Man, can you say super lame? Don Cheadle has replaced Terrence Howard’s character Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) best friend in “Iron Man 2” according to THR.
Is Iron Man done for or is this a small two-steps back? You’ll remember that in the comic books, Rhodes eventually takes over the Iron Man suit for Stark to become the character War Machine and Howard was eagerly looking forward to donning the suit and said so quite a few times earlier this year.
But apparently money issues are the problem. Howard felt he wasn’t being compensated enough so Marvel replaced with the probably all-to-eager Cheadle. Case closed, Howard is out (wonder if he found out the news this morning himself).
Director Jon Favreau has hinted many times that War Machine could have a major part in the “Iron Man 2” storyline, but we wonder now since the characters have been replaced if he’ll shy away from that (or writer Justin Theroux will). They don’t have that much time to mess around, since shooting is supposed to begin in April 2009, so it’s not like they really have that much time for a major script overhaul. Either way, it’s speculation and who knows where they’ll go, but it wouldn’t surprise us if this is seen as a pretty major kink in the armor by the director and screenwriter.
In May, Howard told MTV he was amped and ready to play a super-hero and not just a bff. “I’m anxious to get into the next one. I don’t want to be a sidekick. I don’t want to be a wingman. I want to have my own thing. I want to be War Machine.” Well, looks like you fucked your chances there, buddy. Howard does seem like he has a lot of ego on him, so this might have bit him in the ass.
