Benedict Cumberbatch’s big week began with his first Oscar nomination (for Jane Campion’s exquisite The Power of the Dog) and ended with the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiering during the Super Bowl. I also had a good week: I ate a sandwich on Thursday. Not a great sandwich, but a good one. Good enough. Anyway, Cumberbatch isn’t the only Oscar-nominated performer in the Sam Raimi-directed Marvel film: there’s also Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tom Cruise.
Wait, where is Tom Cruise in the trailer? Well, Marvel fans seem to think the actor — who’s been nominated for three Oscars, Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, and Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia — is playing Superior Iron Man, a villainous Iron Man. To paraphrase his Magnolia character T.J. Mackey, in this life, it’s not what you hope for, it’s not what you deserve. It’s what you speculate on Twitter.
So my thinking is that Tom Cruise’s will be Superior Iron Man, one who managed to perfect the Ultron program and has it under his control pic.twitter.com/zkJdkmwoo4
— Bork
(@BorkEternal) February 14, 2022
If Cruise, like Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, is actually in Doctor Strange 2 (the alleged set photos across the Internet look like fakes), it would be a full circle moment. He was reportedly in the running to play Iron Man before Robert Downey Jr. got the gig, although as he told Comic Book in 2018, he was “not close” to being offered the role, “and I love Robert Downey Jr. I can’t imagine anyone else in that role, and I think it’s perfect for him.” Respect the RDJ.
So the Tom Cruise variant IS Superior Iron Man!?? pic.twitter.com/Ndd7MKmlse
— Hernandy (Moon Knight Era)
(@Pollos_Hernandy) February 13, 2022
THIS IS TOM CRUISE. THIS IS SUPERIOR IRON MAN. THIS IS HIM MY HEAD IM SWEATING RN #MultiverseOfMadness pic.twitter.com/0teY6TJTRY
— Sensational (@rockybqlboa) February 14, 2022
Wasn’t so sure but man I really do see a Tony Stark beard here now
Tom Cruise Superior IRON MAN!? #DoctorStrange2 pic.twitter.com/RGjw0Rzszm
— Cris Parker (@3CFilmss) February 14, 2022
I reckon this is Tom Cruise as a ‘Superior Iron Man’ variant and member of Professor X’s Illuminati that Doctor Strange is being taken to for trial. Notice those are iron man/ultron-esque robots
#DoctorStrange #MultiverseOfMadness #DoctorStrange2 pic.twitter.com/ySa1RHnnYN
— Dainéil Ó Corra (@ua_Corra) February 14, 2022
Hoping this is Tom Cruise’s Tony Stark variant pic.twitter.com/uAkHSPVQPk
— Peekochoo (@Peekochewie) February 13, 2022
BRING ME SUPERIOR IRON MAN TOM CRUISE #DoctorStrange2 pic.twitter.com/z6DMBI4fgc
— BLURAYANGEL
(@blurayangel) February 14, 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens on May 6.