War Machine To Appear In Iron Man 2!
Apr 3, 2009 by Vic HoltremanRobert Downey Jr. confirms that Don Cheadle will don the War Machine armor in the sequel!
Yes, you read that right, Don Cheadle as Tony Stark’s best buddy in Iron Man 2 will be donning the War Machine armor.
Our friends over at TrailerAddict.com have an interview from EW where they talk to Robert Downey Jr. briefly about transitioning from his Sherlock Holmes movie back into Iron Man mode. During the interview he was asked if he could reveal a tiny tidbit about the movie, and he talks about the characters – and he lets slip a nugget about Don Cheadle as Rhodey.
A little background for you non-Ferrophiles (that’s the Iron Man equivalent of a “Trekkie”): In the comic book, the War Machine armor was originally created by Tony Stark to deal with team of super bad guys. Later on the suit was built specifically for James Rhodes. It was designed for all-out warfare. It was also known as the “Variable Threat Response Battle Suit.” Click here for more details on the War Machine armor.
Anyway, at around the 1:14 mark Robert says this in the interview:
…it’s about Don Cheadle now playing Rhodey, and therefore War Machine…”
The last time we heard about the possibility of the War Machine armor showing up in the film was back in September when Terrence Howard was still in the role (I’m betting Terrence Howard will be really, really annoyed).
Check out the video for yourself:
Downey Jr. goes on to say:
“The film is almost entirely about character, and yet we still have twice as much action as we did last time, so it’s going to be nuts,” Robert tells our own Thea Andrews of the super sequel, set to start filming Monday. “Essentially ‘Iron Man 2‘ is about looking behind the armor, or the armature, of a superhero. It’s one thing to say you’re ‘Iron Man,’ it’s another thing to be fully ready to do that.”
In other movie details, Robert Downey Jr. spoke with MTV about the possibility of the “Demon in a Bottle” story arc from the comics (where Tony Stark spirals into full blown alcoholism and loses everything) being incorporated into this sequel:
“We’re going for the interim space [between the origin story and 'Demon in a Bottle'], which is more a look behind the mask of someone who says he’s Iron Man and what it really is to become a superhero.”
You can head over to MTV for more info at the link below.
Also, shooting on the movie starts on Monday and additional cast members include Garry Shandling(?) and John Slattery.
So what do you think? Are you stoked to hear we’ll get to see War Machine on the big screen?
Iron Man 2 opens on May 7, 2010.
Sources: Trailer Addict, MTV Splash Page
Around the web:
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Vic, what about this?
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/videos/channels/?channel=channels/79356/394508
Downey lists cast members, and he mentions two we haven’t heard before – Garry Shandling & John Slattery
LOL, thanks, Guy (love the name).
Vic
I always though of War-Machine as Iron Man with bigger muscles but a lot less brains. Will be cool to see the character on the big screen though..
Well GK, technically, since WM is James Rhodes and Tony Stark is a genius, I would say that your description of War Machine is spot on…
Nice to have confirmation on this .
Also nice to hear its a character oriented film.
not all that surprised about this news considering there was the scene which James Rhodes looks at the suit and says:”next time baby”
Yeah,how is this news when it was foreshadowed in the last movie.
I think it would’ve been news to hear the Warmachine wouldn’t be in the next movie.
Its news cuz we have seen Dr. Connors in 3 Spider-Man films already but havent seen Lizard yet.
Rhodes hinting at donning the armour wasn’t a sure-fire guarantee that it’d appear in the next film. After all, Iron Man is a franchise, they could have saved War Machine for another sequel.
I know that it wasn’t “100%” confirmed until just recently,but put it this way,if you had 100 buck to bet whether he would be in the next movie or not,which way would you have bet?
I would have bet that he would have been in it.
@Longshanks
Yes, fine, I get your point. But this confirms it.
Vic
@ Vic
Yeah,I know.I’m just sayin’ though.
sweet !
i 2 am now Stoked.
i cant waite to see sum of the Production art.
Cuz if ur following the
DARK REiGN:WAR-Machine Comic thats out Right now.
the Basis of the War-machine Armor in the Comic is A BaDass Mrk 3 suit From the 1st film, but with A LOT o’Guns.
Lol
i Recomend this comic.
its So F^#k’in cool.
at least google it to have a Look.
“DARK REIGN: WAR-MACHINE”
heres a Link to the the Cover
it Looks Cool
http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12a/darkreignpreviews/WARMAC001_cov_col.jpg
@Brodie Bruce
Yeah, it’s pretty bad-ass – War Machine also made an appearance in Invincible Iron Man last month and it was made clear that the armor is state of the art and not just some clunky think with a machine gun strapped on.
I’m not a fan of the new cyborg Rhodey in the comics, though.
Vic
@Vic
i now Right !
i saw him with Part of his helmet Blew off and saw the Cyberdyne-esqe EYE and had a Big WTF?!? momment.
i ment Know.
:X
Awesome news. I know the original wasn’t meant to hint at anything, but when he looked at the armor and said that line, oh man i was excited. Anyword on a possible release date, or is it still 2011-2012ish?
May 2010 dude, and Avengers will be May 2012, unless the world ends in 2012, then we’ll never see Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor together on the big screen. :’(
I would say something about the comic book cover but greenknight will jump in and bitchslap me if I do, so I’ll keep my lips sealed, haha.
2010? That seems wayyyy too close. I thought it was later. I mean i want more Iron Man for sure, but that just seems too close. Oh well, should be awesome.
I am just as excited as any other Iron Man fan to see War Machine reach fruition. However, my friend brought up an interesting point – would it not get redundant to basically have Iron Men zipping and blasting around? Wouldn’t that take away from Iron Man a character who still has plenty of room for development?
Now personally, I think the supporting cast was used perfectly in ‘Iron Man’. The balance was great and they all complemented the development of the Iron Man/Tony Stark character. Would the story/screen get crowded with both of them?
Now it could go the comic’s way – Stark lost in alcoholism and Rhodes steps in to pick up the mantle – but…. then would that be too much about War Machine?
I definitely think War Machine being included is awesome! What do you guys think about the taking away or adding to factor of the story?
Most likely he will appear at the very end, maybe to save the day during a big climactic “boss fight” or something. Which would open up the character for future movies or even the spin-off that was rumored.
IF Terreance Howard is annoyed perhaps he should have done a better job of acting in the first Ironman and he would’ve been asked back.
@INK
Terrence is gone due to $$, not acting ability.
Vic
@Vic
Not in my eyes … or rather, ears.
Well, perhaps if he would have been SOOO good, they would have been willing to pay him more, lol.
First of all, thanks to the poster of the trailer for providing us with it. There are legions of us who loved the first movie and are anticipating the sequel. Seeing that clip of Downey in the interview was the ultimate tease, especially with this “Tony Stark” beard cut. That’s one BAD ASS beard cut! I’ve even shave my beard like that from time to time. It makes a man look kick ass. All the sequel has to do is be AS GOOD as the first movie. If it turns out to be better, then that will be an added bonus for the fans. That poster of “War Machine” looks balls to the walls INSANE! I can’t WAIT to see the TWO of them kicking ass and taking names as a DUO. The only problem I have with the sequel was the dumping of Terrence Howard. Don’t get me wrong, Cheadle’s acting chops outweigh Howard’s by quite a bit. Cheadle is a great actor, but sometimes, actors just FIT roles better. Even though Howard isn’t the greatest actor in the world, he FIT that role, in my opinion, better than Cheadle will. Being a better actor doesn’t mean you deserve a role more than someone else. Take “The Matrix” trilogy. Keanu Reeves has the acting skills of a lima bean. The dude CAN’T ACT. But let’s be honest. They couldn’t have POSSIBLY found a better actor to play the role of “Neo”. Reeves WAS Neo. To this day, many of his fans think of him as “Neo” as opposed to “Keanu Reeves”. Reeves will more than likely never get another role in his acting career that will benefit him as much as The Matrix movies did. That’s a once in a lifetime gig for an actor. Terrence’s role in Iron Man was the biggest role he ever had in his career. He asked for a few more dollars to be in the sequel, and they CANNED him. That sucks to the fullest extent of suckage, but I’m STILL going to go see the sequel when it comes out. Cheadle’s going to have to act his ASS off to make fans of the movie forget about Howard being in the role.
OH!!! I forgot to mention! You can follow the progress of the movie via Jon Favreau on Twitter. He sends out twitters about the dailes! Go to the link below…..
http://twitter.com/Jon_Favreau