James Whitehead
Another day in the wild west of casting rumours has brought about one of the biggest surprises yet, when it started circling around on social media the other day that DC Studios was looking for a big name to play Superman’s Dad Jor-El, in James Gunn’s new ‘Superman’ film.
That news in of itself isn’t that surprising, every big-screen incarnation of the character has been embodied by one of Hollywood’s greatest names, whether its Russel Crowe, in Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’, or even Marlon Brando in the original 1978 ‘Superman’ film. But as excitement builds for the next incarnation of Superman, the big story right now is that Tom Cruise is being considered to play Jor-El. Apparently.
Before dissecting the news to determine if it has any validity or not, let’s first consider it to be an accurate report so we can speculate on the possibility. Tom Cruise is a fantastic actor, one of the last few “movie stars” that can still attract an audience just by his presence on screen. On top of still being a box office draw, he’s extremely talented and over the course of his career has demonstrated a lot of nuance and depth in his performances beyond the big blockbusters. Yes, his main shtick these days seems to be finding creative ways to injure himself in stunts for his Mission Impossible series, but the man does it for his love of cinema and his desire to give audiences their money’s worth, so as a performer he’ll always have my respect.
Now, regarding playing Jor-El, I’d be lying to say it’s not a strange fit, or at least on the surface, anyway. Jor-El tends to be a limited role in every Superman’s origin story, he’s always deceased by the time Superman is grown, reducing his scenes to flashbacks, visions and ghostly projections when Superman needs to learn a valuable lesson. Whilst the role of Jor-El in James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ film is unknown, it is unlikely that this will buck the trend. Gunn has stated that this is Superman who has already been living his life after discovering his abilities, so it would be expected that the ‘origin’ elements of Superman’s story won’t be the focus in this film. So, with all that considered, would it really be wise to cast someone as famous and popular as Tom Cruise for such an insignificant role in the bigger picture?
Now let’s ask the question, would Tom Cruise even want to be Jor-El? Despite his age, Tom Cruise is still very much the leading man. In recent memory, it was only in Top gun: Maverick where we see Cruise step into more of a role model figure to guide the young pilots; but is he ready to continue that type of role in the DC Universe? Or any others for that matter. If so then it shows some evolution into this newer stage of his career, as he may be looking to take more of a backseat to highlight talented young actors, something he did extremely well in the Top gun sequel. But with him still having the appeal and energy to lead films, it still feels like an unexpected turn.
For those excited to see how they would address the height difference on screen between Cruise and David Corenswet’s Superman, you may need to temper your expectations. Ultimately there’s not much validity to these rumours going around. Whilst it makes sense for a studio like DC to consider top talent for all available roles, for the many reasons listed above this just doesn’t seem to suit all parties. I’m very excited about James Gunn’s new ‘Superman’ film, which hits screen the 11th of July, my excitement doesn’t hinder on an appearance from Tom Cruise in the film, nor should it for you.
Whilst Jor-El does seem unlikely, I would not put it past James Gunn, for a second, to pitch some kind of role to Cruise in his new DC universe. With such a wide variety of characters to choose from there will certainly be a better fit for someone with Tom Cruise’s skillset and I would love to see him finally attach himself to a superhero project. But in the meantime, I can’t see this one happening.
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