In spite of prevalent divergent opinions of the man and his personal life (worship, loath, swoon, snub, praise or attack – it’s all there), Tom Cruise has embodied some pretty badass characters on screen of both the heroic and villainous variety.
In Jack Reacher, Cruise may take the antihero approach, but that shouldn’t stop us from racking up eight of his most memorable and intimidating characters (on both sides of the spectrum) in a 5-foot-7-inch smackdown. This ride is set on Cruise control folks — let’s continue.
Once you check out these winners, be sure to leave a comment with your personal pick between these last two badass Cruise roles to have your say as to which character should be victorious!
Final Matchup – Ethan Hunt (
Easily the two most recognizable cinematic personas Cruise has to his name, his role of Maverick in Top Gun launched him to the A-list whereas spy extraordinaire Ethan Hunt remains the heart of the man’s only franchise (and one still going strong). From a standpoint of iconicism, both of these characters have their rabid fans and detractors so we would be remiss to pick a victor on those merits alone.
When it comes to sheer brute force, both of these military men possess more deadly skill than your average men in uniform. Maverick is an ace behind a jetfighter (as clearly evidenced in Top Gun) despite his reckless ways, whereas Hunt is a well rounded killer, capable of eliminating his targets with gadgets and guns, the help of a well-trained team or with his bare hands if need be. I mean, the man was able to bludgeon a baddie to near-death in
In a round of fisticuffs we feel like it would be a close duel, but Hunt has the field experience to really deliver the damage in a gritty manner. Plus it would be relatively safe to assume Hunt could work an aircraft considering all the tech exposure he’s had even if he may loose out to the thrill-seeking Maverick. Though not as close a duel as one might initially think upon reading just the names of these Cruise characters, we still found the winner to be pretty clean cut (and I don’t mean in regards to a military hairstyle).
Winner: Ethan Hunt
