A couple of months ago, the news broke that Armor Wars starring Don Cheadle’s Rhodey AKA War Machine was no longer going to be a Disney Plus series, but instead would become a movie. On a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, Don Cheadle was typically cagey about what he could and couldn’t reveal.
Regarding the change from Marvel series to Marvel movie, Cheadle said; “Contrary to popular belief – I don’t make those kinds of decisions at Marvel.” Kimmel then asked; “is it true that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to play Titanium Man?” Cheadle seems flummoxed by the question, and seems not to have heard of Titanium Man. Kimmel explains that he’s the Russian Iron Man.
Cheadle says; “I don’t know about that. I’ll ask him [Arnie] next time I see him.” Cheadle says that he bumps into Schwarzenegger often. “The last time I saw him was in a gym in Toronto.” As Kimmel points out, Cheadle is a very good actor, and Marvel actors are used to lying through their teeth on talk shows. Who who knows what the truth is.
James Rhodes has been in the MCU since the very beginning – 2008’s Iron Man – but he was initially played by Terrence Howard. From Iron Man 2 (2010) onwards, he was played by Cheadle. Rhodey also appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Infinity War, and Endgame, as well as Captain America: Civil War – where he was (of course) on Team Iron Man.
Rhodey has been such a long-standing MCU character, it does feel like it’s about time that he got his own movie, as Black Widow finally did in 2021. We don’t yet know how or when Armor Wars will slot into Marvel’s Phase 5 and Phase 6.
While we wait to find out, check out our guide to Marvel’s Phase 5.