Iron Man opened in movie theaters earlier this year to starred reviews—not only from comic books fans but almost unanimously among movie goers the world round. It had a great cast, every single actor matching up with how I always envisioned those characters. An awesome movie in this post-Batman Begins world of movie making!
Terrence Howard, who played Jim Rhondes and who ultimately would have become the hero War Machine, will not be back to reprise his role.
The Hollywood Reporter has announced Howard will not return due to financial differences. How much Howard asked for or how much Marvel was willing to pay has not been disclosed. Don Cheadle, great actor and someone I admire a great deal, will take on the role in Iron Man II.
Good news? Bad news? Although I like Cheadle, I am annoyed at the change of actor to play Rhodes. What do you think?
To me, Terrence Howard seemed the wrong choice for the part anyway. His voice was weird (like a little kid's) and he didn't seem to bring the character to life for me.
I know, lame. But there you go.
Michael, I agree about Howard's voice. But when he was dressed in his various uniforms he had a presence about him that I liked. Cheadle, to me at least, doesn't have the physical presence to pull off War Machine -- where I think Howard does.
But that's neither here nor there. I simply do not like when actors replace characters from movie to movie. Even though Maggie G. is a better actor than Katie Cruise, I still hated the change from Batman Begins to The Dark Knight.
At least Marvel was smart enough to pay Jon Favreau what he was asking for to do Iron Man II. Without him, I'd question the strength of the second movie.
I agree with Shawn. I don't generally like changing actors mid-series. The Howard/Cheadle swap is a difficult one, though, because I really like both actors. However, I think that Howard has a more commanding and subtle presence than Cheadle. I don't know what that will mean for War Machine, but I'll bet Cheadle won't seems as protective of Stark. I can't imagine him trying to talk Downy into anything.
And on the side note of Cruise/Gyllenhal, I was fully expecting Maggie to be much better, but she really didn't have the fire and snappiness that Katie did. Which is quite sad really.
Now it looks like we won't have to worry about the Cruise/Gyllenhal problem, right? *grins*
The Howard/Cheadle bit just has me a bit worried. As I said, Cheadle doesn't have the physical presence that Howard has. It's hard imagining Cheadle in uniform; he just seems too thin for it. Iron Man II will be one of the most anticipated blockbuster movies. I just hope they do it right, delve into Stark's addictions a bit more, and have a great evil to fight.
I wonder if the Captain America-stuck in ice shot I saw online, to be part of the new opening of The Incredible Hulk, is real? If it is, that will be great! The Avengers are slowly assembling; let's hope Marvel keeps all actors involved to have one great ensemble cast in a few years!