Once upon a time, long before he became a known commodity and someone that worked best when he was allowed to lead, Tom Cruise was able to work as a part of an ensemble. Remember that? It was in The Outsiders, and in Taps, that he was part of a group and therefore not the top star. But one has to remember that he also wasn’t that well-known back then since he was still pretty young and hadn’t really hit his stride yet. That didn’t take long though, since by the time he was given the lead he started becoming the upstart that would eventually become the guy that would be the lead that others had to contend with or simply let pass since Cruise has, for many years, been the shining light in his movies since he either doesn’t share fame well or he simply has an overbearing personality that not only makes it necessary for him to steal the show, but also to be the highest-paid actor, or at least one of them, on the set. These are a couple of reasons why Tom Cruise hasn’t been in an MCU or DCEU movie yet since, despite the fact that both universes feature movies that show one hero as the major star and use other celebrities as sidekicks or backups, it doesn’t feel likely that we’ll see him in any of them until the price is right.
Plus, all of the superhero movies eventually lead to an ensemble movie, especially in the MCU where things are bound to build up into an overriding theme that will bring everyone together at some point. Cruise can play well with others on screen, but it’s very likely that he doesn’t want anyone thinking that he’s not the biggest star, and it’s easy to think that he doesn’t want to risk being typecast since both the MCU and DCEU tend to sign their biggest stars to contracts that will keep them around for a while. It’s very possible that Cruise doesn’t want to lock himself into this type of contract, especially not when he still has another couple of Mission: Impossible movies to think about and other projects that he might be working on. Plus, seeing him in a superhero movie doesn’t really feel that likely since if he hasn’t done it by now and has no intention of taking a pay cut to make it happen then it’s not bound to happen. If it does then I’ll be one of the many to say I was wrong, but it doesn’t appear that such a thing is going to happen. Given how old he is at this time, the best he could do, even being in shape, would be to play the part of a retired hero and/or perform what would be one of the most expensive cameos ever.
Some folks might want to think that having Cruise in the MCU or the DCEU would be one of the best decisions ever, and it’s hard to say that this kind of thinking is entirely wrong, since he might be a great addition. But it doesn’t feel as though it’s about to happen since the cost is too high most likely and it’s possible that even if he is interested, trying to find out where he might fit in at this point would be kind of a headache. There are probably quite a few places where he might be able to excel, but the question of whether he would want this and if any production could afford his services would need to be figured out, to begin with. It could be that Cruise doesn’t need to come to the MCU or DCEU, especially since he’s made an entire career around other movies that have allowed him to play the lead without fail. One has to take a look at the two universes and realize that while there are some great actors among both of them, quite a few of the actors they’ve called upon have been middling to great talents that started their rise within the respective universes or have had decent careers and found the greatest success with the MCU or DCEU. In other words, Cruise has had massive success well before either universe was kicked off, so he doesn’t really need to enter either universe at this point to gain even more fame.
Those of the MCU and DCEU were either in need of something to boost their career or something to continue their rise, with a few exceptions. Putting Cruise into a comic book movie now would be kind of a waste on both ends since it wouldn’t really help his career and it might reduce the budget of a given movie by way too much. So it feels best to think that he might as well stay out of the MCU and DCEU altogether.
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