The actor who played War Machine in the first Iron Man installment blamed Robert Downey Jr. that his MCU career was so short
Certainly old Hollywood grudges are hard to forget, especially when a big franchise role gets in the way of the friendship of two members of this fierce community. This happened with Terrence Howard and Robert Downey Jr., who starred in the first installment of what would later be known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film revived the superhero genre and was instrumental in the studio's decision to continue with more comic book adaptations. However, it seems that the success of the film brought out the worst side of the Tony Stark interpreter, who, according to his co-star, reached the point of keeping his earnings and causing his exit from the saga.
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In Iron Man - The Man of Iron - 93%, Howard played Colonel James Rhodes / War Machine. At that time the actor's career was at its peak, having just received an Academy Award nomination for his brilliant work on the hip-hop drama Hustle & Flow. Landing one of the crucial roles in the first Marvel Studios film was no problem for this interpreter, who was also behind the hiring of Robert Downey Jr.
The film was a huge worldwide success, so the studio quickly began work on the sequel. However, it was quite noticeable that in Iron Man 2 - 72% the role of Colonel Rhodes passed to Don Cheadle. This important cast change had an explanation that the public did not expect: Howard had not left the franchise for fun. In 2013, during an interview for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the actor revealed that his exit from the Marvel Cinematic Universe was behind a painful betrayal of someone who before making Iron Man was his friend (via The Guardian):
It turns out that the person I helped became Iron Man, when it was time to [...] go back for the second [film], he took the money that was supposed to go to me and kicked me out.
According to that statement by Howard, the fame that flooded the protagonist of Doctor Dolittle gave him enough power to decide how the profits of the third MCU film would be distributed. He went on to explain that when the Marvel Studios producers approached, it was to tell him that his salary would be quite reduced, since they were sure that the star of the show was Downey Jr. and it did not matter if he returned to play War Machine or not. Although he tried to clarify the situation with the Tony Stark interpreter, he assures that he did not receive a response from his supposed friend until three months later:
They approached me for the second [film] and said, 'Look, we'll pay you an eighth of what we contractually had for you, because we believe the second will be successful with or without you.' And I called my friend, who helped get the first job, and he didn't call me back for three months.
It's been 11 years of Iron Man and definitely only the oldest fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hold any kind of nostalgia for the War Machine that Howard played. However, that statement by the actor does not cease to question how far Robert Downey Jr. was able to go to be the focus of attention of the franchise. Now he is the one priced in millions of dollars, a price that Kevin Feige's production team is apparently no longer interested in paying, given that the new phases of the MCU will introduce new superheroes.
The next Marvel Studios film will kick off the long-awaited Phase 4. Black Widow has delayed its release, but while COVID-19 is progressing favorably, it is expected to hit theaters everywhere on November 6. of this year.
