At this point, Tom Cruise is to Doctor Strange 2 what Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were to No Way Home. We keep seeing this rumor pop up, which is exactly what happened with the former Spider-Man stars last year.
The difference between these rumors is that the No Way Home leaks all told the same story. Maguire and Garfield would reunite with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man for the MCU’s first live-action Spiderverse movie. But the Tom Cruise leaks aren’t as substantial. And we lack the kind of leaks that ruined the last Spider-Man movie.
Before we look at the latest installment of the Doctor Strange 2 Tom Cruise rumor, we must remind you that big spoilers might follow below.
The MCU’s primary Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) died at the end of Endgame, delivering the ultimate blow to Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his army. It was a heartbreaking finale that Marvel can’t undo. The MCU is getting richer, and we’d have loved for RDJ’s Iron Man to be a part of the upcoming adventures. But if Marvel does bring back RDJ’s Tony Stark, it should be a variant from the multiverse.
Early Doctor Strange 2 rumors said that the multiverse movie might be the first place where a variant of Iron Man could appear. But then the pandemic happened, and Marvel had to announce all those MCU delays. Multiverse of Madness was one of them.
Is Tom Cruise Iron Man?
In the past year, a different trend emerged. Doctor Strange 2’s Iron Man kept being associated with Tom Cruise. The Maguire-Garfield leaks preceding the No Way Home release made sense as the two actors did play different Peter Parker variants. Cruise never had a chance to show the world his Stark version. And that’s because he refused Marvel’s offer. Even so, he did the character an excellent service, as we got the RDJ variant instead.
Slowly, the Tom Cruise rumor morphed too. From the exciting Doctor Strange 2 cameo, we got to reports claiming the actor wasn’t in the movie. And then we got back to Multiverse of Madness Cruise cameo rumors.
In between those, we learned that Cruise would come to the MCU. But he wouldn’t necessarily play a superhero in Doctor Strange 2. Also, Cruise wouldn’t have to be an Iron Man variant. He could be someone else from the MCU.
Marvel released a new TV spot over the weekend to announce that Doctor Strange 2 tickets will go on sale online on April 6th. The image above comes from that clip, giving us a better look at Captain Marvel. The same character appeared in the Doctor Strange 2 Super Bowl trailer. But the fast action prevents the audience from understanding who that hero is.
The new Doctor Strange 2 TV spot
Some speculated that we might be looking at Superior Iron Man in that scene and saw it as a confirmation that Tom Cruise was in Doctor Strange 2.
This brings us to the newest report on the matter from industry insider Grace Randolph. The YouTuber reacted to the clip, remarking that she had been right about the film’s runtime. But she also mentioned Tom Cruise again, in connection to her previous Doctor Strange 2 remarks.
She reiterated her belief that the Tom Cruise cameo might’ve been held back from an earlier screening. Randolph added that she’s 99% sure the actor is coming to the MCU.
That’s where she dropped the extra bit of information above. Apparently, Tom Cruise took a break to “mysteriously go to Atlanta a few months ago.” He might not be in Doctor Strange 2, but he’s in something-MCU “soon,” the YouTuber continued.
All this uncertainty makes Doctor Strange 2 more exciting than No Way Home. That’s because not all the secrets have been spilled for this one yet. And if they were, it’s not all so evident compared to the last Spider-Man movie, where all the leaks offered the same story over and over again.
Doctor Strange 2 hits theaters on May 6th. That’s when we’ll know whether Tom Cruise has joined the MCU or not.
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