Why Was Terrence Howard Replaced As War Machine In The MCU? It's Complicated
When Marvel Studios brought out the cast and crew of "Iron Man 2" at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, they wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room. The character of James "Rhodey" Rhodes was returning, but this time he would be played by Don Cheadle. What happened to Terrence Howard, who originated the role in the first movie? They answered this question flippantly by showing a clip from the still-shooting sequel where Cheadle makes his first appearance. When he comes face to face with his buddy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), against whom he's been asked to testify, Cheadle's Rhodes says, "Look, it's me. I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on."
This moment got a huge laugh from fans, and worked precisely as intended. People already loved Cheadle as a movie star, and they were eager to watch him banter with Downey. From that point forward, Howard no longer existed in the MCU.
Now, 13 years after the release of "Iron Man 2," we're about to get Cheadle's first standalone MCU vehicle in "Armor Wars." Obviously, he owns the character now. But if you're curious as to why Howard was given the heave-ho from his integral role in the 2008 blockbuster, the answer depends on who you're asking.
A drastic yet practical salary reduction
Prior to the film's release, Entertainment Weekly's Nicole Sperling cited "Hollywood insiders" who claimed Howard's departure was hastened by a number of issues. One was the practical matter of his salary: Howard was a highly sought after star when he was hired, and Downey simply wasn't. Given his struggles with substance abuse that landed him in prison, Downey was viewed as a huge risk who needed to prove he could stay clean; ergo, he only received $500,000 to play Stark. Howard, who'd received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his stunning portrayal of a pimp-turned-rapper in "Hustle and Flow," reportedly pulled down somewhere around $4 million to play Rhodey.
Considering the first film's success, everyone was due a significant pay bump. Howard was expecting somewhere in the range of $8 million. MCU apparently asked him to take a massive, greater than 50% pay cut so they could properly reward Downey.
This is how you royally cheese off a star and his representation. Why would Marvel take such an adversarial tack? This brings us to the other issues.
According to Sperling's insiders, director Jon Favreau was unhappy with Howard's performance, which led to numerous reshoots and awkward moments in the edit. So when Favreau began writing the script for "Iron Man 2" with Justin Theroux, he significantly cut down on Rhodey's screen time. This displeased Marvel, which wanted War Machine to step out as a major character in the sequel, so they low-balled Howard.
All's well that ends with everyone getting paid
Marvel and Favreau have never explicitly commented on this situation, but Howard unloaded during a 2015 Rolling Stone interview. The actor claimed he played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in lobbying for Downey to play Stark, and was miffed when his co-star stood by as Cheadle took the Rhodey reins. Per Howard:
"And guess who got the million I was supposed to get? [Downey] got the whole franchise, so I've actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me, from me trying to look after somebody."
Howard's anger is understandable, but in what world was he ever going to get $100 million out of Marvel for playing Rhodey? "Iron Man" belonged to Downey, and his supercharged performance was vital to the building out of the universe (ultimately getting them to four "Avengers" movies). Also, while Howard is a fine actor in the right role, he lacked the cocky charm that Cheadle brought to the part. Howard is a moody piece of work, while Cheadle can banter with the best of them.
No one has ever mentioned if Howard being accused of domestic violence on multiple occasions, some of which predated "Iron Man," contributed to his departure, but they're very ugly and would more than warrant his dismissal from the production.
Assuming the above is mostly accurate, it sounds like Marvel did Howard a little dirty in how they played the negotiation for "Iron Man 2," but he wound up starring in Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's ratings smash "Empire" for six seasons, so he's got very little to chirp about. Also, he made peace with Downey in 2016, so consider this feud squashed.