Because Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness deals with the journey through the multiverse, Sam Raimi’s film is full of cameos of all kinds. This new opus of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is therefore an opportunity to travel through different universes and therefore to cross paths unexpected characters. However, there is one major absence. A crazy cameo, which the fans were waiting for with great impatience. Screenwriter Michael Waldron, who notably worked on the series Loki and on the recent Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reveals behind the scenes of this crazy rumor. SPOILER warning!
Warning: spoilers concerning Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness start here. Do not continue reading if you do not want to read it.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: a historic start
Directed by Sam Raimi, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was released on May 4th in dark rooms. Following Doctor Strangebut also of Wanda Vision and of Spider-Man: No Way Homethe feature film marks the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange for the sixth time. The rest of the cast is made up of Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams and even the very young Xochitl Gomez in the role of America Chavez.
At present, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made a historic start. With its $449 million in revenue in less than a week of operation, it is positioned as the 11th best start of all time at the US box office.
Tom Cruise’s missed cameo
It’s been several weeks now that the rumor swells. Many fans thought and hoped to see disembark Tom Cruise in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Indeed, many rumors have claimed that the actor was going to appear in the skin of Iron Man in front of the camera of Sam Raimi. Many thought the actor was going to star a variant of Tony Stark within the Illuminati. But in the end, it is nothing. No Tom Cruise on the horizon, or even any Iron Man.
Faced with the absence of Tom Cruise in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesssome fans began to speculate about a possible deleted scene including Cruise’s Superior Iron Man. Screenwriter Michael Waldron therefore spoke on the issue at the microphone of RollingStone to leave no implication. Tom Cruise never came on the set of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and there is no cut scene with Superior Iron Man:
Yeah, that was totally made up. There are no cut sequences with Tom Cruise. But I love Tom Cruise, and at one time I pitched the idea to Kevin Feige. I asked him: could we have Tom Cruise as Iron Man?
Michael Waldron therefore nevertheless imagined this eventualityand people who have been aware would in turn have spread the noise. The idea of putting Tom Cruise in the shoes of Iron Man therefore crossed his mind. However, even if Kevin Feige had accepted this proposal, it would not have been feasible since Tom Cruise is too busy filming the two new parts of Impossible mission.
Even though Tom Cruise is not part of the party, Michael Waldron is very grateful to Kevin Feige for giving him so much freedom concerning the composition of the Illuminati. The screenwriter recently said he was very happy with the rendering of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:
The final composition of this band exceeds my wildest dreams. I never imagined that we would be able to do this. The final composition is close, I think, to what was originally in my first draft. And we tried to be true to the kind of characters that the Illuminati portrayed in the comics.
It’s true that this composition was quite crazy, and was full of surprises. As a reminder, the new MCU film is currently being released in theaters.
