Although comic book movies had to take baby steps for decades, and it took a lot of brave actors and filmmakers to give them some legitimacy, in recent years, the genre has been putting out one star-studded affair after another. Still, there’s one Hollywood A-lister who’s yet to join the pantheon, that being Tom Cruise.
Having been a box office draw for decades now, the Mission: Impossible star just seems like such a natural choice for these kinds of movies, but surprisingly, he’s never gotten around to making one. Granted, had an Iron Man film come to fruition back in the 1990’s, there would’ve a very good chance that it’d have been him cast in the role of Tony Stark, but obviously, that didn’t happen.
There’s still hope, though, and one person who’d love to see Tom Cruise join the genre is Kevin Smith. Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast with co-host Marc Bernardin, the filmmaker made the rather bold statement that not only should Marvel make Cruise the next Wolverine, but that if they did, it’d result in a $1 billion-grossing movie.
“Tom’s got this franchise [Mission: Impossible], which is huge for him but, like, you’re not getting any younger and it’s, you know, those movies they can add life to a m***** f*****’s career,” Smith said. “Could you imagine if they made him a bad guy in a movie? He’d be so f****** good,” he added. “I’m still a Tom Cruise buyer. I’d buy that product.”
“He’d be a really good Striker for when they reboot the X-Men over at Marvel,” Bernardin suggested.
“No, f*** that. Make him Wolverine,” Smith replied.
“He’s older than the one they just replaced!,” Bernardin argued.
“I don’t give a s***, dude. Tom Cruise’s Wolverine makes a billion dollars.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Cruise has been linked to a superhero role; back in March, we heard that he was high on Warner’s wishlist for Green Lantern Corps – a film that’s been described as a complete reimagining of DC’s cosmic hero. Since then, though, things have gone quiet on that front, leaving the door open for the A-lister to get into bed with the folks at Marvel.
Should he wish to suit up as one of the most famous X-Men though, he’d have plenty of competition. Just the other month, for instance, Keanu Reeves revealed that he’d “love to play Wolverine.” And while the John Wick star doesn’t feel like a strong candidate, his action movie credentials have certainly been picking up steam as of late.
Regardless, seeing how the Fox-era Wolverine is still reasonably fresh in our minds, Marvel might be wise to leave the character alone for a little while. But given the continuing popularity of Logan, surely it’s only a matter of time before they find Hugh Jackman’s replacement, right?