For those who have been following along with news and updates surrounding Iron Man 2 since the movie first went into development, you’ve no doubt come across the many issues involving actors’ contracts for the sequels.
You could say that this all started last fall when out of nowhere, Marvel announced that Terrence Howard would not be back in the sequel and James Rhodes/ War Machine would instead be played by Don Cheadle. That’s not all though – director Jon Favreau had some issues in trying to get re-signed for the sequel and then there were the infamous low-ball offers handed out to Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson.
At the time, Howard said he was blindsided by the news and only found out about it like the rest of us: Through the internets!
Well, some time has passed since then and obviously this isn’t something that someone can easily forget – Howard is letting us know that too. In speaking with Sci-Fi Wire about the recasting of the role he was contracted for, Howard opened up about his feelings of the decision and of how Marvel has been poorly handling contract issues of the other principle actors too.
“‘Iron Man‘ happened with that. Marvel happened with it. They made a choice. They made a very, very bad choice. They didn’t keep their word. They didn’t honor our contract. They sent everyone out into a field and told them to work and produce a great bounty. You produce a great bounty, and then when it’s all in the storehouse, you are not allowed into the storehouse.”
“They did the same thing with Gwyneth [Paltrow], from what I’ve been told. They did it with almost everyone, I think, except Downey throughout the thing. One of the things that actors need to learn to do is take a tip from Friends [whose cast members all held out for higher pay]. You always choose to stick together. One for all and all for one. Our Gang, you know? Let Spanky be our rule.”
If this happened with Gwyneth as well, we didn’t hear much about it. As for everything else Terrence said, it’s a shame it all comes down to money.
Money is something Tony Stark has a lot of
On a positive note, Howard is still respectful of Cheadle and hopes well for the sequel despite his removal from the film.
“Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to it. I want to see what happens with that. I want to see Don Cheadle become me. I want him to do better than me. That’s what I really want to see. I think he can. Don Cheadle is the reason I got on Crash. He was one of the producers on Crash, and he called and got me in there. So it’s like Don is good by me, anything he does. He’s given me the greatest gift I could ever imagine having. Don gave me that, so anything I have, I’ll share with him.”
Although I hate the idea of changing actors in the middle of a franchise to play the same character, I do really like Cheadle and I think he’ll be an even better Rhodey. As for Howard, no one should be concerned as he’s still in high demand and continually has plenty of other acting gigs on the go.
What’s your reaction to Howard’s thoughts on the issue?
Iron Man 2 began filming Monday and it opens in theaters May 7, 2010.
Source: Sci-Fi Wire
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