Most people know Terrence Howard as the War Machine in ‘Iron Man 1’ that started the whole MCU blockbuster franchise, but only a few might know that he helped Robert Downey Jr. get the famous role of Iron Man. However, when Howard was cut from the second installment of the franchise, tried to reach Downey Jr. for help, only to be left hanging.
Howard played the role of ‘James Rhodes’ in the first movie of the ‘Iron Man’ franchise. When Howard got the role, the character of Iron Man was not cast yet, as the producers had spent heavily on getting the Chicago native on board. However, as Howard learned about Downey Jr.’s interest in taking up the lead role, he convinced the producers to take the audition of the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ actor while also making a big sacrifice by cutting down $1 million from his payment.
During episode #2152 of ‘Joe Rogan Experience’, Terrence Howard mentioned, “I am like well, if Robert wants to come in so I called [Avi] Arad immediately. He was the producer of it. And I was like ‘Avi, I hear Robert wants to come in but you guys won’t even let him audition.’ He’s like no we can’t bond him.”
But Howard pushed for Downey’s audition, “I’m like, ‘Instead of the 4 and a half you want to give me why don’t you take a million dollars for the bond for him and let him audition.’ So he gets the part. Robert is like, ‘I love you. Thank you so much.’ But, when Howard needed help while being replaced by Don Cheadle in the second edition of the film, he called up his co-star as many as 27 times, but ‘The Judge’ actor didn’t respond.
“I called him 27 times and I left a message. I’m calling his assistant. I’m like, ‘I need the help I gave you.’ I didn’t hear from him until 3 years later when I bumped into him at Brian Grazer’s wedding,” the 55-year-old recalled while also mentioning that Robert Downey Jr. had no remorse for his actions. “But at that time I’d had Empire or whatever and I came back he was like, ‘Oh but everything worked out for you.’ That broke me a little bit,” he added.
Meanwhile, this version of the beef between the Academy Award winner and Howard is incredibly toned down. In reality, Terrence Howard was facing a lawsuit from Downey Jr. for the comments he made. Howard claimed that Downey Jr. pushed him out of the franchise leading to the actor pursuing legal action against his former co-star.
Howwever, in 2017, the actor came out and said that he and Downey Jr. had squashed their beef after realizing “life is too short.” But why was Howard let go from the MCU?
Why did MCU drop Terrence Howard from the ‘Iron Man’ franchise?
As per his own admission, Howard is an actor difficult to work with. This could have been the reason he was dropped from the ‘Iron Man’ sequels and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the opening film’s success, director Jon Favreau was reportedly not happy with Howard’s performance. Plus, the film’s success and RDJ’s rise to stardom meant he could carry the franchise without Howard. Therein lay the problem.
As per Howard, the deal he made was for three ‘Iron Man’ films, each having a set pay. However, the studio tried to lowball him for the sequel, and this is when he turned to Downey Jr. for help.
“We did a three-picture deal. That means you did the deal ahead of time — a certain amount for the first one, 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 one-eighth of what we contractually had for you, because we think the second one will be successful with or without you.’ And I called my friend, that I helped get the first job, and he didn’t call me back for three months.”
As mentioned on the JRE episode, the ‘Tony Stark’ actor refused to come to his aid, causing an uproar against him from Howard. “And guess who got the millions I was supposed to get? He 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 said.
Interestingly, Don Cheadle, who was cast in the second Iron Man film was also the first choice to play the “War Machine” in part one. In an interview with radio show Sway in the Morning Howard admitted, “Really, initially they wanted Don in that role, but my agent pushed me in. So I never had any beef with Don about it.”
So things did work out in the end for Cheadle as well as Howard, who got to star in a major role in the Empire series. But what do you think about the story Howard shared regarding Robert Downey Jr.? Drop your views in the comments.
