20. Tom Cruise & Nicolas Cage Were Considered For Iron Man
Believe it or not, but ever since the early 2000s, Tom Cruise had been lobbying hard to play Tony Stark, and even produce an Iron Man movie. However, Cruise's apparent dislike of an earlier draft of the script and Marvel's feeling that Robert Downey Jr. would be a better fit for the role soon enough put the kibosh on a Cruise-led Iron Man flick. Perhaps even more terrifying is the notion that everyone's favourite cinematic loon, Nicolas Cage, was also interested in the part as early as 1997.
Why It Would've Ruined The MCU: Cruise is a great actor and in 2008 was certainly still a marquee name capable of pulling in the big bucks, but having seen Downey in the role, it's difficult to imagine Cruise being smarmy enough to pull it off. We suspect Cruise might have just accidentally made Stark genuinely unlikeable. As for Cage? We're not convinced he'd nail the quick-fire wit of Downey's Stark at all, and considering how huge a part of the MCU his personality and attitude are, it's entirely possible the franchise as a whole would've never taken flight with Cage in the lead. Still, at least Cage might've been able to pay off his tax bill a little sooner...