Would Tom Cruise Have Saved Doctor Strange's Disappointing Illuminati?
Warning! SPOILERS for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Despite rumors, Tom Cruise didn't appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as an alternate Tony Stark, which made the movie's Illuminati reveal disappointing. Many of the rumors about Cruise's involvement in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange sequel appear to have emerged from fan speculation and fan-made trailers. It's never been clear whether or not the casting of Tom Cruise as Iron Man was ever a serious consideration by Marvel Studios beyond their original offer in 2008. Three years after his heroic sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man still feels intrinsically linked to Robert Downey Jr. Only a Hollywood star of Tom Cruise's caliber could have come close to making an Iron Man cameo worthwhile so soon after the character's powerful death.
The rumors suggested that Tom Cruise's Iron Man would have been a member of Doctor Strange 2's Illuminati, a group of superheroes that act more like a diplomatic counsel than the superpowered army of the Avengers. Doctor Strange is brought before the Illuminati when his actions to protect America Chavez run the risk of having the same devastating result as his Earth-838 equivalent. While the Illuminati of Doctor Strange 2 lacks Tom Cruise, it does introduce John Krasinski as the Fantastic 4's Reed Richards and inducts Patrick Stewart's iconic Professor X into the MCU. Disappointingly, the other members of the Illuminati are all characters that MCU audiences have met before, albeit with subtle differences.
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Aside from Reed Richards and Professor X, the other members of the Illuminati are familiar
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