Oct 29 2008RDJ Officially Signed to Avenge Things
Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle have officially signed on to Iron Man 3 and The Avengers, the Marvel Studios project that will unite several of its superhero properties:
In addition to starring in "Iron Man 2," Downey has agreed to return as billionaire Tony Stark and his crime-fighting alter ego in "The Avengers" and a third "Iron Man" installment, guaranteeing the thesp a superhero-sized payday and his own ongoing franchise as part of a four-picture deal with the comicbook company.Company confirmed that Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as Col. James Rhodes in the "Iron Man" sequels. Cheadle will also appear in "The Avengers."
This should finally shoot down all those rumors that Marvel was going to cast big-name actors in several superhero film franchises, allude to their eventual merging with cross-over characters and mention of forming the Avengers team, then suddenly re-cast all the parts with actors from community theaters and failed CW shows. Phew!
Downey Jr. extends Marvel deal [Variety]
Reader Comments
1. Bewilderment - October 29, 2008 11:48 AM
Now they'll probably announce there'll be a third Avengers movie.
2. Rob Raymond - October 29, 2008 11:59 AM
Does anybody know why Terrence Howard doesn't want to come back?
3. TetraShiva - October 29, 2008 12:48 PM
Like the subtle dig on the JLA movie.
4. CaptainMorgan - October 29, 2008 1:01 PM
I thought the "third" IronMan film was going to actually be the Avengers movie? Oh well. As long as the movies don't suck, it should be pretty cool.
I don't care that they switched out Howard. As long as they keep Paltrow as hot as she was, I'm happy.
5. Danomite - October 29, 2008 4:39 PM
@#2 He was dropped from the project without his knowledge. He did want to do Iron Man 2. I'm hoping after they get Iron Man, Captain America and Avengers out of the way they do a film based on Civil War. How awesome would it be to see an epic battle between Iron Man and Cap on the big screen?
6. Jay - October 29, 2008 5:32 PM
That's weird they would just drop him like that...unless he is a total diva on set or something.
I am glad RDJ is playing Iron Man again, it is the one time I didn't need convincing that he is Tony Stark. As soon as I saw the trailer, and saw him as Tony Stark, I was just like.."right on".
7. bah - October 29, 2008 6:02 PM
i feel bad for terrance howard. they promised him war machine man! and then bam, not even a phone call. real low marvel, real low.
8. cdawg - October 29, 2008 9:19 PM
that "superhero-sized" paycheck is undoubtedly going to go straight to a superhero-sized mountain of cocaine.
9. MightyD - October 30, 2008 2:12 PM
"have officially signed "...right...we've seen how far that goes...