How Wednesday Creators Are Directly Linked to Tom Cruise (Not) Being Iron Man
Tim Burton’s horror-ish TV series isn’t the first notable title in Millar and Gough’s resume which is actually full of superhero works for Marvel.
Netflix’s Wednesday is driven by a powerhouse of lead Jenna Ortega and director/producer Tim Burton, but the show’s production team boasts of many more influential figures.
Before coming on board for Wednesday to write the script, Miles Millar and Al Gough were booked and busy developing new movies and shows for Marvel, including Smallville and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2.
Soon after that, however, they were eyed for an even bigger project in the MCU after agreeing to pen the script for Iron Man, though Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t there yet to take on the leading role.
Miles Millar and Al Gough Say Tom Cruise Was “Interested” in Playing Iron Man
While the movie was supposed to become the introduction for a character that is now the centre of the entire Marvel universe, the studio saw the potential — and wanted one of the most epic actors to turn into Tony Stark.
However, Iron Man first needed to go through production hell and change half of its production team, including both Millar and Gough.
“We did a draft, several drafts. We worked on that for probably a year. And we went in with Kevin and Avi, and I remember [New Line Cinema boss] Bob Shaye had read it”, Gough said during his appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently, revealing that his script was ultimately scrapped.
Still, both writers spent enough time with the movie’s helmers to understand who they initially saw as Iron Man.
“They wanted Tom Cruise, and I think Tom Cruise was interested”, Millar added.
This was actually unveiled by Cruise himself several years ago, with the actor saying that he just didn’t feel like he fit the role back then.
Tom Cruise Couldn’t Even Get a Cameo in Marvel’s Doctor Strange Movie
Though Iron Man was doing just fine with Robert Downey Jr. playing the main part, it seems like Marvel’s big bosses (or just one of those) wanted to put Cruise into one of the upcoming movies just for the sake of it — even if this meant giving the actor a teeny-tiny role.
As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’s writer Michael Waldron once revealed, he wanted Tom Cruise so badly on the film that he went directly to Marvel’s biggest boss Kevin Feige to ask for it.
“I love Tom Cruise, and I said to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] at one point, I was like, ‘Could we get Tom Cruise’s Iron Man?’” Waldron said in an interview with Rolling Stone, referring to a fan theory that Cruise would take on the role of Superior Iron Man.
However, the dream never came true since Cruise was busy filming Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One at the moment.
“I just don’t think it was ever an option, because of availability”, Waldron added.
