Don Cheadle Teases War Machine’s Future in the MCU

After the events of Avengers: Endgame, it looks like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be going off on their own adventures for the time being while new faces begin to debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while we know what’s next for the legacies of characters like Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk, others are still shrouded in mystery — including James Rhodes AKA War Machine. While actor Don Cheadle wouldn’t reveal what’s next for Rhodey now that his best pal Iron Man is gone, he did tease what he’d like to see while appearing at the TCA winter press tour.

Cheadle was asked about an MCU return, he made a surprising reference to a movie he wasn’t even part of.

“If there were to be one, I’d really want to dig into him and maybe even find something that felt closer to the first Iron Man for who he was,” Cheadle explained. “I think they can go anywhere with him now.”

Cheadle was of course cast in the role for Iron Man 2 after pay disputes arose with original Rhodey actor Terrence Howard. But as for whether Cheadle is in line for his own miniseries or adventure on Disney+, he wouldn’t bite on that possibility just yet.

“I really don’t know,” Cheadle said. “I haven’t given it much thought as far as which would be or if either would even be. That was an 11 year journey.”

So far, much like his Iron Man franchise co-star Robert Downey Jr., it sounds like Cheadle is OK with the possibility that his time in the MCU is currently at a close. But it seems hard to deny the siren song of Marvel Studios when they open that massive checkbook.

Marvel almost made very different plans for War Machine in the movie, including a suggestion that he would have held a major political office.

“We took it out because it didn’t have any story weight, but I believe that during one draft, in the five year jump, Rhodie became vice president,” Avengers: Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus explained to ComicBook.com last year.

He added that there were never any edicts from Marvel to put these characters in certain positions for future movies or TV shows, but they were instead given leeway to tell the best story.

“It’s not like [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige] said, ‘You know what, we had a meeting and we’re going to have these three streaming services, so let’s make sure…’” Markus said. ‘No, if anything, I don’t know what all the streaming shows are, but it feels like they might come off of Endgame in some ways, but at no point did anybody say, ‘That’s what we should do, so therefore, sprinkle that in.’”

Avengers: Endgame is now available to stream on Disney+.

Additional reporting by Scott Huver.