Of course, Cruise could also just be talking about the fact that no talks have ever happened since the popularity of superhero movies began, something that didn’t really happen until after Iron Man was released.
Way back when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just an idea, there was a pretty strong rumor that Cruise was interested in playing Iron Man.
Now, it’s absolutely possible that there was never any truth to the rumor in the first place, but often these rumors get started because conversations do happen.
We do have to wonder, however, just how true Tom Cruise’s statement is.