Avengers: Secret Wars Could Deliver On A Missed Marvel Multiverse Cameo In A Full-Circle MCU Moment

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Upcoming crossover Avengers: Secret Wars can deliver on a missed multiverse cameo from Phase 4 in a moment that connects to the beginning of the MCU. The possibilities of Secret Wars are endless, especially with the addition of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Marvel will bring back many modern and classic Marvel heroes and villains on a collision course that celebrates the MCU and the history of Marvel. This could include cameos from Fox's X-Men universe, Sony's Spider-Man universe, and the MCU's long catalog of characters.
It could also deliver many cinematic heroes that never happened or fulfill popular fan castings. For example, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included John Krasinski's Reed Richards, who audiences wanted to play Mr. Fantastic in the MCU. And of course, Channing Tatum finally portrayed Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine after his movie was scrapped due to years of development hell. Marvel had an opportunity to bring another rumored casting to life in Doctor Strange 2, and the studio could finally pull it off in Secret Wars.
Tom Cruise Almost Appeared As Iron Man In Doctor Strange 2 The Mission: Impossible Actor Almost Resurrected A Near-Miss Early Casting Close Before Robert Downey Jr's career comeback started with Iron Man, the role almost went to Tom Cruise. In the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, it's revealed that Marvel wanted Cruise to play Tony Stark, but Kevin Feige said, "Cruise's asking fee at the time was more than even a profitable studio like Fox was willing to risk on an untested superhero property." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Doctor Strange 2 screenwriter said they considered having Cruise cameo as Iron Man during the Illuminati sequence, but it didn't happen due to scheduling conflicts.

"I mean there’s no cut footage of Tom Cruise! But I love Tom Cruise, and I said to Kevin (Feige) at one point, I was like, Could we get Tom Cruise’s Iron Man? I remember reading about that in Ain’t It Cool News back in the day, that Tom Cruise was going to be Iron Man.”

According to Waldron, Cruise was busy filming Mission: Impossible 7 & 8. Even without him, the Illuminati sequence was already a cameo-filled sequence, including Hayley Atwell's Captain Carter, Lashana Lynch's Captain Marvel, Krasinski's Reed Richards, Anson Mount's Black Bolt, and Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier. Cruise's appearance would have caused the audience to go berserk, but there's still a way for Marvel to make this cameo happen.
Cruise Could Play Iron Man In Avengers: Secret Wars Secret Wars Will Be Filled With Exciting Cameos

Fortunately, Marvel's goal to get Cruise's Tony Stark in the MCU could still happen. The multiverse is filled with variants of MCU heroes and villains. Some of them look identical to the Earth-616 versions, while others look completely different. For example, Tom Holland's Peter Parker looks completely different from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Loki also has many variants that look like him and others that don't.

Related What Is Secret Wars? Avengers 6's Title Explained Marvel Studios has revealed its plans for Avengers 6 entitled Secret Wars, but what is this massive event what does it mean for the MCU?
Deadpool & Wolverine showed that other universes can have characters who look like MCU heroes but are different people i.e. Captain America and Johnny Storm. Cruise would fit into the multiverse established by Marvel, as he doesn't need to look like Downey Jr. to portray Tony Stark. Downey Jr. could also play Doctor Doom since Victor Von Doom could still look like Tony but be a different character. Many rules about the MCU's multiverse have been made up, but it would allow for Cruise to enter the universe as an alternate Iron Man.
Cruise's Iron Man Fighting Downey Jr's Doctor Doom Would Be A Surreal Moment Tom Cruise Can Fight The Man Who Took His Job Close Many have imagined what Cruise's Tony Stark would look like. However, it's hard to imagine anyone playing the role who isn't Downey Jr. He has melded with the character, and it's hard not to see Tony when Downey Jr. makes any public appearances. Still, it's intriguing to think about what Cruise would have done with the role, and it'd be exciting to see that happen in Secret Wars. It would also be a full-circle moment if Cruise's Iron Man fought Downey Jr's Doctor Doom.
Cruise would finally get to play Tony, but he would also get to fight the person who got the job over him. It would connect to off-camera lore from 2008's Iron Man while delivering an epic moment audiences would want to watch multiple times. It's hard to believe that Marvel would make this happen, but it was also unfathomable that Downey Jr. would return to the MCU as a villain, so anything is possible.

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Release Date May 7, 2027 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Cast Kathryn Newton , Jonathan Majors , Mark Ruffalo , Benedict Wong , Hailee Steinfeld , Dominique Thorne , Anthony Mackie , Brie Larson , Simu Liu , Benedict Cumberbatch , Iman Vellani , Chris Hemsworth , Xochitl Gomez Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Upcoming MCU Movies