When Iron Man’s original ‘Rhodey’ Terrence Howard claimed Robert Downey Jr got him fired

Terrence Howard played the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark's friend, in the film. His performance was appreciated, but the character was later recast.

Iron Man kicked off what became known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film’s critical and commercial success was critical if the shared superhero universe, the first of its kind in cinema, was to go forward. The film’s success was a good news for everybody. Every major actor in the film became a mainstay of MCU. Well, except for one — Terrence Howard.

Howard played the role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Tony Stark’s friend, in the film. His performance was appreciated, but the character was later recast. Don Cheadle essayed the character from Iron Man 2 onwards. The character later became a superhero and an Avenger.

Howard’s recasting did make it to the news, but few fans complained about it and most accepted it. Both Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 were huge hits for Marvel Studios. Reasons for Howard departure have ranged from his alleged difficult behaviour on the set to, as per Howard, Robert Downey Jr pocketing a bigger salary and sidelining him, the man who, he claims, got him the role.

While speaking to Andy Cohen on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Howard said, “It turns out that the person I helped become Iron Man … when it was time to re-up for the second one took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out. It was going to be a certain amount for the first film, a certain amount for the second, a certain amount for the third. They came to me with the second and said, ‘Look we will pay you 1/8th of what we contractually had for you because we think the second one will be successful with or without you.’”

Howard’s frustration and bitterness is understandable, despite whether what he is saying is true or not. MCU went on to become the biggest film franchise this planet has ever seen with its pinnacle, Avengers: Endgame, grossing an amount approaching 3 billion dollars.

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