
With that in mind, there is a chance that people forget that Terrence Howard was in the original Iron Man. And the fellow Oscar-nominated actor would continue to play the role for every consecutive film in the series, leading all the way up to this summer's Avengers: Endgame, which is potentially on track to be the highest grossing film of all-time. It didn't take too long before Don Cheadle was cast in the role. No matter what ultimately went down, Terrence Howard was gone. Either Terrence Howard decided his time was best spent elsewhere, or Marvel finally had enough and decided it was time to cut ties with the actor and say goodbye. And it is safe to say that Terrence Howard wasn't going to happily accept the lowered income.įrom there, it is a bit unclear what exactly happened. The cut was believed to be drastic we're talking 50-to-80 percent less than what the actor made before.
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Your movie turns out to be a major hit, outmatching all the huge expectations you hoped would be found, and now the producers are coming around and telling you that your screen-time is getting cut AND you're making a whole lot less money this time around? That wouldn't seem fair to any actor.Īs such, the agents were apparently so aghast by this reworked offer that they were willing to fight it. Obviously, Terrence Howard and his agents were none-too-pleased to hear this news. With that, the producers of Iron Man 2 felt it was unnecessary to pay Terrence Howard as much - if not more - than what he received for that original movie, and they were hoping to renegotiate the actor's contract for real this time, dramatically reducing their offer this time. When it came time for screenwriter Justin Theroux to write the screenplay for the sequel, he and Favreau were reportedly trying to figure out ways to minimize Howard's storyline inside the movie. While Terrence Howard's publicist publicly claimed that the actor had a "tremendous experience" working on Iron Man, the reports surrounding Iron Man and Iron Man 2 suggest that Jon Favreau remained less-than-enthused throughout the process of crafting both films. So much so that, according to an unnamed insider, the editor and director of Iron Man had to reshoot, re-edit and retool certain parts of the hit film in order to change it. Reports from the set claim that Terrence Howard was allegedly difficult to work with, and the producers and director Jon Favreau were reportedly unhappy with what Howard's performance shaped up to be. And while it was an easy casting decision, the process on set was notably a lot more complicated.
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With that, when the film was finally coming together in full fruition, it was reportedly already too late to renegotiate Terrence Howard's deal.

As such, it didn't take long before everyone agreed that Terrence Howard was a great pick for the role, and the actor was the first actor who was cast. The role required the right actor, and the studio, producers and directors went back-and-forth a lot before they finally came to a compromise - and, I think it's safe to say, the right decision.īut the casting process for Colonel James Rhodes, Stark's loyal friend and future War Machine, was notably less complex. can not only be a likable jerk, in PG-terms, but can also make that character realized.Īnway, the reason that story was brought up was because the casting process for Tony Stark wasn't the first casting decision made for the film. After all, there are a ton of actors who can play a smarmy a-hole, to varying success. He knows what it's like to fight the struggles Tony Stark faces during the film, and he knows what it's like to bring the depth and emotional sincerity that was pivotal to the character.

He not only felt that Downey has the charisma and acting chops to pull off a role of like this one, but he has the personal lived-in experience - as alluded to earlier - to make the role sing in a honest, real, humanized way.Īs Jn Favreau explained, Robert Downey Jr's life has always been seen in the public eye. There was no way the studio could get a guarantee - in any fashion - that Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man would bring in audiences.īut Jon Favreau was confident in his decision to cast Robert Downey Jr.

Though he was making a comeback with acclaimed films like 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, 2006's A Scanner Darkly and 2007's Zodiac, he wasn't a guaranteed success as the main lead of this giant blockbuster with superhuman expectations. was still known in Hollywood for his earlier, more troubled years. You have to remember, in 2008, Robert Downey Jr.
