Terrence Howard Said F*** Marvel After Don Cheadle Replaced Him in ‘Iron Man 2’
Now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the all-conquering media conglomerate that dictates everything about pop culture. So it’s easy to forget the starting point for some important characters. Case in point: Terrence Howard was Robert Downey Jr.’s co-star in Iron Man. But he left the role after the first movie due to a fallout with the studio. Whatever bad feelings remain between Howard and Marvel, the early disruption did not affect the MCU much. After all, Don Cheadle took on the role and made it his own.
Terrence Howard starred in the Marvel flick ‘Iron Man’
Downey’s lead role in Iron Man revived his career. It put him on a course to become the face of the biggest franchise of the century for over a decade. But the biggest name in the cast at the time was Howard. The actor was reportedly paid between $3.5 and $4.5 million, while Downey received “only” $500,000 for portraying Tony Stark.
Howard played James “Rhodey” Rhodes, the official mediator between Stark Industries and the US Air Force. The movie makes a point to set up Rhodes’ future superhero turn in later movies. He sees an early version of the War Machine armor and mutters, “next time, baby”. Given the box office success of Iron Man, you would’ve expected to see him in the sequel. But of course, that’s not what happened, as he was replaced by Cheadle.
There were suggestions that the change was made due to Howard’s conduct on set. But according to Entertainment Weekly, the decision was informed by director Jon Favreau and Marvel producers’ dislike of his performance in the movie. Apparently, they led to additional reshoots and edits for the final cut. When it came time to write Iron Man 2, Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux cut Rhodes’ storyline down significantly. This spelled the beginning of the end for Howard in the MCU.
Terrence Howard revealed his frustration with the Marvel situation
Terrence Howard made it clear several times that he was not pleased with being let go by Marvel. In an interview on Sway in the Morning, he explained that he had a three-picture deal with the studio that would pay him $8 million for the sequel. But they only offered him $1 million in negotiations. “I didn’t know it wasn’t a mutually binding contract; it was only beneficial for them and they could bring me back or not. They can honor it or not,” Howard said.
He was asked about becoming War Machine again by a fan during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. “I love Don Cheadle so much,” Howard began. “I love what he’s done with it.” He spoke about the possibility of a “huge franchise,” but added, “f*** ’em” — clearly referring to Marvel.
Howard previously spoke negatively about Downey Jr., too. He claimed the actor banked some of his money, taking credit for RDJ getting the role in the first place. When Howard heard about Cheadle replacing him, he claims he reached out to Downey Jr., hoping he’d reciprocate the effort to keep him in the movie. But those calls went unanswered.
“And guess who got the million I was supposed to get? He got the whole franchise, so I’ve actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying to look after somebody,” Howard told Rolling Stone in 2015.
The two of them seem to have made amends and renewed their friendship. In 2016, Howard posted a picture of he and Downey Jr. together on Instagram. “Nice to see my old friend again… #lifestooshort #allgood,” he captioned it.
The role of War Machine has expanded in the MCU
As for his replacement, Cheadle only needed two hours to accept the part. And as predicted, he received more opportunities to build Rhodes into a fully fleshed out character. He first put on the War Machine armor in Iron Man 2. Since then, Cheadle has reprised the part in five other movies, including helping to take down Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.
Rhodes also played a small role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Now, Cheadle is set to star in his own project for the first time: the Disney+ series-turned-movie, titled Armor Wars.
