Terrence Howard played James Rhodes in the MCU’s debut Iron Man in 2008 but was replaced by Don Cheadle in sequels for a silly reason.

Terrence Howard is best known for his role as Lucious Lyon in the Fox series Empire, which garnered multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and a BET award for Howard. The actor was at his peak in the early 2000s when he starred in the drama Hustle & Flow, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

The leverage the actor had due to his Oscar nomination made him a valuable asset to Marvel Studios at the time as his association with Iron Man gave the studio some relief. Despite his importance, however, the success of Iron Man led to filmmaker Jon Favreau and actor Robert Downey Jr., getting more leverage and he was replaced by Don Cheadle in the sequels.

Terrence Howard was a big deal in the mid-2000s

Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow | Credits: Paramount Classics

Actor Terrence Howard may be now known for his role in Empire but he was one of the most sought-after actors in the mid-2000s. Beginning his career on TV with the miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, the actor went on to appear in supporting roles in prominent films such as Dead Presidents, Ray, Crash, and more.

At the start of his career, Howard only played supporting or small roles in films and TV shows. He featured in Taye Diggs’ film The Best Man and went on to return in the sequel The Best Man Holiday and the spinoff miniseries The Best Man: Final Chapters. He also featured in music videos of Ashanthi and Mary J. Blige.

Howard got his big break with the musical drama film Hustle & Flow, which got him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The actor was joined by his future Empire co-star Taraji P. Henson, Ludacris, and more. The film follows the life of a pimp in Memphis, who decides to turn his life around and concentrate on music.

Terrence Howard was initially apprehensive about taking on the role and even reportedly rejected it twice. He only joined after the makers assured him that the film would not glorify the street life (via CBS News). He claimed, however, that he was only paid $12,000 for his work on the film and even lost out on his residuals due to contractual issues.

Howard mentioned in an interview how he was allegedly cheated out of his residuals through a contractual blunder (via The ShadeRoom),

I made $12,000 for doing “Hustle & Flow. What Paramount did, instead of putting my name as Terrence Howard performing the songs, they put ‘performed by Djay.’ Well, they owned Djay. 

However, the actor received considerable fame from the film and even got him the role of James Rhodes in Iron Man. But that too had its fair share of issues.

Why was Terrence Howard replaced by Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2?

Terrence Howard in Iron Man | Credits: Marvel Studios

Robert Downey Jr. became one of the most popular stars in the world when he joined the MCU as Iron Man. The actor kickstarted the franchise along with Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, and a host of collaborators with the 2008 film. Though Downey Jr. was an industry pariah at the time, the studio took a risk at the behest of Favreau and created history.

However, no studio would ever back up someone as risky as Robert Downey Jr. in the mid-2000s without some form of collateral. And in the case of Iron Man, it was actor Terrence Howard. Howard played Tony Stark’s best friend and military man James Rhodes a.k.a Rhodey in the action film.

While his performance was adequate for the film, he was promptly replaced by Don Cheadle in the sequel, and he went on to take up the mantel of War Machine in the franchise. Howard’s character had already teased the possibility in one scene in Iron Man, where he looked at a Mark 2 suit and said, “Next time, baby”.

Terrence Howard’s position as an Oscar nominee for Hustle & Flow reportedly gave a lot of credibility to the project, which was going to be a flagship project for the newly established Marvel Studios. The studio was still at the independent stage and was raising funds through a credit line with Meryll Lynch and pre-sales of foreign rights (via MCU – The Reign of Marvel Studios).

However, after the success of Iron Man, which earned $585 million (via Box Office Mojo), he was replaced by Don Cheadle in the sequel after reportedly offering a significant pay cut in Iron Man 2. The actor’s status as an Oscar nominee initially earned him a paycheck of $3.5 million but according to EW, he was offered a 50-80% pay cut.

The book MCU – The Reign of Marvel Studios reported that former chief of Marvel Comics Ike Perlmutter had a truly ugly response to the issue of recasting the part, with the book reportedly claiming that he said that no one would notice as all Black people looked the same.

Terrence Howard blamed Robert Downey Jr. for his departure from the MCU

A still from Iron Man | Credits: Marvel Studios

Various reasons have been given for Terrence Howard being cut out of his contract with Marvel Studios after Iron Man. While EW claimed that director Jon Favreau was not impressed with his performance and had reshot many scenes after being unable to edit a good performance, the main reason seems to be money.

As mentioned before, Howard reportedly earned a whopping $3.5 million for his supporting role, which was so much more than Robert Downey Jr.’s alleged salary of $500,000. Marvel Studios apparently simply did not want to pay increments from a base salary of $3.5 million and since they knew they had the credibility after the success of Iron Man, they did not need Howard anymore.

So, after offering an almost 80% pay cut for the next film, the studio basically arm-twisted him into leaving the project despite signing a contract for multiple films. Howard reportedly only joined the first film because he was promised the War Machine suit-up in the sequel. Don Cheadle got to wear the suit and was reportedly paid $1 million for his appearance.

Howard, however, blamed Robert Downey Jr. for the whole incident, claiming that he took the money that was contractually promised to him. In an interview with Watch What Happens Live, Terrence Howard exposed The Avengers star saying that the man he helped become Iron Man ghosted him months after the film’s success. He said,

This is gonna get me in a lot of trouble. It turns out that the person that 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…And I called my friend that I helped get the first job, and he didn’t call me back for three months.

Howard reportedly had a three-picture deal with Marvel Studios but was let go after the first one.

Iron Man is available to stream on Disney+.