After Don Cheadle took over as James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes from Terrence Howard, audiences have been looking forward to the day the War Machine would get a standalone film. Now, just may be the time to start celebrating, people!
Speaking with Empire Magazine, the man who would be War Machine sat down for a very special podcast episode. At the 1:20:09 mark, the award-winning actor and director has plenty of spit on the topic of a potential standalone War Machine movie.
“When we have talked about the [War Machine] spin-off, what the departure point might be for War Machine,” Cheadle says to the guys at Empire Podcast. “[We’ve discussed that] it might be when he goes rogue, so to speak, and takes a mission that he believes he is morally responsible for but is against policy and does it anyway. What happens when he’s out there and he’s been dishonorably discharged but he still has the suit, or Tony makes him another suit?
It could be that with word spreading that this will be Robert Downey, Jr.’s last hoorah as Iron Man that the bombshell will not land near Cheadle’s charismatic character. Truthfully, Rhodey never got a chance to do much damage in Iron Man 2, and with the third installment on the eve of release, anticipation to see War Machine start his own adventure is pretty high. It’s possible that Downey, Jr. has officially declined Iron Man sequels already, but no confirmation has been reported.
“Now, he’s out there on his own too, but even worse than Tony, because now he’s a fugitive,” Cheadle imagines. “Because if we wanted to do it, I think the best way to do it would be go darker, to take it and make it even more visceral. Sort of close to the first Iron Man, how it began. Really visceral and really realistic.”
All very sensible stuff, but with no official word, we’ll just say that this is all conjecture. That said, Cheadle has made the role truly his own, and could easily support his own movie that would be a box office boon for comic aficionados.
Would you like to see a War Machine movie? Could you see Don Cheadle taking over Robert Downey Jr.’s position in The Avengers as resident man in a can? Let us know in the comment box below, and remember that Iron Man 3 is out in theaters on May 3rd.
Props: Empire