What is the Armor Wars release date? Fans of the MCU rejoice because a new Marvel movie featuring a fan-favorite character has been confirmed and is heading to the big screen. Don Cheadle is officially getting ready to strap into his metal flying suit once again for an all-new adrenaline-filled adventure.
That’s right, after making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the Iron Man cast back in 2010, Cheadle is getting his own movie. And, we don’t know about all you other Stark Industry enthusiasts, but personally, we can’t wait to see the Colonel kicking butt and back in action.
However, with a slew of other upcoming Marvel movies heading our way, you may be wondering where Armor Wars fits in the Marvel movies in order‘s timeline. Well, The Digital Fix has searched high and low to bring you all the answers. Here we go through the Armor Wars release date, plot, cast, and more to deliver all the intel that you need to know about War Machine’s upcoming feature.
Armor Wars release date speculation
The earliest Armor Wars could be released is in the Fall of 2024 to early 2025, but that seems a little optimistic at the moment, considering the strikes.
Armor Wars has been juggling a few balls when it comes to its production. Originally, the project was meant to be a Disney Plus Marvel series. But now the story is being re-developed into a full feature film — talk about a turnaround, right?
With this change, it is still unclear when it will arrive on the big screen exactly, but it is unlikely that it will be any earlier than late 2024 since Cheadle spent time filming Secret Invasion instead, which connects to Armor Wars in some way. Keep your eye on this page as updates come in!
What will Armor Wars be about?
Thanks to an official synopsis released by Marvel, we do have a rough idea of what the Armor Wars plot will look like – and spoiler alert – stolen Stark tech is involved.
According to the studio, the story of Armor Wars follows the plotline of what would happen if Tony Stark’s tech fell into the wrong hands. Cheadle as James Rhodes – AKA War Machine – and must face these consequences.
But while this description does offer us the premise of the upcoming film, let’s be honest: it is pretty shy on the details. No Marvel villain is named, and the stolen ‘tech’ could be anything from Stark Industries, really. However, after doing some digging, many MCU fans believe that the Armor Wars plot will be based on a seven-issue Iron Man arc of the same name.
In the comics published between 1978 and 1979, Tony Stark discovers that Spymaster has stolen his technology and then sold off to Justin Hammer. Obviously, following the events of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Tony Stark is no longer with us, so Colonel James’ Rhodey’ Rhodes will be taking over the role of the main protagonist if this hunch is true.
We also know that whatever the main plotline will be, Armor Wars will also be telling a story of grief, as James is still coming to terms with his friend’s death and what his next step in life will be.
“[Rhodey is] at a very different place in a way that is something that I can’t talk about, but it’s going to be very surprising to a lot of people,” Cheadle explained in an interview with Phase Zero.
“And the great thing is there’s just going to be so much opportunity to learn a lot about him and for him to learn about himself and for us, hopefully, to really be able to get behind what makes him tick.”
“If you know anything about the lore, and you’ve read the comic books, you understand that it’s a series that was built around Tony’s Stark Tech getting out and Rhodey taking it on to go get this tech back from the bad hands, the bad actors whose hands it is in,” he continued.
It’s likely that Cheadle’s referring to the revelation that Rhodey was replaced at some point by a Skrull (Supposedly just after Civil War), so Armor Wars may deal with the colonel learning about Tony’s death and getting to grips with a post-Endgame world.
Armor Wars cast speculation
Armor Wars is set to feature a number of MCU alumni in its cast (at least, we hope so). Some names include Don Cheadle as Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, and Walton Goggins is also rumored to make an appearance as Sonny Burch.
Currently, other names haven’t been disclosed just yet. However, there’s plenty of speculation online about potential actors joining the fold.
Many suspect that Sam Rockwell will pop up as Justin Hammer in Armor Wars – who was last seen in Iron Man 2. This is due to the fact that the title of the film is a nod to a certain arc in the comic book that we mentioned earlier, which features the Marvel character.
Other possibilities are Dominque Thorne’s Riri Williams. Riri, also known as Ironheart, is Iron Man’s spiritual successor, with an impressive suit of her own, so it would make sense to see her in the upcoming action movie, too, right?
And finally, Sharon Carter, played by Emily Vancamp, is another face that could potentially turn up in Armor Wars. She was in the TV series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier – which was also Rhodey’s last appearance in the MCU before Secret Invasion, back when he was still grieving the death of his friend.
So, in short, despite only having Cheadle confirmed as a cast member, there are tons of potential faces heading to Armor Wars. We will keep you posted as soon as official announcements are made.
How can I watch Armor Wars?
Armor Wars will be released exclusively in cinemas before making its way to digital paid VOD for rental and purchase. After that, it’ll stream on Disney Plus.
Disney flirted with day-and-date for Disney Plus premieres and VOD but eventually seemed to realize money was left on the table. It has more recently been copying Universal’s strategy of giving films some time to breathe on VOD marketplaces before streaming them at no extra cost.
In the meantime, why not check out our guides to everything we know about the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, The Marvels release date, other new movies coming soon, or Marvel’s Phase 5 explained?
Or if you’re a big film buff, then read our list of the best movies and the best TV series ever made.