‘Iron Man’ Star Terrence Howard Is Very Blunt About If He Would Return to Marvel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe launched 10 years ago with Iron Man, which debuted Robert Downey Jr.’s iconic interpretation of Tony Stark. The film also featured Terrence Howard as James Rhodes, though he was replaced by Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2. During a recent interview, Howard confirmed he has no interest being involved with any future MCU project.

“You know what’s so funny? Even though I love Don Cheadle so much and I love what he’s done, I still hear a lot of fans asking, ‘Am I going to come back and be War Machine? Am I going to come back and be War Machine?’” Howard confirmed on Watch What Happens Live. “I think they could have a huge franchise off of it, but f-ck em.”

Various reports have emerged about why Howard wasn’t involved in the second film, including Marvel Studios claiming to be disinterested in the actor due to the poor collaborative experience on Iron Man, though the actor himself claims the root of the problem was Downey’s paycheck.

“It turns out that the person that I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to re-up for the second one, took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out,” Howard shared with Watch What Happens Live in 2013. “They came to me with the second and said ‘Look, we will pay you one-eighth of what we contractually had for you, because we think the second one will be successful with or without you.’ And I called my friend, that I helped get the first job, and he didn’t call me back for three months.”

While many Howard fans might be disappointed that he didn’t reprise his role or get to become War Machine in sequels, he’s not the only performer who handed over the reins to a new performer in a follow-up adventure.

In 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Ed Norton starred as Bruce Banner, with the actor stipulating that he would only take the role if he could be involved in the writing and editing process. Marvel Studios wasn’t ultimately happy with his behind-the-scenes collaborative efforts, resulting in the actor parting ways from future projects.

Mark Ruffalo debuted as Bruce Banner in Marvel’s The Avengers, having played the role ever since.

Upcoming Marvel Studios films include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.

Would you like to see Howard return to the MCU somehow? Let us know in the comments below!