Why Tom Cruise Doesn't Appear As Iron Man In Doctor Strange 2

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Screenwriter Michael Waldron reveals why Tom Cruise doesn't appear as Iron Man in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Marvel's latest film in their cinematic universe released last Friday after several years of anticipation and speculation. Doctor Strange 2 has received generally positive reviews and has already grossed over $451 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing movie of 2022.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes audiences through numerous universes to meet the various characters living in them. Because of the opportunity to showcase different takes on classic superheroes, rumors quickly swirled as to which Marvel multiverse characters would appear in Doctor Strange 2 before it premiered. These rumors even speculated over which actors would portray those characters. One such rumor involved Cruise donning the Iron Man suit made famous by Robert Downey Jr. as an alternate Tony Stark; however, to many fans' disappointment, it seems that was never going to happen.

Related: Doctor Strange 2's Post-Credits Scenes Explained (They're Both Important)

Speaking with Rolling Stone magazine, Waldron, who wrote Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, explains why Cruise does not appear as Iron Man in the film. When asked if Cruise playing Iron Man was just a fan rumor, Waldron responds, "Yeah, that was totally made up." However, it seems the writer was interested in the idea after hearing it online. As he explains:

I mean, there’s no cut footage of Tom Cruise! But 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? I remember reading about that in Ain’t It Cool News back in the day, that Tom Cruise was