It’s famously known that back in the early days of the MCU, before Robert Downey Jr. took on the role of Tony Stark, Tom Cruise was offered and turned down the role of Iron Man. Now, many years, and rumors later, a deepfake has been created that imagines the Top Gun star in the lead role that went on to define RDJ’s career.
Tom Cruise has been a topic of discussion this year because of his massively successful Top Gun sequel. However, many might forget that earlier this spring rumors were flying around that he might appear in the Doctor Strange sequel as a variant of Iron Man. Now, this deepfake from stryder HD is showing what could have been by recreating a scene from the original Iron Man, check it out:
Even though it’s titled Iron Man 4, this is clearly a scene from the first Iron Man. I can see why they originally wanted Cruise in the role, he has the looks and the charisma to pull it off. However, I will always be in the camp of people who firmly believe RDJ was the best fit for the role and always will be.
These deep fakes have become extremely popular in the last year, and this is not the first time Cruise has been the subject of one. Paris Hilton posted a TikTok of her and deepfake Tom Cruise singing “Tiny Dancer,” which was pretty funny.
While there has been a fair bit of controversy surrounding deepfakes, it is interesting to imagine what could have been or what if through CGI technology. For example, we’ve seen many deepfakes of various actors taking on iconic roles, like The Boys’ Karl Urban as Wolverine instead of Hugh Jackman. Another viral deepfake from a while back imagined Tom Holland as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. While this would be a fun choice for a revamp, the Spider-Man actor made it clear he would not do it because it is a “perfect movie.”
Along with Cruise, Keanu Reeves has been deepfaked quite a bit. While the examples mentioned above imagine other actors in iconic roles, these Reeves deepfakes are funny short videos of him doing everyday tasks, like waiting for his laundry. Clearly, people have gotten super creative and funny with this technology, and Cruise has gotten both treatments between this Iron Man video and the Hilton TikTok.
As for what Cruise is really up to this past year he starred in one of the most successful movies on the 2022 film schedule: Top Gun: Maverick. Now, moving forward, while he won’t be in any upcoming Marvel projects, he is set to star in the seventh Mission Impossible movie, which is on the 2023 movie schedule. So, while this CGI Tom Cruise is fun, you can catch the real Tom Cruise doing jaw-dropping practical stunts in Top Gun: Maverick and the upcoming Mission Impossible movie.
