The fame of Tom Cruise is undeniably astonishing. The star has appeared in movies across genres and many of them are era-defining. The Hollywood megastar has established himself as an action star but versatility has been his strong suit.
Many fans might wonder what the actor would look like in a superhero suit. Although Cruise never appeared in genre-specific superhero movies, his roles in Top Gun and Mission Impossible franchises are no less than a superhero. Also, his own insane stunts make those films closer to realism. However, the actor almost made his MCU debut.
Tom Cruise Was Almost A Spider-Man
Spider-Man is one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and most recently Tom Holland played the live-action versions of the titular character. But many other actors were in talks for the role while A-lister Tom Cruise was about to star in the Maguire’s Spider-Man franchise.
Maguire’s portrayal of Spidey was remarkable and it is hard to imagine any other actor right now but imagining Cruise in the Web Crawler’s suit in the ’80s surely does not hurt. As per reports earlier, The Mission Impossible star was set to play the titular character as he was the top choice of the makers following his success in Risky Business. At the time Cruise was a rising star and the makers believed that Cruse would make a wonderful Spidey when Cannon Films was developing the character to bring on the screen. First, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper was onboard to direct the movie then the studio shifted to Missing in Action director Joseph Zito. However, the movie never happened.
But that was not the association of the actor with the character, he was also in talks to play the animated Spidey in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Speaking to SlashFilm screenwriter Rodney Rothman revealed how Cruise and director James Cameron were on the verge of making a Spider-Man movie.
“So there was a whole period of time where Miles, rather than learning about being Spider-Man from a comic book, learned it from watching the films. There was a movie version of a movie about Spider-Man in Miles’ universe about the real person Spider-Man, but it was a James Cameron-directed movie with Tom Cruise as Spidey. Yes. Spidey. And it was James Cameron and Spidey and Tom Cruise on the audio,” Rothman said.
Who knows, the actor might appear in the animated Spider-Man franchise but it is highly unlikely for the actor to appear as Peter Parker at the age of 61.
How Tom Cruise Saved Ray-Ban from Bankruptcy?
Cruise’s ’80s Spider-Man did not happen but the sole reason for the star getting too close to playing the role was the 1983 movie, Risky Business. Paul Brickman-directed teen s*x comedy was a great success but the movie also turned out to be a savior of the popular luxury sunglasses and eyeglasses brand Ray-Ban.
A vital product placement at the right time with the right star worked. The actor wore Wayfarer Ray-Ban sunglasses in the $63 million movie and reports say that Cruise’s flaunting eyewear has saved the company. Ray-Ban was close to discontinuing the iconic Wayfarer before the movie when Cruise wore the glasses in the movie the sale of the Wayfarer skyrocketed to an impressive 50 percent.
Since then, Cruise has been seen with the brand’s products. In Tony Scott’s 1986 action thriller Top Gun, the actor was seen with the classic Ray-Ban aviators, following which the sales of the brand jumped up to 40 percent.
The association of the brand with the actor remained intact, perhaps, Ray-Ban has always been the actor’s favorite sunglasses. The actor wears Ray-Ban on and off the screen. When a journalist once asked him if his glasses were 3-D, the actor simply said, “No, man. These are Ray-Bans.”
Right now, Ray-Ban is one of the biggest luxury eyewear brands. Ray-Ban and Oakley, EssilorLuxottica reportedly collected revenue of £4.9 billion for the first three months of 2022, seeing a 38 percent increase from the previous year.
Source: Screenrant.
