Marvel Considering a Solo War Machine Movie Starring Don Cheadle?

Posted by on November 8th, 2010   Filed under: Action, Books/Comics, Rumours
Source: The Playlist

There have been some strange reports floating around out there recently about production delays on The Avengers. Word on the street is that Marvel has been trying to squeeze a massive blockbuster out of a very tight budget, and a number of people have walked off the set because of it. Whether or not it’s true, it seems to coincide with what we’ve heard previously about Marvel’s penny-pinching ways — the same penny-pinching ways that led to Terrence Howard being ousted from Iron Man 2 in favour of Don Cheadle. Now this week there’s an interesting report that they are also in the early stages of putting together a possible spin-off that would revolve around Cheadle as War Machine. But is this a movie that anyone actually wants to see, or is it merely planning for the inevitable departure of Robert Downey Jr. from the Iron Man franchise?

According to Pajiba, Marvel is currently in search of writers for a War Machine feature film. They seem to be trying to keep it on the DL at the moment, and it’s unclear where exactly this might fit in to the continuity of their films, but it has been said that Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t too pleased with Iron Man 2, and after The Avengers, he is only signed on for one more film. Could Don Cheadle eventually take over the Iron Man franchise after Iron Man 3?

I’m no expert on the subject, but I know that James Rhodes filled in for Tony Stark as Iron Man at various points in the comics, and eventually headlined his own War Machine series. It seems like a reasonable assumption at this point that Robert Downey Jr. won’t be doing Iron Man 4, unless Marvel offers him a ton of money (which, based on their previous actions, isn’t likely). Obviously this is still a ways off, but what do you think? Could War Machine and Don Cheadle carry a movie themselves, or is a spin-off like this too big of a stretch?



  • rjdelight

    So three Iron Man flicks and The Avengers, and possibly Avengers sequels? How many movies do people expect RDJ to be in playing Iron Man??? An IM trilogy and The Avengers is pretty sweet, asking or expecting anymore is crazy. If the man wants to be a part of the franchise in the future fine, but the fanboys shouldn’t throw fits if and when RDJ decides it’s time to move on to something else.

    The man is a fantastic actor and I personally don’t want to see him tied up in Iron Man sequels for the next ten years.

  • Captain N

    I agree with rj. We are in a “transition” of sorts where all these characters that people love are in the midst of changing actors. It’s going to happen sooner or later, people need to be open to other actors coming into these iconic roles.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Iron Man 3 is Downey’s last time out as Iron Man.

  • Ben

    They’re going to have to start planning these films like James Bond has been done anyway. There’s no way they can keep an ongoing, all encompassing universe going if crap blows up everytime they change actors.

  • Maopheus

    Why not give Jarvis his own movie? At this rate, everyone gets his own movie, even the goddamn janitor who cleans out Avengers mansion. Also Cheadle is older than RDJ is so it’s not like they’re getting a younger guy as a replacement. Cheadle was born in 1964, RDJ in 1965. I’d have trouble seeing them playing superheroes into their 50’s, but who knows.

  • Brendan

    I thought this was the plan all along, especially after they brought in Cheadle. It seemed like they didn’t need to bring in a bigger name to replace Terrence Howard, so I just assumed they wanted Cheadle for a spin-off. And from a studio standpoint, this could be a movie that would appeal especially to black audiences. I’m just speculating, but I know movie studios target different demographics for different films. This could be a chance to launch a black superhero franchise.

  • Ryan Marlow

    Ten year old me would shit himself over this. Adult me is still somewhat amazed that second and third tier characters are getting movies.

  • Nelson

    I think that death is so common these days that people have begun to take things for granted, especially people running large companies and corporations. The mentality, in my opinion, is that everyone is replaceable, no matter who they are and no matter what their position may be.

    If you don’t like someone that works for you, 100%, but they do their job like no one else can, toss em. If you’ve married someone and things aren’t going quite as smooth as you like or you’re having sex five times a week when you would like to have it ten times a week, don’t discuss it, don’t try to make amends, it’s divorce time. If actor X wants five million to perform a role in a film and actor Y will take only three million for the same part, get rid of actor X.

    I think that this is the wrong attitude to take and I think this is why you can look at many aspects of society today and feel like everything is going downhill.

    There is something about Robert Downey Junior in the role of Iron Man that I think works very well. There is something unique, about the man himself, that makes these movies work as well as they have, thus far. I’m not saying that you can’t make an Iron Man movie without him, but I am saying that it will be challenging, at the very least, to make one that is anywhere near as good, in the next 2-3 years, if he isn’t in it.

    A good War Machine movie is probably “doable” but in addition to Don Cheadle, it will have to co-star someone nearly as engaging and as charismatic as Robert Downey, AND, that person, whoever they may be, will have to have an almost equal amount of screen time as Cheadle, the “star” of the movie.

    I think it’s jarring to an audience whenever you swap out an existing actor in a role for someone else, I don’t care how much the new movie makes or what critics say, I think the movie suffers, even if only slightly. In the worst case scenario, something that could have been a blockbuster will turn out to be a flop or make millions less then it would have otherwise made.

  • christina

    DON CHEADLE IS A GREAT ACTOR BUT DOESNT HAVE THE CHARISMA TO MATCH RDJ. CHEADLE IS TOO STOIC. I PREFER TERRENCE HOWARD WHO HAS THE LOOKS AND CHARISMA TO BLEND WELL WITH RDJ. I LOVED HIM IN IRON MAN AND WAS DISAPPOINTED IN IRON MAN II WITH CHEADLE AS REPLACEMENT.