU.
As a recent article about the potential Cruise casting noted:
As for variants of existing heroes, that is a list that could take a very long time to go through. Marvel Studios has gone to some length in the last year to make sure it is clear that there are numerous universes that mirror the MCU timeline, and each of those universes contains their own variants on the heroes and villains we all know.