Nick Nadel's Tuesday column examines the increasingly busy intersection between comic books and the movies.

Let's step into an alternate summer movie reality for a moment, shall we? It's the first week of May 2008, and audiences are primed for Iron Man. Its star, a veteran actor who is no stranger to controversy, promotes the film on Oprah and even announces a new website celebrating his two decades in film. Flash forward to the premiere: On screen, a military Humvee rumbles through the Afghan desert. Cut to inside, and we see millionaire playboy Tony Stark... portrayed by...Tom Cruise?? No!!!

Yep, it almost happened. And on that disturbing note, let's take a look at some of the reasons why A-listers should be kept as far away as possible from superhero roles.

They Bring Too Much Baggage
Take Tom, for instance. Cruise circled Iron Man for years, drawn to the playboy-turned-hero character. (And no doubt, drawn to yet another role where he could obscure his famous face. Eyes Wide Shut and Vanilla Sky, anyone?) Sure, the film might have worked if Tommy Boy had been cast. Perhaps the Cruise from Magnolia might have shown up... but chances are, this risky project with a quirky director would have morphed into a Tom Cruise Vehicle. (Dude overshadowed Spielberg on War of the Worlds, Favreau wouldn't have stood a chance.) And with Cruise comes more explosions and more noise. Before you could say "Pepper Potts," Iron Man would've become yet another bloated summer junk-a-thon. And the hype! Think Iron Man is being shoved down your throat now? Imagine the paparazzi photos of Katie and Suri on set, the Us Weekly reports of Tom insisting that Stark's suit be Xenu-powered. Sure, it's not like Downey didn't bring his own baggage to the table. But he certainly didn't bring Tom Cruise's jetloads of baggage.

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