Robert Downey Jr. And Tom Cruise are two A-list actors or Hollywood. As per Celebrity Net Worth, the former is worth $300 million while the latter has $600 million to his name. Both of the actors have helmed franchises that changed the course of Hollywood and pop culture. Downey Jr. did that as MCU’s Iron Man and Cruise recently did it as Peter Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick.
Many know that Tom Cruise was the one who was wanted by Marvel for the role of Iron Man, but later on, Robert Downey Jr. got the role. But the reverse has happened as well. For a very well-known franchise, it was the Marvel star who was one of the first choices rather than Cruise.
Robert Downey Jr. Almost Took Tom Cruise’s Mega Franchise From Him
Top Gun (1986) grossed $357 million on a budget of $15 million. Its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick grossed $1.493 billion on a $170 million budget. It was the second-highest-grossing film of 2022, behind James Cameron’s Avatar 2. But Tom Cruise wasn’t the first choice for the role of Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the first movie. As per IMDb, actors like Tom Hanks, John Cusack, and even Robert Downey Jr. came close to bagging the role. But ultimately, it became Cruise’s role.
As many know, the roles were reversed when it came to the role of Iron Man in the MCU. Cruise was offered the role but he turned it down. In an interview, the Mission: Impossible star stated the reason for it. He said:
“[Marvel Studios] came to me at a certain point and, when I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work. I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, and it just didn’t go down that road that way.”
Downey Jr. was certainly lucky to get the role of a lifetime. However, there were other major roles that he missed out on, like playing DC’s Batman.
Was Robert Downey Jr. Courted To Play Batman?
Whenever DC and WB reboot their live-action Batman, everyone wants to know which actor has bagged the role of one of the most famous comic book characters. But this hype around the caped crusader began with Tim Burton’s Batman film. While the character had fans before the film even premiered, it can’t be denied that the movie made the popularity of the character reach the stratosphere.
Michael Keaton ultimately bagged the role, but as per The Richest, Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the dark knight. He was on the director’s personal list of actors he was thinking of casting. However, it seems like everything worked out for the Iron Man star in the end, because if he had played Batman, chances are that he wouldn’t have played MCU’s premiere hero.
Top Gun and Batman are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, while Iron Man can be streamed on Disney+.
Source: Slash Film and IMDb
