‘Armor Wars’: Don Cheadle’s Marvel Series Upgraded To A Movie

There’s been a shake-up in the Marvel Universe, but all things considered, it’s a pretty great one for Don Cheadle. The actor’s Marvel/Disney+ series, “Armor Wars,” is changing and is now being developed as a feature film. It’s hard to see that as anything else as an upgrade if your Don Cheadle or Cheadle’s reps. Marvel’s Disney+ series was supposed to be for supporting characters that didn’t really get their due and might be better suited to a character-driven limited series format. Cheadle’s War Machine/James “Rhoadey” Rhoades character—who already appeared in “Falcon And the Winter Solider” briefly and will turn up in the upcoming series “Secret Wars”—fit that bill perfectly: a supporting character that really deserved his own vehicle.

Movies were supposed to be meant for the A-list stars and A-list characters, so it’s hard to see this as anything else than a real vote of confidence in the character and Cheadle.

READ MORE: Don Cheadle Says ‘Armor Wars’ Will Give Major “Real Estate” To Explore War Machine; Begins Filming In A Couple Of Months

Yassir Lester, who was acting as head writer on the series, essentially the showrunner, though Marvel’s format is a little different—will remain as its feature scribe. The downside is that it kicks “Armor Wars” down the field and calendar.

Sources tell THR the “studio was committed in getting the story told the right way and in that process realized that a feature was better suited for the project.” The downside read on that that is perhaps the series had too much filler and padding, and the story could be better told in a 2-hour feature-length effort. And or it just wasn’t working as is, and they decided to try another way, but regardless, it could be an exciting development.

Marvel had been eyeing a 2023 start of production on the series, but the change of direction came on down to the key players. No directors had been hired yet, but if the studio was just a few months away, they were probably talking to a few filmmakers at least.

Cheadle will next turn up in the aforementioned “Secret Invasion” Disney+ series starring Samuel L. Jackson and due in the spring of 2023. It’s unclear how significant his role will be, but as a big ensemble series that seems to point at the next iteration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and or S.W.O.R.D., one would not be surprised if the appearance is small and cameo-like again.

Not much was known about “Armor Wars,” but it did take its name from a celebrated “Iron Man” comic storyline in 1987 and 1988 that introduced all kinds of new Iron Man suits and armor. Written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, “Armor Wars” essentially told the story of Tony Stark’s advanced technology and weaponry falling into the wrong hands. With Robert Downey Jr’s Stark out of the picture, “Armor Wars” would obviously be reconfigured to feature Rhodey as the lead and presumably get us up to date on where Stark Industries fits into the MCU in a post-Tony Stark/post-Pepper Potts world.