For me (and many other people) Iron Man was the biggest pleasant surprise movie of the year so far. The movie was so much better than I originally thought it was going to be when I first heard that they were making it, and one of the ingredients to that success was Terrance Howard, who although played a small role, played it well.
Well, apparently Terrance Howard wanted something of a raise to return for Iron Man 2 to reprise his role… and the studios said “no”. And as a result, a guy I just put on my Top 10 Best Actors Working Today list, Don Cheadle is stepping in to take his place to play the role. The folks over at Coming Soon give us this:
In the first film, Howard played Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, Tony Stark/Iron Man’s best friend and future armor-clad hero War Machine. The trade says Marvel had no comment, but sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons. Marvel, which had wanted to work with Cheadle, then decided to take the role in another direction and approached the actor, who is shooting Antoine Fuqua’s Brooklyn’s Finest.
I always say that all actors are replaceable (granted, some more than others), and as good of an actor Terrance Howard is, he’s no Don Cheadle, and it’s never a mistake to upgrade your talent roster in any film or franchise. And since all indications are that War Machine is going to be playing a bigger part in Iron Man 2, this is actually fantastic news. Cheadle just rules.
