Tom Cruise has had a stronghold in the action film world for decades. His first major action role came in 1986 when he played Maverick in the action drama Top Gun. From there, he solidified his reputation as an action star, which involved performing his own stunts.
Four years after his Top Gun debut, Cruise tackled a major action film again with the car sports movie Days of Thunder. The late ’90s saw him kick off his Mission: Impossible series, a franchise that would become one of the cornerstones of his career.
Cruise has wrapped up Mission: Impossible, while Top Gun 3 will likely close the chapter for his other action franchise. Despite doing his own stunts, he is now 63 years old. As such, the film world needs a younger replacement for Cruise. Based on a recent trailer, Hollywood may be arriving at the perfect person to fill that role.
Glen Powell Is Mastering An Iconic Part Of Tom Cruise Movies
It Is One Of Cruise’s Hallmarks
Actor Glen Powell has worked with Cruise before, seeing one of his breakout roles in Top Gun: Maverick. Since then, he has led films like Twisters, Anyone But You, and Hit Man.
Powell’s biggest film this year will be The Running Man, an updated adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel of the same name. The dystopian film will tell the story of a man named Ben Richards, who decides to compete in a game show where he must survive 30 days while people are sent to kill him.
Especially popularized in the Mission: Impossible series, Cruise’s running has become a staple of his action persona.
The Running Man‘s first trailer was recently released, showing Powell engaging in one of Cruise’s defining on-screen activities: running. Especially popularized in the Mission: Impossible series, Cruise’s running has become a staple of his action persona. His posture and running style have been of particular note.
Now, Powell is not only running, but he has an entire movie built around running (which even has the action in the тιтle). This aspect of The Running Man will further liken Powell to Cruise after comparisons have already been made.
The Running Man Will Further Prove Powell’s Action Movie Chops
Powell Has Already Been In Some Action Films
The Running Man is definitely not a direct stand-in for a Cruise-style movie. The Mission: Impossible franchise has taken action filmmaking to the next level, including elaborate and extravagant stunt work. Powell’s King adaptation will not have stunts at nearly this scale.
Still, it will further cement Powell as an action star. Between Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters, he has certainly dabbled in action a lot up to this point in his career. The Running Man will position him in the lead role once again, and allow the actor to more fully show what he is made of.
If The Running Man Is A Hit, It’ll Cement Glen Powell As A Movie Star
But It’s Not A Sure-Fire Success
The Running Man has great potential to do well at the box office, though it is not a completely sure-fire hit. Edgar Wright is a great director, but he is not the kind of person who will draw audiences on the name alone.
The movie’s King connection gives it better chances than other factors, but even that isn’t a certainty of success at the box office. Movies like The Monkey have done well, whereas The Life of Chuck has had a much smaller showing. King will still be used in promotional material, but that does not mean he will be the main appeal.
This leaves Powell himself as potentially the biggest draw to The Running Man. By this point in his career, he had developed some name recognition among audiences. If Powell can pull this off, this would prove that he is one of the biggest action stars working right now. It’s hard to be a true movie star in 2025 in the conventional sense, but Powell will be the closest anyone can come if he keeps making well-regarded films.
Top Gun 3 Should Fully Make Glen Powell Into Tom Cruise’s Replacement
And It Would Be The Perfect Moment To Formalize This
The Running Man could make Powell a bonafide action star, but it’s Top Gun 3 that will really prove him to be an apt Tom Cruise replacement. Powell is expected to return in his fan-favorite role of Hangman for this threequel, along with other cast members.
Director Joseph Kosinski has also hinted that Top Gun 3 will be Cruise’s last movie as Maverick. If the franchise itself were to continue, it would be in need of a new lead, and Powell would be the best person to fill that void. Between his running and his general action film stardom, he exudes similar qualities to Cruise. Top Gun 3 would thus act as the perfect pᴀssing of the torch between the two actors.
There would be nothing better to prove that Powell is the next Cruise. In fact, Top Gun 3 would be the clearest way to formalize that connection. But first, The Running Man will have to lay the groundwork for Powell as a clear action star.
