"Mission Impossible," "Top Gun," "Rain Man," "Vanilla Sky," "The Last Samurai," Tom Cruise is a very recognizable face in Hollywood and has been for a long time. The steely eyes, the chiseled jawline... but what did he just do to it?

On October 9, 2021, the star attended Game 2 of the National League Division Series in San Francisco. The match caught the public's attention but not for the athletic performance.

Tom Cruise appeared very different that night, sitting next to his son Connor Cruise. Twitter noticed.

Tom Cruise's face goes viral on Twitter

At Oracle Park, to watch the San Francisco Giants play the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tom Cruise's face looked puffy and elicited many jokes, nice or not. Some Twitter users voiced their doubt about whether the man was actually Cruise, leading to some funny theories about someone impersonating him. Another viral tweet getting thousands of retweets refers to Norm Macdonald, the late Canadian comedian.

Some of the most shared tweets can be found below.

The theories about Tom Cruise

Other tweets of course hint at something that has become all too common in Hollywood these days: a surgery accident. Fillers could be the cause of the puffy aspect of Cruise's face during the match.

The actor could have put on some weight too recently.

After all, the coronavirus pandemic has been a difficult time for most of us, and it would not be surprising if the actor gained a few pounds, hence looking different than he has in the past. Some fans adopted this point of view and defended the right for Cruise to look human.

Just Cruisin'

Theories were debunked, though, as a Twitter user in attendance confirmed Tom Cruise met Danny Glover of "Lethal Weapon" fame. According to Vanity Fair and TMZ, Cruise handled the public attention with grace, chatting with people, bumping fists, shaking hands.

He said he was to Amy Gutierrez, a sports journalist who got a selfie with the star, a down-to-earth baseball fan.

Why the attention?

Many people have been joking about Cruise's appearance on that day, but why did they? After all, Tom Cruise is 59, and aging takes its toll on all of us.

But none of us are Tom Cruise.

When you jump from exploding buildings or just risk your life in every one of your movies and still look fresh and energetic, maybe people tend to think it's real and possible. But Tom Cruise has been a Hollywood mainstay since the 80s and seeing Celebrities age is weird for all of us. People are just not used to seeing superstars in regular settings, which could have been a factor.

But deep down, witnessing someone like Cruise getting older reminds us of our inescapable mortality, however famous and good-looking we are -- or are not.

What's next for M. Cruise?

Let's hope the actor recovers from this and comes back even stronger for his next projects, including "Mission Impossible 7," the "Top Gun" reboot that has been delayed because of the pandemic. According to Emily Blunt on the "Howard Stern Show," the rumored "Edge of Tomorrow 2" may never be, though.

Right now, you can catch Tom Cruise in one of the most streamed movies on Netflix this month, according to FlixPatrol: "Knight and Day". The film has been in the Netflix Top 10 for the last nine days, proof that anything featuring Cruise has a fighting chance in any box office, even years later.

Now, that's real star power.

According to ESPN, the Dodgers beat the Giants 9 to 2, tied with one win apiece. They meet again in Los Angeles on Monday night for Game 3, possibly with a new cast of celebrities to tweet about, so keep your eyes peeled and your keyboard ready. The next viral tweet may be the one you write.