Marvel's Armor Wars Disney+ Series Now Is Becoming A Movie

Don Cheadle's Armor Wars TV show is getting retooled as an MCU film due to creative changes. While most of Marvel Studios' planned Disney+ shows have come to pass, Armor Wars has been stuck in development for some time. Despite being announced in 2020, it wasn't until 2022 that updates began to emerge about James Rhodes' spinoff show. While Terrence Howard brought Rhodes to life in 2008's Iron Man, Cheadle replaced him as War Machine in Iron Man 2 and has continued to appear in multiple MCU projects.

Armor Wars follows War Machine in the aftermath of Phase 3, which included the death of his best friend, Tony Stark. The Disney+ drama was confirmed to take place after the events of Secret Invasion, where Cheadle is next set to appear as the Marvel hero. While Marvel Studios unveiled their slates for Phases 5 and 6 at San Diego Comic-Con, Armor Wars wasn't featured in either one, despite Disney being committed to producing the series. According to Cheadle in an interview earlier this month, one of the main Armor Wars stories would be about Tony's Stark tech getting out, and it would be up to Rhodey to prevent the wrong people from getting ahold of it.

However, Armor Wars has had a massive shake-up at Marvel Studios, with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that it is being retooled as a feature film. The studio was committed to "getting the story told the right way," and it led to them realizing that a movie would be a better option as opposed to a 6-episode series. Head writer Yassir Lester is still attached and will pen the screenplay for the movie. Production was being eyed for 2023, but has now been delayed due to this latest development. The Armor Wars news comes only a few days after the Blade reboot lost its director.

How Armor Wars Becoming A Movie Impacts The MCU

While Armor Wars getting delayed again is a problem in itself, the decision to make it a film could potentially benefit Cheadle's character. Even though War Machine has appeared in numerous MCU films, he has never been at the forefront of the various storylines. Despite Rhodes initially getting his own show, a feature film is, for obvious reasons, a bigger platform for Rhodes. This would also be a way for War Machine to get an actual cinematic spotlight after having been Iron Man's partner throughout his time in the MCU. Armor Wars is also not the first project where Marvel has retooled a product from one medium to another. Before The Inhumans became a TV show, the Royal Family were going to have their own Phase 3 movie, but instead got a limited series on ABC that had a negative outcome.

It remains unclear how much Armor Wars will be delayed because of the switch from Disney+ to theatrical. Despite taking place after Secret Invasion, Armor Wars may have to be pushed back until Phase 6 unless Marvel finds a window in Phase 5 that makes sense. It's possible that redeveloping Armor Wars as a feature film may remove the Secret Invasion tie-ins due to the massive time gap that will be left between Secret Invasion's finale and whenever Cheadle's film hits theaters. Since the slate wasn't fully unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con, there is always the chance that Armor Wars was always a Phase 6 project. Until Cheadle, Feige, and Marvel Studios make any statements, it remains to be seen how Armor Wars will turn out as a film.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter