Oct 14 2008Cheadle Supplants Howard in 'Iron Man 2'
Ut oh, Iron Maniacs, sounds like there's going to be some casting holes in the Iron Man sequel! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Terrance Howard--who played JIm Rhodes, the man who would later become War Machine--has been replaced by Don Cheadle:
Don Cheadle is stepping in to replace Terrence Howard in "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios' sequel to its summer blockbuster.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" with Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke.
What's the deal, Marvel? You think all respected black actors are the same? You can just trade them around like your Pokeyman cards and no one will notice or care? Granted, my parents still maintain that Denzel Washington is in the Ocean's movies, but still, not cool. It will take me at least one to two scenes to get over this jarring switch--and that's one to two more than it took to get over the Holmes-to-Gyllenhaal switch in The Dark Knight.
Reader Comments
1. Right Fury - October 14, 2008 1:07 PM
Ugh, how dare you bring up the Holmes-double bagger switch. uh
2. Caligula - October 14, 2008 1:19 PM
From a spin-off standpoint (As inevitably terrible as a War Machine stand-alone would be), this was a poor move.
3. Joe Cat - October 14, 2008 1:25 PM
Rhodes is a tough guy, and Cheadle is most certainly not a tough guy.
Unless by, "tough" you mean: "There is a reasonable belief that this man has been on the working end of a penis". Then in that case, yeah. He's wicked tough.
4. Aerialgreen - October 14, 2008 1:30 PM
I hope it's not true or that the trade comes for the best, since there was an actual friendship chemistry between Terrance and Downey, plus I could believe he was a military pilot, Cheadle? don't know...
5. g - October 14, 2008 1:46 PM
Terrence Howard as the Green Lantern
6. ironmancasting - October 14, 2008 1:47 PM
Cheadle?
Bad casting.
A better replacement?
Michael White (Spawn)
7. Elmo - October 14, 2008 2:03 PM
you know why they switched Holmes with Gyllenhaal????
because you'd feel more emotion on the side of 'sad' when Gyllenhaal died
8. ScottAgro - October 14, 2008 2:17 PM
Nothing was more comical and distracting in Iron Man than Terrence Howard's high little voice.
9. Elle Driver - October 14, 2008 2:38 PM
Howard is a nutcase in real life. He once started babbling during a taped interview on a red carpet about how "unsanitary" women were, and that we should all carry baby wipes with us, because it gets "dirty down there". His bizarre diatribe was cut short when his PR flack grabbed his arm and (wisely) led him away. (I'm sure you could find the video somewhere online.)
They should have gotten Chiwetel Ejiofor to replace him (Serenity, American Gangster, Children of Men.) I still can't forgive Cheadle for that fucking horrific accent he put-on for the Oceans films.
10. Memphisto - October 14, 2008 2:47 PM
"What's the deal, Marvel? You think all respected black actors are the same?"
Have you ever read a marvel comic? They seem to think all black PEOPLE are the same.
Elle said, "They should have gotten Chiwetel Ejiofor to replace him"
Excellent choice. Don't forget Redbelt. I also think Djimon Hounsou from Amistad, Stargate, and Blood Diamond would be a good choice.
Cheadle is so flavor-of-the-month.
11. Specialist - October 14, 2008 3:09 PM
They need to cast Robert Downey Jr. as War Machine, we all saw Tropic Thunder right? Downey could star next to himself! ... as a black guy! Brilliant
12. Rob - October 14, 2008 3:26 PM
@9
You're dirty. Clean your pie
13. Elle Driver - October 14, 2008 4:21 PM
@ Rob: I just did this morning, actually. But thanks for the reminder!
http://jezebel.com/gossip/hate-male/terrence-howard-women-and-toilet-paper-a-very-serious-subject-292358.php
"It's a very serious subject!"
14. Brandon - October 14, 2008 4:37 PM
@#11
ROTFL
15. jecka - October 14, 2008 5:49 PM
Bring in Richard Brooks! (Jubal Early in Firefly).
16. Chris - October 14, 2008 6:27 PM
An upgrade. In my opinion.
17. Stuey - October 14, 2008 8:42 PM
What is worse than that is Sam Jackson being cast as Nick Fury. Ummm Nick can't be black because he drank an anto-aging serum back in WW1 and he doesnt age, he was already an officer in the military....back then they didn't allow black men to be officers.
I know its fantasy but quit casting Sam Jackson in everything
18. PunkJr - October 14, 2008 8:46 PM
@17 - The SLJ Nick Fury is base off of the Ultimates series.
It's pretty decent, check it out!
19. funke - October 14, 2008 9:56 PM
Stuey - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury
20. Paul - October 15, 2008 1:34 AM
Replaceable black actors? Worked in Major League. Or am I the only one who remembers Wesley Snipes & Omar Epps playing "The Black Hammer" Willie Mays Hayes?
21. Bobeyo - October 15, 2008 9:09 AM
#7: Really? All I felt was "well, there goes Pugface McPignose - glad I won't have to look at her anymore."
Seriously people, I know it's fun to rag on Katie Holmes because she's married to Tom Cruise, but Maggie Gyllenhaal is just plain fugly, and wasn't even a better actress than Holmes was anyway (both of them had the acting skills of a bar of soap). Either way though, I'm just glad that the pointless throwaway character is finally gone.
22. Stuey - October 17, 2008 7:58 PM
So point being, the original was a white guy in the military in the war. WHYYYYYY change it to a black guy? Or chinese? Black is not the issue.
Makes you wonder why we don't have a black James Bond or a white Shaft....I mean WHY NOT, let's just change everything. I mean JUST CAUSE.
We can call Tom Hanks and ask him if we can reshoot Forest Gump and make him an Eskimo...he wont mind.
23. phoenix1148 - October 24, 2008 2:06 AM
wow, someone actually suggested that michael jai white for war machine and put spawn in parenthesis!!! did you see spawn!?! its right up there with bloodrayne and street fighter battling for crappiest movie of all time! maggie did so much better than the 30 going on 12 'kate holmes,' who dropped the 'ie' because tom felt it was childish. i keep hearing the cheadle-howard switch was over terrance wanting too much money for the part, typical, he gets some awards for 'hustle and flow' and thinks he's all the shit now. he won't be pimping the war machine suit though! i don't know what's up with sam jackson for nick fury, maybe they want the character to say fuck alot.
24. che-che - January 15, 2009 11:30 AM
@3,
if you are gonna compare the machismo between cheadle and terrance. there is no comapirison, terrence is too much of a pussy, to be military. Don Cheadle can pull this off and is a thousand times better of an actor than howard. howard looks like he is one the verge of crying in every scene.
@7
i thought they switched to gyllenhall because she was ugly and its easier to accept her death that way.