Tom Cruise plays the MCU's Iron Man in a new deepfake video. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the MCU is currently on hiatus with no film or TV show coming out for more than a year now. With this, fans of the franchise are getting creative spending their time while they wait for new content, including one that imagines the universe without Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark in it.

In 2008, Marvel Studios took a massive gamble risking Iron Man and byway, the MCU in general by casting Downey. At that point, the actor was not the household name that he is today and mostly known for his run-in with the law and struggle with substance abuse. Nevertheless, director Jon Favreau insisted that he would be the perfect choice for the genius, billionaire. Iron Man became a surprise hit, laying the grounds for the 23-film Infinity Saga that has earned more than $22.5 billion, and a big part of it was Downey's performance. Since then, he's appeared 10 more times in the franchise until he ended his run in last year's Avengers: Endgame.

Related: MCU Phase 4 Needs To Repair Iron Man's Broken Reputation

It would be an understatement to say that Downey did a terrific job as MCU's Iron Man for more than a decade, but one fan-made video imagines what the franchise would be like if he didn't play the part. Instead, Cruise, who was once considered to bring the character to life, moved forward with the project. Watch the clip from Shamook below:

Interestingly, Iron Man isn't the only role that both Downey and Cruise were considered for. In the 1980s, the former was supposedly on the list for the role of Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun which became a career-defining part for the latter. A sequel is currently on the pipeline, with Top Gun: Maverick set to release next year. Recently, Downey revealed that Cruise was the original pick to play Chaplin in director Richard Attenborough's critically-acclaimed film, Chaplin. He told Dave Letterman in Netflix's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction that the filmmaker was so engrossed in the idea of Cruise playing the iconic comedian that he didn't even try to hide it from him. Downey got the gig which earned him his first Academy Award nomination.

While it's fun to imagine how things would've panned out if Cruise played Iron Man in the MCU, it's safe to say that everything turned out for the best. Downey was a perfect casting choice for the role, his personality fit Tony Stark's, so much so that they're now synonymous with each other. That's not a dig on Cruise's acting ability, however; it's just that seeing what Downey did with Iron Man, it's difficult to think that anyone else can do it better than him. The same idea applies to the idea of Downey playing Maverick or even Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible; those roles are Cruise's and chances are that there will be someone that can do a better job than he did.

More: Every Nickname Iron Man Gave Other MCU Characters Explained

Source: Shamook

Key Release Dates