According to a recent report from Deadline, Tom Cruise has teamed up with tech billionaire Elon Musk and NASA to make the first movie that is filmed outside the universe, instead of utilizing CGI as usual. Although there haven’t been lots of details of this project, Tom Cruise is rumored to play the leading role and continue doing a series of risky businesses like in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Meanwhile, Elon Musk may appear as a sponsor to provide equipment and rockets that take Cruise and the crew to the outer space.
However, you may not know that in addition to his passion for technology, Elon Musk also loves the TV shows and the cinematic world. Until now, he has worked as both a producer and an actor (mainly as a cameo) in many big projects. Therefore, it is likely that Musk will play a supporting role in the upcoming film with Tom Cruise if it is successfully produced. Let’s take a look at the movies that Elon Musk brought a big surprise for the audience in the world!
Iron Man 2
It may be the most famous time Elon Musk has made an appearance as a cameo, because Iron Man, at that time, was recognized as Marvel’s chicken that lays the golden eggs. In a 15-second scene, Musk had a talk with Pepper Potts and Tony Stark in a restaurant. He even shared his idea about an electric jet engine with Iron Man before leaving the frame.
At that time, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark is portrayed as a tech billionaire who owns both talent, pride, and partly weirdness. Therefore, it takes as no surprise that Stark makes acquainted with Elon Musk – another tech billionaire who is even known as Iron Man in the real world.
The Simpsons
Not only starring as a cameo, but Elon Musk also dubbed himself in the “The Musk Who Fell to Earth” episode in The Simpsons sitcom (season 26). In this episode, Musk visits Springfield to look for inspiration for his next project and accidentally lands on the backyard of the Simpson family.
And then, Musk, along with Homer, decides to reform the nuclear factory in this hometown, but they have to face lots of troubles because Mr. Burns believes this plan is so crazy. This episode also mentions many real inventions of Elon Musk in a funny and partly sarcastic way.
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory seems to be a strange meal in the sitcom world because it mixes humorous and emotional stories with a chain of knowledge in science, technology, video game, and public civilization in general. The series also welcomes the participation of lots of celebrities in the scientific world such as Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, or Stephen Hawking. It will be a big shortcoming to lack such a famous person as Elon Musk.
In the “The Platonic Permutation” episode (season 9), Elon Musk had a chance to meet Howard Wolowitz when working for a charity on Thanksgiving days. After knowing that Howard, as an engineer, had traveled to the outer space, Musk agreed to contact him when SpaceX has a similar mission in the universe. However, until the last episode shown in May 2019, Howard didn’t seem to receive any call from this billionaire.
Young Sheldon
As the spin-off of the Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon follows the childhood of genius Sheldon Cooper. And then, the audience knows a great shock: Elon Musk turns out to discover how to calculate the safe landing of the Falcon 9 rocket thanks to equations written in Sheldon’s private notebook. Sheldon sent it to NASA in 1989, but Musk somehow owns it and applies it in the programs of SpaceX.
Of course, it is just a fictitious detail! It’s just for fun!
South Park
In the “Handicar” episode of the South Park animated sitcom, Elon Musk made an appearance as the CEO of Tesla as in his real life. He drove his Tesla D in the Wacky Races to cope with Timmy’s Handicar and many other hard opponents. In spite of the good beginning, Musk finally lost Timmy. And then, he decided to purchase the copyrights of Handicar for $3.2 billion. Musk came back to this series many times in the next 2 seasons.
Why him?
Why him? is a comedy and romantic film that also emphasizes the key roles of startups in modern society. This movie partly explains what people with rich physical properties and rich mindset do to materialize their dreams. And with such an idea, it takes as no surprise that Elon Musk got invited as a cameo. However, on the first filming day, Musk suddenly asked for changing the shooting schedule because SpaceX’s rocket got into trouble – a reason that director John Hamburg said no actor has ever applied whenever planning to play truant.
Men in Black: International
Despite not receiving as high appreciation as Will Smith’s Men in Black movie, the appearance of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson obviously brings a new strange sense of humor for the film. Additionally, Men in Black: International has a little plot twist when revealing that lots of famous celebrities in the modern world turn out to be aliens or come from other worlds. Music star Ariana Grande, director JJ Abrams, and even tech billionaire Elon Musk are involved.
Rick and Morty
After The Simpsons, Elon Musk continues to join in another famous animated project named Rick and Morty (season 4). This time, his name is Elon Tusk, the CEO of the auto company Tuskla. With a couple of tusks on the side of his mouth, Elon Tusk looks a bit peculiar. This is considered as the new version of Elon Musk in the other reality; however, in regards to style and personality, this version appears rather similar to the real version.
In addition to cameos, Elon Musk has also worked as a producer in some of the documentary projects such as The Rider and The Storm, Baseball in the Time of Cholera, Dumbstruck, Thank You for Smoking, and Puzzled. With the risky idea of Tom Cruise, the audience, especially tech fans, are eager to welcome the comeback of the tech billionaire in the widescreens, and even in the outer space.