A new piece of AI-generated art images Tom Cruise as Iron Man, the MCU Illuminati member that never came to pass. For many fans, it's hard to imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/ Iron Man. The actor first played the role in 2008's Iron Man, a film that essentially kick-started the MCU as it exists today. Downey Jr. would go on to appear in two additional solo films and a host of Avengers team-up movies, ultimately saying goodbye to the role and the MCU in Avengers: Endgame, sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin).
Now that Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is absent from the MCU, many fans are wondering who will be next to take up the mantle. After the introduction of the multiverse in Loki and its further expansion in Spider-Man: No Way Home, rumors swirled before the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness regarding what characters might be making appearances. Among those highly rumored to be in the film was Cruise as Iron Man, a multiversal variant of the character who would have been part of the Illuminati. While fans were treated to John Krasinski as Reed Richards and the return of Patrick Stewart as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Cruise was notably absent from the ensemble.
In a new piece of art generated using Craiyon, an AI image creation tool, fans can see a rough approximation of what Cruise would have looked like as Iron Man. The images in the grid see Cruise donning the early versions of the Downey Jr. Iron Man suit, but also depict the actor more casually as Tony Stark in a suit and tie. Check out the AI-generated image below:
While the veracity of claims regarding whether Cruise was ever actually in talks to appear as Iron Man is questionable at best, the art does provide a surprisingly interesting rendition of what the Top Gun: Maverick star would have looked like in Downey Jr.'s shoes. As with most other AI-generated art, the facial structure leaves much to be desired, but, nevertheless, it's easy to see why so many fans wanted Cruise to appear as Iron Man. It's also notable that the images depict Cruise in what appears to be the Mark III or Mark IV armor, both relatively early iterations of the suit, instead of the nano-tech suit Stark wore in later films.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ultimately delivered a handful of fun cameos, but some fans were evidently disappointed that Cruise's Iron Man was not among them. With the multiverse now allowing for more creative one-off cameos than ever before, it's still possible that the actor could appear as the character down the line, but considering Cruise's commitments to the Mission: Impossible franchise, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. For now, it looks like AI art generators are the closest viewers will get to actually seeing Cruise as Iron Man.
Source: Craiyon Image Generator
