Why did Don Cheadle replace Terrence Howard in the MCU?

Don Cheadle is now most recognised for playing James Rhodes / War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having first appeared in Iron Man 2.

However, fans will remember that Terrence Howard actually played the role in the first Iron Man movie. Not only that, but he was the highest-paid actor in the production, as his salary of $4.5 million dwarfed that of star Robert Downey Jr., who earned a reported $500,000.

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Cheadle has played Rhodes to acclaim in the MCU and will return as Rhodes again in the upcoming Armor Wars movie.

However, why was Howard replaced after just one outing as the character?

Don Cheadle's version

Some journalists have asked Cheadle in the past whether he stole the role from Howard, whom he has starred alongside previously. He has vehemently denied these claims and expanded on how he was offered the role at a children's birthday party.

"I did not move Terrence out of a role. He was not… they had decided that they weren’t… that was not happening," he told GQ.

“Then it was an open part. I was at my kid’s laser tag birthday party and they called me and said, ‘This is what’s happening. We’re giving you the offer. If you don’t say yes, we’re going to the next person. This is gonna happen very fast.’ So they said, ‘Why don’t you go ahead and take an hour and decide if you want to do it.’“

Terrence Howard's version

Rightly or wrongly, Howard has been fairly bitter about his departure from the MCU, as he blamed everyone from Iron Man director Jon Favreau to the studio to Downey Jr.

“It turns out that the person that I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to gear up for the second one took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out,” Howard said on the Watch What Happens Live show.

“We did a three-picture deal. So that means, you did the deal ahead of time. It was going to be a certain amount for the first one, a certain amount for the second, certain amount for the third.

“They came to me the second and said, ‘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.”

Howard would claim years after his dismissal that being axed from the MCU killed his career.

Other reports

Around the time of Cheadle's casting, various reports emerged that Favreau did not enjoy working with Howard and that was a major reason for the latter being replaced.

Entertainment Weekly reported that Favreau had cut and changed a lot of Howard's scenes in the first Iron Man. The same report detailed that Rhodes' role had been downsized.

When Marvel found out that Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux were planning on minimising War Machine's storyline, they reached out to Howard and told him that they would not be paying him an increased salary ($10m).

It is unclear whether Howard walked away after that or whether Marvel simply decided to cut their losses.