Marvel’s “Armor Wars,” which was initially planned as a TV series for Disney+, is being reworked as a feature film
Don Cheadle will reprise his MCU role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine in “Armor Wars.” The project is based on Marvel Comics’ seven-issue arc of the same name inside Iron Man’s tale, and it follows Rhodes as he must confront what happens when Tony Stark’s technology slips into the wrong hands.
Yassir Lester, who was supposed to be the series’ lead writer, is still connected with the project.
This is Marvel’s second major reshuffle of the week. “Blade” director Bassam Tariq walked away from the project on Tuesday, barely two months before filming began, indicating a likely delay from the film’s intended November 2023 release date.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced earlier this month at the D23 Expo in Anaheim that “Armor Wars” will follow the events of “Secret Invasion,” the MCU TV series planned to launch on Disney+ in early 2023, in which Cheadle’s Rhodes will also feature.
“In the trailer, you see that he’s got to confront Nick [Fury.] He and Fury are gonna go at it throughout this show, as far as what they need to do, given what’s happened on this planet at this point,” Cheadle teased.
“It’s kind of a thriller and a different kind of show than you usually see in the MCU, which is great that we can continue to keep changing it up and switching it up. It’s lots of fun.”
Cheadle acknowledged that he had completed his first contractual commitments to Marvel Studios, although he is open to future MCU ventures. “Now it’s just, if something sounds fun and I’m presented it, I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.'”
To note, Cheadle’s most recent performance as Rhodes – a cameo in 2021’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” — got him a Primetime Emmy nod.
Based on the comic books, prospective enemies for “Armor Wars” include Stilt-Man, the Crimson Dynamo, and Justin Hammer, played by Sam Rockwell in “Iron Man 2.”
In 1987 and 1988, David Michelinie and Bob Layton wrote the “Armor Wars” comics, which Mark D. Bright and Barry Windsor-Smith illustrated.